View source for Women in Islam

{{Short description|Women's role in Islamic culture}}
{{Very long |date=May 2023 |words=22,000}}
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{{Islam |culture |width=20.0em}}
{{Women in society sidebar |religion}}
[[File:Osman-hamdi-bey-girl-reciting-qu-ran-1880.jpg|thumb|''Girl Reciting the Qurān'' (''Kuran Okuyan Kız''), an 1880 painting by the Ottoman polymath [[Osman Hamdi Bey]], whose works often showed women engaged in educational activities<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.howtotalkaboutarthistory.com/artist-feature/artist-feature-osman-hamdi-bey/|title=Artist Feature: Who Was Osman Hamdi Bey?|date=April 27, 2017|website=How To Talk About Art History|access-date=June 13, 2018|archive-date=May 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521195002/http://www.howtotalkaboutarthistory.com/artist-feature/artist-feature-osman-hamdi-bey/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The experiences of [[Muslim]] [[women]] ({{Langx|ar|مسلمات}} ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies due to culture and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the world.<ref name="Siraj 2011">{{cite journal |last=Siraj |first=Asifa |date=October 2011 |title=Meanings of modesty and the hijab amongst Muslim women in Glasgow, Scotland |journal=[[Gender, Place & Culture|Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography]] |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=716–731 |doi=10.1080/0966369X.2011.617907 |issn=1360-0524 |s2cid=144326780 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=bodman>{{cite book|title=Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity Within Unity|editor=Herbert L. Bodman |editor2=Nayereh Esfahlani Tohidi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFzdA2Hini4C&pg=PA2|pages=2–3|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|year=1998|isbn=978-1-55587-578-7 }}</ref> At the same time, their adherence to [[Islam]] is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural, social, and economic differences between Muslim women.<ref name="Siraj 2011"/><ref name=bodman /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ibrahim|first1=I. A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgbVSWaX8KEC|title=A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam|last2=Abu-Harb|first2=Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim|date=1997|publisher=Darussalam|isbn=978-9960-34-011-1|language=en}}</ref>

Among the influences which have played an important role in defining the social, legal, spiritual, and cosmological status of women in the course of [[History of Islam|Islamic history]] are the [[Islamic holy books|sacred scriptures of Islam]]: the Quran;<ref name="Bouhdiba 2008">{{cite book |author-last=Bouhdiba |author-first=Abdelwahab |author-link=Abdelwahab Bouhdiba |year=2008 |chapter=The eternal and Islamic feminine |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIRsgQ5639oC&pg=PA19 |title=Sexuality in Islam |location=London and New York  |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |pages=19–30 |isbn=9780415439152}}</ref> the ''[[Hadith|ḥadīth]]'', which are traditions relating to the deeds and aphorisms attributed to the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]] and his [[Sahaba|companions]];<ref>{{cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|pages=141–143}}</ref> ''[[Ijma|ijmā']]'', which is a scholarly consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law;<ref name="Glassé 1989 182">{{cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=182}}</ref> ''[[Qiyas|qiyās]]'', the principle by which the laws of the Quran and the ''[[sunnah]]'' or prophetic custom are applied to situations not explicitly covered by these two sources of legislation;<ref>{{cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=325}}</ref> and ''[[Fatwa|fatwā]]'', non-binding published opinions or decisions regarding religious doctrine or points of law.

Additional influences include pre-Islamic cultural traditions; secular laws, which are fully accepted in Islam so long as they do not directly contradict Islamic precepts;<ref>{{cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|pages=121–122}}</ref> religious authorities, including government-controlled agencies such as the [[Indonesian Ulema Council]] and [[Turkey]]'s [[Presidency of Religious Affairs|Diyanet]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0427/p04s01-woeu.html|title=In Turkey, Muslim women gain expanded religious authority|last=Schleifer|first=Yigal|date=April 27, 2005|website=The Christian Science Monitor|access-date=June 10, 2015|archive-date=May 7, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507043011/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0427/p04s01-woeu.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and spiritual teachers, which are particularly prominent in Islamic mysticism or [[Sufism]]. Many of the latter, including the medieval Muslim philosopher [[Ibn Arabi]], have themselves produced texts that have elucidated the metaphysical symbolism of the feminine principle in Islam.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5|location=Albany|pages=188–202}}</ref>

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== Sources of law ==
There are four [[Sources of sharia|sources of law]] for Sunni jurists. The first two, the [[Quran]] and [[Hadith|''ḥadīth'' literature]] are considered primary sources, while the other two, ''[[Ijma|ijmā'<nowiki/>]]'' and ''[[Qiyas|qiyās]],'' are secondary. Additional or supplementary sources differ between various Muslim sects and [[Madhhab|schools of Islamic jurisprudence]]. Scholars who give ''[[Fatwa|fatwās]]'' and perform ''[[ijtihad]]'' may make use of these sources.<ref name="Motahhari, 1983">Motahhari, Morteza (1983). Jurisprudence and Its Principles, translator:Salman Tawhidi, {{ISBN|0-940368-28-5}}.</ref><ref name="Kamali, Mohammad Hashim 1991">Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Cambridge: Islamic Text Society, 1991. {{ISBN|0-946621-24-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/law/shariahintroduction.html |title=Shari'ah and Fiqh |work=USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts |publisher=University of Southern California |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918043205/http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/law/shariahintroduction.html |archive-date=September 18, 2008}}</ref>

=== Primary ===
[[File:Qur'an manuscript Surat al-Nisa'. (1).tif|thumb|A fragment of [[An-Nisa|Sūrat an-Nisā']]{{snd}}a chapter of Islam's sacred text entitled 'Women'{{snd}}featuring the Persian, Arabic, and Kufic scripts. Islam views men and women as equal before God, and the Quran underlines that man and woman were "created of a single soul" (4:1,<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 4: AN-NISA (Women) |url=http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/004-qmt.php|website=e=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement|date=May 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501064500/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/004-qmt.php|archive-date=May 1, 2015}}</ref> 39:6<ref>{{cite web |title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 39: AZ-ZUMAR (The Troops, Throngs) |url=http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/039-qmt.php |website=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement |access-date=July 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820051800/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/039-qmt.php |archive-date=August 20, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and elsewhere).<ref name="Jawad 1998 85–86">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|pages=85–86}}</ref>]]
Within [[Sunni Islam]], women are provided a number of guidelines prescribed by the [[Quran]] and [[Hadith|''ḥadīth'' literature]], as understood by ''[[fiqh]]'' (Islamic jurisprudence), as well as under the interpretations derived from the ''ḥadīth'' that were agreed upon by the majority of [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[Ulama|Muslim scholars]] as authentic beyond doubt based on [[Hadith studies|''ḥadīth'' studies]].<ref name="yvon">Haddad and Esposito, (1998), Islam, Gender, and Social Change, Oxford University Press, {{pp.|xii|xx}}.</ref><ref>Stowasser, B. F. (1994). Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation. Oxford University Press</ref> The Quran holds that men and women have equal [[moral agency]] and they both receive equal rewards in the [[Afterlife#Islam|afterlife]].<ref>{{cite book|editor=Mustafa Shah and Muhammad Abdel Haleem|title=The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studies|chapter=Women and the Qur'an|author=Asma Afsaruddin|year=2020|quote=this Qur'anic verse took an unequivocal position: women and men have equal moral and spiritual agency in their quest for the good and righteous life in this world for which they reap identical rewards in the afterlife.|page=527|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> These interpretations and their application were shaped by the historical context of the Muslim world at the time they were written.<ref name="yvon" />

During his life, [[Muhammad's wives|Muhammad married nine or eleven women]], depending upon the differing accounts of who were his wives. In [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|pre-Islamic]] [[Arab culture|Arabian culture]], marriage was generally contracted in accordance with the larger needs of the tribe and was based on the need to form alliances within the tribe and with other tribes. [[Virginity]] at the time of marriage was emphasized as a tribal honor.<ref>Amira Sonbol, ''Rise of Islam: 6th to 9th century'', Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures</ref> [[William Montgomery Watt]] states that all of Muhammad's marriages had the political aspect of strengthening friendly relationships and were based on the pre-Islamic Arabian custom.<ref>Watt (1956), {{p.|287}}.</ref>

==== Al-Nisa' ====
{{Main|Al-Nisa'}}
''Women'' (Arabic: ''Sūrat an-Nisāʼ'')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sacred-texts.com//isl/pick/004.htm |title=The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 4. an-Nisa': Women |publisher=Sacred-texts.com |access-date=2016-05-24 |archive-date=November 8, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011108201633/http://www.sacred-texts.com//isl/pick/004.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> is the [[List of chapters in the Quran|fourth chapter]] of the Quran. The title of the [[surah]] derives from the numerous references to women throughout the chapter,<ref name="Haleem, M. A. S 2008">Haleem, M. A. S. Abdel. ''The Qur'an''. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.</ref> including verses 4:34<ref name="Quran 4 U">{{cite web |url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/004%20Nisa.htm |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Surah Al Nisa |work=Quran 4 U |author=Ibn Kathir |publisher=[[Tafsir]] |access-date=December 27, 2019 |author-link=Ibn Kathir |archive-date=April 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430211757/http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/004%20Nisa.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|4:34}} and 4:127—4:130.<ref name="Quran 4 U" />{{rp|4:127–130}}

=== Secondary ===
The above primary sources of influence on  women of Islam may not deal with every single conceivable situation over time. This led to the development of jurisprudence and religious schools with Islamic scholars that referred to resources such as identifying authentic documents, internal discussions, and establishing a consensus to find the correct religiously approved course of action for Muslims.<ref name="Motahhari, 1983" /><ref name="Kamali, Mohammad Hashim 1991" /> These formed the secondary sources of influence for women. Among them are ''[[Ijma|ijmā']]'', ''[[Qiyas|qiyās]]'', ''[[ijtihad]]'', and others, depending on the [[Islamic schools and branches|sect]] and the corresponding [[Madhhab|schools of Islamic law]]. Included in secondary sources are the ''[[Fatwa|fatwā]]'', which are often widely distributed, orally or in writing by Muslim clerics, to the masses in the local language and describe behavior, roles, and rights of women that conform to religious requirements. ''Fatwa'' are theoretically non-binding, but seriously considered and have often been practiced by most Muslims. The secondary sources classify the lawful and unlawful behaviors of Muslim men and women, which typically fall into the [[Ahkam|five categories]] (''al-ahkam al-khamsa''): ''[[wajib]]/[[fard]]'' (obligatory), ''[[mustahabb]]/mandub'' (recommended), ''[[mubah]]'' (neutral), ''[[makruh]]'' (disapproved), and ''[[haram]]'' (forbidden).<ref name=CampoEoI>{{cite book|last1=Campo|first1=Juan Eduardo|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|year=2009|location=New York |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing]]|page=284|isbn=9781438126968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC&q=Makruh+haram+halal&pg=PA284|access-date=July 8, 2014}}</ref> There is considerable controversy, change over time, and conflict between the secondary sources.<ref>Agrama, H. A. (2010). "Ethics, tradition, authority: Toward an anthropology of the fatwa". ''American Ethnologist'', 37(1), {{pp.|2|18}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Romirowsky | first1 = Asaf | year = 2007 | title = Fatwa Rules to Live By | journal = Political Studies Review | volume = 19 | issue = 1/2| pages = 174–176 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hosen | first1 = N | year = 2004 | title = Behind the scenes: fatwas of Majelis Ulama Indonesia (1975–1998) | journal = Journal of Islamic Studies | volume = 15 | issue = 2| pages = 147–179 | doi=10.1093/jis/15.2.147}}</ref>

== Gender roles ==
{{Main|Gender roles in Islam}}
[[File:Battle of the Camel by Mirkhwand.jpg|thumb|A fifteenth-century Persian miniature depicting the Battle of the Camel, a decisive encounter between the troops of the fourth caliph [[Ali|'Alī]], and an opposing army rallied by Muḥammad's wife, Āʿisha.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London, England|page=29}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Asma Sayeed|title=Camel, Battle of the |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e1000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021041521/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e1000|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In the aftermath of Alī's victory, Āʿisha withdrew from politics. Traditionalists have used this episode to argue that women should not play an active political role, while modernists have held up Āʿisha's legacy in arguing for gender equity in the Islamic tradition.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Ghazala Anwar|title= ʿĀʿishah |encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e1009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021040641/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e1009|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 21, 2020|url-access=subscription }}</ref>]]

Gender roles in Islam are simultaneously colored by two Quranic precepts: (i) spiritual equality between women and men; (ii) the idea that women are meant to exemplify femininity and men masculinity, but that neither is superior in the eyes of [[Allah]] except in moral righteousness and actions.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last = Eaton|first = Gai|publisher = The [[Islamic Texts Society]]|year = 2000|isbn = 978-0-946621-84-2|location = Cambridge, England|page= 91}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kharroub |first=Tamara |date=2024-06-06 |title=Five things you need to know about women in Islam: Implications for advancing women's rights in the Middle East |url=https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-women-in-islam-implications-for-advancing-womens-rights-in-the-middle-east/#:~:text=In%20the%20Qur'an%20(Qur,their%20moral%20choices%20and%20piety. |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Arab Center Washington, DC |language=en-US |archive-date=November 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241105033206/https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-women-in-islam-implications-for-advancing-womens-rights-in-the-middle-east/#:~:text=In%20the%20Qur'an%20(Qur,their%20moral%20choices%20and%20piety. |url-status=live }}</ref>

Spiritual equality between women and men is detailed in [[Al-Aḥzāb|Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (33:35)]]:<ref name="Nasr 2004 125">{{Cite book|title = The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last = Nasr|first = Seyyed Hossein|publisher = HarperOne|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-06-073064-2|location = New York|page = 125}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Verily, the Muslims: men and women, the believers: men and women, the Qanit: men and the women, the men and women who are truthful, the men and the women who are patient, the Khashi`: men and the women, the men and the women who give Sadaqat, the men and the women who fast, the men and the women who guard their chastity and the men and the women who remember Allah much with their hearts and tongues, Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward.<ref name="Quran 4 U3">{{cite web|url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/033%20Ahzab.htm|title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Surah Al Ahzab|work=Quran 4 U|author=Ibn Kathir|publisher=[[Tafsir]]|access-date=26 December 2019|author-link=Ibn Kathir|archive-date=April 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430211556/http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/033%20Ahzab.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|33:35}}}}

Islam's basic view of women and men postulates a complementarity of functions: like everything else in the universe, humanity has been created in a pair (Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt, 51:49)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/051-qmt.php|title=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement|date=July 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704231846/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/051-qmt.php|archive-date=July 4, 2015}}</ref>{{snd}}neither can be complete without the other.<ref name="Murata 1992 14">{{Cite book|title = The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last = Murata|first = Sachiko|publisher = [[State University of New York Press]]|year = 1992|isbn = 978-0-7914-0914-5|location = Albany|page = 14}}</ref> "In Islamic cosmological thinking, the universe is perceived as an equilibrium built on harmonious polar relationships between the pairs that make up all things.<ref name="Murata 1992 14" /> Moreover, all outward phenomena are reflections of inward [[Noumenon|noumena]] and ultimately of God."<ref name="Murata 1992 14" />

The emphasis that Islam places upon the feminine/masculine polarity (and therefore complementarity) results in a separation of social functions.<ref name="Eaton 2000 92">{{Cite book|title = Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last = Eaton|first = Gai|publisher = The [[Islamic Texts Society]]|year = 2000|isbn = 978-0-946621-84-2|location = Cambridge, England|pages = [https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/92 92]|url = https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/92}}</ref> In general, a woman's sphere of operation is the home in which she is the dominant figure{{snd}}and a man's corresponding sphere is the outside world.<ref name="Eaton 2000 93">{{Cite book|title = Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last = Eaton|first = Gai|publisher = The Islamic Texts Society|year = 2000|isbn = 978-0-946621-84-2|location = Cambridge, England|pages = [https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/93 93]|url = https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/93}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Khalid |first=Umm |date=2023-11-29 |title=Understanding Why Women Belong in the Home |url=https://muslimskeptic.com/2023/11/29/women-home/ |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Muslim Skeptic |language=en-US |archive-date=September 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922214854/https://muslimskeptic.com/2023/11/29/women-home/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  Women are highly respected in many aspects of domestic life such as being praised for their knowledge as ritual specialists, healers, caretakers, and those who arrange marriages in their community.<ref name=":20" />

However, this separation is not, in practice, as rigid as it appears.<ref name="Eaton 2000 92" /> There are many examples{{snd}}both in the early history of Islam and in the contemporary world{{snd}}of Muslim women who have played prominent roles in public life, including being [[Sultana (title)|sultanas]], [[#Politics|queens]], [[#Politics|elected heads of state]], and [[#Female employment|wealthy businesswomen]]. Moreover, it is important to recognize that in Islam, home and family are firmly situated at the centre of life in this world and of society: a man's work cannot take precedence over the private realm.<ref name="Eaton 2000 93" /><ref name=":1" />

The Quran dedicates numerous verses and surahs to Muslim women: their roles, duties, and rights; such as [[An-Nisa]] ("The Women") and [[Maryam (surah)|Maryam]], named after [[Mary in Islam|Mary.]]

Women hold an honored and significant role in Islam, both spiritually and socially. Islam emphasizes the equality of men and women in their relationship with God. The Qur'an clearly states, ''"Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women... for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward"'' (Qur'an 33:35). This highlights that both genders are equal in their responsibilities and rewards for faith and good deeds.

=== Dress code ===
{{Main|Islam and clothing|Intimate parts in Islam}}{{See also|Islamic feminist views on dress codes|Iranian protests against compulsory hijab}}
[[File:PLATE8CX.jpg|thumb|left|Early costumes of [[Arab people|Arab]] women]]
Modesty ([[Haya (Islam)|Haya]]) is a religious prescription in Islam: the Quran commands both men and women to dress modestly and not display their bodies, and Muhammad asserted that modesty is a central character trait in Islam.<ref name="Nasr 2004 195">{{Cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|page=195}}</ref> Traditional dress for Muslim men has typically covered at least the head and the area between the waist and the knees, while women's Islamic dress is to conceal the hair and the body from the ankles to the neck.<ref name="MarzelStiebel2014">{{cite book |last1=Marzel |first1=Shoshana-Rose |last2=Stiebel |first2=Guy D. |title=Dress and Ideology: Fashioning Identity from Antiquity to the Present |date= 2014 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-4725-5809-1 |page=98 |language=en |quote=A believing Muslim woman will not wear pants (''bantalon'') for two reasons. Firstly, pants might reflect the contours of limbs that are supposed to remain hidden. Secondly, items of clothing associated with men are off limits, just as men are forbidden to wear women's clothing. According to the Prophet, Allah curses the woman who dresses in clothing meant for men, and the man who wears clothing meant for women.}}</ref> Some Muslim women also [[Burqa|cover their faces]], although the majority of Muslims agree it is not mandatory.<ref name="oxford">{{cite web |last1=Cooney |first1=Mark |title=Honor Cultures and Violence |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0160.xml |website=Oxford Bibliographies |access-date=5 May 2020 |language=en |archive-date=1 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601010412/https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0160.xml |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the specific context of women, the Quran at 24:31<ref name="usc.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/024-qmt.php|title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 24: AL-NOOR (The Light)|work=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818132125/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/024-qmt.php|archive-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref> speaks of covering women's "ornaments" from strangers outside the family.<ref name="Glassé 1989 413">{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=413}}</ref> This type of behaviour is commonly seen by Islamic scholars and the broader Muslim public alike as emblematic of a state of spiritual ignorance (''al-Jāhiliyyah'').

All orthodox schools of Sharia law prescribe covering the body in public: specifically, to the neck, the ankles, and below the elbow.<ref name="Glassé 1989 413" /> However, none of the traditional legal systems actually stipulate that women must wear a veil:<ref name="Glassé 1989 413" /> It is only the wives of Muḥammad who are instructed to wear this article of clothing (33:59).<ref name="usc.edu"/><ref name="Glassé 1989 413" />

On the basis of the injunction to be modest, various forms of dress were developed in different parts of the Islamic world, but some forms of dress were carryovers from earlier, pre-Islamic Near Eastern societies: Ancient Greek women veiled themselves, in fact the practice of veiling is believed to originate from Ancient Greece,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Story Behind the Veils {{!}} ONE Magazine |url=https://cnewa.org/magazine/the-story-behind-the-veils-30267/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=CNEWA |language=en-US |archive-date=November 30, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130081247/https://cnewa.org/magazine/the-story-behind-the-veils-30267/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the practice of women covering their hair was the norm in the earlier communities of Jews and Christians.<ref name="Nasr 2004 195" /> The iconography of the Virgin Mary in Christian art always shows her with her hair covered, and this convention was followed into the modern era by both Georgian and Armenian Christians, in addition to [[Mizrahi Jews|Oriental Jewish]] women; Catholic women would not go to church without covering their heads until well into the twentieth-century.<ref name="Nasr 2004 195" /> The covering of the hair was taken by women to be a natural part of life as a sign of modesty and especially as a sign of respect before God.<ref name="Nasr 2004 195" />

Historically, the [[awrah]] for a slave woman during the [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|era of slavery in the Muslim world]], who according to Islamic law was [[Slavery in Islam|a non-Muslim]], was different than that of the awrah of a free Muslim woman. The awrah of a female slave was defined as being between her navel and her knee.<ref name="auto3">Anchassi, O. (2021). Status Distinctions and Sartorial Difference: Slavery, Sexual Ethics, and the Social Logic of Veiling in Islamic Law. Islamic Law and Society, 28(3), 125-155. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685195-bja10008</ref> Consequently, slave women during the era of slavery in the Muslim world did not wear the hijab, and could be displayed with a bare chest.<ref name="auto3"/>

[[File:Women at a cafeteria in Istanbul.jpg|thumb|Women in an [[Istanbul]] cafeteria]]
[[File:HK Sai Ying Pun Third Street near Centre Street Indonesia clothing visitors view Escalators Apr-2013.JPG|thumb|Indonesian women in Hong Kong]]
[[File:Young muslim woman in the Thar desert near Jaisalmer, India.jpg|thumb|A young Muslim woman in the [[Thar desert]] near [[Jaisalmer]], India. Veils are also known traditionally to provide [[Sun protective clothing|sun protection]].]]
In the twenty-first century, there continues to be tremendous variance in how Muslim women dress, not least because the Islamic world is so geographically and culturally diverse. Laws passed in states (such as laïcist [[Secularism in Turkey|Turkey]] and [[Secularism in Tunisia|Tunisia]]) with twentieth-century Westernization campaigns—which mandated that women wear "modern", Western-style clothing—have been relaxed in recent years;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131011-hijab-ban-turkey-islamic-headscarf-ataturk/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011184624/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131011-hijab-ban-turkey-islamic-headscarf-ataturk/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 11, 2013|title=Why Turkey Lifted Its Ban on the Islamic Headscarf|last=Smith|first=Roff|date=October 12, 2013|website=National Geographic|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21925753|title=Tunisia: Can niqabs and bikinis live side-by-side?|date=March 27, 2013|work=BBC News|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=November 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117055428/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21925753|url-status=live}}</ref> similarly, the end of communism in [[Islam in Albania|Albania]] and the Yugoslav republics also meant an end to highly restrictive secular apparel legislation.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/rise-of-bosnian-mayor-with-a-head-scarf-challenging-assumptions-about-islam/2013/03/09/1d85bab8-7c4d-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_story.html|title=Rise of Bosnian mayor with a head scarf challenging assumptions about Islam|last=Birnbaum|first=Michael|date=March 9, 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=August 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822045515/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/rise-of-bosnian-mayor-with-a-head-scarf-challenging-assumptions-about-islam/2013/03/09/1d85bab8-7c4d-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, it is now legal for women in these countries to wear clothes suggesting a modern Islamic identity—such as the headscarf colloquially known as the ḥijāb—in public, though not necessarily in all public institutions or offices of state.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/10/turkey-lifts-decades-old-ban-headscarves-201310814177943704.html|title=Turkey lifts decades-old ban on headscarves|date=October 8, 2013|work=Al Jazeera|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=September 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923125057/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/10/turkey-lifts-decades-old-ban-headscarves-201310814177943704.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/02/hijab-wearing-women-react-bosnia-court-ban-160202133259025.html|title=Hijab-wearing women react to Bosnia court ban|last=Gadzo|first=Mersiha|date=February 4, 2016|work=Al Jazeera|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=June 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613142043/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/02/hijab-wearing-women-react-bosnia-court-ban-160202133259025.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Conversely, in a handful of states—notably Shia Iran—with modernist fundamentalist regimes, dress codes which became mandatory in the latter part of the twentieth-century, stipulating that women wear exclusively "religious", as opposed to "secular", garments in public are still in force.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://qz.com/326086/the-places-in-the-world-that-have-a-burqa-ban/|title=The places in the world that have a burqa ban|last=Kozlowska|first=Hanna|date=January 14, 2015|website=Quartz|publisher=Atlantic Media|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=July 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713121153/http://qz.com/326086/the-places-in-the-world-that-have-a-burqa-ban/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, these countries are both theologically and culturally atypical within the Islamic world: Iran is the world's only Shī'a revolutionary state<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims, 2016|last=Schleifer|first=Professor S Abdallah|publisher=The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre|year=2015<!--|isbn=978-9975-428-37-2-->|location=Amman|page=31}}</ref> and in none of the others do the same restrictions on women's clothing in public apply, as the overwhelming majority of Muslim-majority countries have no laws mandating the public wearing of either secular or religious apparel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/09/22/168064.html|title=Bikinis and hijabs contrast on Albanian beach|date=September 22, 2011|work=Al Arabiya News|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821132628/https://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/09/22/168064.html|archive-date=August 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/06/lebanon-where-the-bikini-finds-sisterhood-with-the-hijab/|title=Lebanon: Where the Bikini Finds Sisterhood With the Hijab|last=Alami|first=Mona|date=June 2, 2010|work=Inter Press Service News Agency|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=August 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818031824/http://www.ipsnews.net/2010/06/lebanon-where-the-bikini-finds-sisterhood-with-the-hijab/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://en.abna24.com/service/africa/archive/2015/06/24/697052/story.html|title=Morocco Bans Poster Calling on Tourists not to Wear Bikinis in Ramadan|date=June 24, 2015|work=Ahlulbayt (a.s.) News Agency|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801090028/https://en.abna24.com/service/africa/archive/2015/06/24/697052/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2018 study done by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, Muslim American women were, "the most likely" when compared to other domestic religious communities to, "wear a visible symbol that makes their faith identity known to others."<ref name=":22">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2018-full-report/|title=American Muslim Poll 2018: Full Report {{!}} ISPU|date=April 30, 2018|work=Institute for Social Policy and Understanding|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=April 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405095344/https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2018-full-report/|url-status=live}}</ref> Of the Muslim women surveyed by ISPU, 46% say they wear a visible symbol to mark their faith in public all the time (this includes the hijab), 19% some of the time, and 35% none of the time. The study did not find there to be any significant age or race difference.<ref name=":22" />

The question of why Muslim women wear the hijab is still met with a variety of responses by Muslim American women, including the most popular, "piety and to please God" (54%), "so others know they are Muslim" (21%), and "for modesty" (12%). Only 1% said they wore it, "because a family member or spouse required it".<ref name=":22" />

==== Clothing materials ====
[[File:Young Muslim Woman on Street - Sylhet - Bangladesh (12968288153).jpg|thumb|A [[Bengalis|Bengali]] woman wearing a pink [[niqab]]]]

===== Silk =====
According to all schools of Islamic law, only women are permitted to wear pure silken garments next to the skin, although the schools of law differ about almost every other detail concerning silk, such as the permissibility of men wearing silk mixed with other fibers.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Islamic Arts|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan|publisher=Phaidon Press Limited|year=1997|isbn=978-0-7148-3176-3|location=London, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/islamicarts00bloo/page/84 84]|url=https://archive.org/details/islamicarts00bloo/page/84}}</ref> In Islamic tradition, silk is strongly associated with Heaven.<ref name=":6" /> The Quran speaks in several places of the sumptuous fabrics to be enjoyed by the virtuous in Paradise: their garments will be made of silk (22:23<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://al-quran.info/|title=The Quran|author1=Iman Mohammad Kashi|author2=Uwe Hideki Matzen|author3=Online Quran Project|website=The Quran|access-date=June 13, 2017|archive-date=January 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129090725/http://al-quran.info/|url-status=live}}</ref> and 35:33),<ref name="auto1"/> and they will recline on carpets lined with rich brocade (55:54).<ref name="auto1"/><ref name=":6" />

'''Gold'''

Similarly, Sharia law requires that only women wear gold ornaments, such as jewelry.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=140}}</ref> The intention behind this distinction is to help men maintain a state of sobriety, reserve, concentration, and spiritual poverty (the "perfections of the centre"),<ref name=":7" /> while women, who symbolize unfolding, infinitude, and manifestation, are not bound by the same constraints.<ref name=":7" />

==== Public versus private appearance ====
Clothing such as [[Hijab|ḥijābs]], [[Chador|chādors]], and [[burqa]]s are typically worn in public only. 32% of countries in the European Union have bans on traditional Muslim headgear for women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justiceinitiative.org/publications/restrictions-muslim-women-s-dress-28-eu-member-states|title=Restrictions on Muslim Women's Dress in the 27 EU Member States and the United Kingdom|website=www.justiceinitiative.org|language=en|date=March 2022|access-date=November 5, 2019|archive-date=October 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022013417/https://www.justiceinitiative.org/publications/restrictions-muslim-women-s-dress-28-eu-member-states|url-status=live}}</ref> Bans differ in enforcement, penalty for violation, and details of what type of headgear is considered "publicly acceptable" in countries with these bans in place.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/en/where-are-burqa-bans-in-europe/a-49843292|title=Where are 'burqa bans' in Europe?|date=August 1, 2019|publisher=Deutsche Welle|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-07|archive-date=March 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210317120136/https://www.dw.com/en/where-are-burqa-bans-in-europe/a-49843292|url-status=live}}</ref> The United Nations Human Rights Committee has publicly condemned these bans due to their infringement of rights of women dressing a certain way for religious purposes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ijrcenter.org/2018/11/14/un-human-rights-committee-condemns-burqa-ban-countering-european-court/|title=UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE CONDEMNS "BURQA BAN," COUNTERING EUROPEAN COURT|date=November 14, 2018|website=International Justice Resource Center|access-date=November 7, 2019|archive-date=May 26, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526221722/https://ijrcenter.org/2018/11/14/un-human-rights-committee-condemns-burqa-ban-countering-european-court/|url-status=live}}</ref> Muslim European women, specifically, have noted that their public wearing of Islamic headgear has posed obstacles when it comes to gaining employment.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web|url=https://www.enar-eu.org/IMG/pdf/factsheet9-european_lr_1_.pdf|title=Forgotten women: the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women|website=european network against racism|access-date=November 7, 2019|archive-date=March 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220307214031/http://www.enar-eu.org/IMG/pdf/factsheet9-european_lr_1_.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is common for women to wear [[Western culture|Western]]-style clothing in private. Global fashion retail chains including [[Zara (retailer)|Zara]] and [[Victoria's Secret]] have branches in [[OIC]] member states such as [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.zara.com/sa/|title=Zara Saudi Arabia – Official Website|publisher=Zara España, S.A.|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=June 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623223733/http://www.zara.com/sa/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.arabianbusiness.com/victoria-s-secret-opens-new-stores-in-saudi-bahrain-412662.html#.V3W2qiMrLfY|title=Victoria's Secret opens new stores in Saudi, Bahrain|last=Broomhall|first=Elizabeth|date=July 27, 2011|work=arabianbusiness.com|access-date=July 1, 2016|archive-date=August 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816050056/http://www.arabianbusiness.com/victoria-s-secret-opens-new-stores-in-saudi-bahrain-412662.html#.V3W2qiMrLfY|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Religious objections to the modern ḥijāb ====

From the 1920s to the 1970s, the use of what is often referred to as the "veil"—this term could mean anything from a face veil to a shawl loosely draped over the head—declined until only a minority of Muslim women outside the conservative societies of the [[Arabian Peninsula]] still used it.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World|last=Robinson|first=Francis|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-521-66993-1|location=Cambridge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/204 204]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/204}}</ref>

The Sorbonne-educated Franco-Bosnian academic [[Jasna Šamić]] has said that the term "ḥijāb" does not have any connection with the noun or concept of "headscarf": "The expression hijab in the Koran means 'the veil hiding God'. In other words, one can never see and get to know God, because our intellect is too weak [to fully comprehend him]."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/the-hijab-to-wear-or-not-wear.html|title=The hijab: To wear or not to wear?|last=Šamić|first=Jasna|date=March 4, 2016|work=The Jakarta Post|access-date=June 26, 2017|archive-date=August 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820074637/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/04/the-hijab-to-wear-or-not-wear.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other analysts have pointed out that the Quranic verse most cited in defense of the ḥijāb (Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, 33:59)<ref name="auto1"/> does not mention this article of clothing at all; instead, it references a "long, overflowing gown" which was the traditional dress at the time of this revelation.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/|title=As Muslim women, we actually ask you not to wear the hijab in the name of interfaith solidarity|last=Nomani|first=Asra Q.|date=December 21, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 26, 2017|archive-date=March 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308100340/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Effect of globalization on Muslim women's couture ====
[[File:Sahabat (5761248957).jpg|thumb|Two Malaysian women wearing contrasting styles of clothing: the (post-)modern ''[[hijab]]'' on the one hand (left), and a variant of the traditional Islamic ''[[kebaya]]'' blouse-shirt combination on the other. The kebaya is derived from the Arabic ''[[abaya]]'' (meaning "clothing") and is the national female dress of Indonesia.]]

The fashion media sector within the Muslim world for both Western and Islamic fashion has grown tremendously since the 1990s. Local editions of magazines from Marie Claire to Cosmopolitan are now published in a wide range of OIC member states, including Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia, while fashion magazines specifically targeted at more overtly religious demographics are flourishing: the Turkish title Âlâ is reportedly outselling both Vogue and Elle within its home market,<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/11/turkish-womens-magazine-searches-for-intersection-of-islam-and-fashion/248804/|title = Turkish Women's Magazine Searches for Intersection of Islam and Fashion|last = Letsch|first = Constanze|date = November 21, 2011|work = The Atlantic|access-date = July 9, 2015|archive-date = July 9, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150709202629/http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/11/turkish-womens-magazine-searches-for-intersection-of-islam-and-fashion/248804/|url-status = live}}</ref> while Aquila Style claims a total circulation of 30,000 in three [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]] states.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://islaminindonesia.com/2013/12/19/1349/|title = Aquila: Magazine for 'Asian Cosmopolitan Muslim Women'?|date = December 19, 2013|access-date = July 9, 2015|website = Islam in Indonesia: A resource of Islam in the archipelago|last = Aqsha|first = Darul|archive-date = July 10, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150710024606/http://islaminindonesia.com/2013/12/19/1349/|url-status = dead}}</ref>

The 2014–15 Thomson Reuters State of the Global Islamic Economy Report forecasted that expenditure on clothing in OIC member states would reach US$484&nbsp;billion by 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/export/sites/trade/files/news/342150121095027/342150121095027_1.pdf|title = State of the Global Islamic Economy 2014–2015 Report|access-date = July 9, 2015|publisher = Thomson Reuters in collaboration with DinarStandard|archive-date = July 10, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150710011048/http://www.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/export/sites/trade/files/news/342150121095027/342150121095027_1.pdf|url-status = live}}</ref>

=== Family ===
With the coming of the Quranic revelation, the family replaced the tribe as the basic unit of Arab society, and today the family is still the primary means of social organization in the Islamic world.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|page=183}}</ref> As in many other traditional societies, the family in Muslim-majority countries is not restricted to the nuclear model solely consisting of parents and children, but is instead typically made up of a larger extended family network which includes grandparents, uncles, aunts, in-laws and cousins.<ref name=":17" />

==== Pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding ====
{{blockquote|Mothers shall suckle their children for two whole years; (that is) for those who wish to complete the suckling. The duty of feeding and clothing nursing mothers in a seemly manner is upon the father of the child. No-one should be charged beyond his capacity. A mother should not be made to suffer because of her child, nor should he to whom the child is born (be made to suffer) because of his child. And on the (father's) heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on the father). If they desire to wean the child by mutual consent and (after) consultation, it is no sin for them; and if ye wish to give your children out to nurse, it is no sin for you, provide that ye pay what is due from you in kindness. Observe your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is Seer of what ye do. (Al-Quran 2:233)}}

Muḥammad stated that if a woman dies in childbirth, she is counted as a martyr.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Eaton |first=Charles le Gai |url=https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/88 |title=Remembering God: Reflections on Islam |publisher=Islamic Texts Society |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-946621-84-2 |location=Cambridge, England |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/88 88]}}</ref>

==== Motherhood ====
A famous hadith of Muḥammad states that "Heaven lies under the feet of mothers",<ref name=":19">{{Cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|page=191}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last=Eaton|first=Charles le Gai|publisher=Islamic Texts Society|year=2000|isbn=978-0-946621-84-2|location=Cambridge, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/95 95]|url=https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/95}}</ref> and accordingly—and like all traditional systems—Islam has honored the work of homemaker and mother as being of the highest value.<ref name=":19" /> While there is nothing in Islamic teachings that precludes women from working and receiving wages,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|page=193}}</ref> as per Seyyed Hossein Nasr's ''The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity'', "Islamic society has never thought that working in an office is of a higher order of importance than bringing up one's children."<ref name=":19" />

=== Gender segregation ===
{{Main|Islam and gender segregation}}
{{See also |Mosque|Women's mosques|Islamic Bill of Rights for Women in the Mosque|Harem}}
{{Multiple image|total_width=440|image1=Frauengebetsraum Khadija-Moschee.jpg|caption1=The ladies' prayer hall in the [[Khadija Mosque]] in [[Berlin]]; upper part reads: ''Only in the remembrance of Allah will your hearts find peace'' (in Arabic)|image2=Зеница 20190504 194702.jpg|caption2=Makhphil ({{Lang|bs|makfil}}), upper gallery plateau part of Bosnian mosques reserved only for women (except when [[Jumu'ah]]) who climb to it by stairs at side(s) of entrance; White/Nasser's mosque in [[Zenica]]}}
[[File:Al-Qarawiyyin University, Fes, Morocco - Var 132.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Al Quaraouiyine|University of al-Qarawiyyin]] (Université Al Quaraouiyine) in the Moroccan city of Fes was founded as a mosque complex by a Muslim woman{{snd}}[[Fatima al-Fihri]], the educated daughter of a wealthy merchant{{snd}}in 859. According to UNESCO, it is the oldest university in the world which is still operational.<ref name="Medina of Fez">{{Cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/170|title=Medina of Fez|website=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=July 4, 2016|archive-date=September 19, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170919192617/http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/170|url-status=live}}.</ref> It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963.]]

