Much is said and speculated about the role of women in Islam. In times of international demand for women’s rights, in which the spaces won are celebrated and the voices that point out those who have yet to be conquered feel strong, the “question of women in Islam” is undoubtedly a debate be on the table.
From extremely distant times, in all societies of the world, women have fought different “battles” to win leading spaces that allow them to obtain civil rights equal to men.
However, these battles have been more fruitful –and in less time– for some than for others, given the religious and cultural differences, but especially the customs that coexist in the planet’s vast regions.
There are many, if not countless, diversities and adversities that can separate one woman from another in the world. Although all humans share certain anatomy that unites them as a species, the fact of being born in one part of the world makes that person a completely different being from another that does not belong there.
This is why, based on this idea, when we think about Islam and women’s question, we must consider that beyond what is properly established by religion, there are a whole series of factors – cultural, political, economic, among others. – that affect their conception within the society in which they live, regardless of whether Islam is their religion or not.
The Quran in Islam
Let us remember that Islam is a religion with more than 1,800 million people in the world, but that around 280 million of them are of Arab origin. Some 54 countries have Islam as their official religion, among them the 22 countries of the League of Arab States.
Let us also remember that Indonesia, a non-Arab but Muslim country, is the nation with the largest number of Muslims globally. That of the more than 1,800 million Muslims globally, 85% profess the Sunni trend, while the remaining 15% is Shiite (and is located mainly in Iran and Iraq).
Now, the sharia, also known as Islamic law, is applied in some of these countries. The Islamic legislation starts from the Koran, the holy book of Islam, and the Sunna, which contains teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. It is from where Islamic jurisprudence draws the laws.
The Koran, in addition to being the word of Allah, god for Islam, is a code of conduct for how a Muslim should live and how Muslims should behave with those who are not; Through 114 suras (chapters) and verses (verses), this book lays out standards of conduct for women and men.
Sharia regulates the individual aspects that govern the life of a Muslim, such as the five pillars of Islam (the profession of faith, ritual prayer, almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage to Mecca), as well as the aspects that deal with family relationships, which are the most debated, such as the guardianship of the wife, the wife’s dowry to her husband, the authority he possesses and the unilateral right to dissolve the marriage, asymmetry in conjugal duties and unequal inheritance rights based on gender.