WOMANHOOD IN ISLAM

same treatment as men in education, work opportunities and politics, and the same moral standards should be applied to both genders. Such was the zeal and fervour with which this movement was launched that it spread far and wide. Both men and women participated, and differences between man and woman were brushed aside as being a sign of backwardness. By the beginning of the 20th century, this trend established its hold all over the world, and laws were made or modified accordingly. All doors were to be thrown open to men and women alike. In practice, however, this experiment has been a failure. Even after a struggle of almost 200 years, women have failed to achieve equal status to that of men. The situation is the same today as it was before the launching of the “ women’s lib “ movement. The only practical result has been that women have become a part of every field and work side by side with men. This has given rise to new problems and society is paying a heavy price for it. The failure of women’s liberation has led to wide-ranging research being carried out, employing strictly scientific methods. Finally the patent biological differences between men and women have been scientifically proved. These differences have all along been a reason for women’s failure to find an equal place in every department of life. Where philosophers had doubted the religious concept of women erroneously—scientific findings have now reestablished this concept’s veracity. For instance the following research though specifically related to the medical field is a point which can draw our attention to understanding the facts that the differences between the genders are a part of nature and not a creation of the society. They are real and one cannot just wish them away. Catherine Woolley is the William Deering Chair in Biological Sciences, professor of neurobiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. This is what she has to say: “The importance of studying gender differences in the brain is about making biology and medicine relevant to everyone, to both men and women,” said Catherine S. Woolley, senior author of the study. “It is not Anyone who studies the islamic concept of woman hood will know that Islam considers the two genders as "Equal in respect but different in roles" .