WOMEN IN ISLAM

two wheels of a cart. One wheel is not equal to the other. They are complementary to one another. God had made biological and psychological differences between a man and a woman. This difference is made so that they become good life partners for one another. Both are complementary to one another. Both complete one another. Therefore, the concept of gender equality is unnatural and creates unnecessary conflict between the two. The concept of gender differences produces the concept of being complementary to each other and supporting each other. It enables the partners to run the cart of life as two wheels joined together. STATUS OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY In almost every inhabited corner of the globe, the societies of ancient times regarded the status of women as being inferior to that of men. “In Athens,” says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “women’s status had degenerated to that of enslaved people. Wives were secluded in their homes, had no education and few rights, and were considered by their husbands no better than chattels… In ancient Rome, a woman’s legal position was one of complete subordination, first to the power of her father or brother and later to that of her husband, who held paternal power over his wife. In the eyes of the law, women were regarded as imbeciles.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984), Vol. 19, p. 909) The reason for the ill-treatment of women in ancient times was the prevalence of superstition. There were, in fact,