WOMEN IN ISLAM

RIGHTS AND PROGRESS OF WOMEN awareness, the more effective she will be in the part she plays in all the activities of daily living. And one who is thus intellectually aroused will be able to play a role of any significance. ISLAM AND WOMEN A dispassionate study of Islam’s basic tenets would make it exceedingly clear that its sole purpose is to enable both men and women to follow the straight path, leading to peace and bliss in this world and the world to come. To have a correct understanding of women’s status in Islam, we should first address the question—Is the idea of change and adaptation to a new environment created by the passage of time obnoxious to it? To begin with, Islam is not opposed to change if it is in the interest of the common people inhabiting the globe. We cannot sidetrack the fact that Islam was necessitated by the momentous changes that were taking place in Arabia. Those who insist that every word written in the Quran is to be followed irrespective of the changed circumstances are mistaken in their belief. Change is the law of Nature, and to set one’s face against the wind of change sweeping across the world is an irrational stand. It is not necessary to follow every word written in the sacred books without a frame of reference to the time when it was conceived and acted upon for the benefit of contemporary society. Those