While Islam has sometimes been lauded for a [[#Comparison with other religions|historically more progressive]] portrayal of women, there are differing viewpoints on the fairness of its personal status laws and criminal code as they pertain to women.<ref name=Kazemi>{{cite journal|last=Kazemi|first=Farhad|title=Gender, Islam, and Politics|journal=Social Research|year=2000|volume=67|issue=2|pages=453–474}}</ref> Islam's patriarchal values continue to be a subject of debate, with the understanding that these values exhibit variations within the diverse contexts of different [[Islam by country|countries with Muslim majorities]]. Generally, however, male and female rights differ according to Islamic personal status laws.<ref name="Siraj 2011"/> Some Islamic legal traditions allow men to engage in [[polygamy]] and marry [[Interfaith marriage|non-Muslim women]],<ref name="Leeman 2009">{{cite journal |last=Leeman |first=A. B. |date=2009 |title=Interfaith Marriage in Islam: An Examination of the Legal Theory Behind the Traditional and Reformist Positions |url=https://ilj.law.indiana.edu/articles/84/84_2_Leeman.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Indiana Law Journal]] |location=[[Bloomington, Indiana]] |publisher=[[Indiana University Maurer School of Law]] |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=743–772 |issn=0019-6665 |s2cid=52224503 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123062516/https://ilj.law.indiana.edu/articles/84/84_2_Leeman.pdf |archive-date=November 23, 2018 |access-date=August 25, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Elmali-Karakaya 2020">{{cite book |author-last=Elmali-Karakaya |author-first=Ayse |year=2020 |chapter=Being Married to a Non-Muslim Husband: Religious Identity in Muslim Women's Interfaith Marriages |editor1-last=Hood |editor1-first=Ralph W. |editor2-last=Cheruvallil-Contractor |editor2-first=Sariya |title=Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion: A Diversity of Paradigms |volume=31 |pages=388–410 |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/9789004443969_020 |isbn=978-90-04-44348-8 |s2cid=234539750 |issn=1046-8064}}</ref><ref name="pewforum.org"/><ref name="Jahangir2017" /> while women are generally restricted from having multiple husbands and marrying non-Muslim men. Additionally, female inheritances are typically half of their male siblings'. Islamic criminal jurisprudence also relies heavily on witness testimony, and female testimonies alone are often not considered sufficient to convict a murderer, requiring a male testimony for validation.<ref name=Kazemi /><ref name="Elmali-Karakaya 2020"/>

[[Mahnaz Afkhami]] writes that the [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalist worldview]] "singles out women's status and her relations to society as the supreme test of the authenticity of the Islamic order." This is symbolized by the institutions of ''purdah'' (physical separation of the sexes) and ''[[awrah]]'' (concealing the body with clothing). As in much of the world, institutions suppressing women were becoming less powerful until the resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism at the end of the 20th century.<ref>[[Mahnaz Afkhami]], "Gender Apartheid, Cultural Relativism, and Women's Human Rights in Muslim Societies," in ''Women, gender, and human rights: a global perspective'', Marjorie Agosín, Editor, Rutgers University Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8135-2983-2}}</ref> [[Walid Phares]] writes that [[Marxism]] in the [[Soviet Union]] and China, as well as "secular anticlericalism" in [[Turkey]] forced women to "integrate themselves into an antireligious society" resulting in a backlash of "gender apartheid" by Islamic fundamentalists. He notes that other religions also have "witnessed similar historical struggles."<ref>[[Walid Phares]], ''The War of Ideas: Jihadism Against Democracy'', Macmillan, 2008, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zeKsxzEk5ywC&pg=PA102 p. 102], {{ISBN|9780230602557}}</ref>

=== Salah ===
{{Main|Salah|Islam and gender segregation#In mosques}}
There are location-variations for women within mosques and congregations. Within some [[Islamic schools and branches]], there are specific [[Salah|prayer]] variations for women. Women are ordered not to pray during their [[menstruation]] and for a length of time after childbirth ([[postpartum period]]). A majority of mosques worldwide have dedicated ladies-only prayer spaces. These include mosques in Muslim-majority countries like [[Indonesia]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aryanti |first=Tutin |title=Gender and Sacred Space: Segregation in Indonesian Mosques |url=https://www.academia.edu/3403392 |access-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-date=November 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082135/https://www.academia.edu/3403392 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Malaysia]], [[Turkey]], [[Saudi Arabia]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=4 Beautiful Mosques in Saudi Arabia to Explore |url=https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/do/culture/4-stunning-mosques-in-saudi-arabia |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=www.visitsaudi.com |language=en |archive-date=January 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118201934/https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/do/culture/4-stunning-mosques-in-saudi-arabia |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[United Arab Emirates]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 30, 2022 |title=Ramadan 2022: UAE clarifies COVID-19 rules for worshippers |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/coronavirus/2022/03/30/Ramadan-2022-UAE-clarifies-COVID-19-rules-for-worshippers |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403070301/https://english.alarabiya.net/coronavirus/2022/03/30/Ramadan-2022-UAE-clarifies-COVID-19-rules-for-worshippers |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as mosques in countries where Muslims are a minority group, like Singapore,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura |url=https://ourmosques.commonspaces.sg/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=ourmosques.commonspaces.sg |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403154926/https://ourmosques.commonspaces.sg/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka {{!}} Infopedia |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_688_2004-12-27.html |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403231448/https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_688_2004-12-27.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[South Korea]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Visit Seoul – Seoul Central Mosque |url=https://english.visitseoul.net/attractions/Seoul-Central-Mosque_/4864 |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=english.visitseoul.net |language=en |archive-date=January 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124044327/https://english.visitseoul.net/attractions/Seoul-Central-Mosque_/4864 |url-status=live }}</ref> Japan and the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mohamed |first=Besheer |title=Women are becoming more involved in U.S. mosques |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/04/women-are-becoming-more-involved-in-u-s-mosques/ |access-date=2022-04-03 |website=Pew Research Center |date=August 4, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403231450/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/08/04/women-are-becoming-more-involved-in-u-s-mosques/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In accordance with Islamic tradition, there is a practice of creating separate prayer spaces for men and women within mosques, which is derived from Hadith literature, including [[Sahih Muslim]]. Additionally, it is recorded that Muhammad encouraged the construction of separate entrances for men and women in mosques. This recommendation aimed to provide convenience and maintain a sense of propriety by allowing men and women to enter and exit the mosque without mingling through the same entrance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://islam.us/hadith/muslim/004.smt.html |access-date=2012-09-09 |title=Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 881 |publisher=Islam.us |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015053054/http://islam.us/hadith/muslim/004.smt.html |archive-date=2011-10-15 }}</ref><ref>al-Sunan al-Kubrá, vol. 1, p. 109.</ref>

===Transport restrictions===
==== 1990–2017 Saudi ban on women driving ====
{{Main|Women to drive movement}}
A 1990 fatwa, commissioned by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of the Interior, formally enacted a ban on women driving.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/09/saudi-arabia-women-driving/541275/|title=A Saudi Woman's 'Mixed Feelings' About Winning the Right to Drive|last=Samuel|first=Sigal|date=September 27, 2017|work=The Atlantic|access-date=May 21, 2018|archive-date=May 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521191522/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/09/saudi-arabia-women-driving/541275/|url-status=live}}</ref> This prohibition was unique to Saudi Arabia and became a source of international ridicule.<ref name=":13">{{Cite news|url=https://thewire.in/external-affairs/saudi-arabia-driving-ban-women-empowerment|title=Saudi Arabia Lifting the Driving Ban on Women Has Little to Do With Empowerment|last=Ahmad|first=Talmiz|date=September 30, 2017|work=The Wire|access-date=May 21, 2018|archive-date=May 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522041407/https://thewire.in/external-affairs/saudi-arabia-driving-ban-women-empowerment|url-status=live}}</ref> On September 26, 2017, a royal decree personally signed by [[Salman of Saudi Arabia|Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud]]—the King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia—directed the Ministry of the Interior to reverse the ban.<ref name=":13" /> The decree noted that "the original Islamic ruling in regards to women driving is to allow it",<ref name=":13" /> and that those who opposed this view did so on the basis of "excuses that are baseless and have no predominance of thought (sic)."<ref name=":13" /> Full implementation of the decree was scheduled for June 2018.<ref name=":13" />

In an interview with The Atlantic, Hala Al-Dosari, a Saudi scholar at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, posited that the driving ban was not religious or even cultural, but political;<ref name=":12" /> she also noted the absurdity of banning females driving when women in the era of Muḥammad (570–632), were riding their camels without it being an issue.<ref name=":12" /> The author and academic Haifaa Jawad underlined that the royal decree was "not some bold initiative to present a new religious interpretation of the issue. Theologically speaking, the ban has no basis in the Quran or Hadith, and should never have been issued in the first place."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://theconversation.com/saudi-decree-allowing-women-to-drive-cars-is-about-politics-not-religion-84809|title=Saudi decree allowing women to drive cars is about politics, not religion|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|date=September 28, 2017|work=The Conversation|access-date=May 21, 2018|archive-date=May 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521191438/http://theconversation.com/saudi-decree-allowing-women-to-drive-cars-is-about-politics-not-religion-84809|url-status=live}}</ref>

Additionally, some analysts have contended that the US$3.5&nbsp;billion investment in the car-sharing app Uber by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's [[Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia|Public Investment Fund]]–together with other projected economic gains–was instrumental in the reversal of the ban on women driving.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://qz.com/1091102/before-saudi-arabia-let-women-drive-uber-and-careem-were-breaking-social-taboos-about-transportation/|title=How Uber secretly lobbied for women to drive in Saudi Arabia|last=Griswold|first=Alison|date=October 6, 2017|work=Quartz|archive-date=November 15, 2022|access-date=May 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115084448/https://qz.com/1091102/before-saudi-arabia-let-women-drive-uber-and-careem-were-breaking-social-taboos-about-transportation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":13" />

== Female education ==
{{See also|Madrasa#Female education|label 1=Religious education of Women in Islam}}
[[File:Al-Qarawiyyin University, Fes, Morocco - Var 132.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Al Quaraouiyine|University of al-Qarawiyyin]] (Université Al Quaraouiyine) in the Moroccan city of Fes was founded as a mosque complex by a Muslim woman{{snd}}[[Fatima al-Fihri]], the educated daughter of a wealthy merchant{{snd}}in 859. According to UNESCO, it is the oldest university in the world which is still operational.<ref name="Medina of Fez"/> It was incorporated into Morocco's modern state university system in 1963.]]

=== The classical position ===
The [[Quran]], [[Hadith|''ḥadīth'' literature]], and ''[[sunnah]]'' (the spoken or acted example attributed to Muhammad) advocate the rights of women and men equally to seek knowledge.<ref name="Jawad 1998 8">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=8}}</ref> The Quran commands all Muslims to exert effort in the pursuit of knowledge, irrespective of their biological sex: it constantly encourages Muslims to read, think, contemplate and learn from the signs of God in nature.<ref name="Jawad 1998 8" /> Moreover, Muhammad encouraged education for both males and females: he declared that seeking knowledge was a religious duty binding upon every Muslim man and woman.<ref name="Jawad 1998 9">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=9}}</ref> Like her male counterpart, each woman is under a moral and religious obligation to seek knowledge, develop her intellect, broaden her outlook, cultivate her talents and then use her potential to the benefit of her soul and her society.<ref name="Jawad 1998 20">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=20}}</ref> Copyists made it evident that women were entitled to seek an education just as much as any man by stating in the ''ḥadīth'' literature that it is everyone's duty, whether male or female, to seek knowledge.<ref name=":25">{{Citation|last=Robinson|first=Francis|title=Education|year=2000|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/CBO9781139056144A028/type/book_part|work=The New Cambridge History of Islam|pages=495–531|editor-last=Irwin|editor-first=Robert|edition=1st|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/chol9780521838245.022|isbn=978-1-139-05614-4|access-date=2020-12-14|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Along with these ideals came with hesitation from some who believed an educated woman who could read and write was described as poisonous.<ref name=":25" /> Many women throughout the [[Muslim world]] took this opportunity to receive education.<ref name=":25" />

Muhammad's teachings were widely sought by both sexes, and accordingly at the time of his death it was reported that there were many female scholars of Islam.<ref name="Jawad 1998 9" /> Additionally, the [[wives of Muhammad]]—particularly [[Aisha]]—also taught both women and men; many of his [[Sahaba|companions]] and followers learned the Quran, ''ḥadīth'', and [[Fiqh|Islamic jurisprudence]] (''fiqh'') from [[Aisha]].<ref name="Jawad 1998">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|pages=20–21}}</ref> Because Islam recognizes that women are in principle wives and mothers, the acquisition of knowledge in fields which are complementary to these social roles was specially emphasized.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=21}}</ref>

There exist also some women who didn't conform to [[Pre-Islamic Arabia|Pre-Islamic Arab traditions]], such as:
* [[Nusaybah bint Ka'ab]], a warrior who was known as ''The Shield of The Prophet. S''he fought in numerous battles like ''Uhud'', ''Hunain'', and ''Yamamah.''
* [[Aisha]], a wife of prophet Muhammad, and a scholar.
* [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid]], the first wife of Prophet Muhammad who was a successful (and wealthy until after getting married when she donated most of her wealth to charity) business-woman.
* [[Rufaida Al-Aslamia]], an Arab medical and social worker recognized as the first female Muslim nurse and the first female surgeon in Islam. She is the first known nurse in history.

=== History of women's education ===
[[File:Ганифа Меликова среди учениц первой рус.-мусульм. шк. для девочек..jpg|thumb|Director of the first muslim school for girls Ganifa Melikova with schoolgirls. Baku]]

James E. Lindsay states that Islam encouraged religious education of Muslim women.<ref name="jel196" /> According to a ''ḥadīth'' in ''Saḥih Muslim'' variously attributed to Aisha and Muhammad, the women of the ''[[Ansar (Islam)|ansar]]'' were praiseworthy because shame did not prevent them from asking detailed questions about Islamic law.<ref name="jel196">{{cite book |title=Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World |first=James E. |last=Lindsay |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-313-32270-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinmedie00lind/page/196 196] |quote=In addition, Muhammad is reported to have praised the women of Medina because of their desire for religious knowledge. "How splendid were the women of the ansar; shame did not prevent them from becoming learned in the faith." |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinmedie00lind/page/196 }}</ref>

While it was not common for women to enroll as students in formal religious schools, it was common for women to attend informal lectures and study sessions at mosques, ''[[Madrasah|madrassa]]'' and other public places. For example, the attendance of women at the [[Fatimid Caliphate]]'s "sessions of wisdom" (''majālis al-ḥikma'') was noted by various historians, including Ibn al-Tuwayr, [[al-Musabbihi|al-Muṣabbiḥī]], and [[Imamah (Nizari Ismaili doctrine)|Imam]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Virani|first1=Shafique N.|title=The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, A Search for Salvation|url=https://archive.org/details/ismailismiddleag00vira|url-access=limited|date=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-531173-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/ismailismiddleag00vira/page/n179 159]}}</ref> Historically, some Muslim women played an important role in the foundation of many religious educational institutions, such as [[Fatima al-Fihri]]'s founding of the al-Karaouine mosque in {{CE|859}}, from which later developed the [[University of al-Karaouine]].<ref name="Lindsay2005">{{cite book |title=Daily Life in the Medieval Islamic World |first=James E. |last=Lindsay |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=2005 |isbn=0-313-32270-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinmedie00lind }}</ref>{{rp|274}} Many royal women were founders of educational institutions, including ''madrassa''.<ref name=":25" /> In [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk Cairo]], women were responsible for endowing five ''madrassa'' and could even have the responsibility of being a supervisor of a madrasa administration if they had familial ties to a founder.<ref name=":25" /> According to the 12th-century Sunni scholar [[Ibn 'Asakir]], there were various opportunities for female education during the [[Islamic Golden Age]]. He writes that women could study, earn ''[[ijazah]]'' (religious degrees) and qualify as ''[[ulama]]'' and Islamic teachers.<ref name="Lindsay2005" />{{rp|196, 198}} Similarly, [[al-Sakhawi]] devotes one of the twelve volumes of his [[biographical dictionary]] ''Daw al-Lami'' to female religious scholars between 700 and {{CE|1800}}, giving information on 1,075 of them.
<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Nashat|editor1-first=Guity|editor2-last=Beck|editor2-first=Lois |title= Women in Iran from the Rise of Islam to 1800 |date=2003 |publisher= University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana|isbn=0-252-07121-2|page=69}}</ref> Women of prominent urban families were commonly educated in private settings and many of them received and later issued ''ijazah'' in ''ḥadīth'' studies, calligraphy, and recitation of poetry.<ref name="lapidus-210">{{Cite book| last = Lapidus | first = Ira M. | author-link=Ira M. Lapidus | title = A History of Islamic Societies | publisher = Cambridge University Press|edition=Kindle | year = 2014| isbn=978-0-521-51430-9 | page=210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Jonathan Porter |last=Berkey | author-link = Jonathan Berkey| year=2003 | title=The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600–1800|url=https://archive.org/details/formationislamre00berk_681 |url-access=limited |publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/formationislamre00berk_681/page/n244 227]}}</ref> There was a period of time where women scholars were vital to the transmission of the ''ḥadīth''. Important female scholars such as Shuhda, Zaynab, Aisha, and Fatimah were trained at a very young age and influenced heavily by family members who were also scholars or immersed in the knowledge.<ref name=":26">{{Cite book|last=Nadwi|first=Mohammad|title=Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam|year=2007|pages=77–82}}</ref> Each had an extensive following and made many contributions to teaching those of various backgrounds.<ref name=":26" /> Working women learned religious texts and practical skills primarily from each other, though they also received some instruction together with men in mosques and private homes.<ref name="lapidus-210" />

During the [[Colonial Era|colonial era]], until the early 20th century, there was a gender struggle among Muslims living under the [[British Empire]]; educating women was viewed as a prelude to social chaos, a threat to the moral order, and man's world was viewed as a source of Muslim identity.<ref name="francisrobinson">Francis Robinson, [http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/file/209b1bd6-9fc5-4192-4e25-9b49c6db72a7/6/OUPBrempid.pdf "The British Empire and Muslim Identity in South Asia"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503022026/http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/file/209b1bd6-9fc5-4192-4e25-9b49c6db72a7/6/OUPBrempid.pdf |date=May 3, 2014 }}, Oxford University Press, pp. 18–21; Francis Robinson (1982), Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500, {{ISBN|978-0-87196-629-2}}</ref> Muslim women in [[British India]], nevertheless, pressed for their rights independently of men; by the 1930s, 2.5&nbsp;million girls had entered schools, of which 0.5&nbsp;million were Muslims.<ref name="francisrobinson" />

=== Women as educators ===
[[File:Hadith Books.jpg|thumb|Display of various [[List of hadith collections|''ḥadīth'' collections]]]]
The mid-14th century saw a rise in women's participation, such as the teaching of ''ḥadīth''.<ref name=":28">{{Cite book|last=Sayeed|first=Asma|title=Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam|publisher=Cambridge University|year=2013|isbn=9781107031586|location=New York|pages=144–169|language=English}}</ref> This increase was due to the greater contribution to the education of women and greater encouragement in women's religious participation.<ref name=":29">{{Cite journal|last=Sayeed|first=Asma.|date=2002|title=Women and Ḥadīth Transmission Two Case Studies from Mamluk Damascus|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1596142|journal=Studia Islamica|volume=95|issue=95|pages=71–94|doi=10.2307/1596142|jstor=1596142|issn=0585-5292|archive-date=November 1, 2022|access-date=December 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082135/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1596142|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Contact with scholars as well as the mosque allowed women to learn and obtain the credentials to teach the ''ḥadīth''.<ref name=":31">{{Cite book|last=Nadwi|first=Mohammad|title=Al-Muhaddithat|publisher=Interface Publications|year=2007|isbn=9780955454530|location=Oxford|pages=59–96|language=English}}</ref> This newfound movement allowed for greater mobilization on the role of women in the passage of knowledge. The expansion of women's religious involvement helped challenge the role of women in the domestic sector and paved the way for a greater expansion of knowledge.<ref name=":28" /> ''Ḥadīth'' transmission also allowed women to gain status by putting them in a pedigree that connected them to the time of Muhammad.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nadia|first=Zunly|date=2017|title=Women Political Participation in the Era of Prophet Muhammad: Study on the Hadith Transmitters of the Women Companions|url=https://core.ac.uk/reader/292093860|journal=Al Albab|volume=6|pages=55–61|doi=10.24260/alalbab.v6i1.608|doi-access=free|archive-date=November 1, 2022|access-date=December 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082137/https://core.ac.uk/reader/292093860|url-status=live}}</ref> Women who participated in the transmission of the ''ḥadīth'' were known as ''[[muhaddith]]at''.<ref name=":29" />

=== Traveling for knowledge ===
One way that Islamic scholars obtained knowledge was through traveling.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Siddiqi|first=Muhammad Zubayr|title=Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development and Special Features|publisher=Islamic Texts Society|year=1993|isbn=9780946621385|location=United Kingdom|pages=40–43|language=English}}</ref> Traveling for knowledge is highly encouraged not only among men but also among female scholars.<ref name=":31" /> Women could travel with their ''[[mahram]]'' or relatives to other towns to learn and acquire education in the study of ''ḥadīth'' literature.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Furthermore, women scholars also took journeys to different cities to teach the ''ḥadīth'' as well as other genera of knowledge, such as literature and law.<ref>{{Cite book|last=El-Ali|first=Leena|title=No Truth Without Beauty|publisher=Springer International Publishing|year=2021|isbn=9783030835811|pages=33–35|language=English}}</ref> Students would undertake long journeys just to hear their teachings. Traveling for knowledge allows women scholars the ability to take part in religious teachings outside of their homes.<ref name=":31" /> Through traveling and other venues, women hadiths were able to contribute a tremendous amount to the transmission of knowledge in the Islamic world.

=== Famous ''muhaddithat'' ===

==== Zaynab bint al-Kamal ====
[[Zaynab bint al-Kamal]] (1248–1339 CE) was a famous [[Hadith studies|''ḥadīth'' scholar]]. She is known to have obtained numerous ''[[ijazah]]'' (permission to teach the ''ḥadīth'') throughout her life, especially in her early years.<ref name=":28" /> At the age of one, she received her first ''ijazah'' from Abd al-Khaliq al-Nishtibri.<ref name=":29" /> Her father was not a famous hadith transmitter, and there was no account of his role in her studies. However, it was noted that her uncle, Shams al-Din Muhammad, excelled in the field of transmission and was most likely the one that facilitated her studies.<ref name=":28" /> Her reputation came from her association with al-Nishtibri, with students traveling far to hear her teachings. She was known as a reliable authority that encompassed different genera of studies.<ref name=":30">{{Cite book|last=Mubarakpuri|first=Maulana Qazi Athar|title=Achievements of Muslim Women in the Religious and Scholarly Fields|publisher=Darul Ishaat|year=2005|pages=24–26|language=English}}</ref> She held mixed classes in al-Madrasa al-Diya'iyyah, a congregational mosque, and her home.<ref name=":29" /> Students would come from afar to listen to her teachings. She is also known to travel to [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Egypt]] and [[Medina]] to teach her works.<ref name=":30" /> In her later years, she continued to thrive as a teacher. She also repeated her cycle by giving out ''ijazah'' to her students during their early years.<ref name=":28" /> In a field where male ''ḥadīth'' teachers predominate, her reputation helped pave the way for more female transmitters of the ''ḥadīth''. Furthermore, she acts as the last connection to the work of famous scholars that might have passed during her time.

=== Current situation ===
[[File:Rania of Jordan at Davos.jpg|left|thumb|140px|Queen [[Queen Rania of Jordan|Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan]] is one of the Islamic world's most high-profile educational campaigners. Her foundation—established in 2013—is developing a number of education programmes, including online learning platform Edraak.org.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.queenrania.jo/en/media/press-releases/googleorg-announces-grant-queen-rania-foundation-towards-creation-k-12-arab|title=Google.org Announces Grant to the Queen Rania Foundation towards the Creation of a K-12 Arab Online Learning Platform|date=May 10, 2017|website=Queen Rania Al Abdullah|access-date=May 22, 2018|archive-date=May 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522111734/https://www.queenrania.jo/en/media/press-releases/googleorg-announces-grant-queen-rania-foundation-towards-creation-k-12-arab|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Moments during Code Week 2017 in Burrel 21.jpg|thumb|Elementary schoolgirls from [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]] member state Albania pictured during Code Week 2017 in Burrel, near [[Tirana]]. Between 2009 and 2015, Albania saw consistent and substantial improvements in all three [[PISA]] subjects.<ref>{{Cite report|url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/581881485943732892/Albania-PISA-2015-brief|title=Albania – PISA 2015 brief (English)|date=December 15, 2016|publisher=World Bank Group|access-date=June 6, 2018|archive-date=June 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180627173130/http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/581881485943732892/Albania-PISA-2015-brief|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

;Literacy

In a 2013 statement, the [[Organization of Islamic Cooperation]] noted that restricted access to education is among the challenges faced by girls and women in the developing world, including OIC member states.<ref>[http://www.oicun.org/71/20130508035638010.html Hope and despair for women in Islamic states] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210225918/http://www.oicun.org/71/20130508035638010.html |date=December 10, 2014 }} Ufuk Gokcen, OIC (January 19, 2013)</ref> UNICEF notes that out of 24 nations with less than 60% female primary enrollment rates, 17 were Islamic nations; more than half the adult population is illiterate in several Islamic countries, and the proportion reaches 70% among Muslim women.<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/policyanalysis/files/FactsheetInvesting.pdf Investing in the Children of the Islamic World] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019112822/http://www.unicef.org/policyanalysis/files/FactsheetInvesting.pdf |date=October 19, 2013 }} UNICEF (2007)</ref> UNESCO estimates that the literacy rate among adult women was about 50% or less in a number of Muslim-majority countries, including Morocco, Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Niger, Mali, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Chad.<ref name=unescolitstat>[http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/UIS-literacy-statistics-1990-2015-en.pdf Adult and Youth Literacy, 1990–2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130503213258/http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/UIS-literacy-statistics-1990-2015-en.pdf |date=May 3, 2013 }}, UNESCO (2012), {{ISBN|978-92-9189-117-7}}</ref> Egypt had a female literacy rate of 64% in 2010, Iraq of 71% and Indonesia of 90%.<ref name=unescolitstat /> Literacy has been improving in Saudi Arabia since the 1970s, the female literacy rate in 2017 for women ages 15–24 was 99.3%, equivalent to the male literacy rate of 99.3%.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 27, 2016|title=Saudi Arabia|url=http://uis.unesco.org/country/SA|access-date=2020-10-21|website=uis.unesco.org|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023222006/http://uis.unesco.org/country/SA|url-status=live}}</ref> Western ideals have had an influence over education in Muslim countries due to the increased demand of literacy in males and females.<ref name=":21">{{Cite book|last=Weiss|first=Anita|title=Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity|publisher=Routledge|year=1994|isbn=0-415-09366-X|page=129}}</ref> It is evident that more women are making an effort to receive an education by attending primary and secondary school in Muslim countries.<ref name=":21" />

;Gender and participation in education

Some scholars<ref>M. Steven Fish (2002), "Islam and Authoritarianism", ''World Politics'' 55, October 2002, {{pp.|4|37}}.</ref><ref>Donno and Russett (2004), "Islam, authoritarianism, and female empowerment", ''World Politics'', {{vol.|56}}, issue 04, July 2004, {{pp.|582|607}}</ref> contend that Islamic nations have the world's highest gender gap in education. The 2012 [[World Economic Forum]] annual gender gap study finds the 17 out of 18 worst performing nations, out of a total of 135 nations, are the following members of [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|Organization of Islamic Cooperation]] (OIC): [[Algeria]], [[Jordan]], [[Lebanon]], ([[Nepal]]<ref>Nepal, a South Asian nation, is not OIC member; provided here for completeness and accuracy of list per the cited source.</ref>), [[Turkey]], [[Oman]], [[Egypt]], [[Iran]], [[Mali]], [[Morocco]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Syria]], [[Chad]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Yemen]].<ref>[http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf The Global Gender Gap Report 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908170755/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf |date=September 8, 2013 }} World Economic Forum, Switzerland (2013)</ref>
[[File:Uludag-PSİ-2007 ing.jpg|thumb|A scene from a female-majority class at the Psychology Department of Uludağ University in Bursa, Turkey. In Turkey, 47.5% of staff at the top five universities are female, a higher proportion than for their equivalents in the United States (35.9%), Denmark (31%) and Japan (12.7%).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/global-gender-index-2013/2003517.article|title=Global Gender Index, 2013|last=Grove|first=Jack|date=May 2, 2013|work=Times Higher Education|access-date=June 2, 2017|archive-date=July 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713053201/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/global-gender-index-2013/2003517.article|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
In contrast, UNESCO notes that at 37% the share of female researchers in Muslim-majority states compares well with other regions.<ref>{{cite book|title=UNESCO science report: towards 2030|publisher=UNESCO|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDHwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|page=37|isbn=9789231001291|date=November 9, 2015}}</ref> In Turkey, the proportion of female university researchers is slightly higher (36%) than the average for the 27-member European Union as of 2012 (33%).<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/she-figures-2012_en.pdf Gender in Research and Innovation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224062904/http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/document_library/pdf_06/she-figures-2012_en.pdf |date=February 24, 2021 }}, She Figures 2012, EU, page 26</ref> Comparably, at 36.5%, the overall share of women researchers at universities and science centres in North Africa is above world (22.5%), European (33%) and developed country (26%) averages.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Sawahel|first=Wagdy|date=December 16, 2016|title=North Africa women researcher share among world highest|work=University World News|url=https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20161212121515275|access-date=May 11, 2021|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511134009/https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20161212121515275|url-status=live}}</ref> In Iran, women account for over 60% of university students.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Roksana Bahramitash|title=Iran|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2013|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199764464.001.0001/acref-9780199764464-e-0135|url-access=subscription|isbn=978-0-19-976446-4|access-date=January 14, 2017|archive-date=January 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116172800/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref:oiso/9780199764464.001.0001/acref-9780199764464-e-0135|url-status=live}}</ref> Similarly, in Malaysia,<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jul/08/boris-johnson-women-university-husband|title = Boris Johnson criticised for suggesting women go to university to find husband|last = Topping|first = Alexandra|date = July 8, 2013|work = The Guardian|access-date = July 11, 2014|archive-date = February 6, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210206064122/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jul/08/boris-johnson-women-university-husband|url-status = live}}</ref> Algeria,<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2008/08/31/feature-01|title = Algerian women outpace men in academic achievement|last = Jameh|first = Said|date = August 31, 2008|work = Magharebia|access-date = July 11, 2014|archive-date = July 14, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714174158/http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2008/08/31/feature-01|url-status = live}}</ref> and in Saudi Arabia,<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/student/study-abroad/a-small-step-for-female-education-in-saudi-arabia-8681659.html|title = A small step for female education in Saudi Arabia|last = Buchanan|first = Rose Troup|date = July 5, 2013|work = The Independent|access-date = July 11, 2014|archive-date = September 23, 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170923221355/http://www.independent.co.uk/student/study-abroad/a-small-step-for-female-education-in-saudi-arabia-8681659.html|url-status = live}}</ref> the majority of university students have been female in recent years, while in 2016 Emirati women constituted 76.8% of people enrolled at universities in the United Arab Emirates.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/local/uae-women-rising-in-positions-of-power-and-influence|title=UAE women rising in positions of power and influence|last=Tashakova|first=Oksana|date=May 1, 2016|work=Khaleej Times|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-date=June 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607181848/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/local/uae-women-rising-in-positions-of-power-and-influence|url-status=live}}</ref> At the University of Jordan, which is Jordan's largest and oldest university, 65% of students were female in 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602132158/http://jordantimes.com/65-of-uj-students-are-females----tarawneh|archive-date=2015-06-02|url = http://jordantimes.com/65-of-uj-students-are-females----tarawneh|title = 65% of UJ students are females – Tarawneh|date = March 5, 2013|work = The Jordan Times|access-date = July 11, 2014}}</ref>

In a number of OIC member states, the ratio of women to men in tertiary education is exceptionally high. Qatar leads the world in this respect, having 6.66 females in higher education for every male as of 2015.<ref name="renamed_from_1_on_20220313114035">{{Cite news|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-global-gender-gap-index-2015-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-of-women-in-further-education-2015-11|title=Here are the 19 countries with the highest ratio of women to men in higher education|last=Martin|first=Will|date=November 22, 2015|work=Business Insider|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-date=February 27, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227011540/http://www.businessinsider.com/world-economic-forum-global-gender-gap-index-2015-countries-with-the-highest-proportion-of-women-in-further-education-2015-11|url-status=live}}</ref> Other Muslim-majority states with notably more women university students than men include Kuwait, where 41% of females attend university compared with 18% of males;<ref name="renamed_from_1_on_20220313114035" /> Bahrain, where the ratio of women to men in tertiary education is 2.18:1;<ref name="renamed_from_1_on_20220313114035" /> Brunei Darussalam, where 33% of women enroll at university vis à vis 18% of men;<ref name="renamed_from_1_on_20220313114035" /> Tunisia, which has a women to men ratio of 1.62 in higher education; and Kyrgyzstan, where the equivalent ratio is 1.61.<ref name="renamed_from_1_on_20220313114035" /> Additionally, in Kazakhstan, there were 115 female students for every 100 male students in tertiary education in 1999; according to the World Bank, this ratio had increased to 144:100 by 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wageindicator.org/documents/publicationslist/publications-2010/An-Overview-of-Womens-Work-and-Employment-in-Kazakhstan.pdf|title=An Overview of Women's Work and Employment in Kazakhstan|last=van Klaveren|first=Maarten|date=March 2010|website=An Overview of Women's Work and Employment in Kazakhstan: Decisions for Life MDG3 Project Country Report No. 10|publisher=University of Amsterdam|display-authors=etal|access-date=June 20, 2015|archive-date=June 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620044140/http://www.wageindicator.org/documents/publicationslist/publications-2010/An-Overview-of-Womens-Work-and-Employment-in-Kazakhstan.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

A notable development specific to the study of physics is that women in Muslim-majority countries enjoy significantly greater representation than their counterparts in the United States: in the US, women make up 21% of physics undergraduates and 20% of PhD students, while the equivalent figures for Muslim-majority nations are 60%+ and 47% respectively.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 15, 2021|title=More Women Study Physics in Muslim Countries, Find Out Why...|work=MOST|url=https://www.mostresource.org/storybank/more-women-study-physics-in-muslim-countries-find-out-why/|access-date=May 1, 2021|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422162534/https://www.mostresource.org/storybank/more-women-study-physics-in-muslim-countries-find-out-why/|url-status=live}}</ref> Female physicists who studied in Muslim-majority states and then moved to the US for academic positions noted that when they were in their previous locations, "they did not feel they had to suppress their femininity to have their intellect—and not their appearance—be the focus of the interaction."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=El-Deghaidy|first=Heba|date=March 8, 2021|title=Why More Women Study Physics in Muslim Countries|url=https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/33|access-date=May 11, 2021|journal=Physics|volume=14|page=33|doi=10.1103/Physics.14.33|bibcode=2021PhyOJ..14...33E|doi-access=free|archive-date=May 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511001536/https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/33|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Similarly, the very high (c.50%) female engineering enrolment rates in three diverse OIC member states—Tunisia, Jordan, and Malaysia—have prompted the incorporation of Women in Engineering in Predominately Muslim Countries ('WIEPMCS') at three American universities (Washington State, Purdue and Western Washington). The aim of this project is to 'shed light more generally on how context shapes women's successful participation in STEM in ways that inform our efforts to broaden participation in the US', where female enrolment rates in engineering are typically 15–20%.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 7, 2016|title=US study into higher rates of female engineers in Muslim countries|work=The Engineer|url=https://www.theengineer.co.uk/us-study-into-higher-rates-of-female-engineers-in-muslim-countries/|access-date=May 11, 2021|archive-date=April 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413132730/https://www.theengineer.co.uk/us-study-into-higher-rates-of-female-engineers-in-muslim-countries/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the United States, a recent study done by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that Muslim American women (73%) are more likely than Muslim American men (57%) to achieve higher education (post-high school education or higher).<ref name=":23">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2017/|title=American Muslim Poll 2017 {{!}} ISPU|date=March 21, 2017|work=Institute for Social Policy and Understanding|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US|archive-date=November 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121165732/https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2017/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Female employment ==
{{See also|Islamic economics in the world}}
Some scholars<ref name="aqy" /><ref>Laurie A. Brand (1998), ''Women, State and Political Liberalisation''. New York: Columbia University Press, {{p.|57|58}}</ref> refer to verse 28:23 in the Quran regarding Moses and two working women, and to [[Khadija bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], Muhammad's first wife, a merchant before and after converting to Islam, as indications that Muslim women may undertake employment outside their homes.{{Disputed inline|talk=Talk:Women in Islam#Female Employment section|date=November 2020}}

{{blockquote|When he arrived at the well of Midian, he found a group of people watering ˹their herds˺. Apart from them, he noticed two women holding back ˹their herd˺. He asked ˹them˺, "What is the problem?" They replied, "We cannot water ˹our animals˺ until the ˹other˺ shepherds are done, for our father is a very old man."|{{qref|28|23|c=y}}}}

Traditional interpretations of Islam require a woman to have her husband's permission to leave the house and take up employment,<ref name="musawah">Ziba Mir-Hosseini (2009), Towards Gender Equality: Muslim Family Laws and the Shari'ah, Wanted: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family (Editor: Zainah Anwar), Musawah, Kuala Lumpur, {{ISBN|978-983-2622-26-0}}, pp. 31–33</ref><ref name="Doi, A. Rahman 1992">Doi, A. Rahman, & Bewley, A. (1992). Women in Shari'ah. Ta-Ha, 4th ed., {{ISBN|978-1-84200-087-8}}</ref><ref>Elizabeth Fernea (1985), Women and the Family in the Middle East: New Voices of Change, University of Texas Press, {{ISBN|978-0-292-75529-1}}, pp. 264–269</ref> though scholars such as [[Ali Gomaa|Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Does the woman have the right to work?|url=http://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=6810|quote=No one can object to a sensible and adult woman's legal right to engage in work that is lawful or to her right to be financially independent.|access-date=September 7, 2017|archive-date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908154406/http://www.dar-alifta.org/Foreign/ViewFatwa.aspx?ID=6810|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Mohammad Ebrahim Jannaati|Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ebrahim Jannaati]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jannaati.com/eng/?page=6|title=Selected Rulings|access-date=September 7, 2017|quote=Wife should seek her husband's permission for going out of home, if it is against his rights or else obtaining his permission is not required. So in this case, she can [without permission] go out for learning and teaching, doing social and political activities and visiting parent and relatives.|archive-date=August 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808035703/http://www.jannaati.com/eng/?page=6|url-status=live}}</ref> have said that women do not require a husband's permission to leave the house and work.

