Spiritual Status of Woman

Let me start by bringing forward clear evidence to correct the misconceptions about the spiritual status of women.

The Qur'an states categorically that men and women who practice the principles of Islam will receive equal reward for their efforts:

"Surely for men who submit (to Allah) and for women who submit (to Allah), for believing men and believing women, for devout men and devout women, for truthful men and truthful women, for steadfast men and steadfast women, for humble men and humble women, for charitable men and charitable women, for men who fast and women who fast, for men who guard their chastity and women who guard, for men who remember Allah much and for women who remember Allah for them Allah has promissed forgiveness and a mighty reward" (33:35).

Again God says:

'Whosoever performs good deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall surely make him live a good life, and We will certainly reward them for the best of what they did" (The Qur'an 16:97).

Each of the Five Pillars of Islam: Belief, Prayer, Fasting, Poor-due and Pilgrimage-- is as important for women as for men, and there is no differentiation of their reward.

As Allah says in the Qur'an:

"The noblest among you before Allah is the most heedful of you" (49:13).

One may also mention that one of the most famous mystics in Islam, Rabi'a al 'Adawiyya, was a woman.

Intellectual Status

Having established beyond question the spiritual equality of men and women in Islam, what of their intelligence, knowledge and education? The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h) said:

"The search for knowledge is a duty for every Muslim (male or female)".

"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave".

"Knowledge" for a Muslim is not divided into sacred and secular, and the implication of these sayings of the Prophet, in modern terms, is that every Muslim boy or girl, man or woman, should pursue his or her education as far as it is possible, bearing in mind the words of Allah in the Qur'an:

"Only those of His Servants who are learned truly, fear Allah" (35:28)

In Islam therefore, both men and women are credited with the capacity for learning and understanding and teaching, and one of the aims of acquiring knowledge is that of becoming more conscious of Allah. It is considered in Islam that the more a person, male or female, studies the creation and observes its working, the more he or she becomes conscious of the Creator, the Power who made and sustains the creation.

One of the most famous women in the history of Islam is 'A'isha, the Prophet's wife. And the quality for which she is remembered primarily is that of her intelligence and outstanding memory. She is considered to be one of the most reliable sources of hadith by virtue of these qualities. More than a thousand ahadith are reported by her and she is regarded as one of the greatest teachers of the hadith.

Generally speaking, in the Muslim world of the early mediaeval times, there was not any bar or prohibition on women pursuing studies — on the contrary, the religion encouraged it. As a result of this many women became famous as religious scholars, writers, poets, doctors and teachers in their own right, such as Nafisa a descendant of 'Ali who was such a great authority on hadith that Imam al-Shafi'I sat in her circle in al-Fustat when he was at the height of this fame; and Shaikha Shuhda who lectured publicly in one of the principal mosques of Baghdad to large audiences on literature, rhetoric and poetry, and was one of the foremost scholars of Islam.

There are numerous other instances of learned Muslim women who have been teachers, writers and poets, held in the highest respect by Muslim society. There is therefore every encouragement for a Muslim woman to pursue studies in any field for her intellectual benefit and to make use of her academic or professional training for the good of the community, subject to certain moral precepts which will be dealt with later in this paper.