what are the woman rights in islam?

Answer 1

Today people think that women are liberated in the West and that the Women’s liberation movement began in the 20th century. Actually, the women’s liberation movement was not begun by women, but was revealed by God to a man in the seventh century by the name of Muhammad, may God praise him, who is known as the last Prophet of Islam. The Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet are the sources from which every Muslim woman derives her rights and duties.

Human Rights
Islam, fourteen centuries ago, made women equally accountable to God in glorifying and worshipping Him – setting no limits on her moral progress. Also, Islam established a woman’s equality in her humanity with men. In the Quran, in the first verse of the chapter entitled “Women”, God says:

“O mankind! Be careful of your duty toward your Lord who created you from a single soul and from it its mate and from them both have spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Be careful of your duty toward God in Whom you claim (your rights) of one another, and towards the wombs (that bore you). Lo! God has been a Watcher over you.” (Quran 4:1)

Since men and women both came from the same essence, they are equal in their humanity. Women cannot be by nature evil (as some religions believe) or then men would be evil also. Similarly, neither gender can be superior because it would be a contradiction to equality.

Civil Rights
In Islam, a woman has the basic freedoms of choice and expression based on recognition of her individual personality. First, she is free to choose her religion. The Quran states:

“There is no compulsion in religion. Right has been made distinct from error.” (Quran 2:256)

Women are encouraged in Islam to contribute their opinions and ideas. There are many traditions of the Prophet which indicate that women would pose questions directly to him and offer their opinions concerning religion, economics and social matters.

A Muslim woman has full right to approve or deny a proposal of marriage, and her name is to be kept after marriage. A Muslim woman’s testimony is valid in legal disputes. In fact, where women are more familiar, their evidence is conclusive.

Social Rights
The Prophet said:

“Seeking knowledge is a mandate for every Muslim (male and female).” (At-Tirmidhi)

This includes knowledge of the Quran and the Hadeeth as well as other types of knowledge. Men and women both have the capacity for learning and understanding. Since it is also their obligation to promote good behavior and condemn bad behavior in all spheres of life, Muslim women must acquire the appropriate education to perform this duty in accordance with their own natural talents and interests.

While bearing, raising and the teaching of children, and providing support to her husband and maintenance of a home are among the first, and very highly regarded, roles for a woman, if she has the skills to work outside the home for the good of the community, she may do, so as long as her family obligations are met.

Islam recognizes and fosters the natural differences between men and women despite their equality. Some types of work are more suitable for men and other types for women. This in no way diminishes either’s efforts or benefits. God will reward both sexes equally for the value of their work, through, it may not necessarily be the same activity.

Concerning motherhood, the Prophet said:

“Heaven lies under her feet.” (An-Nasai)

This implies that the success of a society can be traced to the mothers who raised it. The first and greatest influence on a person comes from the sense of security, affection, and training received from the mother. Therefore, a woman having children must be educated and conscientious in order to be a skillful parent.

Political Rights
A right given to Muslim women by God 1400 years ago is the right to vote. On any public matter, a woman may voice her opinion and participate in politics. One example, as narrated in the Quran (60:12), where Muhammad is told that when the believing women come to him and swear their allegiance to Islam, he must accept their oath. This established the right of women to select their leader and publicly declare so. Finally, Islam does not forbid a woman from holding important positions in government which suit her role as a woman. Abdurrahman Ibn Affan consulted many women before he recommended Uthman Ibn Affan to be the Caliph.

Economic Rights
The Quran states:

“By the creation of the male and female; Verily, (the ends) you strive for are diverse.” (Quran 92:3-4)

In these verses, God declares that He created men and women to be different, with unique roles, functions and skills. As in society, where there is a division of labor, so too in a family, each member has different responsibilities. Generally, Islam upholds that women are entrusted with the nurturing role, and men, with the guardian role. Therefore, women are given the right of financial support.

The Quran states:

“Men are the maintainers of women because God has made some of them to excel others and because they spend of their wealth (for the support of women).” (Quran 4:34)

This guardianship and greater financial responsibility given to men requires that they provide women with not only monetary support but also physical protection and kind respectful treatment.

Muslim women have the privilege to earn money, the right to own property, to enter into legal contracts and to manage all of her assets in any way she pleases. She can run her own business and no one has any claim on her earnings, including her husband.