=== History ===
{{See also|Female figures in the Quran}}

During medieval times, the [[labor force]] in [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Spanish Caliphate]] included women in diverse occupations and economic activities such as farming, construction workers, textile workers, managing slave girls, collecting taxes from prostitutes, as well as presidents of [[guild]]s, [[creditor]]s, religious scholars.<!--
  --><ref name=Maya-400-1>[[Maya Shatzmiller]] (1994), ''Labour in the Medieval Islamic World'', [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|90-04-09896-8}}, {{pp.|6|7}}, 350–401;
* Maya Shatzmiller (1997), "Women and Wage Labour in the Medieval Islamic West: Legal Issues in an Economic Context", ''Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient'' 40(2), {{pp.|174|206}} [175–177].<!--  --></ref>

In the 12th century, [[Averroes|Ibn Rushd]] claimed that women were equal to men in all respects and possessed equal capacities to shine, citing examples of female warriors among the [[Arab]]s, [[Greeks]] and Africans to support his case.<ref name=Ahmad>{{cite journal |last=Ahmad |first=Jamil |date=September 1994 |title=Ibn Rushd |journal=[[Al-Mawrid|Monthly Renaissance]] |volume=4 |issue=9 |url=http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=744 |access-date=2008-10-14 |archive-date=July 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714113449/http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=744 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the early [[history of Islam]], examples of notable female Muslims who fought during the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] and [[Fitna (word)|Fitna]] (civil wars) as soldiers or generals included [[Nusaybah bint Ka'ab]]<ref>[http://www.realnews247.com/girl_power.htm Girl Power] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115125020/http://www.realnews247.com/girl_power.htm |date=January 15, 2016 }}, ''[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]''</ref> a.k.a. Umm Amarah, Aisha,<ref name="Baghdad">{{cite book |last=Black |first=Edwin |title=Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000 Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict |url=https://archive.org/details/bankingonbaghdad00edwi |url-access=registration |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |year=2004 |isbn=0-471-70895-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/bankingonbaghdad00edwi/page/34 34]}}</ref> [[Kahula]] and Wafeira.<ref>{{cite book |title=Woman's Record: Or, Sketches of All Distinguished Women, from 'The Beginning Till A.D. 1850, Arranged in Four Eras, with Selections from Female Writers of Every Age' |author=Hale, Sarah Josepha Buell |publisher=Harper Brothers |year=1853 |page=120}}</ref>

Medieval [[Bimarestan]] or hospitals included female staff as female nurses. Muslim hospitals were also the first to employ female physicians, such as [[Ibn Zuhr|Banu Zuhr]] family who served the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad caliph]] ruler [[Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur]] in the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_13.html|title=Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts: The Art as a Profession|website=Nlm.nih.gov|access-date=May 25, 2016|archive-date=April 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409150222/https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_13.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This was necessary due to the [[gender segregation and Islam|segregation]] of male and female patients in Islamic hospitals. Later in the 15th century, female surgeons were employed at [[Şerafeddin Sabuncuoğlu]]'s ''Cerrahiyyetu'l-Haniyye'' (Imperial Surgery).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bademci | first1 = G. | year = 2006 | title = First illustrations of female 'Neurosurgeons' in the fifteenth century by Serefeddin Sabuncuoglu | url = http://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/neuro/v17n2/11.pdf | journal = Neurocirugía | volume = 17 | issue = 2 | pages = 162–165 | doi = 10.4321/s1130-14732006000200012 | pmid = 16721484 | doi-access = free | archive-date = October 29, 2022 | access-date = September 17, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221029130347/https://scielo.isciii.es/pdf/neuro/v17n2/11.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

Islamic faith states that in the eyes of God, men and women should be equal and are allowed to fulfill the same roles.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Concept of Gender equality in Islam|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331303711|access-date=2022-02-10|website=ResearchGate|language=en|archive-date=November 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082136/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331303711|url-status=live}}</ref> Therefore, they also are required to complete all the duties of a Muslim worshiper, including the completion of religious traditions, specifically the pilgrimage to Mecca. Islamic culture marked a movement towards liberation and equality for women, since prior Arab cultures did not enable women to have such freedoms. There is evidence that Muhammad asked women for advice and took their thoughts into account, specifically with regard to the Quran. Women were allowed to pray with men, take part in commercial interactions, and played a role in education. One of Muhammad's wives, Aisha, played a significant role in medicine, history and rhetoric. Women, however, did not hold religious titles, but some held political power with their husbands or on their own. The historic role of women in Islam is connected to societal patriarchal ideals, rather than actual ties to the Quran. The issue of women in Islam is becoming more prevalent in modern society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2510|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622060604/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2510|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 22, 2010|title=Women and Islam – Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com}}</ref>
<br />
[[File:Garuda Indonesia ITB2014.jpg|thumb|Three female [[Garuda Indonesia]] employees (centre) pictured at the [[ITB Berlin]] tourism trade fair. The proportion of senior business roles held by women in Indonesia is 46%, the highest in [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations|ASEAN]] and well above the level of countries such as Brazil (19%), Germany (18%), India (17%) and Japan (7%).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hrinasia.com/hr-news/indonesia-has-the-highest-senior-business-roles-held-by-women-in-asean-at-46/|title=Indonesia has the Highest Senior Business Roles Held by Women in ASEAN at 46%|last=Jayaram|first=Savita V.|date=March 16, 2017|work=HR in Asia|access-date=May 20, 2018|archive-date=May 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520124714/http://www.hrinasia.com/hr-news/indonesia-has-the-highest-senior-business-roles-held-by-women-in-asean-at-46/|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

=== Modern era ===
{{See also|Female labor force in the Muslim world}}
Patterns of women's employment vary throughout the Muslim world: as of 2005, 16% of Pakistani women were "economically active" (either employed, or unemployed but available to furnish labor), whereas 52% of Indonesian women were.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.prb.org/pdf05/WomenOfOurWorld2005.pdf |title=Women of Our World 2005 |newspaper=PRB |access-date=2013-09-08 |archive-date=May 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506024550/http://www.prb.org/pdf05/WomenOfOurWorld2005.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to a 2012 World Economic Forum report<ref name=wef1125 /> and other recent reports,<ref>Priscilla Offenhauer, [https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Women_Islamic_Societies.pdf Women in Islamic Societies: A Selected Review of Social Scientific Literature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223015547/https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Women_Islamic_Societies.pdf |date=December 23, 2021 }}, Library of Congress, Washington, DC (2005), pp. 73–76</ref> Islamic nations in the Middle East and North Africa region are increasing their creation of economic and employment opportunities for women; compared, however, to every other region in the world, the Middle East and North African region ranks lowest on economic participation, employment opportunity and the political empowerment of women. Ten countries with the lowest women labour force participation in the world—Jordan, Oman, Morocco, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Syria—are Islamic countries, as are the four countries that have no female [[Member of Parliament|parliamentarians]].<ref name=wef1125>[http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf The Global Gender Gap Report 2012] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908170755/http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf |date=September 8, 2013 }} World Economic Forum, Switzerland (2013), p. 11, 25</ref>

Women are allowed to work in Islam, subject to certain conditions. For example, an acceptable circumstance is if a woman is in financial need and her employment does not cause her to neglect her important role as a mother and wife.<ref name="aqy">Al Qaradawy, Yusuf. ''[http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/Q_WI/default.htm The Status Of Women In Islam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082137/http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/Q_WI/default.htm |date=November 1, 2022 }}''. Chapter: The Woman as Member of the Society: When is a woman allowed to work?</ref><ref name="Jamal A Page 13" /> It has been claimed that it is the responsibility of the Muslim community to organize work for women, so that she can do so in a Muslim cultural atmosphere, where her rights (as set out in the Quran) are respected.<ref name="aqy" /> Islamic law however, permits women to work in Islamic conditions,<ref name="aqy" /> such as the work not requiring the woman to violate Islamic law (e.g., serving alcohol), and that she maintain her modesty while she performs any work outside her home.

In some cases, when women have the right to work and are educated, women's job opportunities may in practice be unequal to those of men. In [[Egypt]] for example, women have limited opportunities to work in the [[private sector]] because women are still expected to put their role in the family first, which causes men to be seen as more reliable in the long term.<ref>Assaad, R., 2003, Gender & Employment: Egypt in Comparative Perspective, in Doumato, E.A. & Posusney, M.P., ''Women and Globalization in the Arab Middle East: Gender, Economy and Society'', Colorado, Lynne Rienner Publishers</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2014}} In Saudi Arabia, it was illegal for Saudi women to drive until June 2018.<ref>Sebastian Maisel and John A. Shoup (2009), Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab States Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Arab States, {{ISBN|978-0-313-34442-8}}, Greewood</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2014}} It is becoming more common for Saudi Arabian women to procure driving licenses from other [[Gulf Cooperation Council]] states such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.arabnews.com/news/450484|title = Saudi women seek driving licenses in UAE|last = Al-Mukthar|first = Rima|date = May 5, 2013|work = Arab News|access-date = July 13, 2014|archive-date = July 14, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161521/http://www.arabnews.com/news/450484|url-status = live}}</ref>

According to the International Business Report (2014) published by global accounting network Grant Thornton, Indonesia—which is the world's largest Muslim country by population—has ≥40% of senior business management positions occupied by women, a greater proportion than the United States (22%) and Denmark (14%).<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://mic.com/articles/84601/the-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-female-executives-are-not-the-ones-you-d-expect|title = The Countries With the Highest Number of Female Executives Are Not the Ones You'd Expect|last = Kim|first = Victoria|date = March 7, 2014|work = World.Mic|access-date = June 20, 2015|archive-date = June 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150620051035/http://mic.com/articles/84601/the-countries-with-the-highest-number-of-female-executives-are-not-the-ones-you-d-expect|url-status = live}}</ref> Prominent female business executives in the Islamic world include [[Güler Sabancı]], the CEO of the industrial and financial conglomerate [[Sabancı Holding]];<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c86feed0-0b38-11e1-ae56-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3dYj8IeFT|title = 2. Güler Sabanci|date = November 15, 2011|work = The Financial Times|access-date = June 20, 2015|archive-date = June 8, 2012|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120608071554/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c86feed0-0b38-11e1-ae56-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3dYj8IeFT|url-status = live}}</ref> Ümit Boyner, a non-executive director at Boyner Holding who was the chairwoman of [[TÜSİAD]], the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association, from 2010 to 2013;<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://kurumsal.boyner.com.tr/board-of-directors.aspx|title = Board of Directors|access-date = June 20, 2015|website = Boyner|publisher = Boyner Holding|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094257/https://kurumsal.boyner.com.tr/board-of-directors.aspx|archive-date = March 4, 2016|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}</ref> Bernadette Ruth Irawati Setiady, the CEO of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk., the largest pharmaceutical company in the ASEAN trade bloc;<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/archive/99-most-powerful-women-edition/|title = 99 Most Powerful Women Edition|date = October 1, 2011|work = The Jakarta Globe|access-date = June 20, 2015|archive-date = June 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150620044911/http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/archive/99-most-powerful-women-edition/|url-status = live}}</ref> Atiek Nur Wahyuni, the director of Trans TV, a major free-to-air television station in Indonesia;<ref>{{Cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131216084253/http://www.transtv.co.id/index.php/about/management#.WbXORatOmR0|archive-date = December 16, 2013|url = http://www.transtv.co.id/index.php/about/management#.VYSyb6YWKdU|title = Management|access-date = June 20, 2015|website = TRANS TV – Milik Kita Bersama|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}</ref> and Elissa Freiha, a founding partner of the UAE-based investment platform WOMENA.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://womena.co/team/|title = Meet the team|access-date = June 20, 2015|website = Meet the WOMENA team|publisher = Pan Arab Angels FZ LLC|archive-date = June 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150620052111/http://womena.co/team/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.savoirflair.com/culture/7598-getting-to-know-womena-the-middle-easts-first-women-only-angel-investment-group-and-the-duo-behind-it-all|title = Womena: the Middle East's First Women-Only Angel Investor Group|date = November 11, 2014|access-date = June 20, 2015|website = Getting to Know Womena: The Middle East's First Women-Only Angel Investor Group and the Duo Behind It All|publisher = Savoir Flair|last = Tehini|first = Noor|archive-date = June 20, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150620065449/http://www.savoirflair.com/culture/7598-getting-to-know-womena-the-middle-easts-first-women-only-angel-investment-group-and-the-duo-behind-it-all|url-status = live}}</ref>

== Financial and legal matters ==
[[File:Use of Sharia by country.svg|thumb|380px|Use, by country, of ''[[Sharia]]'' for legal matters relating to women:<br />
{{legend|#179C86|''Sharia'' plays no role in the judicial system.}}
{{legend|#F6DD4F|''Sharia'' applies to Muslims in personal status issues only.}}
{{legend|#706EA4|''Sharia'' is also used in criminal law.}}
{{legend|#FF9950|Regional variations in the application of ''Sharia''}}
]]
{{Main|Application of sharia by country|Status of women's testimony in Islam}}

According to all schools of Islamic law, the injunctions of Sharia apply to all Muslims, male and female, who have reached the age of maturity{{snd}}and only to them.<ref name="Nasr 2004 125" /> The Quran especially emphasizes that its injunctions concern both men and women in several verses where both are addressed clearly and in a distinct manner, such as in Sūrat al-Aḥzāb at 33:35<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/033-qmt.php|title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 33: AL-AHZAB (The Clans, The Coalition, The Combined Forces)|work=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606204827/http://www.usc.edu/org/cmje/religious-texts/quran/verses/033-qmt.php|archive-date=June 6, 2014}}</ref> ('Verily, men who surrender unto God, and women who surrender...').

Most Muslim-majority countries, and some countries with a considerable population of Muslim minorities, follow a mixed legal system, with positive laws and state courts, as well as ''[[sharia]]''-based religious laws and religious courts.<ref name="Otto2008">{{cite book |last=Otto |first=Jan Michiel |title=Sharia and National Law in Muslim Countries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f9XaP-ufhPQC&pg=PA8 |access-date=2013-10-19 |date=2008 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8728-048-2|pages=23–47}}</ref> Those countries that use sharia for legal matters involving women, adopt it mostly for personal law; however, a few Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen also have sharia-based criminal laws.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Ann Elizabeth|last=Mayer|title=Law. Modern Legal Reform|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0473#e0473-s5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121033722/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t236/e0473#e0473-s5|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 21, 2008}}</ref>

According to Jan Michiel Otto, "[a]nthropological research shows that people in local communities often do not distinguish clearly whether and to what extent their norms and practices are based on local tradition, tribal custom, or religion."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Jan Michiel |last1=Otto |year=2008 |title=Sharia and National Law in Muslim Countries: Tensions and Opportunities for Dutch and EU Foreign Policy |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8728-048-2 |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/20694/Sharia%20and%20national%20Law%20in%20Muslim%20countries.pdf |page=30 |archive-date=October 9, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009235043/https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/20694/Sharia%20and%20national%20Law%20in%20Muslim%20countries.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In some areas, tribal practices such as ''[[Vani (custom)|vani]]'', [[Baad (practice)|Ba'ad]] and [[Honor killing|"honor" killing]] remain an integral part of the customary legal processes involving Muslim women.<ref>Alissa Rubin, ''Punishment of Elder's Misdeeds, Afghan Girl Pays the Price'', New York Times, February 16, 2012</ref><ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/449221/vani-verdict/ Vani verdict] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708212216/https://tribune.com.pk/story/449221/vani-verdict/ |date=July 8, 2017 }} The Tribune, Pakistan (October 9, 2012)</ref> In turn, article 340 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which reduces sentences for killing female relatives over adultery, and is commonly believed to be derived from Islamic law, was in fact borrowed from [[French criminal law]] during the Ottoman era.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TD2iwzTWSz0C&pg=PA113|page=113|title=Women and Islam: Social conditions, obstacles and prospects, Volume 2|editor=Haideh Moghissi|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2005|isbn=978-0-415-32420-5}}</ref>

Other than applicable laws to Muslim women, there is gender-based variation in the process of testimony and acceptable forms of evidence in legal matters.<ref name=deah>Donna E. Arzt, The Application of International Human Rights Law in Islamic States, Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 2 (May 1990), pp. 202–230</ref><ref name=rpcp /> Some Islamic jurists have held that certain types of testimony by women may not be accepted. In other cases, the testimony of two women equals that of one man.<ref name=deah /><ref name=rpcp />

=== Financial and legal agency ===
==== The classical position ====
According to verse 4:32 of the Quran, both men and women have an independent economic position: 'For men is a portion of what they earn, and for women is a portion of what they earn. Ask God for His grace. God has knowledge of all things.'<ref name="Jawad 1998 7">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=7}}</ref> Women therefore are at liberty to buy, sell, mortgage, lease, borrow or lend, and sign contracts and legal documents.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" /> Additionally, women can donate money, act as trustees and set up a business or company.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" /> These rights cannot be altered, irrespective of marital status.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" /> When a woman is married, she legally has total control over the dower—the ''mahr'' or bridal gift, usually financial in nature, which the groom pays to the bride upon marriage—and retains this control in the event of divorce.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=248}}</ref>

Quranic principles, especially the teaching of ''zakāh'' or purification of wealth, encourage women to own, invest, save and distribute their earnings and savings according to their discretion.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" />{{Page needed|date=November 2016}} These also acknowledge and enforce the right of women to participate in various economic activities.<ref name="Jawad 1998 7" />{{Page needed|date=November 2016}}

In contrast to many other cultures, a woman in Islam has always been entitled as per Sharia law to keep her family name and not take her husband's name.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=9}}</ref> Therefore, a Muslim woman has traditionally always been known by the name of her family as an indication of her individuality and her own legal identity: there is no historically practiced process of changing the names of women be they married, divorced or widowed.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> With the spread of western-style state bureaucracies across the Islamic world from the nineteenth century onwards, this latter convention has come under increasing pressure, and it is now commonplace for Muslim women to change their names upon marriage.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

=== Property rights ===
[[File:Kazakh wedding 3.jpg|thumb|A [[Kazakhs|Kazakh]] wedding ceremony in a mosque]]

{{See also|Islamic inheritance jurisprudence#Women and inheritance|label 1=Women and inheritance in Islam}}
Quran states:
{{Blockquote|For men is a share from what the parents and near relatives leave, and for women is a share from what the parents and near relative leave from less from it or more, a legal share. (Al-Quran 4:7)}}
[[Bernard Lewis]] says that classical Islamic civilization granted free Muslim women relatively more property rights than women in the West, even as it sanctified three basic inequalities between master and slave, man and woman, believer and unbeliever.<ref>Bernard Lewis (2002), ''What Went Wrong?'', {{ISBN|0-19-514420-1}}, {{p.|82|83}}</ref> Even in cases where property rights were granted in the West, they were very limited and covered only upper-class women.<ref>Joseph and Naǧmābādī, Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics, Brill Academic, pp. 137–138, {{ISBN|978-9004128187}}</ref> Over time, while women's rights have improved elsewhere, those in many Muslim-dominated countries have remained comparatively restricted.<ref>Joseph and Naǧmābādī, Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics, Brill Academic, pp. 299–305, {{ISBN|978-9004128187}}</ref><ref>Naila Kabeer (1999), Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women's empowerment. Development and change, 30(3): 435–464</ref>

Women's property rights in the Quran are from parents and near relatives. A woman, according to Islamic tradition, does not have to give her pre-marriage possessions to her husband and receive a ''[[mahr]]'' (dower) which she then owns.<ref name="badawi">[[Jamal Badawi]], ''[http://www.institutealislam.com/the-status-of-woman-in-islam-by-dr-jamal-badawi/ The status of women in Islam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525170640/http://www.institutealislam.com/the-status-of-woman-in-islam-by-dr-jamal-badawi/ |date=May 25, 2022 }}''. June 4, 2008</ref> Furthermore, any earnings that a woman receives through employment or business, after marriage, is hers to keep and need not contribute towards family expenses. This is because, once the marriage is consummated, in exchange for ''tamkin'' (sexual submission), a woman is entitled to ''nafaqa—''namely, the financial responsibility for reasonable housing, food and other household expenses for the family, including the spouse, falls entirely on the husband.<ref name="musawah" /><ref name="Doi, A. Rahman 1992" /> In traditional Islamic law, a woman is also not responsible for the upkeep of the home and may demand payment for any work she does in the domestic sphere.<ref name="reliance1">{{cite web |url=http://www.catheyallison.com/Reliance_of_the_Traveller.pdf |title=Reliance of the Traveller |author=[[Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri]], [[Nuh Ha Mim Keller]] |page=?? |date=1368 |work=Amana Publications |access-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-date=August 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819082808/http://www.catheyallison.com/Reliance_of_the_Traveller.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="relianceA2">{{cite web|url=http://dailyrollcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/the-reliance-of-the-traveller.pdf|title=A Classic Manual of Islamic Scared Law|author=[[Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri]], [[Nuh Ha Mim Keller]]|date=1368|page=??|work=Shafiifiqh.com|access-date=May 14, 2020|archive-date=July 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710183042/http://dailyrollcall.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/the-reliance-of-the-traveller.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Property rights enabled some Muslim women to possess substantial assets and fund charitable endowments. In mid-sixteenth century Istanbul, 36.8% of charitable endowments (awqāf) were founded by women.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Women and Waqf: An Analysis of the Istanbul Tahrîr of 1546|last = Baer|first = Gabriel|date = 1983|journal = Asian and African Studies}}</ref> In eighteenth century Cairo, 126 out of 496 charitable foundations (25.4%) were endowed by women.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Bodies in Contact: Rethinking Colonial Encounters in World History|last = Burton & Ballantyne|publisher = Duke University Press|year = 2005|isbn = 978-0-8223-3467-5|pages = [https://archive.org/details/bodiesincontact02unse/page/129 129–130]|chapter = Women, Property and Power in Eighteenth-Century Cairo (Author: Mary Ann Fay)|chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/bodiesincontact02unse/page/129}}</ref> Between 1770 and 1840, 241 out of 468 or 51% of charitable endowments in Aleppo were founded by women.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Women in the Ottoman Empire: Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Era|last = Zilfi|first = Madeline C.|publisher = Brill|year = 1997|isbn = 978-9004108042|pages = 131–132|chapter = Women and Waqf Revisited: The Case of Aleppo 1770–1840 (Author: Margaret L. Meriwether)}}</ref>

The Quran grants inheritance rights to wife, daughter, and sisters of the deceased.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last = Glassé|first = Cyril|publisher = Stacey International|year = 1989|location = London|pages = 188–189}}</ref> However, women's inheritance rights to her father's property are unequal to her male siblings, and varies based on number of sisters, stepsisters, stepbrothers, whether the mother is surviving, and other claimants. The rules of inheritance are specified by a number of Quran verses, including ''Surah'' "Baqarah" (chapter 2) verses 180 and 240; ''Surah'' "Nisa(h)" (chapter 4) verses 7–11, 19 and 33; and ''Surah'' "Maidah" (chapter 5), verses 106–108. Three verses in ''Surah'' "Nisah" (chapter 4), verses 11, 12 and 176, describe the share of close relatives. The religious inheritance laws for women in Islam are different from inheritance laws for non-Muslim women under common laws.<ref>M Keshavjee (2013), Islam, Sharia and Alternative Dispute Resolution, {{ISBN|978-1-84885-732-2}}, pp. 30–31</ref>

=== Economic equity ===
The Islamic teaching of going out of one's way to treat women equitably in financial dealings is exemplified by a story featuring [[Abu Hanifa|Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā]] (700–767)—the founder of the Ḥanafī School of Law, who in his earlier life was a textile merchant in a garrison town—and a woman who came to his store offering to sell Abū Ḥanīfa a silk garment. The author and investment banker Harris Irfan narrates the story as follows:

"The lady offered to sell the garment to Abu Hanifa for 100 dirhams but Abu Hanifa would not buy it. 'It is worth more than a hundred', he told the surprised woman. 'How much?' he asked her again. She offered to sell it for 200 dirhams and he turned her down. Then she asked for 300, then 400, at which point the exasperated woman scolded him. 'You are mocking me', she declared, and prepared to walk away from the deal to try her luck elsewhere. So they summoned another merchant and he solemnly valued the garment at 500 dirhams. Rather than profit from the woman's ignorance, Abu Hanifa had opted to settle for a fair trade, a principle he would abide by all his life—that the greedy should be regulated from taking advantage of the vulnerable."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Heaven's Bankers: Inside the Hidden World of Islamic Finance|last=Irfan|first=Harris|publisher=Constable|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4721-2169-1|location=London|chapter= 2: The Nature of Money}}</ref>

=== Sexual crimes and sins ===

==== Zina ====
{{Main|Zina}}
{{blockquote|The fornicating woman and the fornicating man, flog each one of them with one hundred stripes. No pity for them should prevail upon you in the matter of Allah's religion, if you really believe in Allah and the Last Day; and a group of believers must witness their punishment. A man who is fornicator will not marry but a woman who is a fornicator or a polytheist; and a woman who is a fornicator will not marry but a man who is a fornicator or a polytheist. And this (i.e. marrying such spouses) has been prohibited for the believers. (Al-Quran 24:2–3)}}
; Traditional jurisprudence

Zina is an [[Sharia|Islamic legal]] term referring to unlawful sexual intercourse.<ref name=Semerdjian>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Elyse|last=Semerdjian|title=Zinah|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0984|url-access=subscription|isbn=978-0-19-530513-5|access-date=August 1, 2017|archive-date=February 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225223722/http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001/acref-9780195305135-e-0984|url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Fiqh|traditional jurisprudence]], zina can include adultery (of married parties), fornication (of unmarried parties), prostitution, [[bestiality]], and, according to some scholars, rape.<ref name=Semerdjian /> The [[Quran]] disapproved of the promiscuity prevailing in Arabia at the time, and several verses refer to unlawful sexual intercourse, including one that prescribes the punishment of 100 lashes for fornicators.<ref name=EI2>{{Cite encyclopedia|first=R. |last= Peters | year= 2012 | title=Zinā or Zināʾ |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition= 2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|doi= 10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8168 }}</ref> Zina thus belong to the class of ''hadd'' (pl. ''[[hudud]]'') crimes, which have Quranically specified punishments.<ref name=EI2 />

Although stoning for zina is not mentioned in the Quran, all schools of traditional jurisprudence agreed on the basis of [[hadith]] that it is to be punished by stoning if the offender is ''muhsan'' (adult, free, Muslim, and having been married), with some extending this punishment to certain other cases and milder punishment prescribed in other scenarios.<ref name=EI2 /><ref name=Semerdjian /> The offenders must have acted of their own free will.<ref name=EI2 /> According to traditional jurisprudence, zina must be proved by testimony of four adult, pious male eyewitnesses to the actual act of penetration, or a confession repeated four times and not retracted later.<ref name=EI2 /><ref name=Semerdjian /> Any Muslim who accuses another Muslim of zina but fails to produce the required witnesses commits the crime of false accusation (qadhf, القذف).<ref name="aq97">Quraishi, A. (1997). [http://ssrn.com/abstract=1524245 Her Honor: An Islamic Critique of the Rape Laws of Pakistan from a Woman-Sensitive Perspective], ''Michigan Journal of International Law'', {{vol.|18}}, {{No.|287}} (1997).</ref><ref name="sas01">Sidahmed, A. S. (2001). "Problems in contemporary applications of Islamic criminal sanctions: The penalty for adultery in relation to women", ''British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies'', 28(2), {{pp.|187|204}}.</ref><ref>Esmaeili, H., & Gans, J. (1999). "Islamic law across cultural borders: the involvement of western nationals in Saudi murder trials", ''Denver Journal of International Law and Policy'' 28:145; see also {{qref|24|4|b=y}}.</ref> Some contend that this [[Sharia]] requirement of four eyewitnesses severely limits a man's ability to prove [[zina]] charges against women, a crime often committed without eyewitnesses.<ref name="aq97" /><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cheema | first1 = M. H. | last2 = Mustafa | first2 = A. R. | year = 2008 | title = From the Hudood Ordinances to the Protection of Women Act: Islamic Critiques of the Hudood Laws of Pakistan | journal = UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near East Law | volume = 8 | pages = 1–101 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kamali | first1 = M. H. | year = 1998 | title = Punishment in Islamic law: A critique of the ''hudud'' bill of Kelantan, Malaysia | journal = Arab Law Quarterly | volume = 13 | issue = 3| pages = 203–234 | doi=10.1163/026805598125826102}}</ref> The [[Maliki]] legal school also allows an unmarried woman's pregnancy to be used as evidence, but the punishment can be averted by a number of legal "semblances" (''shubuhat''), such as existence of an invalid marriage contract.<ref name=EI2 /> These requirements made zina virtually impossible to prove in practice.<ref name=Semerdjian />

; History

Aside from "a few rare and isolated" instances from the pre-modern era and several recent cases, there is no historical record of stoning for zina being legally carried out.<ref name=Semerdjian /> Zina became a more pressing issue in modern times, as [[Islamist]] movements and governments employed polemics against public immorality.<ref name=Semerdjian /> After sharia-based criminal laws were widely replaced by European-inspired statutes in the modern era, in recent decades several countries passed legal reforms that incorporated elements of hudud laws into their legal codes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Knut S.|last=Vikør|title=Sharīʿah|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics|publisher=Oxford University Press|editor=Emad El-Din Shahin|year=2014|url=http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/226|access-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202054116/http://bridgingcultures.neh.gov/muslimjourneys/items/show/226|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Iran witnessed several highly publicized stonings for zina in the aftermath of the [[Iranian Revolution|Islamic revolution]].<ref name=Semerdjian /> In Nigeria local courts have passed several stoning sentences, all of which were overturned on appeal or left unenforced.<ref>{{cite book|author= Gunnar J. Weimann|title=Islamic Criminal Law in Northern Nigeria: Politics, Religion, Judicial Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2joqx6vG74cC&pg=PA77|page=77|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|year=2010|isbn=9789056296551}}</ref> While the harsher punishments of the [[Hudood Ordinances]] have never been applied in Pakistan,<ref>{{cite book |first1=Jan Michiel |last1=Otto |year=2008 |title=Sharia and National Law in Muslim Countries: Tensions and Opportunities for Dutch and EU Foreign Policy |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8728-048-2 |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/20694/Sharia%20and%20national%20Law%20in%20Muslim%20countries.pdf |page=20 |archive-date=October 9, 2017 |access-date=August 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009235043/https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/20694/Sharia%20and%20national%20Law%20in%20Muslim%20countries.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> in 2005 [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that over 200,000 zina cases against women were underway at various levels in Pakistan's legal system.<ref name=hrwpakistan>[https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k5/pdf/pakist.pdf Pakistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307043029/https://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k5/pdf/pakist.pdf |date=March 7, 2016 }} Human Rights Watch (2005)</ref>

==== Qazf and Li'an ====
In 'qazf' when someone accuses a chaste woman without four witnesses then he is to be punished with being flogged with eighty lashes. His testimony will become inadmissible forever unless he repents and improves (24:4–5) However, in 'lian', when the husband accuses the wife of adultery without witnesses, he have to swear five times each to support his case. If he takes oaths she is to be punished with 100 flogging and [[stoning]] unless she too takes oaths in similar way to support her case, her oaths are upheld over his and she will not be punished(24:6–9).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/839596|title=Woman as a witness|date=November 12, 2010|access-date=April 8, 2018|archive-date=November 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082136/https://www.dawn.com/news/839596|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{blockquote|<poem>24:4 Those who accuse chaste women ˹of adultery˺ and fail to produce four witnesses, give them eighty lashes ˹each˺. And do not ever accept any testimony from them—for they are indeed the rebellious—
24:5 except those who repent afterwards and mend their ways, then surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
24:6 And those who accuse their wives ˹of adultery˺ but have no witness except themselves, the accuser must testify, swearing four times by Allah that he is telling the truth,
24:7 and a fifth oath that Allah may condemn him if he is lying.
24:8 For her to be spared the punishment, she must swear four times by Allah that he is telling a lie,
24:9 and a fifth oath that Allah may be displeased with her if he is telling the truth.</poem>|{{qref|24|4–9|c=y}}}}

==== Rape ====
{{Anchor|Rape}}
{{Main|Rape in Islamic law}}

;Traditional jurisprudence

Rape is considered a serious sexual crime in Islam, and can be defined in Islamic law as: "Forcible illegal sexual intercourse by a man with a woman who is not legally married to him, without her free will and consent".<ref name="Noor">{{cite journal|last1=Noor|first1=Azman Mohd|title=Rape: A Problem of Crime Classification in Islamic Law|journal=Arab Law Quarterly|date=January 1, 2010|volume=24|issue=4|pages=417–438|doi=10.1163/157302510X526724}}</ref>

Sharia law makes a distinction between adultery and rape and applies different rules.<ref name="Leaman 2013 78">{{cite book |title=Controversies in Contemporary Islam |last=Leaman |first=Oliver |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-67613-7 |page=78}}</ref> According to Professor [[Oliver Leaman]], the required testimony of four male witnesses having seen the actual penetration applies to illicit sexual relations (i.e. adultery and fornication), not to rape.<ref name="Leaman78">{{cite book |title=Controversies in Contemporary Islam |last=Leaman |first=Oliver |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-67613-7 |location=New York |page=78}}</ref> The requirements for proof of rape are less stringent:

<blockquote>Rape charges can be brought and a case proven based on the sole testimony of the victim, providing that circumstantial evidence supports the allegations. It is these strict criteria of proof which lead to the frequent observation that where injustice against women does occur, it is not because of Islamic law. It happens either due to misinterpretation of the intricacies of the Sharia laws governing these matters, or cultural traditions; or due to corruption and blatant disregard of the law, or indeed some combination of these phenomena.<ref name="Leaman78" /></blockquote>

In the case of rape, the adult male perpetrator (i.e. rapist) of such an act is to receive the ḥadd zinā, but the non-consenting or invalidly consenting female (i.e. rape victim) is to be regarded as innocent of zinā and relieved of the ḥadd punishment.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Feminism, Law, and Religion|last = Failinger|first = Marie A.|publisher = Ashgate|year = 2013|isbn = 978-1-4094-4421-3|location = Farnham, England|pages = 328–329|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

;Modern criminal laws

Rape laws in a number of Muslim-majority countries have been a subject of controversy. In some of these countries, such as Morocco, the penal code is neither based on Islamic law nor significantly influenced by it,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iBztCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT279|page=279|title=Capital Punishment: A Hazard to a Sustainable Criminal Justice System?|author=Lill Scherdin|publisher=Routledge|year=2016|isbn=978-1-317-16992-5}}</ref> while in other cases, such as Pakistan's [[Hudood Ordinances]], the code incorporates elements of Islamic law.

In Afghanistan and Dubai, some women who made accusations of rape have been charged with fornication or adultery.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardiannews.com/world/2003/jan/04/france.jonhenley1 |title=French 'rape victim' faces jail for adultery |author=Jon Henley |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 3, 2002 |access-date=January 6, 2013}}</ref><ref>Shahnaz Khan, ''Zina: Transnational Feminism, and the Moral Regulation of Pakistani Women'', University of British Columbia Press, {{ISBN|978-0-7748-1285-6}}, {{pp.|58|63}}.</ref><ref>[https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/21/afghanistan-surge-women-jailed-moral-crimes Afghanistan: Surge in Women Jailed for 'Moral Crimes'] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20131019182138/http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/05/21/afghanistan-surge-women-jailed-moral-crimes |date=October 19, 2013 }} Human Rights Watch (May 21, 2013)[https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/17/world/in-pakistan-rape-victims-are-the-criminals.html In Pakistan, Rape Victims Are the 'Criminals'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422222203/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/17/world/in-pakistan-rape-victims-are-the-criminals.html |date=April 22, 2017 }}, Seth Mydans, ''New York Times'' (May 17, 2002)</ref><ref>Fatima-Zahra Lamrani, [http://www.languageandlaw.de/Volume-2/3314 Rape as Loss of Honor in the Discourse of Moroccan Rape Trials] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020062848/http://www.languageandlaw.de/Volume-2/3314 |date=October 20, 2013 }}, Language and Law, June 2004</ref> This law was amended in Pakistan in 2006.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6178214.stm | work=BBC News | title=Pakistan senate backs rape bill | date=November 23, 2006 | archive-date=February 16, 2007 | access-date=August 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216155542/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6178214.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Witness of woman ===
{{Main|Status of women's testimony in Islam}}
In Quran, surah 2:282 equates two women as substitute for one man, in matters requiring witnesses.<ref>Engineer, A. (2008). The rights of women in Islam. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.; {{ISBN|978-8120739338}}; pp. 73–74</ref>

{{blockquote|O believers! When you contract a loan for a fixed period of time, commit it to writing. Let the scribe maintain justice between the parties. The scribe should not refuse to write as Allah has taught them to write. They will write what the debtor dictates, bearing Allah in mind and not defrauding the debt. If the debtor is incompetent, weak, or unable to dictate, let their guardian dictate for them with justice. Call upon two of your men to witness. If two men cannot be found, then one man and two women of your choice will witness—so if one of the women forgets the other may remind her. The witnesses must not refuse when they are summoned. You must not be against writing ˹contracts˺ for a fixed period—whether the sum is small or great. This is more just ˹for you˺ in the sight of Allah, and more convenient to establish evidence and remove doubts. However, if you conduct an immediate transaction among yourselves, then there is no need for you to record it, but call upon witnesses when a deal is finalized. Let no harm come to the scribe or witnesses. If you do, then you have gravely exceeded ˹your limits˺. Be mindful of Allah, for Allah ˹is the One Who˺ teaches you. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.|{{qref|2|282|b=y}}}}

{{blockquote|Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri:
The prophet said, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes". He said, " This is deficiency of her mind".

