Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
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sexes, while deploying their respective talents
and skills in the most socially useful manner.
This enables both sexes to make the best use of
their innate capabilities without causing any
undue disruption in the family or in society. In
modem parlance, this is a form of managerial
optimization rather than sexual discrimination.
For this principle to be effective, the spheres of
activity of men and women have had to be quite
different and, of course, separate from each other.
That is to say that the man’s field of activity is in
the outside world, while the woman’s is in the
home. This traditional distinction has been so
often cited by feminists as an inhibiting factor in
women’s lives that the true meaning of equality
has been lost sight of. After all, it will be the very
same virtues in thought, word and deed which
will be prerequisites for both sexes to enter
Paradise. If the qualities of piety, humility,
honesty, patience and compassion are demanded
of men, they will in like measure be demanded of
women. The fact that men and women function in
different spheres has no bearing whatsoever on
the ultimate equality — equality in the eyes of
God.