The Quran states:

“And in no wise covet those things in which God hath bestowed His gifts more freely on some of you than on others; to men is allotted what they earn, and to women, what they earn; but ask God of His bounty for God hath full knowledge of all things.” (Quran 4:32)

A woman inherits from her relatives. The Quran states:

“For men there is a share in what parents and relatives leave, and for women there is a share of what parents and relatives leave, whether it be little or much – an ordained share.” (Quran 4:7)
Rights of a Wife
The Quran states:

“And among His signs is that He created for you mates from among yourselves that you may live in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between you; Verily, in that are signs for people who reflect.” (Quran 30:21)

Marriage is therefore not just a physical or emotional necessity but, in fact, a sign from God! It is a relationship of mutual rights and obligations based on divine guidance. God created men and women with complimentary natures and, in the Quran, He laid out a system of laws to support harmonious interaction between the sexes.

“…They are your garments and you are their garments….” (Quran 2:187)

Clothing provides physical protection and covers the beauty and faults of the body. Likewise, a spouse is viewed this way. Each protects the other and hides the faults and compliments the characteristics of the spouse. To foster the love and security that comes with marriage, Muslim wives have various rights. The first of the wife’s rights is to receive mahr, a gift from the husband, which is part of the marriage contract and required for the legality of the marriage.

The second right of a wife is maintenance. Despite any wealth she may have, her husband is obligated to provide her with food, shelter and clothing. He is not forced, however, to spend beyond his capability and his wife is not entitled to make unreasonable demands. The Quran states:

“Let the man of means spend according to his means, and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend according to what God has given him. God puts no burden on any person beyond what He has given him.” (Quran 65:7)

God tells us men are guardians over women and are afforded the leadership in the family. His responsibility for obeying God extends to guiding his family to obey God at all times.

A wife’s rights also extend beyond material needs. She has the right to kind treatment. The Prophet said:

“The most perfect believers are the best in conduct. And the best of you are those who are the best to their wives.”

God tells us He created mates and put love, mercy and tranquility between them.

Both men and women have a need for companionship and sexual needs, and marriage is designed to fulfill those needs. For one spouse to deny this satisfaction to the other, the temptation exists to seek it elsewhere.

Duties of a Wife
With rights come responsibilities. Therefore, wives have certain obligations to their husbands. The Quran states:

“…The good women in the absence of their husbands guard their rights as God has enjoined upon them to be guarded….”(Quran 4:34)

A wife is to keep her husband’s secrets and protect their marital privacy. Issues of intimacy of faults of his that would dishonor him, are not to be shared by the wife, just as he is expected to guard her honor.

A wife must also guard her husband’s property. She must safeguard his home and possessions, to the best of her ability, from theft or damage. She should manage the household affairs wisely so as to prevent loss or waste. She should not allow anyone to enter the house whom her husband dislikes nor incur any expenses of which her husband disapproves.

A Muslim woman must cooperate and coordinate with her husband. There cannot, however, be cooperation with a man who is disobedient to God. She should not fulfill his requests if he wants her to do something unlawful. A husband also should not take advantage of his wife, but be considerate of her needs and happiness.

Conclusion
The Quran states:

“And it becomes not for a believing man or a believing woman, when God and His Messenger have decided on an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair; and whoso is rebellious to God and His Messenger, he verily goes astray in error manifest.” (Quran 33:36)

The Muslim woman was given a role, duties and rights 1400 years ago that most women do not enjoy today, even in the West. These are from God and are designed to keep balance in society; what may seem unjust or missing in one place is compensated for or explained in another place. Islam is a complete way of life.

Answer 2

My my, quite the ignorant bunch today! Apparently not many people are educated properly about Islam and have construed the wrong idea (not surprisingly with a severly anti-Islamic media that is successfully convincing people with lies and mistruths, especially about Islam and Muslims). Read the list Syed Aleemuddin Noor typed. Islam gave women those rights 1400 years ago, many of which were just given to women in the west a century ago! Women had absolutely no rights in the Middle Ages. None at all! And who ran everything then? The CHURCH! Coincidence? Yes, Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. That doesn't mean everything they do is based on Islam, or that everything they do is permitted according to Islam! Where in the Qu'ran does it say that women cannot drive cars?? Where, idiot? Cars didn't even exist back then. Those laws were made by HUMANS, NOT by Islam, fool. If it was against Islam for women to drive cars, then all the Muslim women in the rest of the world wouldn't drive, and that is not the case! You are one ignorant buffoon. No, I feel sorry for YOU. Get a life. Get a grip. Get an education. Now I ask you this: Who are you kidding? Us or yourself?