(Sahih Bukhari: Book of Witnesses: Chapter witness of women: Hadith no. 2658)}}

Regarding the [[hadith]], that is used to prove the half-testimony status, Ghamidi and members of his foundation, [[Al-Mawrid]], argue against its reliability<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Woman and the Islamic Law (Part 1/2) – Javed Ahmad Ghamidi|url=http://www.javedahmadghamidi.com/books/view/the-woman-and-the-islamic-law-part-1-2|website=www.javedahmadghamidi.com|access-date=2016-05-03|archive-date=June 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624234012/http://www.javedahmadghamidi.com/books/view/the-woman-and-the-islamic-law-part-1-2|url-status=live}}</ref> and its common understanding.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Questions {{!}} Al-Mawrid|url=http://www.al-mawrid.org/index.php/questions/view/testimony-of-a-woman|website=www.al-mawrid.org|access-date=2016-05-03|archive-date=June 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602084200/http://www.al-mawrid.org/index.php/questions/view/testimony-of-a-woman|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":110">{{Citation|title=Is woman's testimony half the weight of man's?|url=http://www.al-mawrid.org/index.php/videos/ajax_video/is-womans-testimony-half-the-weight-of-mans|language=en|access-date=2019-12-24|archive-date=January 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109175253/http://www.al-mawrid.org/index.php/videos/ajax_video/is-womans-testimony-half-the-weight-of-mans|url-status=live}}</ref><sup>(27:37)</sup> Ghamidi also contends that the narration cannot be used in all general cases because it is related to the Qur'an verse whose subject is related only to financial matters. Another Pakistani religious scholar Ishaq argues that acquiring conclusive evidence is important, regardless of whether it can be obtained from just one man or just one woman. According to Ghamidi, regarding the verse [[Ibn al-Qayyim]] and [[Ibn Taymiyyah|Ibn Taymiyya]] also held similar views to his.<ref name=":110" /><sup>(11:31)</sup>

Al-Qayyim argued that the verse relates to the heavy responsibility of testifying by which an owner of wealth protects his rights, not with the decision of a court; the two are completely different from each other.<ref>[[Ibn al-Qayyim]], I'lam al-Muwwaqi'in, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Beirut: Dar al-Jayl, 1973), 91.</ref> It is also argued that this command shows that the Qur'an does not want to make difficulties for women.<ref>''[http://www.renaissance.com.pk/Julrefl12y4.html Half of a Man!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927210116/http://www.renaissance.com.pk/Julrefl12y4.html|date=September 27, 2007}}'', [[Al-Mawrid|Renaissance – Monthly Islamic Journal]], 14(7), July 2004</ref> Ibn Taymiyya also reasoned the deficiency of using Qur'an 2:282 to prove [[evidentiary]] discrimination against women. However, both Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn Taymiyya ''did'' believe in the difference of [[Probative value|probative]] value of men's and women's testimony. It is argued that even though Ibn al-Qayyim believed that women were more prone to making errors, instead of concluding a general discrimination from this, women's testimony was to be treated on an individual basis. This is because Ibn al-Qayyim contended that in cases where a woman and man share all the Islamic good qualities of a witness, a woman's testimony corroborated by another woman may ''actually'' be considered stronger than the uncorroborated testimony of a man. Additionally, Ibn al-Qayyim also regarded the testimony of some exceptional women like those who transmitted the Hadith as doubtlessly greater than a single man of lesser esteem.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fadel|first=Mohammad|date=January 1, 1997|title=Two Women, One Man: Knowledge, Power, and Gender in Medieval Sunni Legal Thought|url=https://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/lectures/religion_fadel_0710.pdf|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=29|issue=2|pages=185–204|doi=10.1017/S0020743800064461|s2cid=143083939 |access-date=May 20, 2020|archive-date=December 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230214317/https://www.law.utoronto.ca/documents/lectures/religion_fadel_0710.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Ibn Taymiyyah]] wrote:<blockquote>"فَمَا كَانَ مِنْ الشَّهَادَاتِ لَا يُخَافُ فِيهِ الضَّلَالُ فِي الْعَادَةِ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِيهِ عَلَى نِصْفِ رَجُلٍ"

"Whatever there is among the testimonies of women, which there is no fear of habitual error, then they are not considered as half of a man."<ref>Turuq Al Hukmiya 1:128</ref></blockquote>[[Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya|Ibn al-Qayyim]] writes:<blockquote>"وَالْمَرْأَةُ الْعَدْلُ كَالرَّجُلِ فِي الصِّدْقِ وَالْأَمَانَةِ وَالدِّيَانَة إلَّا أَنَّهَا لَمَّا خِيفَ عَلَيْهَا السَّهْوُ وَالنِّسْيَانُ قَوِيَتْ بِمِثْلِهَا وَذَلِكَ قَدْ يَجْعَلُهَا أَقْوَى مِنْ الرَّجُلِ الْوَاحِدِ أَوْ مِثْلَهُ" "The woman is equal to the man in honesty, trust, and piety; otherwise, whenever it is feared that she will forget or misremember, she is strengthened with another like herself. That makes them stronger than a single man or the likes of him."<ref>{{Cite book|last=al-Jawziyya|first=Ibn Qayyim|title=الطرق الحكمية في السياسة الشرعية|page=430}}</ref></blockquote>In Islamic law, [[Status of women's testimony in Islam|testimony (''shahada'')]] is defined as attestation of knowledge with regard to a right of a second party against a third. It exists alongside other forms of evidence, such as the oath, confession, and circumstantial evidence.<ref>{{cite book|author=Wael B. Hallaq|author-link = Wael Hallaq|title=Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=347}}</ref> In classical Sharia criminal law men and women are treated differently with regard to evidence and [[Blood money (restitution)|blood money]]. The testimony of a man has twice the strength of that of a woman. However, with regard to ''hadd'' offenses and retaliation, the testimonies of female witnesses are not admitted at all.<ref name="rpcp">Rudolph Peters, Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-79226-4}}, pp. 15–29, 177–178</ref> A number of Muslim-majority countries, particularly in the Arab world, presently treat a woman's testimony as half of a man's in certain cases, mainly in family disputes adjudicated based on Islamic law.<ref>Kelly, S. (2010), Recent gains and new opportunities for women's rights in the Gulf Arab states, Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa: Gulf Edition; Editors: Kelly and Breslin; {{ISBN|978-1-4422-0396-9}}</ref>

Classical commentators commonly explained the unequal treatment of testimony by asserting that women's nature made them more prone to error than men. Muslim modernists have followed the Egyptian reformer [[Muhammad Abduh]] in viewing the relevant scriptural passages as conditioned on the different gender roles and life experiences that prevailed at the time rather than women's innately inferior mental capacities, making the rule not generally applicable in all times and places.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Two Women, One Man: Knowledge, Power, and Gender in Medieval Sunni Legal Thought|author=Mohammad Fadel|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=29|number=2|year=1997|page=187|jstor=164016}}</ref> According to other explanations, the reason behind this inequality is that in a household a portion of the male's share has to go on into caring for the family and providing their needs, meanwhile the female can act freely with her share.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alukah.net/sharia/0/77364/|title=the rights of women in merit, Wael hafed Khalaf|date=October 19, 2014|access-date=November 1, 2019|archive-date=November 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101082137/https://www.alukah.net/sharia/0/77364/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Domestic violence ===
{{See also|Islam and domestic violence}}
[[File:A comparison of acceptance of domestic violence in select Arab and Muslim majority countries, UNICEF 2013.png|thumb|Acceptance of domestic violence by women in some Islamic countries, according to UNICEF (2013)<ref>[http://www.childinfo.org/attitudes_data.php Percentage of women aged 15–49 who think that a husband/partner is justified in hitting or beating his wife/partner under certain circumstances] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704112113/http://www.childinfo.org/attitudes_data.php |date=July 4, 2014 }} UNICEF (2013)</ref>]]

{{blockquote|<poem>4:34 Men are the caretakers of women, as men have been provisioned by Allah over women and tasked with supporting them financially. And righteous women are devoutly obedient and, when alone, protective of what Allah has entrusted them with. And if you sense ill-conduct from your women, advise them ˹first˺, ˹if they persist,˺ do not share their beds, ˹but if they still persist,˺ then discipline them ˹gently˺. But if they change their ways, do not be unjust to them. Surely Allah is Most High, All-Great.
4:35 If you anticipate a split between them, appoint a mediator from his family and another from hers. If they desire reconciliation, Allah will restore harmony between them. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.</poem>|{{qref|4|34-35|c=y}}}}

The word "strike" in this verse which is understood as "beating" or "hitting" in English—''w'aḍribūhunna''—is derived from the Arabic root word ḍaraba, which has over fifty derivations and definitions, including "to separate', "to oscillate" and "to play music".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Prohibition of Domestic Violence in Islam|last=Kabbani|first=Shaykh Muhammad Hisham|publisher=World Organization for Resource Development and Education|year=2011|isbn=978-1-930409-97-2|location=Washington, DC|page=6}}</ref> The common conservative interpretations <ref>{{Cite web |title=An Nisa (The women) verse 34 |url=https://quranx.com/4.34 |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Quranx |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029092110/https://quranx.com/4.34 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last= |title=The Qur'an Arabic text(with corresponding english meanings) |publisher=Saheeh International |year=1997 |location=Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |page=105}}</ref> translate and understand the word to mean as strike or beat in [[An-Nisa, 34|this verse]], with some making a special note of the striking being specifically of low severity, however, there does exist Islamic thought that suggests a different interpretation also. Even within the Quran itself, the most common use{{Where|date=October 2016}} of this word is not with the definition "to beat", but as verb phrases which provide a number of other meanings, including, as argued by some, several which are more plausible within the context of 4:34, such as "to leave [your wife in the event of disloyalty]", and "to draw them lovingly towards you [following temporarily not sleeping with them in protest at their disloyal behaviour].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Prohibition of Domestic Violence in Islam|last=Kabbani|first=Shaykh Muhammed Hisham|publisher=World Organization for Resource Development and Education|year=2011|isbn=978-1-930409-97-2|location=Washington, DC|pages=9–12}}</ref>

[[Jonathan A.C. Brown]] gives the wider scholarly tendency when it comes to the verse: The vast majority of the ulama across the Sunni schools of law inherited Muhammad's unease over domestic violence and placed further restrictions on the evident meaning of the 'Wife Beating Verse'. A leading Meccan scholar from the second generation of Muslims, [[Ata ibn Abi Rabah|Ata' bin Abi Rabah]], counseled a husband not to beat his wife even if she ignored him but rather to express his anger in some other way. [[Al-Darimi|Darimi]], a teacher of both [[Tirmidhi]] and [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj|Muslim bin Hajjaj]] as well as a leading early scholar in Iran, collected all the Hadiths showing Muhammad's disapproval of beating in a chapter entitled 'The Prohibition on Striking Women'. A thirteenth-century scholar from Granada, Ibn Faras, notes that one camp of ulama had staked out a stance forbidding striking a wife altogether, declaring it contrary to Muhammad's example and denying the authenticity of any Hadiths that seemed to permit beating. Even [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani|Ibn Hajar]], the pillar of late medieval Sunni Hadith scholarship, concludes that, contrary to what seems to be an explicit command in the Quran, the hadiths of Muhammad leave no doubt that striking one's wife to discipline her actually falls under the Sharia ruling of 'strongly disliked' or 'disliked verging on prohibited.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy|last=Brown|first=Jonathan|publisher=Oneworld Publisher|year=2014|pages=275–276}}</ref>

In recent years, numerous prominent scholars in the tradition of "orthodox Islam" have issued fatwas (legal opinions) against domestic violence. These include the Shī'ite scholar Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who promulgated a fatwa on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 2007, which states that Islam forbids men from exercising any form of violence against women;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/domestic-violence-fatwa-stirs-outrage|title=Domestic violence fatwa stirs outrage|last=Abou el Magd|first=Nadia|date=October 28, 2008|website=The National|publisher=Mubadala Development Company|access-date=June 13, 2016|archive-date=August 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809101819/http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/domestic-violence-fatwa-stirs-outrage|url-status=live}}</ref> Shakyh [[Hisham Kabbani|Muhammad Hisham Kabbani]], the Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, who co-authored ''The Prohibition of Domestic Violence in Islam'' (2011) with Homayra Ziad;<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Prohibition of Domestic Violence in America|last=Kabbani|first=Shaykh Muhammad Hisham|publisher=World Organization for Resource Development and Education|year=2011|isbn=978-1-930409-97-2|location=Washington, DC}}</ref> and [[Cemalnur Sargut]], the president of the Turkish Women's Cultural Association (TÜRKKAD), who has stated that men who engage in domestic violence "in a sense commit polytheism (''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'')": "Such people never go on a diet to curb the desires of their ego...[Conversely] In his [[Masnavi|''Mathnawi'']] Rumi says love for women is because of witnessing Allah as reflected in the mirror of their being. According to [[Sufism|''tasawwuf'']], woman is the light of Allah's beauty shed onto this earth. Again in [the] ''Mathanawi'' Rumi says a man who is wise and fine-spirited is understanding and compassionate towards a woman, and never wants to hurt or injure her."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/turkey-women-in-middle-east-sargut.html|title=Turkish teacher on why she embraces Sufi lifestyle|last=Asimović Akyol|first=Riada|date=March 24, 2015|work=Al-Monitor|access-date=June 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327002540/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/03/turkey-women-in-middle-east-sargut.html|archive-date=2015-03-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Some scholars<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hajjar | first1 = Lisa | year = 2004 | title = Religion, state power, and domestic violence in Muslim societies: A framework for comparative analysis | journal = Law & Social Inquiry | volume = 29 | issue = 1| pages = 1–38 | doi=10.1086/423688}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Treacher | first1 = Amal | year = 2003 | title = Reading the Other Women, Feminism, and Islam | journal = Studies in Gender and Sexuality | volume = 4 | issue = 1| pages = 59–71 | doi=10.1080/15240650409349215| s2cid = 144006049 }}</ref> claim Islamic law, such as verse 4:34 of Quran, allows and encourages domestic violence against women, when a husband suspects ''[[nushuz]]'' (disobedience, disloyalty, rebellion, ill conduct) in his wife.<ref name="John C. Raines 2001 pages 201-203">John C. Raines & Daniel C. Maguire (Ed), Farid Esack, What Men Owe to Women: Men's Voices from World Religions, State University of New York (2001), see pp. 201–203</ref> Other scholars claim wife beating, for ''nashizah'', is not consistent with modern perspectives of Quran.<ref>Jackson, Nicky Ali, ed. Encyclopedia of domestic violence. CRC Press, 2007. (see chapter on Quranic perspectives on wife abuse)</ref>

There are a number of translations of this verse from the Arabic original, and all vary to some extent.<ref name="arabic">{{cite web|url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/4/34/default.htm|title=AYAH an-Nisa' 4:34|website=Islam Awakened|access-date=December 12, 2014|archive-date=November 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109091939/http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/4/34/default.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Some Muslims, such as [[Islamic feminism|Islamic feminist]] groups, argue that Muslim men use the text as an excuse for [[Islam and domestic violence|domestic violence]].<ref name="issue">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001261.html|title=Clothes Aren't the Issue|last=Nomani|first=Asra Q.|date=October 22, 2006|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922033032/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001261_2.html?noredirect=on|archive-date=2018-09-22}}</ref>

In Muhammad's [[Farewell Sermon]] as recorded in al-Tabari's History,<ref>al-Tabari, ''History of Al-Tabari, Vol. IX: The Last Years of the Prophet'' tr. Poonawala, I.K. (Albany, NY, 1990) pp. 112–113</ref> and in a Sahih Hadith collected by Abu Dawud he instructed husbands to beat their wives, without severity (فَاضْرِبُوهُنَّ ضَرْبًا غَيْرَ مُبَرِّحٍ ''fadribuhunna darban ghayra mubarrih''; literal translation: "beat them, a beating without severity") When asked by Ibn Abbas, the cousin and companion of Muhammd, Ibn Abbas replied back: "I asked Ibn Abbas: 'What is the hitting that is Ghayr Al-Mubarrih (Without Severity) ?' He replied [with] the ''[[Miswak|siwak]]'' ([[teeth-cleaning twig]]) and the like'.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Jami' Al Bayan An Ta'Wil Aayi al Qur'an|last=Al Tabari|first=Ibn Jarir|publisher=Dar al-Fikr|volume=5|page= 68}}</ref>

There have been several [[fatwas]] against domestic violence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://canadiancouncilofimams.com/pages/EFkFEEAkEuvurqQPyi.shtml|title=CCI supports the Continuous Call to Eradicate Domestic Violence and calls to dedicate Dec 09 Friday sermons to the subject|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220011028/http://www.canadiancouncilofimams.com/pages/EFkFEEAkEuvurqQPyi.shtml|archive-date=February 20, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.com/fatwa-honour-killings-misogyny-domestic-violence.pdf|title=Fatwa on Honour Killings, Misogyny and Domestic Violence|date=October 13, 2014|work=Islamic Supreme Council of Canada|access-date=2018-09-22|language=en-US|archive-date=November 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108045631/http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.com/fatwa-honour-killings-misogyny-domestic-violence.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Some conservative translations suggest Muslim husbands are permitted to use ''light force'' on their wives, and others claim permissibly to strike them with a ''Miswak'' and chastise them.<ref name="Ahmed">Ahmed, Ali S. V.; Jibouri, Yasin T. (2004). ''The Koran: Translation.'' Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qurān. {{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=December 2024}}</ref><ref>Following verses of Quran and Hadiths are most cited by secondary and tertiary sources on permissibility of domestic violence under Islamic law:
* Steps recommended to Muslim husband for chastising his Muslim wife: {{qref|4|34|b=y}}
* Aisha discusses wife beating with Allah's messenger: {{Hadith-usc|Bukhari|usc=yes|7|72|715}}
* Muhammad hit A'isha on chest which caused her pain: {{Hadith-usc|Muslim|usc=yes|4|2127}}
* Muhammad's statement that a man should not be questioned for beating his wife: {{Hadith-usc|abudawud|usc=yes|11|2142}}</ref> The relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed by some Islamic scholars.<ref name="Ahmed" /><ref name="Bakhtiar">Bakhtiar, Laleh.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/world/americas/25iht-koran.4.5017346.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all ''Verse in Koran on beating wife gets a new translation.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922140842/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/world/americas/25iht-koran.4.5017346.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all |date=September 22, 2018 }} New York Times (March 25, 2007)</ref>

The Lebanese educator and journalist 'Abd al-Qadir al-Maghribi argued that perpetrating acts of domestic violence goes against Muḥammad's own example and injunction. In his 1928 essay, ''Muḥammad and Woman'', al-Maghribi said: "He [Muḥammad] prohibited a man from beating his wife and noted that beating was not appropriate for the marital relationship between them".<ref name="Kurzman 2002 207–214">{{Cite book|title = Modernist Islam 1840–1940: A Sourcebook|url = https://archive.org/details/modernistislamso00kurz|url-access = limited|last = Kurzman|first = Charles|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2002|isbn = 978-0-19-515468-9|location = New York|pages = [https://archive.org/details/modernistislamso00kurz/page/n221 207]–214}}</ref> Muḥammad underlined the moral and logical inconsistency in beating one's wife during the day and then praising her at night as a prelude to conjugal relations.<ref name="Kurzman 2002 207–214" /> The Austrian scholar and translator of the Quran [[Muhammad Asad]] (Leopold Weiss) said: It is evident from many authentic traditions that the Prophet himself intensely detested the idea of beating one's wife...According to another tradition, he forbade the beating of any woman with the words, "Never beat God's handmaidens."'<ref name="Engineer 2005 53">{{Cite book|title = The Quran, Women and Modern Society|last = Engineer|first = Asghar Ali|publisher = New Dawn Press|year = 2005|isbn = 978-1-932705-42-3|location = New Delhi|page = 53}}</ref>

In practice, the legal doctrine of many Islamic nations, in deference to Sharia law, have refused to include, consider or prosecute cases of domestic violence, limiting legal protections available to Muslim women.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Fluehr-Lobban | first1 = Carolyn | last2 = Bardsley-Sirois | first2 = Lois | year = 1990 | title = Obedience (Ta'a) in Muslim Marriage: Religious Interpretation and Applied Law in Egypt | journal = Journal of Comparative Family Studies | volume = 21 | issue = 1| pages = 39–53 | doi = 10.3138/jcfs.21.1.39 }}</ref><ref>Maghraoui, Abdeslam. "Political authority in crisis: Mohammed VI's Morocco."Middle East Report 218 (2001): 12–17.</ref><ref>Critelli, Filomena M. "Women's rights= Human rights: Pakistani women against gender violence." ''J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare'' 37 (2010), pp. 135–142</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Oweis | first1 = Arwa |display-authors=etal | year = 2009 | title = Violence Against Women Unveiling the Suffering of Women with a Low Income in Jordan | journal = Journal of Transcultural Nursing | volume = 20 | issue = 1| pages = 69–76 | doi=10.1177/1043659608325848| pmid = 18832763 | s2cid = 21361924 }}</ref> In 2010, for example, the highest court of United Arab Emirates (Federal Supreme Court) considered a lower court's ruling, and upheld a husband's right to "chastise" his wife and children with physical violence. Article 53 of the United Arab Emirates' penal code acknowledges the right of a "chastisement by a husband to his wife and the chastisement of minor children" so long as the assault does not exceed the limits prescribed by Sharia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/19/uae-spousal-abuse-never-right|title=UAE: Spousal Abuse Never a 'Right'|work=Human Rights Watch|access-date=May 25, 2016|date=October 19, 2010|archive-date=February 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226083817/https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/19/uae-spousal-abuse-never-right|url-status=live}}</ref> In Lebanon, as many as three-quarters of all Lebanese women have suffered physical abuse at the hands of husbands or male relatives at some point in their lives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irinnews.org/report/86247/lebanon-move-to-take-domestic-violence-cases-out-of-religious-courts|title=Move to take domestic violence cases out of religious courts|work=IRIN|access-date=May 25, 2016|date=September 23, 2009|archive-date=August 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812051407/http://www.irinnews.org/report/86247/lebanon-move-to-take-domestic-violence-cases-out-of-religious-courts|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/06/lebanon-enact-family-violence-bill-protect-women|title=Lebanon: Enact Family Violence Bill to Protect Women|work=Human Rights Watch|access-date=May 25, 2016|date=July 6, 2011|archive-date=January 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120204019/https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/07/06/lebanon-enact-family-violence-bill-protect-women|url-status=live}}</ref> In Afghanistan, over 85% of women report domestic violence;<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/Afghanistan_brochure_0913_09032013.pdf Afghanistan – Ending Child Marriage and Domestic Violence] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310070943/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/Afghanistan_brochure_0913_09032013.pdf |date=March 10, 2017 }} Human Rights Watch (September 2013), pp. 11–13</ref> other nations with very high rates of domestic violence and limited legal rights include Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.<ref>Moha Ennaji and Fatima Sadiq, ''Gender and Violence in the Middle East'', Routledge (2011), {{ISBN|978-0-415-59411-0}}; see pp. 162–247</ref> In some Islamic countries such as Turkey, where legal protections against domestic violence have been enacted, serial domestic violence by husband and other male members of her family is mostly ignored by witnesses and accepted by women without her getting legal help, according to a Government of Turkey report.<ref>[http://www.hips.hacettepe.edu.tr/eng/dokumanlar/2008-TDVAW_Main_Report.pdf Domestic violence against women in Turkey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021122654/http://www.hips.hacettepe.edu.tr/eng/dokumanlar/2008-TDVAW_Main_Report.pdf |date=October 21, 2013 }} Jansen, Uner, Kardam, et al.; Turkish Republic Prime Minister Directorate General Office (2009); see Chapter 6</ref>

Turkey was the first country in Europe to ratify (on March 14, 2012) the Council of Europe [[Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence]],<ref>{{Cite press release|url = http://www.endfgm.eu/en/news-and-events/news/press-releases/turkey-ratifies-the-convention-on-preventing-and-combating-violence-and-domestic-violence-again-0073/|title = Turkey ratifies the Convention on preventing and combating violence and domestic violence against women|date = March 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629051640/http://www.endfgm.eu/en/news-and-events/news/press-releases/turkey-ratifies-the-convention-on-preventing-and-combating-violence-and-domestic-violence-again-0073/ |archive-date=2015-06-29|publisher = End FGM European Network}}</ref> which is known as the Istanbul Convention because it was first opened for signature in Turkey's largest city (on May 11, 2011).<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.humanrights.ch/en/standards/ce-treaties/violence-against-women/|title = Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)|date = May 20, 2014|access-date = June 27, 2015|website = Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)|publisher = Information Platform humanrights.ch|archive-date = June 29, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150629034315/http://www.humanrights.ch/en/standards/ce-treaties/violence-against-women/|url-status = dead}}</ref> In 2021, Turkey became the first and only country to withdraw from the convention, after denouncing it on 20 March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-26 |title=Erdoğan insists it's at his discretion to pull Turkey out of İstanbul Convention |url=https://bianet.org/haber/erdogan-insists-it-s-at-his-discretion-to-pull-turkey-out-of-istanbul-convention-241444 |access-date=2023-11-19 |website=Bianet |language=en |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119090736/https://bianet.org/haber/erdogan-insists-it-s-at-his-discretion-to-pull-turkey-out-of-istanbul-convention-241444 |url-status=live }}</ref> Three other European countries with a significant (≥c.20%) Muslim population—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro—have also ratified the convention, while Macedonia is a signatory to the document.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=210&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG|title = Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence CETS No.: 210|date = June 27, 2015|access-date = June 27, 2015|website = Council of Europe|archive-date = August 18, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150818153518/http://www.conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig.asp?NT=210&CM=1&DF=&CL=ENG|url-status = live}}</ref> The aim of the convention is to create a Europe free from violence against women and domestic violence.<ref>{{Cite web|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130411020625/http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/convention-violence/Background%20info/The%20Istanbul%20Convention%20and%20the%20CEDAW%20framework_a%20comparison%20%28short%20version%29.pdf|archive-date = April 11, 2013|url = http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/convention-violence/Background%20info/The%20Istanbul%20Convention%20and%20the%20CEDAW%20framework_a%20comparison%20%28short%20version%29.pdf|title = The Istanbul Convention and the CEDAW framework: A comparison of measures to prevent and combat violence against women|access-date = June 27, 2015|website = Council of Europe|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}</ref> On December 10, 2014, the Serbian-Turkish pop star [[Emina Jahović]] released a video clip entitled ''Ne plašim se'' ("I'm not scared") to help raise awareness of domestic violence in the Balkans. ''Ne plašim se'' highlighted the link between alcohol consumption and domestic abuse. The film's release date was timed to coincide with the United Nations' Human Rights Day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.balkanika.tv/en/news/id/528.html|title=Promo/ Emina Jahovic- Ne plasim se|website=Balkanika Music Television|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909004514/http://www.balkanika.tv/en/news/id/528.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the United States, a recent 2017 study done by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that, "Domestic violence occurs in the Muslim community as often as it does in Christian and non-affiliated communities, but Muslim victims are more likely to involve faith leaders".<ref name=":23" /> Data from the study demonstrates that among American Muslims 13% of those surveyed said they knew someone in their faith community who was a victim of domestic violence, a number similar to that of Catholics (15%), Protestants (17%), of non-affiliated (14%), and even the general public (15%).<ref name=":23" /> Among Americans Muslims who knew of a domestic violence incident in the past year, the percentage of them who said the crime was reported to law enforcement (50%) is comparable to other groups and the general public as well. American Muslim respondents reported that a faith leader was informed of the domestic violence about half the time, a significantly higher rate than any other faith group surveyed in the poll.<ref name=":23" />

== Love ==

Among classical Muslim authors, the notion of love was developed along three conceptual lines, conceived in an ascending hierarchical order: natural love, intellectual love, and divine love.<ref name=EI2-ishk>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Arkoun, M.| year=1997 | title=ʿIs̲h̲ḳ|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition= 2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs|volume=4|page=119}}</ref> The notion of 'ishq or passionate love is absent in the [[Qur'an]] and was introduced by the [[Persians|Persian]] writer [[Ahmad Ghazali]].<ref name=EI2-ishk />

=== Romantic love ===
{{Main|Ishq}}
[[File:Taj Mahal, Agra, India edit.jpg|thumb|The [[Taj Mahal]] near Agra in India was commissioned by the Moghul [[Shah Jahan|Emperor Shah Jahan]] (1628–1658) in memory of his wife [[Mumtaz Mahal]], and completed in 1648.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London, England|page=240}}</ref> It is studded with numerous inscriptions, almost all of which are from [[Persian poetry]] and the Quran.<ref name="Ahmed 1993 95–96">{{Cite book|title=Living Islam: From Samarkand to Stornoway|last=Ahmed|first=Akbar S.|publisher=BBC Books Limited|year=1993|isbn=0-563-36441-6|location=London|pages=95–96}}</ref> Scholars have suggested that the Taj Mahal complex is a representation of paradise.<ref name="Ahmed 1993 95–96" />]]
In traditional Islamic societies, love between men and women was widely celebrated,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title = The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World|last = Robinson|first = Francis|publisher = Cambridge University Press|year = 1996|isbn = 978-0-521-66993-1|location = Cambridge|page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/197 197]|url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/197}}</ref> and both the popular and classical literature of the Muslim world is replete with works on this theme.{{sfn|Dahlén|2008}} Throughout Islamic history, intellectuals, theologians, and mystics have extensively discussed the nature and characteristics of romantic love (''ishq'').<ref name=EI2-ishk /> In its most common intellectual interpretation of the [[Golden age of Islam|Islamic Golden Age]], ''ishq'' refers to an irresistible desire to obtain possession of the beloved, expressing a deficiency that the lover must remedy to reach perfection.<ref name=EI2-ishk />

The Arab love story of [[Layla and Majnun|Lāyla and Majnūn]] was arguably more widely known amongst Muslims than that of Romeo and Juliet in (Northern) Europe,<ref name=":3" /> while the Persian author [[Jami|Jāmī]]'s retelling of the story of [[Yusuf and Zulaikha|Yusuf (Joseph) and Zulaykhā]]—based upon the narrative of [[Yusuf (surah)|Surat Yusuf]] in the Quran—is a seminal text in the Persian, Urdu, and Bengali literary canons. The growth of affection (''mawadda'') into passionate love (''ishq'') received its most probing and realistic analysis in ''[[The Ring of the Dove]]'' by the Andalusian scholar [[Ibn Hazm]].<ref name=EI2-ishk /> The theme of romantic love continues to be developed in the modern and even postmodern fiction from the Islamic world: ''[[The Black Book (Pamuk novel)|The Black Book]]'' (1990) by the Nobel Prize winner [[Orhan Pamuk]] is a nominal detective story with extensive meditations on mysticism and obsessive love, while another Turkish writer, [[Elif Şafak]], intertwines romantic love and Sufism in her 2010 book ''The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi''.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-forty-rules-of-love-by-elif-shafak-2021678.html|title = The Forty Rules of Love, By Elif Shafak|last = Adil|first = Alev|date = July 9, 2010|work = The Independent|access-date = July 16, 2015|archive-date = August 3, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190803105552/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-forty-rules-of-love-by-elif-shafak-2021678.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

In Sufism, romantic love is viewed as a metaphysical metaphor for the love of God. However, the importance of love extends beyond the metaphorical. This is evident in the romantic relationship between [[Rumi]], who is widely recognised as the greatest poet of [[Sufism]], and his mentor [[Shams Tabrizi]].{{sfn|Dahlén|2008}} [[Ibn Arabi|IbnʿArabī]] posited also that for a man, sex with a woman is the occasion for experiencing God's 'greatest self-disclosure' (the position is similar vice versa):<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last = Murata|first = Sachiko|publisher = State University of New York Press|year = 1992|isbn = 978-0-7914-0914-5|location = Albany|page = 186}}</ref>

<blockquote>The most intense and perfect contemplation of God is through women, and the most intense union is the conjugal act.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Islam and the Destiny of Man|last = Eaton|first = Charles Le Gai|publisher = The [[Islamic Texts Society]]|year = 1994|isbn = 978-0-946621-47-7|location = Cambridge, England|page = 63}}</ref></blockquote>

This emphasis on the sublimity of the conjugal act holds true for both this world and the next: the fact that Islam considers sexual relationships one of the ultimate pleasures of paradise is well-known; moreover, there is no suggestion that this is limited only for the sake of producing children.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last = Murata|first = Sachiko|publisher = State University of New York Press|year = 1992|isbn = 978-0-7914-0914-5|location = Albany|pages = 186–187}}</ref> Accordingly, (and in common with civilisations such as the Chinese, Indian, and Japanese), the Islamic world has historically generated significant works of erotic literature and technique, and many centuries before such a genre became culturally acceptable in the West: Richard Burton's substantially ersatz 1886 translation of ''[[The Perfumed Garden of Sensual Delight]]'', a fifteenth-century sex manual authored by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Nafzawi, was labelled as being 'for private circulation only' owing to the puritanical mores and corresponding censorship laws of Victorian England.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Resonances of the Raj: India in the English Musical Imagination,1897–1947|last = Ghuman|first = Nalini|publisher = OUP USA|year = 2014|isbn = 978-0-19-931489-8|location = New York|page = 207}}</ref>

=== Love of women ===
Particularly within the context of religion—a domain which is often associated with sexual asceticism—Muḥammad is notable for emphasising the importance of loving women. According to a famous ḥadīth, Muḥammad stated: "Three things of this world of yours were made lovable to me: women, perfume—and the coolness of my eye was placed in the ritual prayer".<ref name="Murata 1992 183">{{Cite book|title=The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5|location=Albany|page=183}}</ref> This is enormously significant because in the Islamic faith, Muḥammad is by definition the most perfect human being and the most perfect male: his love for and treatment of women shows that the perfection of the human state is connected with love for other human beings, not simply with love for God.<ref name="Murata 1992 183" /> More specifically, it illustrates that male perfection lies in women and, by implication, female perfection in men.<ref name="Murata 1992 183" /> Consequently, the love Muḥammad had for women is obligatory on all men, since he is the model of perfection that must be emulated.<ref name="Murata 1992 186">{{Cite book|title=The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5|location=Albany|page=186}}</ref>

Prominent figures in Islamic mysticism have elaborated on this theme. [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn 'Arabī]] reflected on the above ḥadīth as follows: "...he [Muḥammad] mentioned women [as one of three things from God's world made lovable to him]. Do you think that which would take him far from his Lord was made lovable to him? Of course not. That which would bring him near to his Lord was made lovable to him."

