Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
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There are personality differences between the sexes
too. Some distinctions turn up remarkably early. At
New York University, for example, researchers have
found that a female infant stops sucking a bottle
and looks up when someone comes into the room; a
male pays no attention to the visitor.
Scientific researchers almost unanimously agree
that hormones help determine how people feel and
act. Thus the male-female differences are entirely
genetic in nature. The passivity found in women is
due to the particular nature of the female hormones.
Differences between male and female hormones
exist from birth: they are not acquired later, as
would be the case if they stemmed from differences
in environment.
The tenets of Islam are based wholly on nature. This
is because Islam is the religion of nature. The laws
Islam requires us to follow are, in fact, our own
instinctive human requirements expressed in legal
terms. And the teachings of Islam with respect to
women are no exception. They too are based on
nature. Modern, psychological, biological and
anatomical research proves women to be more
