Many people talked about women in Islam on many occasions and from many points of view. In fact men and women In Islam are equal in God’s sight. They are also expected to fulfill the same duties of worship, prayer, faith, almsgiving, and fasting. Also, they are equal in pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam generally improved the status of women compared to earlier Arab cultures of ancient tribes, prohibiting female infanticide and recognizing women’s full person-hood. Islamic law emphasizes the contractual nature of marriage, requiring that man pays to the woman rather than to her family, and guaranteeing women’s rights of inheritance and to own and manage property. Women also have the right to live in the matrimonial home and receive financial maintenance during marriage and a waiting period following death and divorce.
The historical records show that prophet Muhammad consulted women and weighed their opinions seriously. The Islamic society protects the woman from her birth until her death. She has the right not to cook, wash, iron or clean the house if She doesn’t like it. Provide these items, it is the duty of the Muslim husband and the Prophet’s Sunnah had written that.
It is important to note that Muslim walk with the body covered as a form of modesty because God commanded. However, modernity means bringing improvements to the world, without thereby disregarding the orders of the Creator. Nevertheless, the status of women in pre-modern Islam in general conformed not to Quranic ideals but to prevailing patriarchal cultural norms. As a result, improvement of the status of women became a major issue in modern, reformist Islam. Since the mid-nineteenth century, men and women have questioned the legal and social restrictions on women, especially regarding education, seclusion, strict veiling, polygyny, slavery, and concubinage.
Woman status
Women have published works advocating reforms, established schools for girls, opposed veiling and polygyny, and engaged in student and nationalist movements. Nationalist movements and new states that emerged in the post–World War II period perceived women and gendered issues as crucial to social development. State policies enabled groups of women to enter the male-dominated political sphere and professions previously closed to them, although these policies often caused popular and religious backlash.
Women’s status has also been used as a means of defining national identity. In Islam, in general, Woman can choose her partner, may have name of independence to get married, can have her own wealth or properties with no obligation to divide and spend them as she wishes. She has voting rights and all inheritance rights as a daughter, a wife, a sister, or a mother.
Women today are active participants in grassroots organizations; development projects; economic, education, health, and political projects; relief efforts; charitable associations; and social services. Modern reforms have made polygamous marriages difficult or illegal. It permits wives to sue for divorce in religious courts, particularly in cases of cruelty, desertion, or dangerous contagious diseases. Moreover, it provide women with the right to contract themselves in marriage; required husbands to find housing for a divorced wife while she has custody over the children. In addition, it increases the minimum age for spouses. Besides, it limits the ability of guardians to contract women in marriage against their wishes. It provides opportunities for minor girls wed against their wishes to abrogate the marriage upon reaching majority. Furthermore, it enhances the rights of women with regard to child custody. It allows women to write clauses into marriage contracts that limit the husband’s authority over them.
Muslim women in the Contemporary era
In the contemporary era, women have again assumed leadership roles in the Muslim world. Benazir Bhutto was prime minister of Pakistan (1988 – 1990, 1993 – 1996). Tansu çiller was prime minister of Turkey ( 1993 – 1996 ). Megawati Sukarnoputri served as president of Indonesia from (2001 – 2004). She is the current leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Mame Madior Boye was the Prime Minister of Senegal, 2001-2002. Atifete Jahjaga is occupying’s the current position of President of Kosovo since 2011. Shaykh Hasina Wazed is the current prime minister of Bangladesh (1996). Besides, there are many female ministers in many government of Islamic countries, and the most prominent example that in the current cabinet of the Egyptian government there are 6 female ministers for the first time in Egypt’s history Nonetheless, tensions remain between traditionalists, who advocate continued patriarchy, and reformists, who advocate continued liberation of women.
The Woman in Egyptachieved a historic victory when 8 female minsters were appointed in the new government of 2018 appointed in June 14th When the Prime Minster, Mostafa Madbouly, appointed two more females to the cabinet, raising the number of the female ministers to 8, of a total of 25% percent of the whole cabinet. The newly appointed ministers
Female ministers:
1- Ghada Wali: Minister of Social Affairs 2- Inas Abel Dayem: Minister of Culture 3- Nabila Makram: Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates’ Affairs. 4- Sahar Nasr : Minister of Investment and International Cooperation 5- Rania Al-Mashat: Minster of Tourism and in December 2019 was appointed as Minister of International Cooperation. 6- Yasmine Fouad: Minister of Environment 7- Hala Helmy El Said: Minister of Planning 8- Hala Zayed: Minister of Health
