Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
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— if one had been made from fire, for instance, and
the other from earth — then the two would have
been unable to get on together. Family life would
have lacked peace and harmony: men and women
would have been unable to struggle hand in hand
to build a better world.
As for the saying of the Prophet likening women to
a rib, it is a parable illustrating the need to treat
women gently on the basis of their particular,
natural constitution. The Prophet Muhammad
delivered this advice time and time again, in
different words, and it is something that he himself
practiced throughout his life.
In the time of the Prophet, women used to attend
the night prayer, and sometimes they used to take
their small children along with them. The Prophet
used to pay special attention to strict and full
observance of prayer. Yet so great was his
consideration for women that sometimes, when he
heard babies crying, he would cut short the
prayer. He once said: “Sometimes I stand up for
prayer, my intention being to make it a long one.
Then I hear a baby crying. So I cut short prayer,
