Introduction
In the era of ignorance, women suffered from various forms of injustice and exclusion, as they were considered property without rights. However, with the dawn of Islam, the sun of equality and honor shone, so Islam placed them in a lofty position, granting them rights that previous civilizations did not know, and honoring them as mothers, wives, and daughters.
The Status of Women in the Age of Ignorance Before Islam
The Arabs in the Age of Ignorance viewed women as a commodity among the possessions they owned, such as money and livestock, and they disposed of them as they wished. They had some characteristics that wronged women in their time
1. The Arabs did not give women inheritance,
and they believed that they had no right to inheritance and they used to say: No one inherits us except the one who carries the sword and protects the egg.
2. Likewise, women did not have any right over their husbands,
and there was no limited number for divorce, and there was no specific number for polygamy.
3. When a man died in the Arab world and had a wife and children from another woman,
the eldest son had more right to his father’s wife than anyone else. He considered her an inheritance like the rest of his father’s money. Ibn Abbas, may God be pleased with him, said: When a man’s father or father-in-law died, he had more right to his wife. If he wanted, he could keep her, or detain her until she redeemed herself with her dowry, or she died and her money was taken away.
4. The waiting period for a woman when her husband died was a full year.
The woman mourned her husband in the worst and most hideous manner. She would wear the worst clothes, live in the worst rooms, and abandon adornment, perfume, and purity. She would not touch water, trim her nails, remove her hair, or appear to people in their community.
5. The Arabs also hated girls and buried them alive in the ground for fear of shame, as they claimed.
Allah condemned them for that and denounced them, saying: “And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked, for what sin she was killed.” (At-Takwir: 9)
“وَإِذَا الْمَوْؤُودَةُ سُئِلَتْ* بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَت”ْ }التكوير:9{
6. The Arabs had types of corrupt marriages, including:
A group of men participating in entering into a single woman,
then giving her the right to the child, to attribute it to whomever she wanted among them, so she would say when she gave birth: He is your son, so-and-so, so he would attribute it to him and be his son.
And among them: The marriage of temporary marriage,which is when a man sends his wife to another man from the leaders of the people so that she can give birth to a child from him who has the characteristics of that leader among his people.
And among them: The temporary marriage of pleasure.Including: Shighar marriage, which is when a man marries his daughter, sister, or female slave to another man on the condition that he marries his female slave to him without a dowry, because they deal on the basis that the woman is owned by him like a commodity.
Honoring Women in Islam
Then Islam came to remove the darkness of ignorance from the nation and spread tolerance, affection and compassion among people. There is no racial discrimination in Islam, as it equated the slave with his master; they all stand in one row in one mosque, bowing and prostrating to one Lord who has no partner. One of the best things that Islam brought was the elevation of women, as it took them out of the slavery of humans to the slavery of the Lord of humans, and gave them the right to inheritance, and ordered their covering and modesty, and made people treat them as queens.
Islam surrounded women with a fence of care and attention, and elevated and valued them, and singled them out for honor and good treatment as a daughter, wife, sister and mother. Islam first decided that women and men were created from one origin, and for this reason women and men are equal in humanity;
Equality between men and women in humanity:
For God – the Almighty – created women and men equal; Allah the Almighty said: {O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most honorable of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.} (Al-Hujurat: 13).
﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ ﴾ (الحجرات: 13).
And Allah the Almighty created woman from man,Then let men know that the creation of woman is a great blessing for which they should thank their Lord the Almighty; Because by creating women and making them companions for men, love and mercy are achieved, and emotional tranquility is achieved. God – the Almighty – made for us from ourselves spouses, and our Lord made from these spouses sons and grandchildren.
All are equal in humanity, as God – the Almighty – has more verses in the Qur’an that indicate equality between men and women, whether this equality is in duties, or in matters in which women can participate with men without affecting their femininity.
