Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
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said that woman is born of a “crooked rib,” those
who want to establish equality between man and
woman should take heart, as this saying of the
Prophet was contrary to the fact. This phrase of the
Chief Justice is meant to deny the statement itself
and not the attribution.
41. Criminal Appeal No. 103-1981 — dated April
23, 1985.
Only a man of law can give a final opinion as to the
relevance of this remark of the Chief Justice from
the purely legal point of view, but it is certainly not
correct from the academic point of view. He has
quoted this saying of the Prophet to support his
claim that Islam advocates the unjust treatment of a
segment of society, whereas, on the contrary, this
saying enjoins men to treat women with justice. The
remark of the honorable Chief Justice does apply to
Manu’s statement, but it does not apply at all to the
sayings of the Prophet.
When it has been clearly stated that women should be
treated gently, how can it be claimed that unjust and
unfair treatment of women was advocated in a saying
of the Prophet (as it clearly was in Manu’s dictum)?
