Chapter 9 Early Women in Islam

                                              Chapter 9 Early Women in Islam

         I presuppose that women made some gains when in the rise of Islam when Quran began.  As women were given control over their own property and granted rights of inheritance, this offered new opportunities for them.    In the religious sphere, the women were granted a spiritual union equal to men.  However, I conceive that there still existed a strong division of inequality.

         Islam women, particularly from a Westerner’s point of view, were still exploited.  Women weren’t recognized as independent people, so I accredit that women were still mistreated.  Men were still in charge of women.   Traditions for the Islam women still made women victims of honor.   For example, “honor killings” had no sanctions.   It was allowed that a husband could murder his wife if he didn’t want to divorce her but she wanted a divorce from him.  Honor killings were permissible and even today, this suggest a distortion of what Islam people consider righteous honor.   Men superiority still was the tradition in the early Islam life.  Sexism was obvious even though there existed more outlets and opportunities in the religious field. 

         In an indirect way, the women in the early Islam planted seeds for the next generation of women in Islam.   Reforms from strong and influential women later demonstrated how inequality affected the Islam women historically.     The women of early Islam give me vivid reminders of how it reflects my ancestors’ struggles of prejudice especially that of my Great Grandmother who was torture and imprisoned and my helpless Grandmother, who was tortured and exploited by evil men. Finally, I cannot correct history, but only see it as a constant reminder of mistakes that our country cannot repeat again.