Status of Women in Islam

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM matters so that life’s journey continues peacefully and successfully. In the early period of Islam, both sexes were fully active in different fields of life, from housework to agriculture and horticulture and from worship in the mosque to the battleground. In Islamic history, there are many examples of women giving invaluable help to their husbands in critical situations. One of the most notable was Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet of Islam, who successfully brought the Prophet back from a state of fear and trembling to a state of normalcy after he received the first divine revelation in the solitude of the Cave of Hira from the Angel Gabriel. She was able to reassure him that his life was not, as he feared, in danger, as she was emotionally detached from the incident. She observed: “God will surely never forsake you. You are kind to your kin; you always help the weak; take care of whoever crosses your threshold; give solace to the weary; speak the truth.” (Al-Seerah al-Nabwiyah, Ibn Kathir, Vol. 1, pp 385-86) So, we see that Islam gives women equal status as that of men. The following Hadith gives an apt description