"He who knows the measure of women and their mystery will not renounce love for them. On the contrary, one of the perfections of the gnostic is love for them, for this is a prophetic heritage and a divine love. For the Prophet said, '[women] were made lovable to me.' Hence he ascribed his love for them only to God. Ponder this chapter—you will see wonders!"<ref name="Murata 1992 186" />

Ibn 'Arabī held that witnessing God in the female human form is the most perfect mode of witnessing: if Muḥammad was made to love women, it is because women reflect God.<ref name="Murata 1992 185">{{Cite book|title=The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5|location=Albany|page=185}}</ref>

According to [[Gai Eaton]], there are several other ḥadīths on the same theme which underline Muḥammad's teaching on the importance of loving women:
* "The best of you is the one who is best to his wife."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last=Eaton|first=Gai|publisher=The Islamic Texts Society|year=2000|isbn=978-0-946621-84-2|location=Cambridge, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/90 90]|url=https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/90}}</ref>
* "The whole world is to be enjoyed, but the best thing in the world is a good woman."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last=Eaton|first=Gai|publisher=The Islamic Texts Society|year=2000|isbn=978-0-946621-84-2|location=Cambridge, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/96 96]|url=https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/96}}</ref>

Another well-known ḥadīth explicitly states that loving conduct towards one's wife is synonymous with advanced religious understanding:
* "The most perfect in faith amongst believers is he who is best in manner and kindest to his wife."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islam For Beginners|last=Matar|first=N. I.|publisher=Writers and Readers Publishing, Incorporated|year=1992|isbn=978-0-86316-155-1|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/islamforbeginner00mata/page/81 81]|url=https://archive.org/details/islamforbeginner00mata/page/81}}</ref>

== Beauty ==
Both the concept and the reality of beauty are important in the Islamic religion: beauty (iḥsān, also translated as "virtue", "excellence", and "making beautiful") is the third element of the canonical definition of Islam after belief (īmān) and practice (islām).<ref name="Glassé 1989 182" /> At 53:31,<ref>{{cite web |title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 53: AN-NAJM (The Star) |url=http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/quran/verses/053-qmt.php |website=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement |access-date=February 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215023634/http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/quran/verses/053-qmt.php |archive-date=February 15, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title=The Vision of Islam|last1=Murata |last2=Chittick|first1=Sachiko|first2=William C.|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2006|isbn=978-1-84511-320-9|location=London & New York|page=270}}</ref> the Quran emphasises the importance of avoiding ugly actions, while at 10:26<ref>{{cite web |title=Translations of the Qur'an, Surah 10: YUNUS (Jonah) |url=http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/quran/verses/010-qmt.php |website=Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement |access-date=February 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180215024230/http://cmje.usc.edu/religious-texts/quran/verses/010-qmt.php |archive-date=February 15, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> it states: "Those who do what is beautiful will receive the most beautiful and increase [or more than this]."<ref name=":8" />

=== Female beauty ===
Female beauty is a central theme in Islam, which regards it as "the most direct visible manifestation of God's beauty, gentleness, mercy and forgiveness".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Vision of Islam|last1=Murata|last2=Chittick|first1=Sachiko|first2=William C.|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2006|isbn=978-1-84511-320-9|location=London & New York|page=228}}</ref> This theme is developed most famously in Islamic mysticism or Sufism. In her work ''The Mystical Dimensions of Islam'', [[Annemarie Schimmel]] records the position of [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn ʿArabī]]—who is generally regarded as the greatest Sufi—on "perceiving the divine through the medium of female beauty and seeing the female as the true revelation of God's mercy and creativity"<ref name=":11">{{Cite book|title=Mystical Dimensions of Islam|last=Schimmel|first=Annemarie|publisher=University North Carolina Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-8078-9976-2|location=Chapel Hill|page=431}}</ref> as follows:

"The closing chapter of the Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, that on the Prophet Muhammad, centers around the famous tradition according to which the Prophet was given a love for perfumes and women and joy in prayer. Thus, Ibn 'Arabī could defend the idea that 'love of women belongs to the perfection of the gnostics, for it is inherited from the Prophet and is a divine love' (R 480). Woman reveals, for Ibn Arabī, the secret of the compassionate God. The grammatical fact that the word dhāt, 'essence', is feminine offers Ibn Arabī different methods to discover this feminine element in God."<ref name=":11" />

== Marriage ==
{{See also|Marriage in Islam|Muhammad's wives}}

=== Legal framework ===
{{Main|Islamic marital jurisprudence}}
Marriage is the central institution of family life and society, and therefore the central institution of Islam.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Terror's Source: The Ideology of Salafism and Its Consequences|last=Oliveti|first=Vincenzo|publisher=Amadeus Books|year=2002|isbn=978-0-9543729-0-3|location=Birmingham, England|page=37}}</ref> On a technical level, it is accomplished through a [[Islamic marriage contract|contract]] which is confirmed by the bride's reception of a dowry or ''mahr'', and by the witnessing of the bride's consent to the marriage.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259">{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=59}}</ref> A woman has the freedom to propose to a man of her liking, either orally or in writing.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=33}}</ref> Muḥammad himself was the subject of a spoken marriage proposal from a Muslim lady which was worded "I present myself to you", although ultimately Muḥammad solemnized her marriage to another man.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|pages=33–34}}</ref>

Within the marriage contract itself, the bride has the right to stipulate her own conditions.<ref name="Jawad 1998 35">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa A.|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=5}}</ref> These conditions usually pertain to such issues as marriage terms (e.g. that her husband may not take another wife), and divorce terms (e.g. that she may dissolve the union at her own initiative if she deems it necessary).<ref name="Jawad 1998 35" /> In addition, dowries—one on marriage, and another deferred in case of divorce—must be specified and written down; they should also be of substance.<ref name="Jawad 1998 35" /> The dowry is the exclusive property of the wife and should not be given away, neither to her family nor her relatives.<ref name="Jawad 1998 35" /> According to the Quran (at 4:2),<ref name="auto"/> the wife may freely choose to give part of their dowry to the husband.<ref name="Jawad 1998 35" /> Fiqh doctrine says a woman's property, held exclusively in her name cannot be appropriated by her husband, brother or father.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-sharia/2016/06/24/7e3efb7a-31ef-11e6-8758-d58e76e11b12_story.html|title=Five myths about sharia|last=Quraishi-Landes|first=Asifa|date=June 24, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 12, 2017}}</ref> For many centuries, this stood in stark contrast with the more limited property rights of women in (Christian) Europe.<ref name=":5" /> Accordingly, Muslim women in contemporary America are sometimes shocked to find that, even though they were careful to list their assets as separate, these can be considered joint assets after marriage.<ref name=":5" />

[[File:Bride procession Lombok Indonesia.JPG|thumb|A bridal procession accompanied by live music in Lombok, Indonesia. According to the National Statistical Bureau of Indonesia, the mean age of marriage for women was 22.3 years in 2010, an increase on the 1970 average of 19 years; the corresponding figures for men were 25.7 years and 23 years respectively.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Himawan|first=Karel Karsten|date=October 23, 2017|title=Modernization and singlehood in Indonesia: Psychological and social impacts|journal=Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences|via=Elsevier B.V.|doi=10.1016/j.kjss.2017.09.008 |doi-broken-date=November 1, 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref>]]

=== Marriage ceremony and celebrations ===
When agreement to the marriage has been expressed and witnessed, those present recite the [[Al-Fatiha]] prayer (the opening chapter of the Quran).<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> Normally, marriages are not contracted in mosques but in private homes or at the offices of a judge (''qāḍi'').<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> The format and content of the ceremony (if there is one) is often defined by national or tribal customs, as are the celebrations (''<nowiki/>'urs'') that accompany it.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> In some parts of the Islamic world these may include processions in which the bride gift is put on display; receptions where the bride is seen adorned in elaborate costumes and jewelry; and ceremonial installation of the bride in the new house to which she may be carried in a litter (a type of carriage).<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> The groom may ride through the streets on a horse, followed by his friends and well-wishers, and there is always a feast called the ''walīmah''.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" />

=== Historical commonality of divorce ===
In contrast to the Western and Orient world where divorce was relatively uncommon until modern times, divorce was a more common occurrence in certain parts of the late medieval [[Muslim world]]. In the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate]] and [[Ottoman Empire]], the rate of divorce was high.<ref name=Rapoport>{{Cite book|title=Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society|url=https://archive.org/details/marriagemoneydiv00rapo_098|url-access=limited|first=Yossef|last=Rapoport|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2005|isbn=0-521-84715-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/marriagemoneydiv00rapo_098/page/n14 2]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Chebel|first=Malek|title=L'islam explique par Malek Chabel|year=2009|publisher=Perrin|isbn=978-2-262-02982-1|page=113}}</ref> The work of the scholar and historian Al-Sakhawi (1428–1497) on the lives of women show that the marriage pattern of Egyptian and Syrian urban society in the fifteenth century was greatly influenced by easy divorce, and practically untouched by polygamy.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Marriage, Money and Divorce in Medieval Islamic Society|url=https://archive.org/details/marriagemoneydiv00rapo_098|url-access=limited|last=Rapoport|first=Yossef|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2005|isbn=0-521-84715-X|pages=[https://archive.org/details/marriagemoneydiv00rapo_098/page/n17 5]–6}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World|last=Robinson|first=Frances|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-521-66993-1|location=Cambridge, England|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/194 194]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/194}}</ref> Earlier Egyptian documents from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries also showed a similar but more extreme pattern: in a sample of 273 women, 118 (45%) married a second or third time.<ref name=":4" /> Edward Lane's careful observation of urban Egypt in the early nineteenth century suggests that the same regime of frequent divorce and rare polygamy was still applicable in these last days of traditional society.<ref name=":4" /> In the early 20th century, some villages in western [[Java]] and the [[Malay Peninsula]] had divorce rates as high as 70%.<ref name=Rapoport />

=== Polygyny ===
{{See also|Islamic marital jurisprudence|Concubinage in Islam|Polygyny in Islam}}

Marriage customs vary in Muslim dominated countries. Islamic law allows [[Polygyny|polygamy]] where a Muslim man can be married to four wives at the same time, under restricted conditions,<ref name=mizan>{{cite journal | last1 = Ghamidi | first1 = Javed Ahmed | translator-last = Saleem | translator-first = Shehzad | author-link = Javed Ahmed Ghamidi | title = Polygamy | journal = Renaissance: A Monthly Islamic Journal | url = http://www.monthly-renaissance.com/issue/content.aspx?id=336 | location = Pakistan }} Translated from ''[[Mizan|Mīzān]]''.</ref> but it is not widespread.<ref name="enc">{{cite book | title = The New Encyclopedia of Islam | year = 2002 | publisher = AltaMira Press | isbn = 0-7591-0189-2 | page = [https://archive.org/details/newencyclopediao0000glas/page/477 477] | url = https://archive.org/details/newencyclopediao0000glas/page/477 }}</ref> As the [[Sharia]] demands that polygamous men treat all wives equally, classical Islamic scholars opined that it is preferable to avoid [[Polygyny in Islam|polygamy]] altogether, so one does not even come near the chance of committing the forbidden deed of dealing unjustly between the wives.<ref name="polygamyinislam.com">{{cite web |url=http://polygamyinislam.com/2014/11/04/opinions-of-classical-islamic-scholars-on-polygyny/ |title=Opinions of classical Islamic scholars on polygyny &#124; Polygamy in Islam |access-date=2014-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20141229190458/http://polygamyinislam.com/2014/11/04/opinions-of-classical-islamic-scholars-on-polygyny/ |archive-date=December 29, 2014}}</ref> The practice of polygamy is allowed, but not recommended.<ref name="Ali-Karamali 2008 142">{{cite book|last=Ali-Karamali|first=Sumbul|title=The Muslim Next Door: The Qur'an, the Media, and that Veil Thing|year=2008|publisher=White Cloud Press|location=Ashland, Oregon|isbn=978-0-9745245-6-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/muslimnextdoorth00alik/page/142 142]|url=https://archive.org/details/muslimnextdoorth00alik/page/142}}</ref> In some countries, polygamy is restricted by new family codes, for example the ''Moudawwana'' in Morocco.<ref>{{cite book | last = Chebel | first = Malek | title = L'islam expliqué par Malek Chebel | page =112 | publisher = Perrin | location = Paris | year = 2009 | isbn = 9782262029821 }}</ref> Iran allow Shia men to enter into additional temporary marriages, beyond the four allowed marriages, such as the practice of ''sigheh'' marriages,<ref>{{cite news | last = Sciolino | first = Elaine | title = Love finds a way in Iran: 'Temporary Marriage' | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/04/world/love-finds-a-way-in-iran-temporary-marriage.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = October 4, 2000 }}</ref> and [[Nikah Mut'ah]] in Iraq.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Ehsanzadeh-Cheemeh | first1= Parvaneh | last2= Sadeque | first2= Abul | last3= Grimes | first3= Richard M. | last4= Essien | first4= E. James | title = Sociocultural dimensions of HIV/AIDS among Middle Eastern immigrants in the US: bridging culture with HIV/AIDS programmes | journal = [[Perspectives in Public Health]] | volume = 129| issue = 5 | pages = 228–233 | publisher = [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]] | doi = 10.1177/1466424008094807 | pmid = 19788166 | date = September 2009 | s2cid= 25012894 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last = Fisher | first = Max | title = Egypt: 'Some girls have been married 60 times by the time they turn 18' | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/06/some-girls-have-been-married-60-times-by-the-time-they-turn-18/ | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = August 6, 2013 }}</ref>

A marriage of pleasure, where a man pays a sum of money to a woman or her family in exchange for a temporary spousal relationship, is found and considered legal among Shia faith, for example in Iran after 1979. Temporary marriages are forbidden in [[Sunni Islam]].<ref name="Elizabeth Fernea 1985">Elizabeth Fernea (1985), Women and the Family in the Middle East: New Voices of Change, University of Texas Press, {{ISBN|978-0-292-75529-1}}, pp. 258–269</ref> Among Shia, the number of temporary marriages can be unlimited, recognized with an official temporary marriage certificate, and divorce is unnecessary because the temporary marriage automatically expires on the date and time specified on the certificate.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Ghori | first1= Safiya | title = The application of religious law in North American courts: a case study of''_mutʿa'' marriages | journal = Journal of Islamic Law and Culture | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = 29–40 | publisher = [[Taylor and Francis]] | doi = 10.1080/15288170701878219 | date = 2008 }}</ref> Payment to the woman by the man is mandatory, in every temporary marriage and considered as [[mahr]].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Haeri | first1 = Shahla | title = Law of desire: temporary marriage in Shiʼi Iran | year = 1989 | publisher = Syracuse University Press | isbn = 978-0-8156-2483-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/lawofdesiretempo0000haer }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Haeri | first1= Shahla | title = Temporary marriage and the state in Iran: an Islamic discourse on female sexuality | journal = [[Social Research (journal)|Social Research]] | volume = 59 | issue = 1 | pages = 201–223 | publisher = [[The New School for Social Research]] | jstor = 40970689 | date =Spring 1992 }}</ref> The minimum duration of a temporary marriage is debated between scholars, with some saying the minimum duration is as low as 3 days and others saying it is as high as one year.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Esposito |first1=John |title=Mutah in the Oxford Dictionary of Islam |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1662 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828005559/http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1662 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |access-date=November 26, 2019}}</ref> Its practitioners cite [[Sharia]] law as permitting the practise. Women's rights groups have condemned it as a form of legalized prostitution.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jervis|first=Rick|title=Pleasure marriages regain popularity in Iraq|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-05-04-pleasure-marriage_x.htm|work=USA Today|access-date=September 3, 2011|date=May 4, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Williams | first1= Juliet A. | title = Temporary marriage and the state in Iran: an Islamic discourse on female sexuality | journal = [[Signs (journal)|Signs]] | volume = 34 | issue = 3 | pages = 611–632 | publisher = [[University of Chicago Press]] | date =Spring 2009 | jstor = 10.1086/593354 | doi= 10.1086/593354 | s2cid= 144737322 }}</ref>

=== Polyandry ===
{{See also|Islamic marital jurisprudence}}
Polyandry, the practice of a woman having more than one husband (even temporarily, after payment of a sum of money to the man or the man's family), by contrast, is not permitted.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Oraegbunam | first1= I.K. | last2 = Udezo | first2 = B.O. | title = Women's rights in matrimonial jurisprudence under Islamic family law in Nigeria: a need for reform | journal = Journal of Religion and Human Relations | volume = 1 | issue = 3 | pages = 101–111 | publisher = [[African Journals OnLine]] | date = 2012 | url = http://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrhr/article/view/86984 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Hassouneh-Phillips | first1= Dena | title = Polygamy and wife abuse: A qualitative study of Muslim women in America | journal = [[Health Care for Women International]] | volume = 22 | issue = 8 | pages = 735–748 | publisher = [[Taylor and Francis]] | doi = 10.1080/073993301753339951 | date = November 2001 | s2cid= 57777571 }}</ref> However, during the pre-Islamic period, women were able to practice polyandry.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Leila |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt32bg61 |title=Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate |date=1992 |publisher=Yale University Press |jstor=j.ctt32bg61 |isbn=978-0-300-04942-8}}</ref>

=== Endogamy ===
Muḥammad quite deliberately did not recommend [[cousin marriage]] as his ''sunnah'' or path to be followed; out of his thirteen wives, only one—the seventh, Zaynab bint Jahsh, a divorcée said by historians to have been very beautiful—was his cousin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslims Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=Amana Publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=46}}</ref> The rest of his wives came from diverse social and even religious backgrounds, with Safiyya bint Huyayy and Rayhana bint Zayd being of Jewish origin.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=amana publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|pages=38–39}}</ref>

Despite this, [[endogamy]] is common in some Muslim-majority countries. The observed endogamy is primarily [[Consanguinity|consanguineous]] marriages, where the bride and the groom share a biological grandparent or other near ancestor.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tadmouri | first1 = G.O. | last2 = Nair | first2 = P. | last3 = Obeid | first3 = T. | last4 = Al Ali | first4 = M.T. | last5 = Al Khaja | first5 = N. | last6 = Hamamy | first6 = H.A. | year = 2009 | title = Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs | journal = Reprod Health | volume = 6 | issue = 17| pages = 1–9 | doi = 10.1186/1742-4755-6-17 | pmid = 19811666 | pmc = 2765422 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="joseph">Joseph, S. E. (2007). Kissing Cousins, Current Anthropology, 48(5), pp. 756–764</ref> The most common observed marriages are first cousin marriages, followed by second cousin marriages. Consanguineous endogamous marriages are most common for women in Muslim communities in the Middle East, North Africa and Islamic Central Asia.<ref>[http://www.santafe.edu/media/cms_page_media/344/Brecia_Young.pdf Consanguineous marriages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924094221/http://www.santafe.edu/media/cms_page_media/344/Brecia_Young.pdf |date=September 24, 2015 }} Brecia Young (2006)</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hamamy | first1 = H. | last2 = Alwan | first2 = A. | year = 1994 | title = Hereditary disorders in the Eastern Mediterranean Region | journal = Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume = 72 | issue = 1| pages = 145–151 | pmc = 2486500 | pmid = 8131251 }}</ref> About 1 in 3 of all marriages in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan are first cousin marriages; while overall consanguineous endogamous marriages exceed 65 to 80% in various Islamic populations of the Middle East, North Africa and Islamic Central Asia.<ref name="joseph" /><ref>R. Hussain (1999), Community perceptions of reasons for preference for consanguineous marriages in Pakistan, Journal of Biosocial Science, 31, pp. 449–461</ref> Consanguineous endogamous marriages are common for women in Islam.<ref>Khlat, M. (1997). Endogamy in the Arab world. Oxford Monographs on Medical Genetics, 30, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-19-509305-6}}; pp. 63–82</ref> Consanguineous marriage rates in the Muslim world range from 5–9% in Malaysia to >50% in Saudi Arabia.<ref name="hh09">{{Cite journal |pmc = 3419292|year = 2011|last1 = Hamamy|first1 = H.|title = Consanguineous marriages: Preconception consultation in primary health care settings|journal = Journal of Community Genetics|volume = 3|issue = 3|pages = 185–192|pmid = 22109912|doi = 10.1007/s12687-011-0072-y}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |pmc = 2765422|year = 2009|last1 = Tadmouri|first1 = G. O.|title = Consanguinity and reproductive health among Arabs|journal = Reproductive Health|volume = 6|pages = 17|last2 = Nair|first2 = P.|last3 = Obeid|first3 = T.|last4 = Al Ali|first4 = M. T.|last5 = Al Khaja|first5 = N.|last6 = Hamamy|first6 = H.A.|pmid = 19811666|doi = 10.1186/1742-4755-6-17 | doi-access=free }}</ref> Over 65% of all marriages in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are endogamous and consanguineous arranged marriages; more than 40% of all marriages are endogamous and consanguineous in Mauritania, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Kuwait, UAE and Oman.<ref name="hh09" /><ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1097/GIM.0b013e318217477f|pmid = 21555946| title=Consanguineous marriages, pearls and perils: Geneva International Consanguinity Workshop Report| journal=Genetics in Medicine| volume=13| issue=9| pages=841–847| year=2011| last1=Hamamy| first1=Hanan| last2=Antonarakis| first2=Stylianos E.| last3=Cavalli-Sforza| first3=Luigi Luca| last4=Temtamy| first4=Samia| last5=Romeo| first5=Giovanni| last6=Kate| first6=Leo P. Ten| last7=Bennett| first7=Robin L.| last8=Shaw| first8=Alison| last9=Megarbane| first9=Andre| last10=Van Duijn| first10=Cornelia| last11=Bathija| first11=Heli| last12=Fokstuen| first12=Siv| last13=Engel| first13=Eric| last14=Zlotogora| first14=Joel| last15=Dermitzakis| first15=Emmanouil| last16=Bottani| first16=Armand| last17=Dahoun| first17=Sophie| last18=Morris| first18=Michael A.| last19=Arsenault| first19=Steve| last20=Aglan| first20=Mona S.| last21=Ajaz| first21=Mubasshir| last22=Alkalamchi| first22=Ayad| last23=Alnaqeb| first23=Dhekra| last24=Alwasiyah| first24=Mohamed K.| last25=Anwer| first25=Nawfal| last26=Awwad| first26=Rawan| last27=Bonnefin| first27=Melissa| last28=Corry| first28=Peter| last29=Gwanmesia| first29=Lorraine| last30=Karbani| first30=Gulshan A.|s2cid = 15331772| display-authors=29|url = http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/5266/| doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Forbidden marriages ===
In the interests of transparency, clandestine marriages are not permitted under Islamic law; weddings must be public—a commitment made before society.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web|last=Neroznikova|first=Ekaterina|date=March 1, 2017|title=Convert and love: Russia's Muslim wives|url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/convert-and-love-russia-s-muslim-wives/|access-date=May 2, 2021|website=openDemocracy}}</ref> The European Council for Fatwa and Research has ruled that a state registration of a marriage between Muslims, if attended by two witnesses, fulfills the minimum requirements for a religious marriage under the Sharia because it demonstrates (a) mutual consent; and (b) a public declaration of commitment.<ref name=":10" />

Some marriages are forbidden between Muslim women and Muslim men, according to Sharia.<ref>Akrami & Osati (2007), "Is consanguineous marriage religiously encouraged? Islamic and Iranian considerations", ''Journal of Biosocial Science'', 39(02), 313–316</ref> In the Quran, [[Surah]] [[An-Nisa]] gives a list of forbidden marriages.{{qref|4|22-24|b=y|s=y}} Examples for women include marrying one's [[Stepchild|stepson]], biological son, biological father, biological brother (including half-brother from either side), biological [[Niece and nephew|nephew]], biological uncle, [[Milk kinship|milk son or milk brother]], husband of her biological daughter, a [[stepfather]] who has had sexual relations with her biological mother, and [[Parent-in-law|father-in-law]].<ref>Shaw, A. (2001), Kinship, cultural preference and immigration: consanguineous marriage among British Pakistanis, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 7(2), 315–334</ref><ref>Leila Ahmed (1993), ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate'', {{ISBN|978-0-300-05583-2}};{{Page needed|date=July 2015}} See also: {{qref|4|23|b=y}}</ref> There are disputes between [[Hanafi]]s, Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanabalis schools of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence on whether and which such marriages are irregular but not void if already in place (''fasid''), and which are void (''batil'') marriages.<ref>J.N.D. Anderson, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/609279 "Invalid and Void Marriages in Hanafi Law"], ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', University of London, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1950), pp. 357–366</ref>

=== Age of marriage ===
{{See also|Aisha#Age at marriage|Islam and children#Marriage|Child marriage}}

[[Child marriage]], which was once a globally accepted phenomenon, has come to be discouraged in most countries, but it persists to some extent in some select parts of the Muslim world.<ref name=ali />

The age of [[marriage in Islam]] for women varies with country. Traditionally, Islam has permitted marriage of girls below the age often, because [[Sharia]] considers the practices of [[Muhammad]] a basis for Islamic law. According to [[Sahih Bukhari]] and [[Sahih Muslim]], the two most authentic Sunni [[hadith]]s books, Muhammed married [[Aisha]], his third wife, when she was six and consummated the marriage when she reached the age of nine or ten. This version of events is rejected by [[Shia]] Muslims<ref>Ali, Kecia (2010), Marriage and slavery in early Islam, Harvard University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-674-05059-4}}, pp. 35–77</ref><ref>Ahmed, L. (1986). Women and the Advent of Islam. Signs, 11(4), 665–691</ref> and disputed by some Sunni scholars.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Age of Aisha (ra): Rejecting Historical Revisionism and Modernist Presumptions|url=https://yaqeeninstitute.org/faraz-malik/the-age-of-aisha-ra-rejecting-historical-revisionism-and-modernist-presumptions|access-date=2021-01-19|website=Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research|language=en}}</ref>

Some Islamic scholars suggest that it is not the calendar age that matters, rather it is the biological age of the girl that determines when she can be married under Islamic law. According to these Islamic scholars, [[marriageable age]] in Islam is when a girl has reached [[sexual maturity]], as determined by her nearest male guardian; this age can be, claim these Islamic scholars, less than 10 years, or 12, or another age depending on each girl.<ref name="ali">A.A. Ali, "Child Marriage in Islamic Law", The Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University (Canada), August 2000; see pp. 16–18</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/12/saudi.child.marriage/ |title=Saudi judge refuses to annul 8-year-old's marriage |first1=Mohammed |last1=Jamjoom |work=CNN World |date=April 12, 2009 |access-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah An-Nisa – 4:6|url=https://quran.com/4/6?translations=131|access-date=2021-01-19|website=quran.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah An-Nur – 24:59|url=https://quran.com/24/59?translations=131|access-date=2021-01-19|website=quran.com}}</ref> Some clerics and conservative elements of Muslim society,<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/yemen1211ForUpload_0.pdf "How Come You Allow Little Girls to Get Married?" – Child Marriage in Yemen] Human Rights Watch, (2011); pp. 15–23</ref><ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/report/88589/yemen-deep-divisions-over-child-brides YEMEN: Deep divisions over child brides] IRIN, United Nations News Service, (March 28, 2010)</ref> in various communities around the world,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/17/saudi.child.marriage/ | work=CNN | title=Top Saudi cleric: OK for young girls to wed | date=January 17, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2238321.stm | work=BBC News | first=Charles | last=Haviland | title=Battle over India's marriage age | date=September 5, 2002}}</ref><ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/muslim-groups-oppose-ban-on-child-marriage/article5155367.ece Muslim groups oppose ban on child marriage] The Hindu (September 22, 2013)</ref><ref>[http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/03/18/68682.html Indonesian cleric arrested over child bride] Al Arabiya News, Indonesia (March 18, 2009)</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/24/more-on-child-brides-after-a-political-fight-nigeria-will-continue-allowing-them/ "More on child brides: After a political fight, Nigeria will continue allowing them"], Max Fisher, ''The Washington Post'' (July 24, 2013)</ref> have insisted that it is their Islamic right to marry girls below age 15.<ref>Bunting, A. (2005), "Stages of development: marriage of girls and teens as an international human rights issue", ''Social & Legal Studies'', 14(1), pp. 17–38</ref> In December 2019, Saudi Arabia changed the law and raised the age of marriage to 18.<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 23, 2019|title=Saudi Arabia moves to ban child marriage with a new ruling|language=en|work=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)]]|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/gcc/saudi-arabia-moves-to-ban-child-marriage-with-a-new-ruling-1.955310|access-date=July 31, 2020}}</ref>

=== Interfaith marriages and women ===
{{Main|Interfaith marriage in Islam}}
[[Interfaith marriage]]s are recognized between Muslims and non-Muslim [[People of the Book]] (usually enumerated as Jews, Christians, and [[Sabians]]).<ref name=ODI>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Ahl al-Kitab|editor=John L. Esposito|encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2014|url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00bada|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001|isbn=9780195125580}}</ref> Historically, in [[Islamic culture]] and traditional Islamic law [[Sex segregation and Islam|Muslim women have been forbidden from marrying Christian or Jewish men]], whereas Muslim men have been permitted to marry Christian or Jewish women.<ref name="Leeman 2009"/><ref name="Elmali-Karakaya 2020"/> Although historically [[Sunni Islam]] prohibited Muslim women to marry Non-Muslim men in interfaith marriages, in various parts of the world interfaith marriages between Muslim women and Non-Muslim men take place at substantial rates, contravening the traditional Sunni understanding of ''[[ijma]]''.<ref name="Leeman 2009"/><ref name=":27">{{Cite journal|last=Elmali-Karakaya|first=Ayse|date=November 24, 2020|title=Being Married to a Non-Muslim Husband: Religious Identity in Muslim Women's Interfaith Marriage|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004443969/BP000031.xml|journal=Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion |volume=31|language=en|pages=388–410|doi=10.1163/9789004443969_020|isbn=9789004443969|s2cid=234539750|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the United States, for example, about one in ten Muslim women are married to non-Muslim men, including about one in six Muslim women under 40 and about one in five, or 20% of, Muslim women who describe themselves as less devoutly religious.<ref name="pewforum.org">{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=July 25, 2017 |title=Roughly one-in-ten married Muslims have a non-Muslim spouse |url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/07/26/identity-assimilation-and-community/pf_2017-06-26_muslimamericans-02new-04/ |url-status=live |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |series=The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016061221/https://www.pewforum.org/2017/07/26/identity-assimilation-and-community/pf_2017-06-26_muslimamericans-02new-04/ |archive-date=October 16, 2018 |access-date=August 25, 2021}}</ref> The tradition of [[Liberalism and progressivism within Islam|reformist and progressive Islam]] permits marriage between Muslim women and Non-Muslim men;<ref name="Leeman 2009"/> Islamic scholars opining this view include [[Khaleel Mohammed]], [[Hassan Al-Turabi]], among others.<ref name="Jahangir2017">{{cite web |last=Jahangir |first=Junaid |date=March 21, 2017 |title=Muslim Women Can Marry Outside The Faith |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/junaid-jahangir/muslim-women-marriage_b_15472982.html |url-status=live |work=[[The Huffington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325020231/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/junaid-jahangir/muslim-women-marriage_b_15472982.html |archive-date=March 25, 2017 |access-date=August 25, 2021}}</ref> Ayse Elmali-Karakaya says in her 2020 study, that impact of Muslim women's marriage to non-Muslims men has been found to be positive. Elmali-Karakaya says since Muslim women's feelings of being an ambassador of Islam and Muslims in their inter-religious family, interfaith marriages help expansion of their religious knowledge.<ref name=":27" />

According to Sharia law, it is legal for a Muslim man to marry a Christian or Jewish woman, or a woman of any of the divinely-revealed religions, while a Muslim woman is not permitted to marry outside her religion.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> A significant number of non-Muslim men have entered into the Islamic faith to satisfy this aspect of the religious law where it is in force.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> With deepening globalisation, it has become more common for Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men who remain outside Islam.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/12/2012122795639455824.html|title='Halal' interfaith unions rise among UK women|last=Abbass|first=Rudabah|date=December 31, 2012|work=Al Jazeera|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref> These marriages meet with varying degrees of social approval, depending on the milieu.<ref name="Glassé 1989 259" /> However, conversions of non-Muslim men to Islam for the purpose of marriage are still numerous, in part because the procedure for converting to Islam is relatively expeditious.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/society-girl-santa-joins-the-ranks-of-religious-converts-1176073.html|title=Society girl Santa joins the ranks of religious converts|last=Kossoff|first=Julian|date=October 3, 1998|work=The Independent|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref>

Additionally, according to Islamic law, if a Muslim man wishes to marry a Christian or Jewish woman, he must get to know her parents and ask for permission to marry their daughter. She must also be devout in her faith and chaste.<ref name=":10" />

The majority of Muslim scholars have historically read Surah 60, verse 10, which forbids female converts from returning to their non-Muslim husbands, as an injunction against any Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men.<ref>Ali, Kecia (December 21, 2015). ''Sexual ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Quran, hadith, and jurisprudence'' (Expanded & revised&nbsp;ed.). London. p.&nbsp;14. {{ISBN|978-1-78074-853-5}}. {{OCLC|934433002}}.</ref>

[[Kecia Ali]] argues that such interpretations unfairly presume that women are inherently subordinate to their husbands, which, if true, could result in children being brought up as non-Muslims if their father is non-Muslim. Additionally, the Quranic verse in question mentions unbelievers, but not people of the Jewish or Christian faiths, whom the Quran ''does'' identify as suitable partners for Muslim men. The Quran thus does not give any general guidance on whether Muslim women may marry "non-Muslim" men, but rather "discusses specific categories of potential spouses."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ali, Kecia|title=Sexual ethics and Islam: feminist reflections on Quran, hadith, and jurisprudence|date= 2015|isbn=978-1-78074-853-5|edition=Expanded & revised|location=London|publisher=Oneworld Publications|page=20|oclc=934433002}}</ref>

=== Behavior and rights within marriage ===
{{Main|Rights and obligations of spouses in Islam|Islam and domestic violence}}
Islamic law and practice recognize gender disparity, in part, by assigning separate rights and obligations to a woman in married life. A woman's space is in the [[private sphere]] of the home, and a man's is in the [[public sphere]].<ref name="Hessini, L. 1994">Hessini, L., 1994, "Wearing the Hijab in Contemporary Morocco: Choice and Identity," in Göçek, F. M. & Balaghi, S., ''Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity & Power'', New York, Columbia University Press</ref><ref>Suad Joseph and Afsāna Naǧmābādī, ''Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality'', Volume 3, pp 224–227, 250–281</ref> Women must primarily fulfill marital and maternal responsibilities,<ref name="Ahmed, L. 1992">Ahmed, L., 1992, ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate'', New Haven, Yale University Press.</ref> whereas men are financial and administrative stewards of their families.<ref name="Hessini, L. 1994" /><ref>{{qref|4|34|b=y}}</ref> According to [[Sayyid Qutb]], the Quran "gives the man the right of guardianship or superiority over the family structure to prevent dissension and friction between the spouses. The equity of this system lies in the fact that God both favoured the man with the necessary qualities and skills for the 'guardianship' and also charged him with the duty to provide for the structure's upkeep."<ref name="Haddad/Esposito9">Amherst Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and John L. Esposito (1998), ''Islam, Gender, and Social Change'', Oxford University Press, pp. 20–38</ref>

The Quran considers the love between men and women to be a [[Islamic symbols#Symbols in the Holy Scriptures|Sign of God]].{{qref|30|21|b=y|s=y}} This said, the Quran also permits men to first admonish, then lightly tap, if he suspects ''nushuz'' (disobedience, disloyalty, rebellion, ill conduct) in his wife.<ref name="John C. Raines 2001 pages 201-203" />{{qref|4|34|b=y|s=y}}<ref>Hajjar, Lisa, "Religion, state power, and domestic violence in Muslim societies: A framework for comparative analysis." ''Law & Social Inquiry'' 29.1 (2004); pp. 1–38</ref>

In Islam, there is no [[coverture]], an idea central in European, American as well as in non-Islamic Asian common law, and the legal basis for the principle of marital property. An Islamic marriage is a contract between a man and a woman. A Muslim man and woman do not merge their legal identity upon marriage, and do not have rights over any shared marital property. The assets of the man before the marriage, and earned by him after the marriage, remain his during marriage and in case of a divorce, and this ruling is the same for the wife.<ref>''Ahmad v. Ahmad'', No. L-00-1391, 2001 WL 1518116 (Ohio Ct. App. November 30, 2001)</ref> A divorce under Islamic law does not require redistribution of property. Rather, each spouse walks away from the marriage with his or her individual property. Divorcing Muslim women who did not work outside their home after marriage do not have a claim on the collective wealth of the couple under Islamic law, except for deferred [[mahr]]—an amount of money or property the man agrees to pay her before the woman signs the marriage contract.<ref name="Jamal A Page 13">Jamal Nasir, ''The Status of Women Under Islamic Law and Modern Islamic Legislation'', 3rd ed., 2009</ref><ref>Sameena Nazir and Leigh Tomppert, Ed., ''Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa'', Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2005</ref>

The Quran states:

{{blockquote|And for you is half of what your wives leave if they have no child. But if they have a child, for you is one fourth of what they leave, after any bequest they [may have] made or debt. And for the wives is one fourth if you leave no child. But if you leave a child, then for them is an eighth of what you leave, after any bequest you [may have] made or debt. And if a man or woman leaves neither ascendants nor descendants but has a brother or a sister, then for each one of them is a sixth. But if they are more than two, they share a third, after any bequest which was made or debt, as long as there is no detriment [caused]. [This is] an ordinance from Allah, and Allah is Knowing and Forbearing.
(Al-Quran 4:12)}}

In case of husband's death, a portion of his property is inherited by his wives according to a combination of Sharia laws. If the man did not leave any children, his wives receive a quarter of the property and the remaining three-quarters is shared by the blood relatives of the husband (for example, parents, siblings).<ref name=sd2010>{{cite book | last=Dahlgren | first=Susanne | title=Contesting realities the public sphere and morality in southern Yemen | publisher=Syracuse University Press | location=Syracuse, N.Y | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-8156-3246-7 | pages=158–159 and footnote}}</ref> If he had children from any of his wives, his wives receive an eighth of the property and the rest is for his surviving children and parents.<ref name=sd2010 /> The wives share as inheritance a part of movable property of her late husband, but they do not share anything from immovable property{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} such as land, real estate, farm or such value. A woman's deferred [[mahr]] and the dead husband's outstanding debts are paid before any inheritance is applied.<ref name=eh2002 /> Sharia mandates that inheritance include male relatives of the dead person, that a daughter receive half the inheritance as a son, and a widow receives less than her daughters.<ref name=eh2002>{{cite book | last=Emadi | first=Hafizullah | title=Repression, resistance, and women in Afghanistan | publisher=Praeger | location=Westport, Conn. | year=2002 | isbn=978-0-275-97671-2 | page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Roald | first=Anne | title=Women in Islam: the Western experience | url=https://archive.org/details/womenislamwester00roal | url-access=limited | publisher=Routledge | location=London; New York | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-415-24895-2 | page=[https://archive.org/details/womenislamwester00roal/page/n160 142]}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2016}}

=== Sexuality ===
{{Main|Islamic sexual jurisprudence}}

==== General parameters ====
In contrast to Christianity—where sex is sanctified through marriage—in the Islamic conception, sexuality in and of itself is sacred and a blessing;<ref name=":15">{{Cite book|title=The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|publisher=HarperOne|year=2004|isbn=978-0-06-073064-2|location=New York|page=184}}</ref> as per Ibn 'Arabī's formulation, sex is a sublime act which can draw its practitioners closer to God.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Islam and the Destiny of Man|last=Eaton|first=Charles Le Gai|publisher=The Islamic Texts Society|year=1994|isbn=978-0-946621-47-7|location=Cambridge, England|page=63}}</ref> Marriage in Islam is a contract drawn up according to Sharia to legitimise sexual relations and protect the rights of both partners.<ref name=":15" /> However, in common with Christianity and Judaism, sexual activity outside of marriage is perceived as a serious sin in the eyes of God.<ref name=":15" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=433}}</ref>

==== Sexual satisfaction and frequency of intercourse ====
Female sexual satisfaction is given significant prominence in the Islamic faith and its classical literature. As recorded by the British Muslim writer [[Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood]] in her book ''The Muslim Marriage Guide'': "the early Muslims regarded sexual prowess and the ability to satisfy a woman as being an essential part of manhood. The niece of [[Aisha|'Ā'ishah bint Abī Bakr]], a scholarly and beautiful woman named [[A'isha bint Talhah|A'isha bint Talha]], married the pious Umar ibn Ubaydilah. On their wedding night he made love to her no fewer than seven times, so that when morning came, she told him: 'You are a perfect Muslim in every way, even in this!'"<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=Amana Publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=98}}</ref>

In this context, the Muslim caliph [[Umar|Umar ibn Al-Khattab]] (584–644) believed that a married woman had the right to sex at least once every four days, while according to the hadith scholar, jurist and mystic Abu Talib al-Makki (d.996), "if [a husband] knows that [his wife] needs more, he is obliged to comply".<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=Amana Publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=97}}</ref>

==== Foreplay ====
Muhammad underlined the importance of [[foreplay]] and emotional intimacy in sexual relations, as the following hadith illustrates:

"[The Prophet Muḥammad said] 'Not one of you should fall upon his wife like an animal; but let there first be a messenger between you.'

