Education and Work
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Islam secures women’s rights in education and work. The Prophet responded
positively and instantly to woman asking him to appoint a certain time to teach the
Islam regularly. Some women reported the Prophet’s traditions (rawiyat
al’hadith). The historian Ibn Sa’d (d.835) compiled the biographies of more than
700 women who reported the Prophet’s traditions. The male colleagues of these
female scholars accepted and respected them as al-Dhahabi (d. 1347) pointed out
in his distinguished work on hadith reporting.
The well-known scholar of Prophet’s traditions (hadith) and Muslim history Ibn
‘Asakir (d. 1177) had more than 80 women among his teachers. The contemporary
Maghribi scholar Abdel-Aziz bin Abdillah has provided a long list of women
reporters of hadith in Maghrib only in one of his research papers.
Muslim women also made their contributions in various fields, such as: literature,
arts and artistic crafts (e.g. fashion, decorated textiles and rugs, cuisine, perfumes,
hair-dress, etc.), and sufism (e.g. famous poet Al-Khansa in early Islam, famous
sufi Rabi’a d. 801). As early as the time of the Prophet, they accompanied men in
the battlefield, where they treated the wounded, and participated sometimes in
fighting the enemy when this became necessary. In Muslim Spain “Andalus”,
several women were famous as physicians in various specializations, including
optometry and surgery.
The prominent commentator on the Quran, historian and jurist: al-Tabari (d. 923),
as well as the outstanding jurist of al-Andalus Ibn-Hazm (d. 1064) stated that a
women can be a judge if she is qualified for the position, and the Muslim history
witnessed many women who were influential and/or occupied leading positions.
The Prophet’s wife ‘Aysha, expressed her critical views about Caliph Uthman’s
policies, and made a stand against Caliph Ali. She was know for her wide
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knowledge in the Prophet’s tradition, Islamic Law, poetry and medicine. Women
played an important role in Ali’s Army and among the rebels against him “alKhawarij” as well.
A woman may not be interested in mining , working in the desert and isolated
areas, or standing on scaffoldings in construction. This is a matter of convenience
that has to be decided freely by women themselves, and their wishes have to be
considered in planning educational programs and offering work opportunities.
A mutual understanding and cooperation between men and women can help outline
the responsibilities of each in the family and the society. Arbitrary assumptions
that support men’s authoritarianism on the grounds of nature or religion are not
convincing, and such views reflected often changeable cultural circumstances in
given times and places, and could not provide a permanent and general rule based
on the Islamic divine sources.
