This book, Women in Islam, begins by shedding light on the status of women prior to Islam. It explains that women were ill-treated and humiliated in many cultures. Indeed, in some societies, women were considered the property of men and could be bought, sold and inherited. Women were generally treated as inferior to men and some communities even blamed women for the misfortune and shame that might befall their families. In pre-Islamic Arabian society, young girls were buried alive. Hence, before Islam, women suffered great injustice in many communities.
Islam put an end to all this, established women’s rights and gave women their rightful status in society. Islam considers that men and women have two different but mutually complementary roles in the family and in society. The relationship between them must be one of love and compassion and men and women are accountable to God for their deeds.