'And what is that messenger?' they asked, and [the Prophet Muḥammad] replied: 'Kisses and words.'<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris Maqsood|publisher=amana publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=86}}</ref>

Islamic luminaries expanded on this theme. The philosopher, mystic and jurist [[Al-Ghazali|Al-Ghazālī]] ({{circa|1058}}–1111) stated that "Sex should begin with gentle words and kissing",<ref name=":14">{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=amana publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=87}}</ref> while the Indian scholar [[Murtada al-Zabidi|al-Zabīdī]] (1732–1790) added to this exhortation in his commentary on Al-Ghazālī's magnum opus, ''The Revival of the Religious Sciences'' (''Iḥiyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn''): "This should include not only the cheeks and lips; and then he should caress the breasts and nipples, and every part of her body."<ref name=":14" />

==== Simultaneous orgasms ====
Classical Islamic scholars have written extensively about the art and desirability of husband and wife attaining simultaneous orgasms; [[Al-Ghazali]] gives the following counsel in his key work, ''[[The Revival of the Religious Sciences]]'' (''Iḥiyāʾ ʿulūm ad-dīn''):

"When he has come to his orgasm (''inzal''), he should wait for his wife until she comes to her orgasm likewise; for her climax may well come slowly. If he arouses her desire, and then sits back from her, this will hurt her, and any disparity in their orgasms will certainly produce a sense of estrangement. A simultaneous orgasm will be the most delightful for her, especially since her husband will be distracted by his own orgasm from her, and she will not therefore be afflicted by shyness."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Muslim Marriage Guide|last=Maqsood|first=Ruqayyah Waris|publisher=amana publications|year=2000|location=Beltsville, MD|page=99}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ghazali.org/site/ihya.htm|title=Revival of Religious Sciences|last=Hozien|first=Muhammad|date=2013|website=ghazali.org|access-date=June 5, 2018}}</ref>

According to Quran and ''[[Sahih Muslim]]'', two primary sources of Sharia, Islam permits only vaginal sex.<ref name="scjs">Editor: Susan Crocklin (1996). "Religious views regarding gamete donation", in ''Family Building Through Egg and Sperm Donation''. Boston: Jones and Bartlett, {{ISBN|978-0-86720-483-4}}, pp 242–250</ref>

{{blockquote|(...) "If he likes he may (have intercourse) being on the back or in front of her, but it should be through one opening (vagina)."|{{Hadith-usc|usc=yes|muslim|8|3365}}||}}

There is disagreement among Islamic scholars on proper interpretation of Islamic law on permissible sex between a husband and wife, with claims that non-vaginal sex within a marriage is disapproved but not forbidden.<ref name=scjs /><ref name=jgschenker>{{cite journal | last1 = Schenker | first1 = Joseph | year = 2000 | title = Women's reproductive health: Monotheistic religious perspectives | journal = International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics | volume = 70 | issue = 1| pages = 77–86 | doi=10.1016/s0020-7292(00)00225-3 | pmid=10884536| s2cid = 40152542 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>G I Serour (1995), "Traditional sexual practices in Islamic world", ''Global Bioethics'', Issue 1, pp. 35–47</ref> Anal intercourse and sex during menstruation are prohibited, as is violence and force against a partner's will.<ref name="Glassé 1989 357–358">{{Cite book|title = The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last = Glassé|first = Cyril|publisher = Stacey International|year = 1989|location = London|pages = 357–358}}</ref> However, these are the only restrictions; as the Quran says at 2:223 (Sūratu l-Baqarah): 'Your women are your fields; go to your women as you wish'.<ref name="Glassé 1989 357–358" />

After sex, as well as menstruation, Islam requires men and women to do [[ghusl]] (major ritual washing with water, ablutions), and in some Islamic communities duaa' (prayers seeking forgiveness and purification), as sex and menstruation are considered some of the causes that makes men and women religiously impure ([[najis]]).<ref>Janet L. Bauer, "Sexuality and the Moral 'Construction' of Women in an Islamic Society", ''Anthropological Quarterly'', Vol. 58, No. 3. (July 1985), pp. 120–129</ref><ref name=mht>Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan Ṭūsī, ''Concise Description of Islamic Law and Legal Opinions'', ICAS Press London, {{ISBN|978-1-904063-29-2}}, pp. 17–24</ref> Some Islamic jurists suggest touching and foreplay, without any penetration, may qualify [[wudu]] (minor ritual washing) as sufficient form of religiously required ablution.<ref>Brannon Wheeler, "Touching The Penis in Islamic Law", ''History of Religions'', Vol. 44, No. 2 (November 2004), pp. 89–119</ref> Muslim men and women must also abstain from sex during a ritual fast, and during all times while on a pilgrimage to Mecca, as sexual act, touching of sexual parts and emission of sexual bodily fluids are considered ritually dirty.<ref name="martinencylo">Martin et al. (2003), ''Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World'', Macmillan Reference, {{ISBN|978-0-02-865603-8}}</ref>

Sexual intercourse is not allowed to a Muslim woman during [[menstruation]], [[postpartum period]], during fasting and certain religious activities, disability and in [[iddah]] after divorce or widowhood. Homosexual relations and same sex marriages are forbidden to both genders in Islam.<ref name=jgschenker /> In vitro fertilization (IVF) is acceptable in Islam; but ovum donation along with sperm donation, embryo donation are prohibited by Islam.<ref name=scjs /> These marriages meet with varying degrees of social approval, depending on the milieu.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Inhorn | first1 = M.C. | year = 2006 | title = He Won't Be My Son | journal = Medical Anthropology Quarterly | volume = 20 | issue = 1| pages = 94–120 | doi=10.1525/maq.2006.20.1.94| pmid = 16612995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Husain | first1 = Fatima A | year = 2000 | title = Reproductive issues from the Islamic perspective | journal = Human Fertility | volume = 3 | issue = 2| pages = 124–128 | doi = 10.1080/1464727002000198831 | pmid = 11844368 | s2cid = 20524040 }}</ref> Some debated [[fatwa]]s from Shia sect of Islam, however, allow third party participation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Serour | first1 = G. I. | year = 2005 | title = Religious perspectives of ethical issues in ART 1. Islamic perspectives of ethical issues in ART | journal = Middle East Fertility Society Journal | volume = 10 | issue = 3| pages = 185–190 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Clarke | first1 = M | year = 2006 | title = Islam, kinship and new reproductive technology | journal = Anthropology Today | volume = 22 | issue = 5| pages = 17–20 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-8322.2006.00460.x}}</ref>

Islam requires both husband and wife/wives to meet their conjugal duties. Religious qadis (judges) have admonished the man or women who fail to meet these duties.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|pages=357–358}}</ref>

A high value is placed on female [[chastity]] and exhibitionism is prohibited.<ref>Nilüfer Göle, "Snapshots of Islamic Modernities", ''Daedalus'', Vol. 129, No. 1 (Winter, 2000), pp. 91–117</ref>

==== Female genital mutilation ====
[[File:Campaign road sign against female genital mutilation (cropped).jpg|thumb|A poster for a campaign against [[female genital mutilation]] ('FGM') in Christian-majority Uganda. In the African states of Tanzania, Nigeria and Niger, FGM is more prevalent amongst Christians than Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.christiantoday.com/article/fgm.activist.girls.in.uk.sunday.schools.are.being.cut.the.church.must.take.a.stand/38757.htm|title=Girls in UK Sunday schools are victims of FGM – the Church must take a stand|last=Borkett-Jones|first=Lucinda|date=July 12, 2014|work=Christian Today|access-date=July 1, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=El-Damanhoury|first=I.|date=September 2013|title=The Jewish and Christian view on female genital mutilation|journal=African Journal of Urology|doi=10.1016/j.afju.2013.01.004|volume=19|issue=3|pages=127–129|doi-access=free}}</ref> The highest levels of support for FGM can be found in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Gambia, Somalia, and Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation/|title=Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Statistics|website=UNICEF DATA}}</ref>

]]
{{Main|Female genital mutilation|Religious views on female genital mutilation}}

==== The classical position ====
There is no mention of female circumcision—let alone other forms of female genital mutilation—in the Quran. Furthermore, Muḥammad did not subject any of his daughters to this practice, which is itself of real significance as it does not form part of his spoken or acted example.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Gomaa|first=Ali|date=2013|title=The Islamic view on female circumcision|journal=African Journal of Urology|volume=19|issue=3|pages=123–126|doi=10.1016/j.afju.2013.02.007|doi-access=free}}</ref> Moreover, the origins of female circumcision are not Islamic: it is first thought to have been practiced in [[ancient Egypt]].<ref name="Jawad 1998 54">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=54}}</ref> Alternatively, it has been suggested that the practice may be an old African puberty rite that was passed on to Egypt by cultural diffusion.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=55}}</ref>

Notwithstanding these facts, there is a belief amongst some Muslims—particularly though not entirely exclusively in (sub-Saharan) Africa—that female circumcision (specifically the cutting of the prepuce or hood of the clitoris) is religiously vindicated by the existence of a handful of ḥadīths which apparently recommend it.<ref name="Jawad 1998 54" /> However, these ḥadīths are generally regarded as inauthentic, unreliable and weak, and therefore as having no legislative foundation and/or practical application.<ref name="Jawad 1998 58">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=58}}</ref>

==== Islamic perspectives on FGM ====
In answering the question of how "Islamic" female circumcision is, Haifaa A. Jawad—an academic specialising in Islamic thought and the author of ''The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach—''has concluded that "the practice has no Islamic foundation whatsoever. It is nothing more than an ancient custom which has been falsely assimilated to the Islamic tradition, and with the passage of time it has been presented and accepted (in some Muslim countries) as an Islamic injunction."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=259}}</ref> According to [[Haifaa Jawad]], the argument which states that there is an indirect correlation between Islam and female circumcision fails to explain why female circumcision is not practiced in much of the Islamic world, and conversely is practiced in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Peru.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|pages=55, 59}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.womenaid.org/press/info/fgm/fgminfo.htm|title=Female Genital Mutilation : Information Paper FGM/40|website=womenaid.orgpublisher=Womenaid International|access-date=July 3, 2016}}</ref> However, more than half of the cases documented by Unicef are concentrated in just 3 countries: Indonesia, Egypt, and Ethiopia.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Prevalence of Female Genital Cutting - Scaled 2015 | url=https://www.womanstats.org/substatics/femalegenitalcutting_2015_2correctstatic.png | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331170321/http://www.womanstats.org/substatics/femalegenitalcutting_2015_2correctstatic.png | archive-date=2016-03-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.unicef.org/resources/female-genital-mutilationcutting-global-concern/|title=Female Genital Mutilation: A global concern - 2016|date=February 3, 2016|website=UNICEF DATA}}</ref><ref name="endfgm.eu">{{Cite web| title=Female genital mutilation/cutting: A call for a global response | url=https://www.endfgm.eu/editor/files/2020/04/FGM_Global_-_ONLINE_PDF_VERSION_-_07.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511045723/https://www.endfgm.eu/editor/files/2020/04/FGM_Global_-_ONLINE_PDF_VERSION_-_07.pdf | archive-date=2020-05-11}}</ref>

The French intellectual, journalist, and translator Renée Saurel observed that female circumcision and FGM more generally directly contradict Islam's sacred text: "The Koran, contrary to Christianity and Judaism, permits and recommends that the woman be given physical and psychological pleasure, pleasure found by both partners during the act of love. Forcibly split, torn, and severed tissues are neither conducive to sensuality nor to the blessed feeling given and shared when participating in the quest for pleasure and the escape from pain."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=128}}</ref>

The Egyptian feminist [[Nawal El Saadawi|Nawal El-Saadawi]] reasons that the creation of the clitoris per se is a direct Islamic argument against female circumcision: "If religion comes from God, how can it order man to cut off an organ created by Him as long as that organ is not diseased or deformed? God does not create the organs of the body haphazardly without a plan. It is not possible that He should have created the clitoris in woman's body only in order that it be cut off at an early stage in life. This is a contradiction into which neither true religion nor the Creator could possibly fall. If God has created the clitoris as a sexually sensitive organ, whose sole function seems to be the procurement of sexual pleasure for women, it follows that He also considers such pleasure for women as normal and legitimate, and therefore as an integral part of mental health."<ref name="Jawad 1998 129">{{Cite book|title=The Rights of Women in Islam: An Authentic Approach|last=Jawad|first=Haifaa|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-73458-2|location=London|page=129}}</ref>

[[Sheikh Abbas|Sheikh Abbas el Hocine Bencheikh]], a diplomat and Rector of the L'institut Musulman at the Grande Mosquée de Paris, pointed to the total lack of Islamic theological justification for female circumcision: "If circumcision for the man (though not compulsory) has an aesthetic and hygienic purpose, there is no existing religious Islamic text of value to be considered in favour of female excision, as proven by the fact that this practice is totally non-existent in most of the Islamic countries."<ref name="Jawad 1998 58" />

[[Mahmud Shaltut]], the former Sheikh of Al-Azhar in Cairo—one of the most important religious offices in Sunni Islam—also stated that female circumcision has no theological basis: "Islamic legislation provides a general principle, namely that should meticulous and careful examination of certain issues prove that it is definitely harmful or immoral, then it should be legitimately stopped to put an end to this damage or immorality. Therefore, since the harm of excision has been established, excision of the clitoris of females is not a mandatory obligation, nor is it a Sunnah."<ref name="Jawad 1998 129" />

==== Initiatives to end FGM in the OIC ====
In the twenty-first century, a number of high-ranking religious offices within the OIC have urged the cessation of all forms of FGM:
# A 2006 international conference convened by Egypt's Dar al ifta—an influential body which issues legal opinions on Islamic law and jurisprudence—concluded "that the [female genital] mutilation presently practised in some parts of Egypt, Africa, and elsewhere represents a deplorable custom which finds no justification in the authoritative sources of Islam, the Quran and the practice of the Prophet Muḥammad...all measures must be taken to put a halt to this unacceptable tradition."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gomaa|first=Ali|date=September 2013|title=The Islamic view on female circumcision|journal=African Journal of Urology|doi=10.1016/j.afju.2013.02.007|volume=19|issue=3|pages=123–126|doi-access=free}}</ref>
# A November 2006 conference at Al-Azhar University in Cairo held under the auspices of the Grand Mufti of Egypt passed a resolution—with the same legal weight as fatwa—that FGM was to be considered a punishable offence, because it constitutes "an act of aggression and a crime against humanity".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.intact-network.net/intact/cp/files/1296995492_FGM%20&%20Islam-%20GTZ.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102113456/http://www.intact-network.net/intact/cp/files/1296995492_FGM%20%26%20Islam-%20GTZ.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 2, 2017|title=Female Genital Mutilation and Islam |date=July 2009|website=International Network to Analyze, Communicate and Transform the Campaign against FGM/C|publisher=Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH|access-date=July 3, 2016}}</ref>
# In 2007 the Cairo-based Al-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research, an entity belonging to what is generally regarded as one of the most significant theological universities in the OIC, ruled that female genital mutilation has no basis in Islamic law.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.unfpa.org/news/convincing-egyptian-doctors-do-no-harm|title=Convincing Egyptian Doctors to 'Do No Harm'|date=May 7, 2010|work=United Nations Population Fund|access-date=July 3, 2016}}</ref>
# In 2012, Professor Dr. [[Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu]]—the then Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation—urged countries to abolish female genital mutilation (FGM), saying the practice was against Islam and human rights: "This practice is a ritual that has survived over centuries and must be stopped as Islam does not support it."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.trust.org//item/20121204114600-k6dat/|title=OIC chief calls for abolition of female genital mutilation|date=December 4, 2012|work=Thomson Reuters Foundation News|access-date=July 3, 2016|archive-date=October 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005145807/http://news.trust.org//item/20121204114600-k6dat/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
# In 2016, the OIC Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations reaffirmed its determination to eliminate FGM/C by 2030,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oicun.org/9/20160213110524453.html|title=US-OIC roundtable at the UN seeks ways to eradicate FGM/C|date=February 8, 2016|website=Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York|publisher=Organization of Islamic Cooperation Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations|access-date=July 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330211129/http://www.oicun.org/9/20160213110524453.html|archive-date=March 30, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> in accordance with a global target set by the UN in the context of the [[Sustainable Development Goals]].

==== Recorded prevalence of FGM in the OIC ====
According to UNICEF (2014), twenty-six of the twenty-nine countries in which female genital mutilation is classified as 'concentrated' are in sub-Saharan Africa: there was no recorded prevalence in any non-African [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]] member state outside Yemen (19% prevalence) and Iraq (8%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.data.unicef.org/corecode/uploads/document6/uploaded_pdfs/corecode/SOWC_2015_Summary_and_Tables_210.pdf |title=The State of the World's Children 2015: Executive Summary |date=2014 |access-date=July 6, 2015 |website=84–89 |publisher=United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)}}</ref> Subsequent data confirms that female genital mutilation is not an exclusively African problem, and is found in several Islamic-majority countries of OIC, like [[Indonesia]].<ref name="endfgm.eu"/>

==== Contraception ====
From very early times various methods of contraception have been practiced in Islam,<ref name="Glassé 1989 357–358" /> and Muslim jurists of the two major sects of Islam, Sunni and Shia, generally agree that contraception and family planning are not forbidden by Sharia; the use of contraceptive devices is permitted if the marital partners agree.<ref name="Glassé 1989 357–358" /><ref name="hasna">{{cite journal|year=2003|title=Islam, social traditions and family planning|journal=Social Policy & Administration|volume=37|issue=2|pages=181–197|doi=10.1111/1467-9515.00333|last1=Hasna|first1=F}}</ref> All the Islamic schools of law from the tenth to the nineteenth century gave contraception their serious consideration.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World|last=Robinson|first=Frances|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-521-66993-1|location=Cambridge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/205 205–206]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/205}}</ref> They dealt principally with coitus interruptus, the most common method, and unanimously agreed that it was licit provided the free wife gave her permission, because she had rights to children and to sexual fulfilment which withdrawal was believed to diminish.<ref name=":2" /> From the writings of the jurists it emerges that other methods of birth control—mostly intravaginal tampons—were also used by premodern women and the commonest view was that these should only be employed if the husband also agreed.<ref name=":2" />

Given the era and the fact that both Christian and Jewish tradition outlawed contraception, the attitude of Muslims towards birth control has been characterised as being remarkably pragmatic; they also possessed a sophisticated knowledge of possible birth control methods.<ref name=":2" /> Medieval doctors like [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]] (Avicenna) regarded birth control as a normal part of medicine, and devoted chapters to contraception and abortion in their textbooks (although the permissibility of abortion within Islamic thought varies according to a number of factors; Islam views the family as sacred and children as a gift from God).<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/contraception.shtml|title=Islamic views on contraception|date=September 7, 2009|website=BBC|access-date=June 12, 2017}}</ref> According to medieval Muslims, birth control was employed to avoid a large number of dependents to safeguard property, to guarantee the education of a child, to protect a woman from the risks of childbirth—especially if she was young or ill—or simply to preserve her health and beauty.<ref name=":2" />

===== Female infanticide =====
Islam condemns female infanticide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/medical/infanticide_1.shtml|title=BBC – Ethics – Abortion: Female infanticide|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=May 25, 2016}}</ref>

{{blockquote |When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned—For what crime she was killed?|[[Quran]] |{{qref|81|8}} | |}}

In some Islamic populations, sex-selective female infanticide is of concern because of abnormally high boy to girl ratios at birth.<ref name=fmesle /> In Islamic [[Azerbaijan]], for example, the birth sex ratio was in the 105 to 108 range, before the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. After the collapse, the birth sex ratios in Azerbaijan has sharply climbed to over 115 and remained high for the last 20 years.<ref name=fmesle>{{cite book|title=A Sharp Increase in Sex Ratio at Birth in the Caucasus. Why? How?|author1=France MESLÉ |author2=Jacques Vallin |author3=Irina Badurashvil  |year=2007|pages=73–89|isbn=978-2-910053-29-1|publisher=Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography}}</ref> The persistently observed 115 boys for every 100 girls born suggests [[sex-selective abortion]] of females in Azerbaijan in the last 20 years.<ref name=theeconomist>[https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21586617-son-preference-once-suppressed-reviving-alarmingly-gendercide-caucasus "Gendercide in the Caucasus"] ''The Economist'' (September 13, 2013)</ref><ref>Michael, M; King, L; Guo, L; McKee, M; Richardson, E; Stuckler, D (2013), [http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/1130041/1/3909713.pdf "The mystery of missing female children in the Caucasus: an analysis of sex ratios by birth order"], ''International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health'', 39 (2), pp. 97–102, {{ISSN|1944-0391}}</ref><ref>[[John Bongaarts]] (2013), "The Implementation of Preferences for Male Offspring", ''Population and Development Review'', Vol. 39, Iss. 2, ppl. 185–208, June 2013</ref> Other Muslim-majority countries with high birth sex ratio, implying<ref>[http://www.demographie.net/guilmoto/pdf/research%20note%20on%20BM%20in%20SE%20Europe4.pdf High Sex Ratio at Birth in Southeast Europe ] Christophe Z Guilmoto, CEPED, Université Paris-Descartes, France (2012)</ref><ref>Stump, Doris (2011), [http://www.assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2011/ASEGAselectionprenatalee.pdf Prenatal Sex Selection], Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Council of Europe</ref> female sex-selective abortion, include [[Albania]] (112)<ref>[http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/Sex%20Imbalances%20at%20Birth.%20PDF%20UNFPA%20APRO%20publication%202012.pdf Sex Imbalances at Birth: Current trends, consequences and policy implications] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232549/http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/documents/publications/2012/Sex%20Imbalances%20at%20Birth.%20PDF%20UNFPA%20APRO%20publication%202012.pdf |date=December 30, 2013 }} United Nations FPA (August 2012)</ref> and [[Pakistan]] (111).<ref>Klasen, S. (1994), "Missing women" reconsidered, World Development, 22(7), 1061–1071</ref><ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/06/abandoned-aborted-or-left-for-dead-these-are-the-vanishing-girls-of-pakistan/258648/ Abandoned, Aborted, or Left for Dead: These Are the Vanishing Girls of Pakistan], Habiba Nosheen and Hilke Schellmann, June 19, 2012, ''The Atlantic''</ref>

=== Divorce ===
{{Main|Divorce (Islamic)|At-Talaq}}
In Islam, a woman may only divorce her husband under certain conditions. These are many and include neglect, not being supported financially, the husband's impotence, apostasy, madness, dangerous illness or some other defect in the marriage.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last = Nasr|first = Seyyed Hossein|publisher = HarperSanFrancisco|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-06-073064-2|location = New York|pages = 184}}</ref><ref name="Glassé 1989 100–101">{{Cite book|title = The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last = Glassé|first = Cyril|publisher = Stacey International|year = 1989|location = London|pages = 100–101}}</ref> Divorce by mutual consent has only to be agreed upon by both parties to become effective.<ref name="Glassé 1989 100–101" /> If a Muslim woman wishes to divorce her husband she has two options under [[Sharia]] law: seek a ''tafriq'', or seek a ''khul''. A ''tafriq'' is a divorce for certain allowable reasons. This divorce is granted by a ''qadi'', a religious judge, in cases where the ''qadi'' accepts her claims of abuse or abandonment. If a tafriq is denied by the ''qadi'', she cannot divorce. If a tafriq is granted, the marriage is dissolved and the husband is obligated to pay her the deferred [[mahr]] in their marriage contract. The second method, by far more common in wife-initiated divorces, ''khul'' is a divorce without cause, by mutual consent. This divorce requires a husband's consent and it must be supported by consideration that passes from the wife to the husband. Often, this consideration almost always consists of the wife relinquishing her claim to the deferred mahr. In actual practice and outside of Islamic judicial theory, a woman's right to divorce is often extremely limited compared with that of men in the Middle East.<ref name="divorceenc">Joseph and Najmabadi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=4Uyypm6T7ZsC&dq=women+divorce+rights+islam&pg=RA1-PA100 p99].</ref>

In contrast to the comparatively limited methods of divorce available to a woman, Islam allows a Muslim husband to unilaterally divorce his wife, as ''talaq'', with no requirement to show cause; however, in practice there is variance by country as to whether there are any additional legal processes when a husband divorces his wife by this method. For example, the Tunisian Law of Personal Status (1957) makes repudiation by a husband invalid until it has been ratified by a court, and provides for further financial compensation to the wife.<ref name="Glassé 1989 100–101" /> Similar laws have been enacted elsewhere, both within an interpretive framework of traditional Sharia law, and through the operation of civil codes not based upon the Sharia.<ref name="Glassé 1989 100–101" /> However, upon talaq, the husband must pay the wife her deferred mahr.<ref>Wael  B. Hallaq, "Sharia: Theory, Practice, Transformations"  271 (2009)</ref> Some Muslim-majority countries mandate additional financial contributions to be made to the wife on top of the mahr: for example, the Syrian Law of Personal Status (1953) makes the payment of maintenance to the wife by the husband obligatory for one year after the divorce, which is thus a legal recourse of the wife against the husband.<ref name="Glassé 1989 100–101" /> The husband is free to marry again immediately after a divorce, but the woman must observe ''[[iddah]]'', that is wait for 3 lunar months<ref>{{qref|2|228|b=y}}</ref> before she can remarry after divorce, to establish paternity, in case she discovers she is pregnant. In case of death of her husband, the ''iddah'' period is 4 lunar months and 10 days before she can start conjugal relations with another Muslim man.<ref>{{qref|2|234|b=y}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | contribution = Iddah | year = 2003 | editor-link = John Esposito | title = The Oxford Dictionary of Islam | editor-last = Esposito | editor-first = John | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | isbn = 0-19-512558-4 | contribution-url = http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e971 | title-link = The Oxford Dictionary of Islam }}</ref><ref>Shehzad Saleem. ''[http://www.renaissance.com.pk/Marislaw2y4.html The Social Directives of Islam: Distinctive Aspects of Ghamidi's Interpretation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403024603/http://www.renaissance.com.pk/Marislaw2y4.html |date=April 3, 2007 }}'', [[Al-Mawrid|Renaissance]]. March 2004.</ref>

==== Obligations during divorce ====
A verse relating to obligation of women during divorce is 2:228:<ref name="McLarney">{{cite journal | last1 = McLarney | first1 = E | year = 2010 | title = The private is political: Women and family in intellectual Islam | url = https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/10161/6636/1/HibaRa%27uf.pdf | journal = Feminist Theory | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 129–148 | doi = 10.1177/1464700110366805 | hdl = 10161/6636 | s2cid = 143362336 | hdl-access = free }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

{{blockquote |Divorced women remain in waiting for three periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation. And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable. But the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise. (Al-Quran 2:228) {{citation needed|date=February 2020}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://islamawakened.com/quran/2/228|title=al-Baqarah 2:228|via=www.islamawakened.com}}</ref> }}

This verse not only explains the divorce rights of women in Islam, it sets out ''[[iddah]]'' to prevent illegal custody of divorcing husband's child by a woman, specifies that each gender has divorce rights, and that men are a degree above women.<ref name="McLarney" /><ref>Syed, J. (2010). "An historical perspective on Islamic modesty and its implications for female employment". ''Equality, Diversity and Inclusion'', 29(2), {{pp.|150|166}}.</ref><ref>Sherif-Trask, B. A. H. I. R. A. (2004). "Muslim families in the United States". ''The Handbook of Contemporary Families'', {{pp.|394|408}}.</ref>

== Menstruation ==
{{Main|Culture and menstruation|Menstruation in Islam}}
Muslim women are relieved from the duty of performing [[salah]] whilst she is menstruating or during postpartum period, because [[Body fluid|bodily fluids]] (in this case, blood) are considered ritually impure in Islam. According to some scholars, Muslim women may not enter a mosque. Some Muslim scholars suggest that the woman should stay in her house, or near her house, during this state.<ref name=martinencylo /><ref>{{cite book | last1 = al Ṭūsī | first1 = Mohammad ibn Hasan ibn Ali Abu Ja'far (Sheikh al-Taifah) | translator-last = Ezzati | translator-first = Alireza | author-link1 = Shaykh Tusi | title = Al-nihayah: concise description of Islamic law and legal opinions | trans-title = Nihāyah fī mujarrad al-fiqh wa-al-fatāwá | publisher = ICAS Press | location = London | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1-904063-29-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1= Hundt | first1= Gillian L. | last2= Beckerleg | first2= Susan | last3= Kassem | first3= Fatma | last4= Jafar | first4= Abdel M.A. | last5= Belmaker | first5= I. | last6= Saad. | first6= K. Abu | last7= Shoham-Vardi | first7= I. | title = Women's health custom made: building on the 40 days postpartum for Arab women | journal = [[Health Care for Women International]] | volume = 21 | issue = 6 | pages = 529–542 | publisher = [[Taylor and Francis]] | doi = 10.1080/07399330050130313 | pmid = 11235284 | date = September 2000 | s2cid= 216590214 }}</ref> Some Islamic jurists claim that this is an incorrect interpretation of Sharia, and suggest the Islamic intent was about hygiene, not about religious ritual cleanliness.<ref name=martinencylo /> Some scholars say that it is not permitted for menstruating women to read the Quran.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://central-mosque.com/index.php/Acts-of-Worship/menstruating-women-and-entering-mosque.html  |title=Menstruation: Proofs for the Impermissibility of Women Touching the Quran or Entering the Mashaf |work=Central-Mosque.com|access-date=February 12, 2020}}</ref> Others say it is possible, in some circumstances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abuaminaelias.com/may-a-menstruating-woman-visit-the-mosque-or-recite-the-quran/|title=Can a menstruating woman visit the mosque or recite the Quran?|author=Elias, Abu Amina|date=February 6, 2014|work=abuaminaelias.com|access-date=February 12, 2020|archive-date=February 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206233928/https://abuaminaelias.com/may-a-menstruating-woman-visit-the-mosque-or-recite-the-quran/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Shrines and mosques ==
From the earliest centuries of Islam, Muslims have visited shrines and mosques to pray, meditate, ask forgiveness, seek cures for ailments, and seek grace—a blessing or spiritual influence (''barakah'') sent down by God.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London, England|page=64}}</ref> Some of these structures are named after women. Although women are not restricted from entering mosques, it is quite uncommon to see women gathering in mosques to pray. When women do travel to mosques, they are usually accompanied by their husband or other women at times of the day where there is not a large population of other men. While prayer is mostly done at home for women when they are attending prayers at public worship places such as a mosque they are to be separated from the other men present. Women must also be dressed appropriately or they may be reprimanded.<ref name=":20">{{Cite journal|last=Mazumdar|first=Shampa and Sanjoy|title=Rethinking Public and Private Space: Religion and Women in Muslim Society|date=Winter 2001|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43031047|journal=Journal of Architectural and Planning Research|volume= 18| issue = 4|pages=307–308|jstor=43031047}}</ref>

=== The Virgin Mary ===
{{Main|Mary in Islam}}
[[File:Meryemana (4).JPG|thumb|The ''Meryemana'' or wishing wall at the [[House of the Virgin Mary]] in Ephesus, Turkey. Pilgrims' most frequent wishes include those for good health, peace and happiness.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/virgin-marys-house-the-place-where-wishes-come-true.aspx?pageID=238&nID=70627&NewsCatID=375|title=Virgin Mary's house the place where wishes come true|date=August 20, 2014|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref> This devotional site is one of many that is sacred to both Christians and Muslims.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/LASTHOME.HTM|title=Mary's Last Earthly Home?|last=Lawton|first=Kim A.|date=December 8, 1996|website=EWTN.com|publisher=Eternal Word Television Network|access-date=July 4, 2016|archive-date=August 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820154709/https://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/LASTHOME.HTM|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]

The [[Mary in Islam|Virgin Mary]] ('Maryam' in Arabic) has a particularly exalted position within the Islamic tradition, extolled as she is for being the mother of Jesus, whom Muslims revere as a prophet.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|pages=260–261}}</ref> Maryam is the only woman mentioned by name in Islam's sacred text; an entire chapter or sūra of the Quran—the nineteenth, [[Maryam (surah)|Sūrat Maryam]]—bears her name.

Accordingly, the Virgin Mary is synonymous with numerous holy sites in the Islamic faith:
# The [[House of the Virgin Mary]] near Selçuk, Turkey. This is a shrine frequented by both Christians and Muslims. It is known as ''Panaya Kapulu'' ("the Doorway to the Virgin") in Turkish. Pilgrims drink water from a spring under her house which is believed to have healing properties. Perhaps the shrine's most distinctive feature is the ''Mereyemana'' or wishing wall on which visitors attach their written wishes; because the House of the Virgin Mary is increasingly famous internationally, these messages are composed in English, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, French and Spanish, as well as Turkish.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/virgin-marys-house-the-place-where-wishes-come-true.aspx?pageID=238&nID=70627&NewsCatID=375|title=Virgin Mary's house the place where wishes come true|date=August 20, 2014|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/visitors-ask-virgin-mary-to-bring-car-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=93183&NewsCatID=393|title=Visitors ask Virgin Mary to bring car|date=December 29, 2015|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>
# The Virgin Mary Monastery in the province of Giresun, Turkey. This is one of the oldest monasteries in the area and has been active since the fourth century A.D.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/virgin-mary-monastery-to-draw-sumelas-visitors.aspx?pageID=238&nID=99841&NewsCatID=379|title=Virgin Mary Monastery to draw Sümela's visitors|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>
# The Virgin Mary Mosque in Tartous, Syria. This was officially inaugurated in June 2015 as a symbol of peace and religious tolerance. Antoine Deeb—the representative of the Tartous and Lattakia Patriarchate—stated that naming the mosque after the Virgin Mary 'shows that Islam and Christianity share the messages of peace and love.'<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bowker |first1=James |last2=Hourani |first2=Noura |title=Mosque of Virgin Mary in Tartus plays on 'sectarian nerve' |url=https://syriadirect.org/news/mosque-of-virgin-mary-in-tartus-plays-on-%E2%80%98sectarian-nerve%E2%80%99/ |website=Syria Direct |access-date=July 13, 2020 |archive-date=July 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714014331/https://syriadirect.org/news/mosque-of-virgin-mary-in-tartus-plays-on-%E2%80%98sectarian-nerve%E2%80%99/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
# The Virgin Mary Mosque in Melbourne, Australia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-30/national-mosque-open-day-public-welcomed-inside-melbourne-mosque/6888224|title=National Mosque Open Day: Public welcomed inside Melbourne mosque to quash Islam misconceptions|last=Rawlinson|first=Clare|date=October 30, 2015|work=ABC News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>
# Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. This site is associated with a number of Marian apparitions forecast by a Muslim mystic by the name of Hasan Shushud that were reported in the late twentieth century by local Catholics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.medjugorjemiracles.com/2011/10/a-muslim-mystic-foresaw-medjugorje/|title=A Muslim mystic foresaw Medjugorje!|date=October 18, 2011|website=Medugorje Miracles|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>
# The [[Fort Santa Cruz, Oran|Chapel of Santa Cruz]] at Oran, Algeria. The chapel's tower contains a large statue of the Virgin Mary, which is styled as ''Notre Dame du Salut de Santa Cruz''. The historian James McDougall notes in his acclaimed ''A History of Algeria'' (2017) that to this day, the women of Oran "still climb up to the church the [French] settlers built...in 1959, at Santa Cruz, to light candles to ''lalla Maryam'', the Virgin whose statue still looks benignly over their city from the mountaintop."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c8b8bdce-67d3-11e7-9a66-93fb352ba1fe|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211221215/https://www.ft.com/content/c8b8bdce-67d3-11e7-9a66-93fb352ba1fe|archive-date=December 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=A History of Algeria by James McDougall — war and peace|last=Ghilès|first=Francis|date=July 14, 2017|work=Financial Times|access-date=July 22, 2017}}</ref>

=== Hala Sultan ===
[[Hala Sultan Tekke]], Larnaca, Cyprus is an ancient site revered because it contains the burial place of Muḥammad's paternal aunt Hala Sultan (Umm Haram in Arabic), although other scholars believe that she was in fact Muḥammad's wet nurse.<ref name="Hürriyet Daily News">{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/restored-mosque-brings-hope-for-cyprus-divide.aspx?pageID=438&n=restored-mosque-brings-hope-for-cyprus-divide-2005-12-14|title=Restored mosque brings hope for Cyprus divide|date=December 14, 2005|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>

According to legend, Hala Sultan died after falling off her mule and breaking her neck during the first Arab incursions into Cyprus around 647 A.D. The same night, a divine power supposedly placed three giant stones where she lay. In 1760, Hala Sultan's grave was discovered by Sheikh Hasan; he began spreading the word about her healing powers, and a tomb was built there.<ref name="Hürriyet Daily News" /> The complex—comprising a mosque, mausoleum, minaret, cemetery and living quarters for men and women—was constructed in its present form while the island was still under Ottoman rule, and completed in around 1816.<ref name="Hürriyet Daily News" />

According to the archaeologist Tuncer Bağışkan, during the Ottoman period in Cyprus, Ottoman-flagged ships used to fly their flags at half-mast when off the shores of Larnaca, and salute Hala Sultan with cannon shots.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/restored-mosque-brings-hope-for-cyprus-divide.aspx?pageID=438&n=restored-mosque-brings-hope-for-cyprus-divide-2005-12-14|title=Restored mosque brings hope for Cyprus divide|date=June 28, 2016|work=Hürriyet Daily News|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref>

This tekke is also notable for being the burial place of the grandmother of the late King Hussein of Jordan.<ref name="Hürriyet Daily News" />

=== Sayeda Zainab ===
The granddaughter of Muḥammad is the patron saint of Cairo, the Arab world's largest city and a regional cultural hub. She also has the following mosques named for her:
# The Sayeda Zainab mosque in Cairo, Egypt. The original structure was built in 1549; the modern mosque dates back to 1884.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cairobserver.com/post/38093758860/cairos-patron-saint-sayeda-zainab#.V3KRLCMrKL3|title=Cairo's Patron Saint: Sayeda Zainab|date=December 26, 2012|website=Cairo Observer|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> In 1898, the square in front of the mosque also took her name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cairobserver.com/post/38093758860/cairos-patron-saint-sayeda-zainab#.V3LRDiMrKL3|title=Cairo's Patron Saint: Sayeda Zainab|date=December 26, 2012|website=Cairo Observer|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> The mosque was expanded in 1942 and renovated in 1999 following an earthquake seven years earlier.<ref name="cairobserver.com">{{Cite web|url=http://cairobserver.com/post/38093758860/cairos-patron-saint-sayeda-zainab#.V3LROiMrKL3|title=Cairo's Patron Saint: Sayeda Zainab|date=December 26, 2012|website=Cairo Observer|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> There is an annual feast dedicated to Sayeda Zainab which celebrates her birth; the celebration features ecstatic mystical whirling inside the shrine, while outside there are fairground attractions such as merry-go-round rides.<ref name="cairobserver.com" /> Historically, the coffee shops around the square and the mosque were places where some of Egypt's most notable writers and journalists met and exchanged ideas.<ref name="cairobserver.com" /> There is a notable silver shrine inside the mosque.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cairobserver.com/post/38093758860/cairos-patron-saint-sayeda-zainab#.V3LROiMrKL3|title=Cairo' Patron Saint: Sayeda Zainab|date=December 26, 2012|website=Cairo Observer|access-date=June 28, 2016}}</ref> According to Sunni Muslim tradition, this mosque houses the tomb of Sayeda Zainab.
# The [[Sayyidah Zainab Mosque, Damascus|Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque]] in the city of Sayeda Zainab, a southern suburb of Damascus, Syria. According to Shia Muslim tradition, it is in fact this mosque which contains the tomb of Muḥammad's granddaughter. It has been a destination of mass pilgrimage for Muslims since the 1980s. The dome is gold-leafed.

=== Fātimah al-Ma'sūmah ===
Fātimah al-Ma'sūmah was the sister of the eighth Imam and the daughter of the seventh Imam in 'Twelver' Shī'ism. Her [[Fatima Masumeh Shrine|shrine]] is located in [[Qom]], a city which is one of the most important Shī'ah centres of theology. During the [[Safavid dynasty]], the women of this family were very active in embellishing the Shrine of Fatima Masumeh. In times of war, Safavid royal women found refuge in Qom, and likely compared their situation to that of Fatima Masumeh.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Shah 'Abbas: The Remaking of Iran.|last=Canby|first=Sheila R.|publisher=The British Museum Press.|year=2009|location=London}}</ref>

=== Rabi'āh al-'Adawiyyah ===
One of the most famous saints in Islam, Rabi'āh al-'Adawiyyah ('Rabi'āh') extolled the way of ''maḥabbah'' ('divine love') and ''uns'' ('Intimacy with God'). Her mystical sayings are noted for their pith and clarity; some have become proverbs throughout the Islamic world. The [[Rabaa Al-Adawiya Mosque|famous mosque]] in Cairo, which is named in Rabi'āh's honour, is notable for being the burial site of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. The mosque was badly damaged during the 2013 post-military coup unrest in Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.zainabsalbi.com/who-is-rabaa-adawiya/|title=Who is Rabaa Adawiya?|last=Salbi|first=Zainab|date=April 15, 2015|website=Zainab Salbi|access-date=June 29, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816081425/http://www.zainabsalbi.com/who-is-rabaa-adawiya/|archive-date=August 16, 2016}}</ref> It has since been rebuilt.

