The Position of Women in Islam: A Progressive View

by Mohammad Ali Syed

Challenging the conservative framers of Islamic law who accorded a lesser status to women, Mohammad Ali Syed argues that the Quran and the Hadith-the two primary sources of Islamic law-actually place Muslim women on the same level as Muslim men. Syed provides an overview of both sources and explores their respective roles in Islamic law, emphasizing the Quran's role as the supreme authority and questioning the authenticity of some of the alleged sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). From these texts, he elaborates women's rights in a variety of areas, including treatment by God; marriage, divorce, financial provisions, and custody of children; coming out of seclusion (purdah), and taking part in social, economic, legal, and political activities. Rather than presenting what is practiced today, the book covers the theoretical position of Muslim women as sanctioned by the Quran and the authentic Hadith and offers a glimpse of the exalted position of honor and dignity enjoyed by Muslim women in the early days of Islam. This well-researched book is made more distinctive by the author's personal experience. Raised in Bengal, India, Syed was inspired by his family, who valued men and women equally. As he grew up, Syed realized that most Muslim women lived very differently than the women of his family. According to the author, his family was egalitarian because his father and male relatives were not only devout Muslims but also very knowledgeable about Islam. This book is a culmination of his lifelong concern for women's rights under Islam.

150 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Lumturi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost can't describe how terrible this book is. I had recently read Ali Asghar Engineer's "The Rights of Women and Islam" and significant portions of this books are lifted directly from Engineer's book: from the arguments used, to the examples given, to the scholars cited. It's almost approaching plagiarism. It's not even well-written!

Exasperating.

[Mayra Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for my Islamic Law and Legal Traditions class. I thought this was really informative and interesting.