The Pre Islamic Dominant Discourses on Women and Gender

Pre Urban Middle Eastern Societies  Women held in High Esteem,

revered as Goddesses etc

Emergence of City Centers and Urban Societies  Rise of class

based societies  Warrior Culture emerges  Male dominance
strengthens, Male gods replace female goddesses, Women become
important for reproductive purposes and control of female sexuality
becomes institutionalized.

Code of Hammurabi establishes absolute authority of man over his

wife and children

A reconstruction of Ur a city state in the Sumerian

Mesopotamia
Arabia in the Age of Jahilia Fate of these norms in Muhammad (PBUH) era
Prevalent cultural norms in Jahilia culture 

• Matrilineal marriage, polyandrous + polygamous

system. This does not mean that women had
more power or esteem or misogynist attitudes did
not exist towards them!

• Infanticide

• Women could take part in war, were in places of

leadership as well.

• Intermingling with male members of society

• Women could negotiate marriage contracts

• Women did enjoy autonomy in many ways, one

suggestion of this is Khadijah’s (AS) economic
independence, freedom in choosing a partner
without intermediation of a male guardian and
marriage with a man 15 years younger than her.
 The active social and intellectual role of
Muslim Women During Muhammad’s (PBUH)
lifetime
Warfare Religion Marriage
On one occasion Muslim women Sukaina bint Hussain, Prophet’s
Umm Umara Fought in questioned Muhammad (PBUH) about (PBUH) granddaughter married four
Battle of Uhud leading Quran’s addressing to men only while to six times, with respect to one
Muhammad (PBUH) to women too accepted God and his incident, She initiated the divorce,
observe that she performed prophet. The question occasioned the and that with respect to another,
better than many men. revelation of the Quranic verses she insisted on stiff terms in her
explicitly addressing women as well as marriage contract i.e., Reportedly,
Umm Hakim  single- men (Sura 3 3 :35; see her husband agreed to take no
handedly disposed of seven above)— a response that other wife.
Byzantine soldiers at unequivocally shows Muhammad’s
the battle of Marj al-Saffar (and God’s) readiness to hear women.
Thereafter the Quran explicitly
addressed women a number of times.
The Quranic perspective
on women For Muslim men and women,—
For believing men and women,
For devout men and women,
Equality of man and Woman 
For true [truthful] men and women,
For men and women who are
Quran declares absolute moral and spiritual equality
Patient and constant, for men
of men and women and it
And women who humble themselves,
emphatically acknowledges woman’s humanness.
For men and women who give
In charity, for men and women
Who fast (and deny themselves),
For men and women who
'Guard their chastity, and
For men and women who
Engage much in God’s praise,—
For them has God prepared
Forgiveness and a great reward. (Sura 3 3 :3 5 )”

(Leila Ahmed, Women Gender and Islam)

 PART
2
The beginning of orthodox norms in
Islamic culture with regard to women
Historical decline of presence and status of women in Islamic cultural spheres

Muhammad’s (PBUH) Umayyad dynasty

times onwards

More Prominent, • Secluded, passive

active role in matters and missing in
of religion and other voice from
public spheres important texts,
important public
Ayesha’s contribution spheres etc.
to the significant
collections of Hadith • Lesser autonomy
The Islamic conquests, the assimilation of cultures
and the deterioration in the rights and status of
women
Some social and cultural mores of non-Islamic and non
Arab cultures and religions that later found expression
The Arab conquests of different regions and validation in literary works from Abbasid Dynasty
stimulated a process of fusion of different
cultural norms  Arab + Islamic + Persian +
Byzantine + many more = Islamic civilization
Zorastrianism  virgin
women lauded, remarriage
of women discouraged

Persian
Byzantine
Others
Arab Islamic
Civilization Elite Sasanian Norms  • Harem culture
• Concubines
• Elite women veiled
Cultural norms associated with
women in Abbasid Society