=== Ruqayyah bint Ali ===
Ruqayyah bint Ali was the daughter-in-law of Muḥammad's cousin and son-in-law 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Legend has it that the [[Bibi Pak Daman]] ({{lit|the chaste lady}}) mausoleum—located in Lahore, Pakistan—named after her contains not just her grave but those of five other ladies from Muḥammad's household. These females were amongst the most important women who brought Islam to South Asia. It is said that these ladies came here after the event of the [[battle of Karbala]] on the 10th day of the month of [[Muharram]] in 61 AH (October 10, CE 680). Bibi Pak Daman is the collective name of the six ladies believed to interred at this mausoleum, though it is also (mistakenly) popularly used to refer to the personage of Ruqayyah bint Ali alone. They preached and engaged in missionary activity in the environs of Lahore. It is said that [[Data Ganj Bakhsh]], considered a great Sufi saint of the South Asia, was himself a devotee of the Bibi Pak Daman shrine and received holy knowledge from this auspicious shrine.<ref>{{Citation|title=The female voice in Sufi ritual: devotional practices of Pakistan and India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WfiDLtPDkPIC|quote=... Among the women who brought Islam to the subcontinent are the Bibi Pak Daman, or the Pur Women ... Upon arrival in Lahore, they engaged in missionary activity ... Data Ganj Bakhsh Hujwiri ... was a devotee of the shrines of the Bibi Pak Daman ...|author=Shemeem Burney Abbas|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-70515-9|date = 2003}}</ref>

== Religious life ==
{{Further|Islam and gender segregation|Women's mosques}}
[[File:Sultan Abdul Majid mosque in Byblos, Lebanon (for women only).JPG|thumb|A women-only mosque in [[Byblos]], Lebanon]]

According to a saying attributed to Muhammad in the hadith Sahih Bukhari, women are allowed to go to mosques.<ref>"Do not stop Allah's women-slave from going to Allah's Mosques." ({{Hadith-usc|Bukhari|usc=yes|2|13|23}}.)</ref> However, as Islam spread, Muslim authorities stressed the fears of unchastity from interaction between sexes outside their home, including the mosque. By pre-modern period it was unusual for women to pray at a mosque.<ref name=m616>Mattson, Ingrid. "Women, Islam, and Mosques." In ''Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America'' (Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Marie Cantlon, ed.). Indiana University Press (2006), [https://books.google.com/books?id=we2KvdT3zOsC&dq=mosques+separate+men+women&pg=PA615 p. 616]. {{ISBN|0-253-34688-6}}.</ref> By the late 1960s, women in urban areas of the Middle East increasingly began praying in the mosque, but men and women generally worship separately.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mattson|first= Ingrid|title=Women, Islam, and Mosques in: ''Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America'' (Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Marie Cantlon, ed.) Indiana University Press |year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=we2KvdT3zOsC&q=mosques+separate+men+women&pg=PA616 |pages=615–17|publisher= Indiana University Press|isbn= 0-253-34685-1}} {{ISBN|0-253-34688-6}}</ref> (Muslims explain this by citing the need to avoid distraction during prayer prostrations that raise the buttocks while the forehead touches the ground.<ref name=smith>Smith, Jane L. ''Islam in America''. Columbia University Press (2000): [https://books.google.com/books?id=e3zrCarDGxAC&dq=mosques+separate+men+women&pg=PA111 p111]. {{ISBN|0-231-10967-9}}.</ref>) Separation between sexes ranges from men and women on opposite sides of an aisle, to men in front of women (as was the case in the time of Muhammad), to women in second-floor balconies or separate rooms accessible by a door for women only.<ref name=smith /> Some scholars believe women in the state of ritual impurity, such as menstruation, are forbidden from entering the prayer hall of the mosque.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mattson|first= Ingrid|title=Women, Islam, and Mosques in ''Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America'' (Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Marie Cantlon, ed.) Indiana University Press |year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=we2KvdT3zOsC&q=mosques+separate+men+women&pg=PA616|page=616 |publisher= Indiana University Press|isbn= 0-253-34685-1}}{{ISBN|0-253-34688-6}}</ref>
[[File:Mumbai 03-2016 13 Haji Ali Dargah.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[Haji Ali Dargah]] in [[Mumbai]], India; entry of women to the sanctum of the shrine was restricted starting 2012 until an intervention by the [[Bombay High Court]] in 2016]]
Today, Muslim women do indeed attend mosques. In fact, in the United States, a recent study by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that American Muslim women attend the mosque at extremely similar rates (35%) to those of American Muslim men (45%).<ref name=":23" /> ISPU also found that 87% of Muslim American women say that they "see their faith identity as a source of happiness in their life."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ispu.org/american-muslim-poll-2018-key-findings/|title=American Muslim Poll 2018: Key Findings {{!}} ISPU|date=April 30, 2018|work=Institute for Social Policy and Understanding|access-date=2018-06-28|language=en-US}}</ref>

Female religious scholars were relatively common from early Islamic history throughout the 16th century.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Abou-Bakr|first=Omaima|title=Articulating Gender: Muslim Women Intellectuals in the Pre-Modern Period|journal=Arab Studies Quarterly|date=2010|volume=32|issue=3}}</ref> [[Mohammad Akram Nadwi]], a Sunni religious scholar, has listed 8,000 female jurists, and orientalist [[Ignaz Goldziher]] estimates 15 percent of medieval hadith scholars were women.<ref name=reconsideration>[[Carla Power|Power, Carla]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/magazine/25wwlnEssay.t.html "A Secret History."] ''[[New York Times]]'' (February 25, 2007).</ref> Women, during early history of Islam, primarily obtained their knowledge through community study groups, [[ribat]] retreats and during [[hajj]] when the usual restrictions imposed on female education were more lenient.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nadwī|first=Muḥammad Akram|title=Al-Muḥaddithāt: The Women Scholars in Islam|date=2007|publisher=Interface Publications|location=Oxford}}</ref> After the 16th century, however, female scholars became fewer.<ref name=reconsideration /> In the modern era, while female activists and writers are relatively common, there has not been a significant female jurist in over 200 years.<ref>[[Khaled Abou El Fadl]]. [http://www.themodernreligion.com/women/recognition.html "In Recognition of Women."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016043833/http://www.themodernreligion.com/women/recognition.html |date=October 16, 2006 }} Themodernreligion.com. Originally published (in a slightly different form) in ''[[The Minaret]]'' (July/Aug 1991) and reprinted in ''Voices'' vol. 1, no. 2 (Dec/Jan 1992).</ref> Opportunities for women's religious education exist, but cultural barriers often keep women from pursuing such a vocation.<ref name=reconsideration />

[[Women as imams|Women's right to become imams]], however, is disputed by many. A fundamental role of an ''imam'' (religious leader) in a mosque is to lead the ''[[salat]]'' (congregational prayers). Generally, women are not allowed to lead mixed prayers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} However, some argue that Muhammad gave permission to [[Umm Waraqa]] to lead a mixed prayer at the mosque of Dar.<ref name="jwom">[[Javed Ahmed Ghamidi]], [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_24-4-2005_pg7_13 "Religious leadership of women in Islam"], April 24, 2005, [[Daily Times (Pakistan)|''Daily Times'', Pakistan]]</ref><ref>[[Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal]], (Bayrut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al- 'Arabi, n.d.) vol. 5, 3:1375</ref>

[[Hui people|Hui]] women are self-aware of their relative freedom as Chinese women in contrast to the status of Arab women in countries like [[Saudi Arabia]] where Arab women are socially and religiously expected to wear encompassing clothing. Hui women point out these restrictions as "low status", and feel better to be Chinese than to be Arab, claiming that it is Chinese women's advanced knowledge of the Quran which enables them to have equality between men and women.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jV9_YvgUmpsC&q=chinese+satisfaction+arab+strict+lives&pg=PA203|title=The history of women's mosques in Chinese Islam: a mosque of their own|author1=Maria Jaschok |author2=Jingjun Shui |year=2000|publisher=Routledge|page=203|isbn=0-7007-1302-6|access-date=2011-01-23}}</ref>

=== Sufi female mystics ===
Sufi Islam teaches the doctrine of ''tariqa'', meaning following a spiritual path in daily living habits. To support followers of this concept, separate institutions for men (''ta'ifa, hizb, rabita'') and women (''khanqa, rabita, derga'') were created. Initiates to these groups pursued a progression of seven stages of spiritual discipline, called ''makamat'' (stations) or ''ahwal'' (spiritual states).<ref>{{cite book|last=Chebel|first=Malek|title=L'islam explique par Malek Chabel|year=2009|publisher=Perrin|isbn=978-2-262-02982-1|page=138}}</ref>

[[Rabiah al-Basri]] is an important figure in Islamic Mysticism called [[Sufism]]. She upheld the doctrine of "disinterested love of God".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ziauddin Sardar  |author2=Zafar Abbas Malik |name-list-style=amp |title=Islam: A graphic guide|year=2009|publisher=Totem|isbn=978-1-84831-084-1|page=93}}</ref>

=== Current female religious scholars ===
There are a number of prominent female Islamic scholars. They generally focus on questioning gender-based interpretations of the [[Quran]], the traditions of Muhammad and early Islamic history. Some notable Muslim women scholars are: [[Azizah al-Hibri]], [[Amina Wadud]], [[Fatima Mernissi]], [[Riffat Hassan]], Laila Ahmad, Amatul Rahman Omar,<ref>Amatul Rahman Omar, [http://islamusa.org/?page_id=2 "Authors of 'The Holy Qur'an, English Translation' – First English Translation by a Woman"], ''The Holy Qur'an, English Translation'', 1990</ref> [[Farhat Hashmi]], [[Aisha Abdul-Rahman]], and [[Merryl Wyn Davies]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Ziauddin Sardar  |author2=Zafar Abbas Malik |name-list-style=amp |title=Islam: A graphic guide|year=2009|publisher=Totem|isbn=978-1-84831-084-1|pages=160–162}}</ref>

== Politics ==
[[File:Collage of voting women in the 2010s - Syrian, Algerian, Pakistani, Jordanian, Egyptian, Iranian.jpg|thumb|A collage of Muslim women voters in the 2010s from different countries]]
[[File:Coin of Razia Sultana.jpg|thumb|The coins issued during the rule of [[Razia Sultana]]. She inherited and ruled the [[Sultanate of Delhi]] for 3 years in the early 13th century.<ref name="Beale-p.392">Beale, Thomas William and [[Henry George Keene (1826–1915)|Henry George Keene]]. ''An Oriental Biographical Dictionary.'' W.H. Allen (1894), [https://books.google.com/books?id=lxgaAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA392 p. 392].</ref>]]
{{See also|Sultana (title)|Female political leaders in Islam and in Muslim-majority countries|Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries}}
Many classical Islamic scholars, such as [[al-Tabari]], supported female leadership.<ref name="roald">Anne Sofie Roald. ''Women in Islam: The Western Experience'', pp. 186–187.</ref> In early Islamic history, women including Aisha, Umm Waraqa, and Samra Binte Wahaib took part in political activities.<ref name="jwom" /> Ash-Shifa would later on become the head of Health and Safety in [[Basra]], Iraq.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=854 |title=Muslim Heritage in the Knowledge-Economy Conference in Jeddah |publisher=MuslimHeritage.com |date=February 8, 2008 |access-date=2013-09-08 |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111114955/http://muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=854 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other historical Muslim female leaders include [[Shajarat ad-Durr]], who ruled [[Egypt]] from 1250 to 1257,<ref>{{cite web|author=Jimmy Dunn writing as Ismail Abaza |url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/shajarat.htm |title=Shajarat (Shaggar, Shagar) al-Durr And her Mausoleum in Cairo |publisher=Touregypt.net |access-date=2013-09-08}}</ref> [[Razia Sultana]], who ruled the [[Sultanate of Delhi]] from 1236 to 1239,<ref name="Beale-p.392" /> and [[Taj ul-Alam]], who ruled [[Aceh Sultanate]] from 1641 to 1675.

This historical record contrasts markedly with that of (predominantly Taoist and Buddhist) Chinese-majority nations, where there were no women rulers in the period between the reign of the fierce empress [[Wu Zetian]] at the turn of the eighth century (690–705), and the inauguration of [[Tsai Ing-wen]] as President of the Republic of China in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7d010c4e-9d1b-11e5-b45d-4812f209f861|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211221232/https://www.ft.com/content/7d010c4e-9d1b-11e5-b45d-4812f209f861|archive-date=December 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Women of 2015: Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwanese presidential candidate|last=Bland|first=Ben|date=December 11, 2015|work=Financial Times|access-date=September 9, 2017}}</ref>

[[Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah]], an Islamic institute that advises Egypt's ministry of justice, had said women can both be rulers and judges in an Islamic state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eng.dar-alifta.org/foreign/f.aspx?ID=882435|title=Result|website=Eng.dar-alifta.org|access-date=May 25, 2016|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015426/http://eng.dar-alifta.org/foreign/f.aspx?ID=882435|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Female heads of state in Muslim-majority countries during the modern era ===
[[File:Benazir bhutto 1989 (square).jpg|thumb|[[Benazir Bhutto]] was the first elected female head of state in a Muslim-majority country, serving as the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] twice (1988–1990, 1993–1996).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/30/politics/gallery/benazir-bhutto/index.html|title=Photos: Pakistan's iron lady, Benazir Bhutto|date=December 1, 2013|work=CNN|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref>]]

In the modern era, [[Pakistan]] became the first Muslim-majority state with an elected female head of government (1988).<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://tribune.com.pk/story/24581/what-benazir-did-not-do-for-women/|title = What Benazir did (not do) for women|last = Khan|first = Kashmali|date = June 30, 2010|work = The Express Tribune|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref> Currently [[Bangladesh]] is the country that has had females as [[head of government]] continuously the longest starting with [[Khaleda Zia]] in 1991.

In the past several decades, a number of countries in which Muslims are a majority, including [[Turkey]] (Prime Minister [[Tansu Çiller]], 1993),<ref>[http://womenshistory.about.com/od/cillertansu/Tansu_iller.htm "Tansu Çiller."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127152747/http://womenshistory.about.com/od/cillertansu/Tansu_iller.htm |date=January 27, 2008 }} About.com.</ref> [[Pakistan]]'s [[Benazir Bhutto]] (1988–1996),<ref>Ali A. Mazrui, [http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=knr8eal315k6y5y3 Pretender to Universalism: Western Culture in a Globalizing Age], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529161818/http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/link.asp?id=knr8eal315k6y5y3 |date=May 29, 2016 }} ''Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs'', Volume 21, Number 1, April 2001</ref> [[Bangladesh]] (prime ministers [[Begum Khaleda Zia]], 1991–1996, 2001–2009) and [[Sheikh Hasina]] (1996–2001, 2009–2024), [[Indonesia]] (President [[Megawati Sukarnoputri]], 2001),<ref>Karon, Tony. [http://www.time.com/time/pow/printout/0,8816,169130,00.html "Megawati: The Princess Who Settled for the Presidency."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070217200824/http://www.time.com/time/pow/printout/0,8816,169130,00.html |date=February 17, 2007 }} ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (July 27, 2001).</ref> Kosovo (President [[Atifete Jahjaga]], 2011),<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/atifete-jahiaga-kosovo-president_n_846356.html|title = Atifete Jahiaga Elected As Kosovo's First Female President|last = Qena|first = Nebi|date = April 7, 2011|work = The World Post|access-date = July 11, 2014}}</ref> and [[Kyrgyzstan]] (President [[Roza Otunbayeva]], 2010) have been led by women;<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d956a5f6-f1bb-11e3-a2da-00144feabdc0.html#axzz37AKk77N2|title = Kyrgyzstan: democracy under pressure|last = Rashid|first = Ahmed|date = June 13, 2014|work = Financial Times|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref> Mauritius, which has a significant Muslim minority, elected a female Muslim ([[Ameenah Gurib]]) as president in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://blog.timesunion.com/muslimwomen/6432/6432/|title=The new president of Mauritius is a Muslim woman|last=Haqqie|first=Aziza|date=June 14, 2015|work=Times Union|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909052943/http://blog.timesunion.com/muslimwomen/6432/6432/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

At one stage in the 1990s, over 300 million Muslims—at that time, between one-third and a quarter of the world's entire Islamic population—were simultaneously ruled by women when elected heads of state Tansu Çiller (the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey), Khaleda Zia (the 9th Prime Minister of Bangladesh) and Benazir Bhutto (the 11th Prime Minister of Pakistan) led their respective countries.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World|last=Robinson|first=Francis|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0-521-66993-1|location=Cambridge|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/303 303]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780521435109/page/303}}</ref>

=== Female legislators in Muslim-majority countries in the 21st century ===
As well as elected heads of state, a number of other elected [[Muslim women political leaders|female politicians]] have attained exceptional levels of notability within the OIC in the twenty-first century. These include [[Louisa Hanoune]], the head of Algeria's Workers' Party and the first woman to be a presidential candidate in an Arab country (2004; Hanoune also ran for the same post in 2009 and 2014);<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eng.babelmed.net/cultura-e-societa/98-algeria/89-louisa-hanoune-first-female-candidate-to-stand-for-the-algerian-presidential-elections.html|title=Louisa Hanoune, First female candidate to stand for the Algerian presidential elections|last=Dridi|first=Daikha|website=babel Med|access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/only-woman-in-algeria-presidential-race-won-t-hold-back-1.600535|title=Only woman in Algeria presidential race 'won't hold back'|date=April 9, 2014|work=The National|access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> [[Susi Pudjiastuti]], Indonesia's Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (2014–2019) who is also a successful seafood and transportation entrepreneur who has been profiled in the Financial Times;<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/08164102-6849-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211221247/https://www.ft.com/content/08164102-6849-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f|archive-date=December 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|title=At Work with the FT: Susi Pudjiastuti, Indonesia's fisheries chief|last=Chong|first=Liz|date=September 22, 2016|work=Financial Times|access-date=September 8, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Meral Akşener]], a veteran Turkish conservative nationalist politician who is the founder and leader of the İyi Party (2017–);<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://time.com/4856463/turkey-meral-aksener-iron-lady-recep-tayyip-erdogan/|title=Turkey's 'Iron Lady' Meral Aksener Is Getting Ready to Challenge Erdogan|last=Malsin|first=Jared|date=July 14, 2017|magazine=Time|access-date=September 8, 2017}}</ref> and mezzo-soprano opera singer [[Dariga Nazarbayeva]], the Chairwoman of the Kazakhstan Senate and one of her country's wealthiest individuals.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b2af5538-4bed-11e9-8b7f-d49067e0f50d|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211221205/https://www.ft.com/content/b2af5538-4bed-11e9-8b7f-d49067e0f50d|archive-date=December 11, 2022|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|title=Dariga Nazarbayeva: Kazakhstan's understudy president|last=Astrasheuskaya|first=Nastassia|date=March 22, 2019|work=Financial Times|access-date=May 25, 2019}}</ref>

Several Muslim-majority nations have passed laws to incorporate more women in their parliaments and political processes. For example, Indonesia passed a law in 2013 that required political parties to field at least 30% women candidates in elections or pay a financial penalty, a law which was later amended to stipulate that at least one in three candidates on every party's electoral list must be female and parties which do not fulfill this criterion will be barred from contesting the election;<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2779293.stm|title = Female quotas for Indonesia poll|date = February 19, 2003|work = BBC News|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-16/indonesia-penalizes-parties-in-fight-for-women-southeast-asia.html|title = Indonesia Penalizes Parties in Fight for Women: Southeast Asia|last = Ten Cate|first = Daniel|date = July 16, 2013|work = Bloomberg|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/dap-lawmaker-moots-30pc-quota-for-women-in-politics-as-malaysia-trails-indo|title=DAP lawmaker moots 30pc quota for women in politics as Malaysia trails Indonesia's democracy|last=Mok|first=Opalyn|date=October 31, 2014|work=The Malay Mail|access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref> Tunisia's mandated electoral lists composed of 50% women in both the 2011 and 2014 legislative elections;<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25916831|title = Tunisia's Ennahda and Ettakattol women MPs celebrate|last = Kottoor|first = Naveena|date = January 28, 2014|work = BBC News|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.france24.com/en/20140502-tunisia-landmark-law-election-women-equality/|title = Tunisia passes landmark election law for November vote|date = May 2, 2014|work = France 24|access-date = July 12, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140727180809/http://www.france24.com/en/20140502-tunisia-landmark-law-election-women-equality/|archive-date = July 27, 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref> and in 2012, Algeria set a minimum parliamentary female membership requirement of 30%.<ref name="Bachelet">{{Cite web|url = http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2012/5/un-women-welcomes-increased-number-of-women-in-algeria-s-parliament|title = UN Women welcomes increased number of women in Algeria's Parliament|date = May 16, 2012|access-date = July 12, 2014|website = UN Women welcomes increased number of women in Algeria's Parliament|publisher = United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)|last = Bachelet|first = Michelle}}</ref> Following the May 2012 legislative elections, women constitute 31.6% of Algerian MPs.<ref name="Bachelet" /> In Senegal, 50% of local and national electoral lists have to be female as of 2012.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18719787|title = Senegal's President Macky Sall wins national assembly landslide|date = July 5, 2012|work = BBC News|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/nov/15/senegal-gender-parity-law-mps-women|title = Has Senegal's gender parity law for MPs helped women?|last = Hirsch|first = Afua|date = November 15, 2012|work = The Guardian|access-date = July 12, 2014}}</ref> Following the passage of Law No. 46 of 2014, Egypt has required party lists to include a certain number of women;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://timep.org/commentary/analysis/women-and-quotas-in-egypts-parliament/|title=Women and Quotas in Egypt's Parliament|last=Fracolli|first=Erin|date=January 5, 2017|website=[[The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy]]|access-date=May 26, 2019}}</ref> in 2018, Egypt's cabinet had eight female ministers out of a total of 35 (22.9%).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/2/52152/For-the-first-time-8-female-ministers-in-Egypt-s|title=For the first time, 8 female ministers in Egypt's Cabinet|date=June 14, 2018|work=Egypt Today|access-date=May 26, 2019}}</ref> Kosovo has had a female quota for its assembly as far back as 2001, when it was ''de jure'' part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia;<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1682907.stm|title=Kosovo leads Europe in woman power|last=Wood|first=Nicholas|date=November 29, 2001|work=BBC News|access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref> the Muslim-majority (95.6%) Balkan republic guarantees women 30% of parliamentary seats as of 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/style-politics-kosovo-women-see-clinton-role-model-042203616.html|title=In style and politics, Kosovo women see Clinton as role model|date=April 20, 2016|agency=AFP}}</ref>

Since 2012 Saudi women have been allowed to vote in some elections.<ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4478130.stm Saudi women take part in election]," ''[[BBC News]]''.</ref><ref>Central Intelligence Agency. [https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saudi-arabia/ "Saudi Arabia."] ''[[World Factbook]]'' (2007).</ref> The Shura Council of Saudi Arabia now includes female members after a January 2013 decree by the Saudi King that created reserved parliamentary seats for women,<ref>[http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/11/259881.html Breakthrough in Saudi Arabia: women allowed in parliament] Al Arabiya (January 11, 2013)</ref> while four women were appointed to Qatar's 41-member Shura Council in 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ipu.org/news/news-in-brief/2017-11/ipu-welcomes-appointment-four-women-qatars-parliament|title=IPU welcomes appointment of four women to Qatar's Parliament|date=November 13, 2017|work=Inter-Parliamentary Union|access-date=May 25, 2019}}</ref> Kuwait granted its women the right to vote in the first half of the 1980s;<ref>{{Cite book|title = African Women and Children: Crisis and Response|last = Rwomire|first = Apollo|publisher = Greenwood Press|year = 2001|isbn = 978-0-275-96218-0|location = Westport, CT|pages = [https://archive.org/details/africanwomenchil00rwom/page/8 8]|url = https://archive.org/details/africanwomenchil00rwom/page/8}}</ref> this right was later rescinded, and then reintroduced in 2005.<ref>Olimat (2009), Women and Politics in Kuwait, Journal of International Women's Studies, 11(2), pp. 199–212</ref> Additionally, the United Arab Emirates has allocated 30% of its top government posts to women;<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thearabweekly.com/Special-Focus/1631/Women-rise-to-leadership-roles-in-UAE|title=Women rise to leadership roles in UAE|last=Kumar|first=N. P. Krishna|date=August 21, 2015|work=The Arab Weekly|access-date=May 31, 2017|archive-date=September 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916182430/http://www.thearabweekly.com/Special-Focus/1631/Women-rise-to-leadership-roles-in-UAE|url-status=dead}}</ref> as of February 2016, females accounted for 27.5% of the UAE's cabinet.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/20160210/uae-ministers-welcome-increased-representation-of-women-in-cabinet|title=UAE ministers welcome increased representation of women in Cabinet|last=Dajani|first=Haneen|date=February 10, 2016|work=The National|access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref>

According to Sheikh Zoubir Bouchikhi, Imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston's Southeast Mosque, nothing in Islam specifically allows or disallows [[voting]] by women.<ref>{{cite web | title=IslamonLine.net | website=islamonline.net | date=November 23, 2006 | url=http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaE&cid=1119503543618 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123031820/http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaE%2FFatwaE&cid=1119503543618 | archive-date=2006-11-23 | url-status=dead | access-date=2020-09-03}}</ref> Until recently most Muslim nations were non-democratic, but most today allow their citizens to have some level of voting and control over their government. However, some Muslim countries gave women suffrage in the early 20th century. For example, [[Azerbaijan]] extended voting rights to women in 1918,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://teas.eu/news-us-library-congress-recalls-azerbaijani-women%E2%80%99s-suffrage|title=US Library of Congress recalls Azerbaijani women's suffrage|date=July 27, 2011|work=The European Azerbaijan Society|access-date=July 15, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715160057/http://teas.eu/news-us-library-congress-recalls-azerbaijani-women%E2%80%99s-suffrage|archive-date=July 15, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> two years before it became part of Soviet Union. Females in Turkey similarly gained the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections in 1930 and 1934 respectively.<ref>Ramirez et al. (1997), The changing logic of political citizenship: Cross-national acquisition of women's suffrage rights: 1890 to 1990, American Sociological Review, Vol. 62, No. 5, pp. 735–745</ref><ref>Kandiyoti & Kandiyoti (1987), Emancipated but unliberated? Reflections on the Turkish case, Feminist studies, 317–338</ref>

=== Muslim women and Islamophobia in non-Muslim majority countries ===
[[File:Ina Rama, General Prosecutor of Albania.jpg|thumb|Judge [[Ina Rama]], who as [[Prosecutor General (Albania)|Prosecutor General]] (2007–2012) of OIC member state Albania was the highest judicial authority in the country's criminal legal system<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/tough-prosecutor-shakes-albania-s-establishment|title=Tough Prosecutor Shakes Albania's Establishment|last=Likmeta|first=Besar|date=February 3, 2012|work=Balkan Insight|access-date=May 22, 2018}}</ref>]]
[[File:Shaheen Bagh women protesters 15 Jan 2020.jpg|thumb|The [[Shaheen Bagh protest]] in Delhi, against a controversial [[Citizenship Amendment Act|citizenship law]] widely perceived to be anti-Muslim, was a sit-in staged primarily by Muslim women.]]

In the United States, Islamophobia, coupled with the 2016 presidential election which heightened anti-Muslim sentiment has particularly impacted on Muslim American women. In their 2018 American Muslim Poll, think tank [[Institute for Social Policy and Understanding]] (ISPU) reported, "though roughly half of women of all backgrounds, including Muslim women, report experiencing some frequency of gender-based discrimination in the past year, Muslim women's more frequent complaints are racial (75%) and religious (69%) discrimination."<ref name=":22" /> Most Muslim women (72%) and Muslim men (76%) reject the notion that "most Muslims in America discriminate against women."<ref name=":22" />

Further data collected by the ISPU has found that "Muslim women are more likely than Muslim men to report experiencing religious discrimination in the last year (68% vs. 55%)".<ref name=":23" />{{When|date=November 2021}} After the bombing of the World Trade Center, Muslim women were especially exposed to increased violence in public spaces.<ref name=":24">{{Cite journal|last=Alimahomed-Wilson|first=Sabrina|date=Spring 2017|title=Invisible Violence: Gender, Islamophobia, and the Hidden Assault on U.S. Muslim Women|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/womgenfamcol.5.1.0073|journal=Women, Gender, and Families of Color|volume= 5| issue = 1|pages=73–97|doi=10.5406/womgenfamcol.5.1.0073|jstor=10.5406/womgenfamcol.5.1.0073|s2cid=157235368|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Research showed that 85% of Muslim women experienced violence through verbal threats as well as 25% of Muslim women experiencing actual physical violence in public spaces.<ref name=":24" /> ISPU also found that most American Muslim women (68%) agree that most people associate negative stereotypes with their faith identity. Among these, more than half (52%) "strongly agree" that being Muslim is correlated with negative stereotypes.<ref name=":22" /> Data shows that American Muslim women are actually more likely than Muslim men to fear for their safety from white supremacist groups (47% vs. 31%) and nearly one in five (19%) Muslim women say they have stress and anxiety enough to believe they need the help of a mental health professional as a result of the 2016 presidential elections, compared with only 9% of American Muslim men.<ref name=":23" /> Despite this deficit in security and greater likelihood for experienced religious-based discrimination, Muslim women are no more likely than Muslim men to change their appearance to be less identifiable as a Muslim (16% vs. 15%).<ref name=":23" /> Additionally, despite many feeling stigmatized, a large majority of Muslim American women (87%) say they are proud to be identified as a member of their faith community.<ref name=":22" />

According to the [[European Network Against Racism]] NGO, In addition to enhanced prevalence of Islamophobia among Muslim American women, Muslim European women also experienced heightened Islamophobia—especially, when they wear headscarves.<ref name=":03" /> Islamophobia researcher and convert to Islam Linda Hyokki points out that at an even higher risk of Islamophobia are Muslim women of color, as they are always susceptible to Islamophobia, with or without their headscarves.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.qantara.de/content/interview-with-islamophobia-researcher-linda-hyokki-europe-has-a-problem-with-religion|title=Interview with Islamophobia researcher Linda Hyokki: "Europe has a problem with religion" |website=Qantara.de – Dialogue with the Islamic World|date=December 19, 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> In 2017, English Islamophobic monitoring company Tell Mama reported that there had been a 26% increase in Islamophobia in the UK, overwhelmingly affecting Muslim women more than Muslim men.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/20/record-number-anti-muslim-attacks-reported-uk-2017|title=Record number of anti-Muslim attacks reported in UK last year|last=Marsh|first=Sarah|date=July 20, 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-07|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Additionally, Muslim women disproportionately face the Islamophobic trope that women are seen as "''inferior''" in their religion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/02/how-to-tackle-islamophobia-the-best-strategies-from-around-europe/|title=Islamophobia is on the rise. This is how we can tackle it|website=World Economic Forum|date=February 27, 2019 |access-date=2019-11-07}}</ref> Research has found that media along with politics, particularly, in European society, perpetuate these stereotypes of Muslim women.<ref name=":03" /> Aside from seeing women as experiencing sexism within their religion, other Islamophobic stereotypes of Muslim women include seeing them as, "either [...] oppressed or as dangerous".<ref name=":03" />

== Sport ==
{{Main|Muslim women in sport}}{{see also|Women and bicycling in Islam}}
[[File:Medalists at the Women's 57 kg Taekwando.jpg|thumb|[[Taekwondo]] medallists from Spain, [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Egypt]] and [[Iran]] at the [[2016 Summer Olympics]], including two ''hijabi'' women]]

In the Islamic conception, every human being has a responsibility towards oneself. Since human life is sacred and initially created by divine rather than human agency, people are responsible for trying to keep their bodies and souls healthy, and not causing themselves spiritual or physical harm.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last = Nasr|first = Seyyed Hossein|publisher = HarperOne|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-06-073064-2|location = New York|pages = 278–279}}</ref> Consequently, sport has obvious attractions in Islam: traditions record that Muḥammad raced with his wife 'Ā'ishah, and that he encouraged parents to teach their children swimming, riding and archery.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/1000-years-amnesia-sports-muslim-heritage|title = A 1000 Years Amnesia: Sports in Muslim Heritage|date =Spring 2012|access-date = June 30, 2015|website = MuslimHeritage.com|publisher = Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation|last = Al-Hassani|first = Salim}}</ref> Persian miniatures show Muslim women jointly playing polo with men in the same field.<ref name=":0" /> In the twenty-first century, some Muslim sociologists even argue that it should be obligatory for Muslim females to participate in sport of some kind.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.apceiu.org/en/m16.php?pn=1&sn=6|title = Islam and Women's Sports|date =Summer 2006|access-date = June 30, 2015|website = APCEIU|publisher = Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding|last = Pfister|first = Gertrud|archive-date = September 22, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180922113846/http://www.apceiu.org/en/m16.php?pn=1&sn=6|url-status = dead}}</ref>

At the same time, many Muslim women experience significant barriers to sports participation. These barriers include bans on the Islamic headscarf, commonly known as the hijab, cultural and familial barriers, and the lack of appropriate sports programs and facilities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dagkas|first1=Symeon|last2=Benn|first2=Tansin|last3=Jawad|first3=Haifaa|date=March 1, 2011|title=Multiple voices: improving participation of Muslim girls in physical education and school sport|journal=Sport, Education and Society|volume=16|issue=2|pages=223–239|doi=10.1080/13573322.2011.540427|s2cid=145084440|issn=1357-3322}}</ref> Many Muslim female athletes have overcome these obstacles and used sports to empower themselves and others, such as through education, health and wellbeing, and a push for women's rights.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Dubey|first1=Bipin Kumar|last2=Dubey|first2=Binayak Kumar|last3=Acharya|first3=Jayashree|date=September 1, 2010|title=Participation in sport as an assessment of women empowerment|url=http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/Suppl_1/i62.2|journal=British Journal of Sports Medicine|volume=44|issue=Suppl 1|pages=i62|doi=10.1136/bjsm.2010.078725.208|issn=1473-0480|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Islamic Solidarity Games ===
The [[Islamic Solidarity Games]] is a large multi-sport event held every four years in which all qualifying athletes from [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] member countries can compete, regardless of their religious affiliation. The female International Athlete Ambassadors for [[2017 Islamic Solidarity Games|Baku 2017]]—the most recent edition of the games—included Tunisian Olympic medallist wrestler [[Marwa Amri]]; taekwondo icons [[Elaine Teo]] (Malaysia) and Taleen Al Humaidi (Jordan); and the Palestinian swimmer [[Mary Al-Atrash]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baku2017.com/en/news/women-in-sports|title=Women in Sport|date=March 8, 2017|website=Baku 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709193423/https://www.baku2017.com/en/news/women-in-sports|archive-date=2017-07-09|url-status=dead|access-date=May 23, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baku2017.com/en/games/ambassadors/international-athlete-ambassadors|title=International Athlete Ambassadors|website=Baku 2017|access-date=May 23, 2018}}{{dead link|date=September 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

The next edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games (2025) is scheduled to take place in Riyadh.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/issa-confirms-november-dates-islamic-solidarity-games-riyadh-2025 | title=ISSA confirms November dates for Islamic Solidarity Games Riyadh 2025 }}</ref>

== Comparison with other religions ==
{{Main|Islam and other religions}}
{{Further|Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia}}

Since [[History of Islam|its inception in the Arabian Peninsula during the 7th century CE]], Islam has had contact and coexistence with other [[Major religious groups|major world religions]], and this phenomenon intensified as the religion transcended its Arabian origins to spread over a wide geographical area: from the Adriatic region, where Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity took root, to the Hinduism- and Buddhism-dominated land masses of India and South-East Asia, Muslim populations have both influenced and been influenced by the pre-existing spiritual traditions that they encountered. Prominent examples of these processes include the syncretist philosophy of ''[[Din-i Ilahi|dīn-i-ilāhī]]'' ("religion of God"), an amalgam of several religions devised by Emperor [[Akbar]] (1542–1605) that was practiced at the [[Mughul]] Court in India;<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last=Glassé|first=Cyril|publisher=Stacey International|year=1989|location=London|page=72}}</ref> the crypto-Christianity of Kosovo, a belief system that created a tradition of joint Catholic-Muslim households which persisted into the twentieth century.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Kosovo: A Short History|last=Malcolm|first=Noel|publisher=Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-333-66612-8|location=London and Basingstoke|pages=129–134}}</ref>

When analysing both Islam in general and the topic of women in Islam in particular, the views of scholars and commentators are profoundly shaped by certain cultural lenses. Those coming from a Western background, such as the Switzerland-born writer [[Gai Eaton|Charles le Gai Eaton]], tend to compare and contrast Islam with Christianity; Eaton concluded that Islam, with certain important qualifications, was "essentially patriarchal". Conversely, those coming from an East Asian background tend to emphasize similarities between Islam and religions such as Taoism, which stress complementarity between the sexes: according to the Japanese scholar Sachiko Murata, it was mandatory for her to use the ''[[I Ching]]'' as a means of "[conceptualizing] Islamic teachings on the feminine principle without doing violence to the original texts."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought|last=Murata|first=Sachiko|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1992|isbn=978-0-7914-0914-5|location=Albany|page=6}}</ref>

The historical strength of various Muslim-led polities—which, unlike other comparable non-Western entities such as China and Japan, were adjacent to "Christian" Europe and/or perceived to be in competition with Western powers—meant that the question of women in Islam has not always been approached objectively by those professing expertise in the subject. This can be viewed as part of the "[[Orientalism|Orientalist]]" academic discourse (as defined by [[Edward Said]]) that creates a rigid East-West dichotomy in which dynamic and positive values are ascribed to Western civilization; by contrast, "Oriental" societies (including but certainly not limited to Islamic ones) are depicted as being "stationary" and in need of "modernizing" through imperial administrations.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology|last=Abercrombie|first=Nicholas|publisher=Penguin|year=2000|isbn=978-0-14-051380-6}}</ref>

