The PLACE OF WOMAN: THE QUR’ANIC TEACHINGS AND LATER JURISTIC ACCRETIONS IN MUSLIM WORLD

Abstract

Islam is regarded by Muslims as containing/guiding man’s whole life from birth till death and even the afterlife. As such, it is difficult to properly appreciate the notion of women’s status without reference to the teachings of Islam. Such teachings are contained in the Qur’an, the book believed to have been revealed to the Prophet of Islam, and the Sunnah, the Prophet’s sayings and actions during his ministry. This paper highlights such authentic teachings regarding place of women in an Islamic society. The paper also mentions how such teachings were interpreted in various regions that came to form part of the lands under Muslim rule. Such interpretations were codified and, over time, came to distort the place that the Qur’an gives to the woman in society. As a result, across the world, most of the Muslim women are among the poorest, socially backward, economically susceptible, and politically marginalized segment of society. There is need for them to reclaim their religious rights and to take active part in religious ‘debate on women’s rights’.