Equal in Respect, Different in Role

WOMEN AND ISLAM take care of whoever crosses your threshold; give solace to the weary.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4953) Another verse in the Quran tells us that men and women have equal status in God’s eyes. None is superior to the other. “I will not let the deeds of any doer among you go to waste, be he male or female. You are members, one of another.” (3:195) Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the well-known commentator on the Quran, remarks in his commentary on this verse: “In Islam, the equal status of the sexes is not only recognized but insisted on. If sex distinction, which is a distinction in nature, does not count in spiritual matters, artificial distinctions, such as rank, wealth, position, race, colour, birth, etc., would count even less.” Thus, the very same virtues in thought, word, and deed will be prerequisites for both sexes to enter paradise. If the qualities of piety, humility, honesty, patience, and compassion are demanded of men, they will, in like measure, be demanded of women. So, we see that Islam gives women equal status to men. The following Hadith gives an apt description of the role of women: “Men and women are two halves of a single unit.” (Sunan Abi Dawood, Hadith No. 236) We see that the scriptures of Islam make it clear that neither sex is inferior or superior to the other. However, studies in