=== Eve's role in the Fall ===
{{Main|Adam and Eve}}
[[File:Istanbul, Topkapı Palace Museum MS Revan Köşkü 1536 fol 16v Adam and Hawwam, Iblis, and Ridwan.png|thumb|[[Persian miniature]] depicting the expulsion of Adam and Eve, observed by the [[Angels in Islam|angel]] [[Riḍwan]], the Serpent, the Peacock, and [[Iblis]]]]
In contrast with the [[Genesis creation narrative|Biblical account]] of [[Fall of man|the Fall]], in the Islamic tradition [[Eve in Islam|Eve]] (''Ḥawwā'') did not tempt [[Adam in Islam|Adam]] (''Ādam'') to eat the forbidden fruit; instead, they were tempted together by [[Iblis|the Devil]] (''al-Shayṭān'').<ref name="Kvam 1999">{{cite book |editor1-last=Kvam |editor1-first=Kristen E. |editor2-last=Schearing |editor2-first=Linda S. |editor3-last=Ziegler |editor3-first=Valarie H. |year=1999 |chapter=Medieval Readings: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian (600–1500 CE) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ux3bSDa2rHkC&pg=PA178 |title=Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender |location=[[Bloomington, Indiana]] |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |pages=178–248 |doi=10.2307/j.ctt2050vqm.9 |isbn=9780253212719 |jstor=j.ctt2050vqm.9}}</ref> This means that Eve was not the cause of Adam's expulsion from [[Jannah|paradise]]: he was also responsible, and therefore both men and women are faced equally with its consequences.<ref name="Kvam 1999"/> This has a number of important implications for the Islamic understanding of womanhood and women's roles in both religious and social life.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last = Nasr|first = Seyyed Hossein|publisher = HarperSanFrancisco|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-06-073064-2|location = New York|page = 15}}</ref> For one, in Islam, women are not seen as a source of evil as a result of the Fall.<ref name="Eaton 2000 88">{{Cite book|title = Remembering God: Reflections on Islam|last = Eaton|first = Gai|publisher = The Islamic Texts Society|year = 2000|isbn = 978-0-946621-84-2|location = Cambridge, England|pages = [https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/88 88]|url = https://archive.org/details/rememberinggodre0000eato/page/88}}</ref>

Moreover, the Biblical statement that Eve was created from Adam's rib (the famous 'third rib') finds no echo in the Quranic account: both male and female were created 'from one soul' (Sūrah 4:1).<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Eaton 2000 88" /> Similarly, the concept that (as per Genesis 3:16)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/genesis/3-16.htm|title=Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: "I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."|website=biblehub.com}}</ref> the pains of childbirth are a punishment for Eve's sin is alien to the Quran.<ref name="Eaton 2000 88" />

=== The Virgin Mary ===
The [[Mary in Islam|Virgin Mary]] (Maryām) is considered by the Quran to hold the most exalted spiritual position amongst women. A chapter of the Quran ([[Maryam (sura)|Sūrat Maryam]], the nineteenth sura) is named after her, and she is the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran; Maryām is mentioned more times in the Quran than in the New Testament.<ref>{{Cite book|title = What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam: Second Edition|url = https://archive.org/details/whateveryoneneed00espo_768|url-access = limited|last = Esposito|first = John L.|publisher = Oxford University Press US|year = 2011|isbn = 978-0-19-979413-3|page = [https://archive.org/details/whateveryoneneed00espo_768/page/n96 76]}}</ref> Furthermore, the miraculous birth of Christ from a virgin mother is recognised in the Quran.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity|last = Nasr|first = Seyyed Hossein|publisher = HarperSanFrancisco|year = 2004|isbn = 978-0-06-073064-2|location = New York|pages = 40–41}}</ref>

=== Polygamy ===
[[Polygamy]] is not exclusive to Islam; the [[Old Testament]] describes numerous examples of polygamy among devotees to God and historically, some [[Christians|Christian]] groups have practiced and continue to practice polygamy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nyamai|first=Faith|date=February 10, 2018|title=Christian men can marry more than one wife, says cleric|url=https://nation.africa/kenya/news/-Christian-men-can-marry-more-than-one-wife/1056-4299848-dtv96mz/index.html|website=Nation|access-date=June 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mamdani|first=Zehra|date=February 28, 2008|title=Idaho Evangelical Christian polygamists use Internet to meet potential spouses|url=https://www.deseret.com/2008/2/28/20073463/idaho-evangelical-christian-polygamists-use-internet-to-meet-potential-spouses|website=Deseret News|access-date=June 4, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wilber|first=David|date=August 30, 2021|title=Monogamy: God's Creational Marriage Ideal|url=https://davidwilber.com/videos/monogamy-gods-creational-marriage-ideal}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Deressa|first=Yonas |title=The Ministry of the Whole Person|year=1973|publisher=Gudina Tumsa Foundation|language=en|page=350}}</ref>

The [[Rig Veda]] mentions that during the [[Vedic period]], a man could have more than one wife.<ref name="Vedic">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6TVLlPvuMAC&pg=PA478 |title=Vedic Index of Names and Subjects, Volume 1; Volume 5 |page=478|isbn=9788120813328 |last1=MacDonell |first1=Arthur Anthony |last2=Keith |first2=Arthur Berriedale |year=1995 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers }}</ref> The practice is attested in epics like [[Ramayana]] and [[Mahabharata]]. The [[Dharmashastras]] permit a man to marry women provided that the first wife agree to marry him. Despite its existence, it was most usually practiced by men of higher status.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N–Z |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc |page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/514 514]|isbn=9780823931804 |last1=James g. Lochtefeld |first1=PhD |date=2001 }}</ref> Traditional [[Hindus|Hindu]] law allowed polygamy if the first wife could not bear a child.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGV3noHZ1QMC&pg=PA153 |title=Religion and Personal law in secular India: A call to judgment |page=153|isbn=978-0253214805 |last1=Larson |first1=Gerald James |year=2001 |publisher=Indiana University Press }}</ref><ref name="MMS">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-00Ip4W1BUC&pg=PA40 |title=Life in North-eastern India in Pre-Mauryan times |pages=39–40|last1=Singh |first1=Madan Mohan |year=1967 }}</ref>

In traditionally multi-confessional [[India]], polygamy is actually more widespread amongst other religious communities: the 1961 census found that the incidence of polygamy was the least amongst Muslims (5.7%), with Hindus (5.8%), [[Jainism in India|Jains]] (6.7%), [[Buddhism|Buddhists]] (7.9%) and [[Adivasi]]s (15.25%) all more likely to have at least two wives.<ref name=":16">{{Cite news|url=http://scroll.in/article/669083/muslim-women-and-the-surprising-facts-about-polygamy-in-india|title=Muslim women and the surprising facts about polygamy in India|last=Venkataramakrishnan|first=Rohan|date=July 8, 2014|work=Scroll.in|access-date=June 9, 2018}}</ref> Similarly, India's third [[National Family Health Survey]] (2006) found that a number of socioeconomic reasons were more likely to explain the prevalence of polygamy than the religion of the parties involved. This survey also found that a polygamous Hindu was likely to have (as a statistical average) 1.77 wives; a Christian, 2.35; a Muslim, 2.55; and a Buddhist, 3.41.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Polygamous Marriages in India|url=https://paa2010.populationassociation.org/papers/100754|website=Population Association of America (PAA)|access-date=June 4, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":16" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kapur|first=Mallika|date=July 16, 2015|title=Some Indian men are marrying multiple wives to help beat drought|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/07/16/asia/india-water-wives/|website=CNN|access-date=June 4, 2023}}</ref>

== Notable women in Islam ==

=== Saints, scholars, and spiritual teachers ===
Women have played an integral part in the development and spiritual life of Islam since the inception of Islamic civilisation in the seventh century AD. [[Khadijah bint Khuwaylid|Khadijah]], a businesswoman who became Muhammad's employer and first wife,<ref>Karen Armstrong, ''Muhammad: Prophet for Our Time'', HarperPress, 2006, pp. 37–38 {{ISBN|0-00-723245-4}}</ref> was also the first Muslim.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam|last = Glassé|first = Cyril|publisher = Stacy International|year = 1989|location = London|page = 280}}</ref> There have been a few number of female saints in the Islamic world spanning the highest social classes (a famous example being [[Jahanara Begum|Princess Jahānārā]], the daughter of the [[Mughal emperors|Moghul emperor]] [[Shāh Jahān]]) and the lowest (such as Lallā Mīmūna in Morocco);<ref name="Annemarie Schimmel 1994, p.199">Annemarie Schimmel, Deciphering the Signs of God: A Phenomenological Approach to Islam, State University of New York Press, 1994, p. 199</ref> some of them, such as [[Rabia of Basra|Rābi'a of Basra]] (who is cited reverentially in [[Al-Ghazali|Muḥammad al-Ghazālī]]'s classic ''The Revival of Religious Sciences'') and Fāṭima of Cordoba (who deeply influenced the young Ibn 'Arabī) have been pivotal to the conceptualisation of Islamic mysticism.<ref name="Annemarie Schimmel 1994, p.199" />

Recognized as one of the most esteemed women in Islamic history, [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] is honored as the mother of [[Jesus in Islam|Jesus]]. She is revered in Islam as the only woman named in the Quran, which refers to her seventy times and explicitly identifies her as the greatest woman to have ever lived.<ref>Qur'an 3:42; cited in Stowasser, Barbara Freyer, "Mary", in: ''Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān'', General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.</ref><ref>J.D. McAuliffe, ''Chosen of all women''</ref><ref>J.-M. Abd-el-Jalil, ''Marie et l'Islam'', Paris 1950</ref>

In addition to Khadijah and Maryam, [[Fatima|Fatima bint Muhammad]] holds a revered place in Islamic history. Muhammad is said to have regarded her as the preeminent woman. She is often viewed as an ultimate [[archetype]] for Muslim women and an example of compassion, generosity, and enduring suffering.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fedele|first=Valentina|date=2018|title=FATIMA (605/15-632 CE)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt91DwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA56|website=Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=56|isbn=9781440848506|access-date=August 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Qutbuddin|first=Tahera|date=2006|title=FATIMA (AL-ZAHRA') BINT MUHAMMAD (CA. 12 BEFORE HIJRA-11/CA. 610–632)|url=https://archive.org/details/MedievalIslamicCivilizationAnEncyclopedia_201603|editor-last=Meri|editor-first=Josef W.|encyclopedia=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Routledge|pages=248–250|isbn=978-0415966900}}</ref> Her name and her epithets remain popular choices for Muslim girls.<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Mohammad Ali |last1=Amir-Moezzi |first2=Jean |last2=Calmard |date=1999|title=FĀṬEMA|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/fatema-sister-of-imam-hosayn|website=Encyclopædia Iranica|access-date=August 28, 2023}}</ref> Iranians celebrate Fatima's birth anniversary on 20 [[Jumada al-Thani]] as the [[Mother's Day]].<ref>{{cite web |date=20 April 2014 |title=Iran marks Mother's Day |url=http://en.mehrnews.com/detail/News/102655}}</ref>

Today, some notable personalities of the Islamic world include the Turkish Sufi teacher Cemalnur Sargut—a disciple of the novelist and mystic [[Samiha Ayverdi]] (1905–1993),<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.cemalnur.org/contents/detail/cemalnur-sargut-biography/736|title = Cemalnur Sargut: Official Biography|access-date = July 11, 2014|website = Biography}}</ref> Amatul Rahman Omar, the first woman to translate the Qur'an into English,<ref>Amatul Rahman Omar, [http://islamusa.org/?page_id=2 "First Woman to Translate the Qur'an into English"], ''The Holy Qur'an, English Translation'', 1990. {{ISBN|0-9766972-3-8}}</ref> and Shaykha Fariha al Jerrahi, the guide of the [[Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order|Nur Ashki Jerrahi]] Sufi Order.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://nurashkijerrahi.org/lineage/fariha-fatima/|title = LINEAGE > FARIHA FATIMA AL-JERRAHI|access-date = July 11, 2014|website = <nowiki>Fariha Fatima al-Jerrahi | Nur Ashki Jerrahi Community</nowiki>}}</ref>

=== Female converts to Islam ===
[[File:Diana Haddad (8619111489).jpg|alt=|thumb|Lebanese-Emirati musician [[Diana Haddad]] is one of the Arab world's most popular singers, and an artist who is known for her international collaborations.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/mawazine-2016-diana-haddad-spreads-the-joy-1.220392?videoId=5770738884001|title=Mawazine 2016: Diana Haddad spreads the joy|last=Saeed|first=Saeed|date=May 28, 2016|work=The National|access-date=May 20, 2019}}</ref> After studying the religion, Haddad converted to Islam in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title="والدها مسيحي ووالدتها مسلمة".. قصة اعتناق ديانا حداد للإسلام |url=https://www.masrawy.com/arts/zoom/details/2022/7/4/2253816/-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A-%D9%88%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A9-%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A7-%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85- |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=مصراوي.كوم |language=ar}}</ref>]]

Notable recent female converts to Islam include the German former [[MTV]] VJ and author [[Kristiane Backer]],<ref>Karen Armstrong, From MTV to Mecca: How Islam Inspired My Life, Arcadia Books Ltd and Awakening Publications, 2012, p. 135</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=MTV to Mecca – DW – 07/07/2009 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/former-german-mtv-host-promotes-islam-with-new-autobiography/a-4461534 |access-date=2023-06-14 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> American singer and cultural icon [[Janet Jackson]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-09-18 |title=Janet Jackson converts to Islam |url=https://au.entertainment.yahoo.com/a/29570420/janet-jackson-converts-to-islam/ |access-date=2023-07-18 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref> {{Verification needed|date=June 2025}} Anglo-French writer, broadcaster and academic [[Myriam François]], formerly François-Cerrah,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Media |first=M. V. |date=2014-08-16 |title=Don't call me 'convert' nor 'revert' for that matter |url=https://muslimvillage.com/2014/08/16/54595/dont-call-convert-revert-matter/ |access-date=2023-05-30 |website=MuslimVillage.com |language=en-US}}</ref> award-winning German actress, model and fashion designer [[Wilma Elles]],<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 4, 2016|title=Wilma Elles Neden Müslümanlığı Seçti?|work=Hürriyet|url=https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/wilma-elles-musluman-oldu-40035321|access-date=May 11, 2021}}</ref> Malaysian model [[Felixia Yeap]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kumar |first=Anugrah |date=2014-07-06 |title=Former Playboy Bunny Coverts to Islam; Says She Also Considered Christianity |url=https://www.christianpost.com/news/former-playboy-bunny-coverts-to-islam-says-she-also-considered-christianity.html |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=The Christian Post |language=en-US}}</ref> Malaysian VJ [[Marion Caunter]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marion Rose Caunter Sah Jadi Isteri SM Nasarudin |url=http://www.murai.com.my/article/default.asp?article_id=8598&c=1&s=1 |access-date=September 15, 2023 |website=murai.com |archive-date=December 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219122043/http://www.murai.com.my/article/default.asp?article_id=8598&c=1&s=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Czech model Markéta Kořínková,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/weekly-czech-news/czech-beauty-queen-converts-to-islam/|title=Czech Beauty Queen Converts to Islam|last=Park|first=Dave|date=February 29, 2016|website=expats.cz|publisher=Howlings SRO|access-date=June 22, 2016|archive-date=July 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704194744/http://www.expats.cz/prague/article/weekly-czech-news/czech-beauty-queen-converts-to-islam/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Canadian solo motorcycle adventurer Rosie Gabrielle,<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 9, 2020|title=Canadian solo traveller Rosie Gabrielle converts to Islam after spending time in Pakistan|work=Dawn|url=https://images.dawn.com/news/1184402|access-date=May 1, 2021}}</ref> the Belgian model and former Miss Belgium candidate Lindsey van Gele,<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/09/140060/former-candidate-for-miss-belgium-converts-to-islam/|title = Former candidate for Miss Belgium converts to Islam|date = September 25, 2014|work = Morocco World News|access-date = July 13, 2015}}</ref> the Albanian model Rea Beko,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thashethe.me/rea-beko-e-adhuroj-gaddafi-n/|title=Rea Beko: E adhuroj Gaddafi-n|date=March 23, 2011|work=Thashethe.me|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/libyan-leaders-unique-brand-of-diplomacy-has-italy-spellbound-2066128.html|title=Libyan leader's unique brand of diplomacy has Italy spellbound|last=Popham|first=Peter|date=August 31, 2010|work=The Independent|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> Russian model and former Miss Moscow [[Oksana Voevodina]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/world/russian-beauty-queen-converts-to-islam-marries-malaysias-king/ar-BBQfl6s|title=Russian beauty queen converts to Islam, marries Malaysia's king|date=November 29, 2018|work=msn news|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> the German model Anna-Maria Ferchichi (née Lagerblom),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/prominente/article8163658/Oezils-Freundin-ist-zum-Islam-uebergetreten.html|title=Özils Freundin ist zum Islam übergetreten|last=Schwester|first=Connors|date=June 24, 2010|website=Die Welt|access-date=May 25, 2018}}</ref> the American supermodel [[Princess Salwa Aga Khan|Kendra Spears]] (Princess Salwa Aga Khan),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/kendra-spears-married-wedding-to-prince-rahim|title=Kendra Spears: Model To Princess|last=Milligan|first=Lauren|date=September 2, 2013|work=Vogue|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> the Australian model and Miss World Australia finalist Emma Maree Edwards,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Nissa|first=Rima Sekarani Imamun|date=March 12, 2020|title=Emma Maree Edwards, Satu-satunya Hijabers di Miss World Australia|work=suara.com|url=https://www.suara.com/lifestyle/2020/03/12/154009/emma-maree-edwards-satu-satunya-hijabers-di-miss-world-australia|access-date=May 17, 2020}}</ref> South African model Wendy Jacobs,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1220/feat6.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026084702/http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1220/feat6.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 26, 2020|title=Newsmakers|date=November 30, 2000|work=Asiaweek.com|access-date=May 20, 2019}}</ref> and Lithuanian model-turned-actress Karolina 'Kerry' Demirci;<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=lithuanian-model-stays-away-from-turkish-cuisine-2011-04-15|title = Lithuanian model and expat stars in Turkish TV series|last = Gence|first = Hakan|date = April 15, 2011|work = Hürriyet Daily News|access-date = June 19, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150619045525/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=lithuanian-model-stays-away-from-turkish-cuisine-2011-04-15|archive-date = June 19, 2015|url-status = dead|df = mdy-all}}</ref> the Serbian model and fashion designer [[Ivana Sert]] stated her intention to become a Muslim in 2014 after she read the Quran in English.<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.ensonhaber.com/ivana-sert-musluman-olacagim-2014-07-25.html|title = Ivana Sert: Müslüman olacağım ('Ivana Sert: I will be a Muslim')|date = July 25, 2014|work = En Son Haber|access-date = June 19, 2015}}</ref> The Turkish actress, author and model (Miss Turkey 2001) [[Tuğçe Kazaz]] converted from Islam to Eastern Orthodox Christianity in 2005, and then converted back to Islam in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/erdogans-toilet-isnt-golden-eccentric-turkish-model-confirms.aspx?pageID=238&nID=84719&NewsCatID=338|title=Erdoğan's toilet isn't golden, eccentric Turkish model confirms|date=June 29, 2015|website=Hürriyet Daily News|publisher=Doğan Media Group|access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref>

Women constitute a significantly larger or growing proportion of individuals who choose to convert to Islam in numerous Western countries. According to researchers based at Swansea University, of the approximately 100,000 people who entered the Muslim faith in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2011, 75% were women.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/women--islam-the-rise-and-rise-of-the-convert-6258015.html|title = Women & Islam: The rise and rise of the convert|last = Peppiatt|first = Richard|date = November 6, 2011|work = The Independent|access-date = July 13, 2015}}</ref> In the United States, more Hispanic women convert to Islam than Hispanic men,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://wlrn.org/post/why-so-many-latinos-are-becoming-muslims|title=Why So Many Latinos Are Becoming Muslims|last=Padgett|first=Tim|date=October 9, 2013|work=WLRN|access-date=July 13, 2015}}</ref> with these women being "mostly educated, young and professional";<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://womensenews.org/2013/07/latina-converts-islam-growing-in-number/|title=Latina Converts to Islam Growing in Number|last=Naili|first=Hajer|date=July 15, 2013|work=Women's eNews|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> the share of overall female converts to Islam in the US rose from 32% in 2000 to 41% in 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319085650/http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/sites/faithcommunitiestoday.org/files/The%20American%20Mosque%202011%20web.pdf|archive-date=2015-03-19|url = http://faithcommunitiestoday.org/sites/faithcommunitiestoday.org/files/The%20American%20Mosque%202011%20web.pdf|title = The American Mosque 2011: Report Number 1 from the US Mosque Study 2011|date = January 2012|access-date = July 13, 2015|website = Faith Communities Today|publisher = Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership|last = Bagby|first = Ihsan}}</ref> In Brazil, approximately 70% of converts to Islam are women, most of whom are young and relatively well-educated.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/muslim-and-happy-in-brazil|title=Muslim And Happy In ... Brazil|last=Bourcier|first=Nicolas|date=April 23, 2015|work=Worldcrunch|access-date=May 11, 2019}}</ref> Young females constitute an estimated 80% of converts to Islam in Lithuania.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Islam in the Nordic and Baltic Countries|last = Larsson|first = Göran|publisher = Routledge|year = 2013|isbn = 978-0-415-84536-6|location = New York|page = 121}}</ref> According to Susanne Leuenberger of the Institute of Advanced Study in the Humanities and the Social Sciences at the University of Bern, females make up around 60–70% of conversions to Islam in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.con-spiration.de/texte/english/2010/leuenberger-e.html#sl|title = Various Motives: Conversion to Islam in Europe|access-date = July 13, 2015|website = Public Con-Spiracy for the Poor (CS)|publisher = Ernst Förster SJ|last = Leuenberger|first = Susanne|archive-date = April 1, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160401065436/http://www.con-spiration.de/texte/english/2010/leuenberger-e.html#sl|url-status = dead}}</ref>

In [[United Kingdom|Britain]], according to an article in the British Muslims Monthly Survey, the majority of new Muslim converts were women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/bmms/2000/06June00.asp#Women%20convert |title=British Muslims Monthly Survey for June 2000, Vol. VIII, No. 6 |at=Women convert |access-date=2020-09-28 |archive-date=2008-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214160750/http://artsweb.bham.ac.uk/bmms/2000/06June00.asp#Women%20convert |url-status=live }}</ref> According to The Huffington Post, "observers estimate that as many as 20,000 Americans convert to Islam annually". Most of them are women and [[African-Americans]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-08-24|title=Conversion To Islam One Result Of Post-9/11 Curiosity|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572|access-date=2020-11-26|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=2021-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111201117/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/post-911-islam-converts_n_935572|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Why do Western Women Convert?|url=http://standpointmag.co.uk/features-may-10-why-do-western-women-convert-julie-bindel-islam-female-conversion|access-date=8 May 2016|work=[[Standpoint (magazine)|Standpoint]]|date=26 April 2010|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102003/http://standpointmag.co.uk/features-may-10-why-do-western-women-convert-julie-bindel-islam-female-conversion|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Female conversion literature ====
In the twenty-first century, a number of semi-autobiographical books by Western female converts to Islam have enjoyed a measure of mainstream success. These include former MTV and NBC Europe presenter Kristiane Backer's ''From MTV to Mecca: How Islam Inspired My Life'' (Arcadia Books, 2012);<ref>{{Cite news|last=Ali|first=Amber|date=November 20, 2012|title=Book Review : From MTV to Mecca|work=Asian Image|url=https://www.asianimage.co.uk/columnists/10059118.book-review-from-mtv-to-mecca/|access-date=May 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Esselborn|first=Priya|date=July 7, 2009|title=Former German MTV host promotes Islam with new autobiography|work=DW|url=https://www.dw.com/en/former-german-mtv-host-promotes-islam-with-new-autobiography/a-4461534|access-date=May 6, 2021}}</ref> Spanish journalist [[Amanda Figueras]] Fernández's ''Por qué el islam: Mi vida como mujer, europea y musulmana'' (Ediciones Península, 2018);<ref>{{Cite news|last=El-Haimoud|first=Mouna|date=May 9, 2020|title='The simplest things opened my eyes to Islam': Writer shares experience of being Spanish Muslim woman|work=Arab News|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1672256/lifestyle|access-date=May 6, 2021}}</ref> and French author Mathilde Loujayne's ''Big Little Steps: A Woman's Guide to Embracing Islam'' (Kube Publishing, 2020).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lodi|first=Hafsa|date=December 27, 2019|title=French author Mathilde Loujayne pens a thoughtful book on Islam from Dubai|work=The National|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/french-author-mathilde-loujayne-pens-a-thoughtful-book-on-islam-from-dubai-1.956564|access-date=May 6, 2021}}</ref>

== Modern debate on the status of women in Islam ==

Within the Muslim community, conservatives and [[Islamic feminists]] have used Islamic doctrine as the basis for discussion of women's rights, drawing on the [[Quran]], the ''[[hadith]]'', and the lives of prominent women in the early period of [[Muslim history]] as evidence.<ref name=den /> Where conservatives have seen evidence that existing gender asymmetries are divinely ordained, feminists have seen more egalitarian ideals in early Islam.<ref name=den /> Still, others have argued that this discourse is [[essentialism|essentialist]] and ahistorical, and have urged that Islamic doctrine not be the only framework within which discussion occurs.<ref name=den>Deniz Kandiyoti, "Women, Islam and the State", ''Middle East Report'', No. 173, Gender and Politics. (November–December 1991), pp. 9–14.</ref>

=== Conservatives and the Islamic movement ===
{{Main|Islamic revival|Islamism}}
Conservatives reject the assertion that different laws prescribed for men and women imply that men are more valuable than women. Ali ibn Musa Al-reza reasoned that at the time of marriage a man has to pay something to his prospective bride, and that men are responsible for both their wives' and their own expenses but women have no such responsibility.<ref>Quoted in [[Grand Ayatollah]] Makarim Shirazi, Tafsir Nemoneh, on verse 4:12.</ref>

The nebulous [[Islamic revival|revivalist movement]] termed [[Islamism]] is one of the most dynamic movements within Islam in the 20th and 21st centuries. The experience of women in Islamist states has been varied. The progression of Muslim women's rights has been inhibited by religious extremist groups that use the disempowerment of women as a political agenda. When women are opposed to these infringements on their rights they are often subjected to abuse, violence, and shunned.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Nations|first=United|title=Promoting Gender Equality in Muslim Contexts – Women's Voices Must Not Be Silenced|url=https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/promoting-gender-equality-muslim-contexts-womens-voices-must-not-be-silenced|access-date=2020-12-12|website=United Nations|language=en}}</ref> [[Taliban treatment of women|Women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan]] faced treatment condemned by the international community.<ref>{{cite book|first=M. J. |last=Gohari |year=2000|title=The Taliban: Ascent to Power|location=Oxford|publisher= Oxford University Press| pages= 108–110}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm|title=We're sorry, that page can't be found.|website=www.state.gov}}</ref> Women were forced to wear the ''[[burqa]]'' in public,<ref name="Gohari">M. J. Gohari (2000). ''The Taliban: Ascent to Power''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 108–110.</ref> not allowed to work,<ref>Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. [http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html "Chronology of Events January 1995 – February 1997."] UNHCR.org. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018053315/http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html |date=October 18, 2012 }}</ref> not allowed to be educated after the age of eight,<ref>US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. [https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm "Report on the Taliban's War Against Women."] State.gov (November 17, 2001).</ref> and faced public flogging and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.<ref name=physicians>{{cite web |url=http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/talibans-war-on-women.pdf |title= The Taliban's War on Women |access-date= June 8, 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070702234326/http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/talibans-war-on-women.pdf |archive-date= July 2, 2007 |url-status= dead |df= mdy-all }}&nbsp;{{small|(857&nbsp;KB)}}, Physicians for Human Rights, August 1998.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rawa.us/movies/beating.mpg|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307140111/http://www.rawa.us/movies/beating.mpg| url-status=dead|title=A woman being flogged in public|archive-date=March 7, 2007}}</ref> The [[Iranian women#Islamic Republic of Iran|position of women in Iran]], which has been a [[theocracy]] since its [[Islamic revolution of Iran|1979 revolution]], is more complex. Iranian Islamists are ideologically in favour of allowing female legislators in [[Majlis of Iran|Iran's parliament]]<ref>See, e.g., [[Tahereh Saffarzadeh]], [[Masumeh Ebtekar]], [[Marzieh Dabbaq]] and [[Zahra Rahnavard]].</ref> and 60% of university students are women.<ref>Esfandiari, Golnaz. [http://www.parstimes.com/women/women_universities.html "Iran: Number Of Female University Students Rising Dramatically."] Radio Free Europe/Free Liberty (November 19, 2003).</ref>

=== Liberal Islam, Islamic feminism, and other progressive criticism ===
{{See also|Hermeneutics of feminism in Islam|Liberalism and progressivism within Islam}}

Liberal Muslims advocate using critical thinking [[ijtihad]] to evolve a more progressive form of Islam regarding women's status.<ref>Haddad, Moore, and Smith, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7A77E1aBrucC&dq=women+islam+ijtihad&pg=PA19 p. 19].</ref> [[Islamic feminism|Islamic feminists]] seek [[gender equality]] and [[social justice]] within an Islamic context, drawing from both Islamic and global feminist values trying to align both. Some emphasize the adaptable nature of Sharia law, suggesting it can safeguard women's rights with political will.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1526868|title= The Role of Islamic Shari'ah in Protecting Women's Rights|date= September 2009|ssrn= 1526868|last1= Ha-Redeye|first1= Omar}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=789|last=Wagner|first=Rob L.|title=Saudi-Islamic Feminist Movement: A Struggle for Male Allies and the Right Female Voice|work=[[University for Peace]] (Peace and Conflict Monitor)|date=March 29, 2011|access-date=April 1, 2011|archive-date=April 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410054924/http://www.monitor.upeace.org/innerpg.cfm?id_article=789|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Madran, Margot. [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/569/cu1.htm "Islamic feminism: what's in a name?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320074746/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/569/cu1.htm |date=March 20, 2015 }} Al-Ahram Weekly Online, issue no. 569 ( January 17–23, 2002).</ref>

After the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001, attacks]], international attention was focused on the condition of women in the Muslim world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/sr93.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195257/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/sr93.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 29, 2013|title=United States Institute of Peace. Islam and Democracy}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20131004001219/http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/resources/PW71-Women_Religious_Peacebuilding.pdf Women in Religious Peacebuilding] ''Peace Watch'' (August 2002).</ref> Some critics noted gender inequality<ref name="IslamInEurope" /><ref>Kamguian, Azam. [http://www.ntpi.org/html/liberationofwomen.html "The Liberation of Women in the Middle East."] NTPI.org.</ref> and criticized Muslim societies for condoning this treatment.<ref name="IslamInEurope">{{Cite news| publisher=[[The New York Review of Books]] | date=May 10, 2006 | title=Islam in Europe | author=Timothy Garton Ash | url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19371}}</ref>

In response to growing civil rights for secular women, some Muslim women have advocated for their rights within Islamic societies. Malaysia serves as an example, where dual legal systems exist for secular and [[Sharia]] laws.<ref name="auto2">{{cite news|last=Berger|first=Sebastien|title=Malaysian Muslim women 'live under apartheid' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/1512732/Malaysian-Muslim-women-live-under-apartheid.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/1512732/Malaysian-Muslim-women-live-under-apartheid.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=September 3, 2011 |location=London |date=March 11, 2006}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2006, Marina Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, criticized unequal treatment of Malaysia's Muslim women in an editorial in the Malaysia Star. She highlighted legal disparities like polygamy's legality and biased child custody arrangements, which favored fathers for Muslims compared to shared-custody norms among non-Muslim parents.<ref name="auto2"/> Women's groups in Malaysia began campaigning in the 1990s to have female [[Sharia]] judges appointed to the [[Sharia]] legal system in the country, and in 2010 two female judges were appointed.<ref>{{cite news|last=England|first=Vaudine|title=Malaysian groups welcome first Islamic female judges|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10567857 |work=BBC News |access-date=September 3, 2011|date=July 9, 2010}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|islam|women}}
{{columns-list|
* [[Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam]]
* [[Mary in Islam]]
* [[Concubinage#Muslim world]]
* [[Concubinage in Islam]]
* [[History of Concubinage in the Muslim world]]
* [[Female figures in the Quran]]
* [[Female political leaders in Islam and in Muslim-majority countries]]
* [[Gender roles in Islam]]
* [[Houri]]
* [[Islam and humanity]]
* [[Islamic feminism]]
* [[Islamic schools and branches]]
* [[Islamic sexual jurisprudence]]
* [[Muslim women in sport]]
* [[Muhammad's wives]]
* [[Muslim women in science and technology]]
* [[Sex segregation and Islam]]
* [[Sharia#Women]]
* [[Haya (Islam)]]
* [[Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries]]
* [[Women in Arab societies]]
* [[World Hijab Day]]
* [[Women as imams]]
* [[Women in the Quran]]
* [[Zenana]]
* [[Mahr]]
}}

== References ==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book|last1=Abou El Fadl|first1=Khaled|author-link=Khaled Abou El Fadl|editor1-last=Owens|editor1-first=Erik C.|editor2-last=Carlson|editor2-first=John David|editor3-last=Elshtain|editor3-first=Eric P.|title=Religion and the Death Penalty: A Call for Reckoning|date=2004|publisher=W. B. Eerdmans Publishing|location=Grand Rapids, MI|isbn=0-8028-2172-3|chapter=The Death Penalty, Mercy, and Islam: A Call for Retrospection|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/religiondeathpen0000unse}}
* {{cite book| last=Dahlén | first=Ashk | author-link=Ashk Dahlén | title= "Female Sufi Saints and Disciples: Women in the life of Jalāl al-din Rumi", Orientalia Suecana, vol. 57 |location=Uppsala |publisher= Uppsala University Press | year=2008 }}
* {{cite book| last=Friedmann | first=Yohanan | author-link=Yohanan Friedmann | title=Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in the Muslim Tradition |location=Cambridge|publisher= Cambridge University Press | year=2003 | isbn=978-0-521-02699-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Ghamidi|first1=Javed Ahmed|author-link1=Javed Ahmed Ghamidi|title=Mizan|title-link=Mizan|date=2001|publisher=Al-Mawrid}}
* {{cite book|last1=Glassé|first1=Cyril|title=New Encyclopedia of Islam|date=2001|publisher=AltaMira|location=Walnut Creek, CA|isbn=0-7591-0189-2|edition=Rev.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/newencyclopediao0000glas}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Haddad|editor1-first=Yvonne Yazbeck|editor-link=Yvonne Haddad|editor2-last=Esposito|editor2-first=John L.|editor-link2=John Esposito|title=Islam, Gender & Social Change|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-511357-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Haddad|first1=Yvonne Yazbeck|author-link=Yvonne Haddad|last2=Moore|first2=Kathleen M.|last3=Smith|first3=Jane I.|title=Muslim Women in America: The Challenge of Islamic Identity Today|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-517783-5|url=https://archive.org/details/muslimwomeniname00hadd}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hessini|first1=Leila|editor1-last=Göçek|editor1-first=Fatma Müge|editor2-last=Balaghi|editor2-first=Shiva|title=Reconstructing Gender in the Middle East: Tradition, Identity, and Power|chapter=Wearing the Hijab in Contemporary Morocco: Choice and Identity|date=1994|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-231-10122-8|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/reconstructingge0000unse}}
* {{cite book|last1=Joseph|first1=Suad|author-link=Suad Joseph|last2=Najmabadi|first2=Afsaneh|author-link2=Afsaneh Najmabadi|title=Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures.|date=2005|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9004128182}}
* {{cite book|last=Levy|first=Reuben|author-link=Reuben Levy|title=The Social Structure of Islam | location = London | publisher=Routledge | year = 1999|isbn=0-415-20910-2}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* [[Bernadette Andrea|Andrea, Bernadette]], ''Women and Islam in Early Modern English Literature'', Cambridge University Press, 2008 ({{ISBN|978-0-521-867641}}): Bernadette Andrea: Books
* [[Leila Ahmed|Ahmed, Leila]], ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical roots of a modern debate'', Yale University Press, 1992
* [[Karen Armstrong|Armstrong, Karen]]. ''[[The Battle for God]]: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam'', London, HarperCollins/Routledge, 2001
* [[Alya Baffoun|Baffoun, Alya]]. ''Women and Social Change in the Muslim Arab World'', In Women in Islam. Pergamon Press, 1982.
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Beck |editor1-first=Lois |editor2-last=Keddie |editor2-first=Nikki |title=Women In the Muslim World |date=1978 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780674954816}}
* [[John Esposito|Esposito, John]] and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, ''Islam, Gender, and Social Change'', Oxford University Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-19-511357-8}}
* Hambly, Gavin. ''Women in the Medieval Islamic World'', [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 1999, {{ISBN|0-312-22451-6}}
* Joseph, Suad (ed.) ''Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures''. Leiden: Brill, Vol 1–4, 2003–2007.
* {{cite book| publisher = Lynne Rienner Publishers| isbn = 978-1-55587-442-1| last = Roded| first = Ruth| title = Women in Islamic biographical collections: from Ibn Saʻd to Who's Who| year = 1994}}
* Svensson, Jonas. ''[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303727470_Women%27s_human_rights_and_Islam_A_study_of_three_attempts_at_accommodation Women's Human Rights and Islam. A Study of Three Attempts at Accommodation]'', [[Almquist & Wiksell]], 2001,
* Mehmood, Maryyum. May 18, 2021. Mapping Muslim Moral Provinces: Framing Feminized Piety of Pakistani Diaspora. Religions 12: 356; Vol. 2 iss. 5. {{doi|10.3390/rel12050356|doi-access=free}} MDPI,
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|c=Category:Women in Islam|d=yes|auto=yes}}
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Please do not add advocacy websites, commercial websites, blogs, forums, and other inappropriate links here. For why, read [[WP:EL]] guidelines of Wikipedia, particularly [[WP:ELNO]] section.

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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190217095457/http://chnm.gmu.edu/wwh/modules/lesson3/lesson3.php?s=0 George Mason University Archive, Islam{{snd}}Women in World History, Roy Rosenzweig Center]
* [http://www.arabstudiesjournal.org/ Arab Studies Journal]{{snd}}a peer reviewed publication that frequently covers topics relating to women in Islam.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140310030248/http://www.brill.com/sites/default/files/ftp/downloads/EWIO_Preview_2012.pdf The Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures]{{snd}}Brill, The Netherlands.
* [https://archive.today/20120905140132/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2510?_hi=2&_pos=2 Oxford Islamic Studies Online]{{snd}}numerous entries dealing with the role of women in Islamic societies.
* [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/492570089 Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics], Editors: Joseph and Naǧmābādī, Brill, The Netherlands, {{ISBN|978-9004128187}}.

{{Islam topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Africa topic|Women in|titlestyle = background:#FFCBDB}}
{{Asia topic|Women in|titlestyle = background:#FFCBDB}}
{{North America topic|Women in|titlestyle = background:#FFCBDB}}
{{South America topic|Women in|titlestyle = background:#FFCBDB}}
{{Oceania topic|Women in|titlestyle = background:#FFCBDB}}

[[Category:Islam and women| ]]
[[Category:Women's rights in Islam]]
[[Category:Muslim women| ]]