Grace Tjan’s Reviews > Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes > Status Update

Ghazali had won the day. From his time forward, Greek-based Muslim philosophy lost steam and Muslim interest in natural science foundered. The same forces that squeezed protoscience out of Islamic intellectual life, the same forces that devalued reason as an instrument of ethical and social inquiry, acted to constrict the position of women.

Sometime during this period, the status of women in Islamic society seems to have changed as well. Various clues suggest to me that in the early days of Islam, women had more independence and a greater role in public affairs than they had later on. Khadija, the Prophet's first wife, was a powerful and successful businesswoman. Ayesha, his youngest wife, commanded armies in the field.