Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
~ 286 ~
human being in the form of a mother makes it quite
clear what sort of a society Islam wants to create. It
is one in which a woman is accorded the maximum
honor and respect. A member of such a society,
who shows full respect to a woman as a mother
will, of necessity, become more and more caring in
regard to other women. With the creation of such a
mentality, women in general will share the status
accorded to a mother at home.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
There were several examples of Muslim women’s
intervention in religious matters, one of which
occurred in the time of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, the
second Caliph. It concerned the amount of money
or goods which had to be given as dower (given by
the husband to the wife at the time of marriage as a
token that he will meet all her expenses in future).
In the Prophet’s lifetime this had been a very
nominal amount, but with the increase in resources
after the conquest of other countries, people had
begun to apportion more substantial dowers.
Feeling that this was an unhealthy trend, ‘Umar
once addressed an assembly of his people from the