Islam gave women the right to choose their religion and to express their opinion in choosing their life partner, in education, inheritance, ownership, and in carrying out civil and commercial transactions, and gave them the full right to participate in social and political life in a manner that is consistent with their nature and without violating the rights of others over them; whether they are husbands, fathers, or others.
All these rights are guaranteed by Islamic law to women, which women have not achieved in any civilization or religion until our present time.. God Almighty said: {So their Lord responded to them, “Never will I allow to be lost the work of any worker among you, whether male or female. You are of one another. So those who emigrated and were expelled from their homes and were harmed in My cause and fought and were killed – I will surely remove from them their misdeeds and admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow.”} (Al Imran: 195)
﴿فَاسْتَجَابَ لَهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ أَنِّي لَا أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَامِلٍ مِنْكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى بَعْضُكُمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَأُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُوا فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُوا وَقُتِلُوا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ﴾ (آل عمران: 195)
Equality between men and women in most of the religious duties:
The condition of obligation is eligibility, and Allah – the Almighty – does not impose duties except according to one’s ability. Both men and women have the eligibility for obligation and the eligibility to perform, as long as the religious duties have been determined in the conscience of each of them. Neither of them is absolved of responsibility until they perform their duties.
The Holy Quran has placed men and women on an equal footing in moral obligations and religious duties, except in specific cases in which Allah has made things easier for women, out of mercy for them and taking into consideration their nature and constitution.
It should be noted that women’s faith is the same as men’s faith, and the speech of God Almighty in the Qur’an indicates equality between males and females in most of the legal obligations, and the first obligation to Adam and Eve was equally: “And We said, ‘O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat from it in abundance as you wish, but do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers.’” (Al-Baqarah: 35)
﴿ وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ وَكُلا مِنْهَا رَغَدًا حَيْثُ شِئْتُمَا وَلا تَقْرَبَا هَذِهِ الشَّجَرَةَ فَتَكُونَا مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ ﴾ (البقرة: 35).
Equality between men and women in civil responsibility for private material rights:
Islam has emphasized respect for the moral personality of women, and made them equal to men in the capacity for obligation and performance, and established for them their right to dispose of and exercise all rights, such as the right to sell, the right to buy, the right of the mortgagor, and the right of the mortgagee, and all of these rights are enforceable.
Islam has given women the freedom to act in these matters in the manner they wish, without any restrictions that limit their freedom of action, except for the restriction that men impose on themselves, which is the restriction of the general principle: that freedom should not clash with truth or goodness.
He – the Blessed and Exalted – said: {Men shall have a share of what they have earned, and women shall have a share of what they have earned.} (An-Nisa’: 32)
﴿ لِلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا اكْتَسَبُوا وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا اكْتَسَبْنَ ﴾(النساء: 32)
Islam has given her the right to inheritance, and she had no right to it before Islam. Allah the Almighty said: {For men is a share of what the parents and near relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and near relatives leave, be it little or much – an obligatory share.} (An-Nisa: 7)
﴿ لِلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَفْرُوضًا ﴾ (النساء: 7)
And the woman is entitled to her full dowry, which the Shariah has made her own, and she is the owner of it and no one shares it with her. Our Lord, the Most High, said: {O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will, nor to prevent them from marrying.} And live with them in kindness. For if you dislike them – perhaps you dislike a thing and Allah makes therein much good. (An-Nisa: 19)
﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَرِثُوا النِّسَاءَ كَرْهًا وَلا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ لِتَذْهَبُوا بِبَعْضِ مَا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ إِلا أَنْ يَأْتِينَ بِفَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ وَعَاشِرُوهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ فَإِنْ كَرِهْتُمُوهُنَّ فَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ﴾ (النساء: 19)
And the wise Lawgiver has ruled that the husband is not entitled to anything from his wife’s wealth, unless she gives him something from it willingly. Our Lord – Glory be to Him – says: {And if you divorce them before you have touched them and they have already given you a share of it, then you have no right to take it from them.} If you have imposed on them a dowry, then half of what you have imposed, unless they forgive or he in whose hand is the marriage contract forgives. And to forgive is closer to righteousness. And do not forget graciousness between you. Indeed, Allah is Seeing of what you do. (Al-Baqarah: 237) ﴿ وَإِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُوهُنَّ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ وَقَدْ فَرَضْتُمْ لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً فَنِصْفُ مَا فَرَضْتُمْ إِلا أَنْ يَعْفُونَ أَوْ يَعْفُوَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ عُقْدَةُ النِّكَاحِ وَأَنْ تَعْفُوا أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى وَلا تَنْسَوُا الْفَضْلَ بَيْنَكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ﴾ (البقرة: 237)
And the woman in owning rights is the same as the man before the law, whether she does good or does evil. Allah the Almighty says: {As for the male thief, male or female, cut off their hands as a punishment for what they have committed, an exemplary punishment from Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.} (Al-Ma’idah: 38).