Answer 3

The religion gives us women a lot of rights..the different cultures and countries take those rights away. Saudi Arabia is a good example of a country who does NOT practice the true Islam..they make their own laws and treat women like crap..but anyways..here are 12 basic rights given to women by Islam.

In a truely Islamic society women have the following rights in Islam:
1. The right and duty to obtain education.

2. The right to have their own independent property.

3. The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.

4. Equality of reward for equal deeds.

5. The right to express their opinion and be heard.

6. The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.

7. The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.

8. The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can't stand him. (pls note that God deeply frowns upon divorce as a solution unless there is hardly any other alternative but it does not mean that men have more right to divorce their wives than women do.)

9. The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).

10. The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.

11. custody of their children after divorce.

12. to refuse any marriage that does not please them

and more...

Answer 4

In a truely Islamic society women have the following rights in Islam:

1. The right and duty to obtain education.

2. The right to have their own independent property.

3. The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.

4. Equality of reward for equal deeds.

5. The right to express their opinion and be heard.

6. The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.

7. The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice.

8. The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can't stand him. (pls note that God deeply frowns upon divorce as a solution unless there is hardly any other alternative but it does not mean that men have more right to divorce their wives than women do.)

9. The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).

10. The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.

11. custody of their children after divorce.

12. to refuse any marriage that does not please them

Answer 5

I am a Muslim woman. I have been Muslim for four years. I am married and have 2 beautiful daughters. I drive. I attend college classes while my husband watches the baby. I go to lunch with my girlfriends while my husband works to pay the bills. I go shopping and spend all the money that he earns. I cover my hair, but it is by my own choice. I don't cover my face, though I have many American convert friends who do and it is by their own choice. I have the utmost respect for them. I began to cover my hair before I ever met my husband and my family is not even Muslim. It is a matter of modesty. Even men have certain areas that must be covered. Oh, and I'm up on the computer typing this at 1:30 in the morning while my husband and children sleep. I am more free than I ever was before I was Muslim and Islam liberated me. American women are only fooling themselves into thinking that this society sees them as equals. Just the other day Hilary Clinton (who I plan to vote for btw) was saying how women in this country only make $0.77 for every dollar that a man makes. Instead, they have to be sexually harrassed in the streets and if they don't look like hookers, then they're not sexy enough to perform their jobs well. Believe me, a woman who "sluts it up a little - or a lot" is much more likely to get a job than a more qualified woman who keeps her dignity. I remember this from when I was in the workforce. Thank God, I don't have to subject myself to this anymore because it is my husband's sole responsibility to provide for his family. So, I can work, but any money I make is mine to keep. Also, not even a couple hundred years ago, Christian men sat around and debated whether or not women go to Heaven! Islam clearly states that women go to Heaven. Why wouldn't they? BTW, it's not true that women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to go out wihtout a male chaperone. I know this because every Muslim (male or female) is required to go to Saudi Arabia once during their life to make Hajj (the pilgrimage), and while it is reccomended that husbands and wives stick together because otherwise it may take you all day to find one another again, there are certain times when the men and women separate (like during the prayers). So how can you be only with women during the prayer times AND be required to have a male chaperone? Anyways, Muslim women are not allowed to cover their faces during Hajj which shows that this is something that is not mandatory. Teena

Answer 6

Women are equal to men. They have a right to choose their spouse, obtain inheritance, and the right to divorce. This is such a controversial topic! Nowadays the rights of women in islam are taken away due to "cultural" laws, not ones with religious backing. You will get more info at the site posted.

Answer 7

read for yourself below but heck another question i get to use my thumbs down voting privoledges on those that would glorify islam

Answer 8

When I was in Saudi Arabia, I saw lots of women's rights. Sure, they are not allowed to go out without a male chaperone, and they are not allowed to talk with men, etc. However, they do have a great degree of freedom. For example, those black clothes that they MUST wear that cover their entire body and that are obviously hot and uncomfortable. They have complete choice over whether the face mask covers their eyes with a thin piece of black cloth or leaves the eyes uncovered. How is that for freedom for you? Who says that women don't have full rights?

Answer 9

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, can and will be used against you.

That would be considered light reading.

Answer 10

They have the right to remain silent....

Answer 11

islam is one of the most retarded religions ive heard of, and no one say im anti middle eastern considering im actually full middle eastern and can speak arabic as everyone else in my family can, i just hate islam lol