Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
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REMARK OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE
Giving his verdict in the Muhammad Ahmad-Shah
Bano case, Mr. Y.V. Chandra Chud, Chief Justice of
the Indian Supreme Court, has written a special
note in which he says:
Some questions which arise under the
ordinary civil and criminal law are of a
far-reaching significance to large segments of
society which have been traditionally
subjected to unjust treatment. Women are one
such segment.
“Na stree swatantramarhati”
(The woman does not deserve independence),
said Manu, the law giver. And, it is alleged
that the “fatal point in Islam is the
degradation of woman. “To the Prophet is
ascribed the statement, hopefully wrongly,
that “woman was made from a crooked rib,
and if you try to bend it straight, it will break;
therefore treat your wives kindly.”
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I would like to make it clear that the phrase in this
passage, “hopefully wrongly,” does not mean that
this saying has been wrongly attributed to the
Prophet. It means rather that although the Prophet