﴿ وَالسَّارِقُ وَالسَّارِقَةُ فَاقْطَعُوا أَيْدِيَهُمَا جَزَاءً بِمَا كَسَبَا نَكَالاً مِنَ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴾ (المائدة: 38)
Likewise, the Shari’ah has made them equal in terms of bloodshed, and has decided that a man should be killed for a woman. Allah the Almighty says: {And in retaliation there is life for you, O people of understanding, that you may become righteous.} (Al-Baqarah: 178)
﴿ وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ يَا أُولِي الألْبَابِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴾(البقرة: 178)
Equality between men and women in loyalty and support:
Allah the Almighty said: {And the believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those – Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.} (At-Tawbah: 72)
﴿ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُولَئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴾ (التوبة: 72)
The loyalty in this noble verse is established between the believing men and believing women because they do what Allah has obligated upon them of His obedience.
As for equality between believing women, Islam has removed the differences between women and torn their veils, just as it tore them between men. There was nothing between women and women except goodness that she would advance with, or righteous deeds that she would precede to. Either she would show off with a new display, or she would be proud of an ancient lineage, for that is something that would not advance her an inch, nor would it avail her anything from Allah.
On the authority of Abu Hurairah – may Allah be pleased with him – who said: The Messenger of Allah – may Allah bless him and grant him peace – stood up when Allah – the Almighty and Majestic – revealed: {And warn your nearest relatives} [Ash-Shu`ara: 214],
﴿ وَأَنْذِرْ عَشِيرَتَكَ الْأَقْرَبِينَ ﴾ [الشعراء: 214]
he said: ((O people of Quraysh, buy yourselves, I cannot avail you anything before Allah. O Banu Abd Manaf, I cannot avail you anything before Allah. O Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, I cannot avail you anything before Allah. O Safiyyah, the aunt of the Messenger of Allah, I cannot avail you anything before Allah. O Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, ask me for whatever you want from my wealth, I cannot avail you anything before Allah.
Allah has condemned some women for mocking each other; {O you who believe! Do not A people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor do women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. (Al-Hujurat: 11)
﴿ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا يَسْخَرْ قَومٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَلا نِسَاءٌ مِنْ نِسَاءٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهُنَّ ﴾ (الحجرات: 11).
Conclusion
Islam has illuminated the path of humanity with its fair values, and has treated women fairly after centuries of injustice and neglect in pre-Islamic times and other civilizations. Islam has elevated their status and made them partners with men in rights and duties, and has given them dignity that they did not enjoy before, whether in inheritance, treatment, or responsibilities. Islam has given them their full rights as human beings who are charged and responsible before God, making them equal to men in terms of duty, reward, and punishment. This honor reflects the greatness of Islam and its humanitarian message that urges justice and mercy. Under Islam, women were queens in their homes and a fundamental pillar for building a strong and cohesive society filled with goodness and peace.
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