Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
~ 275 ~
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)?
So far as a woman’s being like a rib is concerned,
mention of this is made only to support fair
treatment of women rather than the reverse. It has
been clarified above that this was only an example.
In view of the particular psychology of women, it
was cited to show that if she was subjected to rough
treatment, it would go against her nature and
