Synopsis of a Paper presented at the Paris International Conference on Women (Conference internationale des femmes à Paris) on Women, Islam & Equality ( Les femmes, l’ Islam, l’égalité ), held by Women, Auvers sur Oise, Paris, France, 27 August 2005

In this analysis, the doctrinal and place of women as found in the basic sources of Islam in contra-distinction to such an evaluation from “fundamentalist” perspectives will be examined. To understand this subject with objectivity, it is necessary to draw a balance between doctrinal purity on the one hand and the felt “necessities” of time on the other.

The reason Qur’anic exegesis is infused with patriarchal assumptions is because, historically, only men living in actually existing patriarchies have interpreted the Qur’an by means of a method that ignores both its textual holism and its anti-patriarchal theology.

En présence de tant d’inégalités, nous nous demanderons quelle est l’égalité voulue par Dieu. Une analyse lexicale nous apprend que la racine (s-w-â) qui donne musawât (l’égalité) est attestée dans le Coran.

This paper is a brief review of the position and role of woman in society from an Islamic perspective. The topic is divided into spiritual, economic, social, and political aspects. When dealing with the Islamic perspective of any topic, there should be a clear distinction between the normative teachings of Islam and the diverse cultural practices among Muslims, which may or may not be consistent with them. The focus of this paper is the normative teachings of Islam as the criteria to judge Muslim practices and evaluate their compliance with Islam. In identifying what is "Islamic" it is necessary to make a distinction between the primary sources of Islam (the Qur'an and the Sunnah) and legal opinions of scholars on specific issues, which may vary and be influenced by their times, circumstances, and cultures. Such opinions and verdicts do not enjoy the infallibility accorded to the primary and revelatory sources.

This is an account of the Qur'an's affirmation of fundamental rights which all human beings ought to possess, because they are so deeply rooted in our humanness that their denial or violation is tantamount to a negation or degradation of that which makes us human. From the perspective of the Qur'an, these rights came into existence when we did; they were created, as we were, by God in order that our human potential could be actualized. These rights not only provide us with an opportunity to develop all our inner resources, but they also hold before us a vision of what God would like us to be: what God wants us to strive for and live for and die for. Rights created or given by God cannot be abolished by any temporal ruler or human agency. Eternal and immutable, they ought to be exercised since everything that God does is for "a just purpose."

The author argues that woman and man are created equal by God and standing equal in the sight of God. The Qur'an has given women not only all the "General Rights" applicable to both men and women, underlying much of the Qur'an's legislation on women-related issues is the recognition that women have been disadvantaged persons in history to whom justice needs to be done by the Muslim "ummah" (community of the believers).
However, women and men have become very unequal in Muslim societies. The cumulative (Jewish, Christian, Hellenistic, Bedouin and other) biases which existed in the Arab-Islamic culture of the early centuries of Islam infiltrated the Islamic tradition and undermined the intent of the Qur'an to liberate women from the status of chattels or inferior creatures and make them free and equal to men. A review of Muslim history and culture brings to light many areas in which women continued to be subjected to diverse forms of oppression and injustice, often in the name of Islam. Many of its women-related teachings in the Qur'an have been used in patriarchal Muslim societies against, rather than for, women.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Egyptian Muslim scholar now working from the University of Qatar. Qaradawi is strongly disputed among many of his colleagues, most likely because he is considered to have the inclination to define regulations of Islam relatively close to a Western point of view. Qaradawi is generally considered to be a moderate on religious and social matters; on the other hand, he was criticised by the West for having endorsed suicide bombings, and by conservative Muslims for having endorsed women to be candidates in municipal elections. In this online book, Qaradawi expresses his views on women's status in Islam in various domains.