status of women in islam

 Islam regards both man and woman as created by God to rise to the full stature of the perfect human. This is in stern contrast with those versions of the Heavenly Book which Jews and Christians have tampered with and published as reading: "Amongst every thousand men appears one beloved of God: but amongst all the women in the world there is not to be found one who is included in God's grace and favor." (My quotation is from page 519 of "Islamic and Arab Civilization", an authoritative work to which due respect must be paid.)
 Islam proclaims that in God's eyes there is no difference between man and woman. Each is a precious soul. In His eyes all that makes people stand out from one another is their excelling in virtue, piety, reverence, spiritual and ethical qualities. It is open to both men and women to achieve that type of excellence. At Doomsday each soul will be judged, regardless of sex, according to the fruits of their actions, by the above criteria. As it is written in SuraXXVII: Nahl —"Bee"
 "Whosoever bath faith and performs decorous actions, man or woman, I decree as their destiny a life that will be satisfied and will win that soul a reward better than the good deeds they have done."
 Compare Sura 28: Qasas — "The Narration" (verse 84): "To whosoever does good, the reward is better than the deed."
 Islam regards men and women as complementary to each other. As it is written in Sura 3: Aal-i-Imran — "Imran's Family" (verse 195): "Their Lord hath accepted their prayer and answered: 'Never will I suffer the work of any one of you, male or female, to be lost. Ye are complementary to each other'."
 Many women possess such personal excellences and intelligence that they attain great heights of true humanity and happiness. Many men, alas, fall to the lowest depths because they flout reason and abandon themselves to their passions.

When you scrutinize the Islamic teachings, you will see that Islam has given the high rank to women. Islam not only doesn’t accept to treat women unjustly, but also has considered the different aspects of woman’s personality.

According to Islam, man and woman have to reach the perfection of humanity and there is no difference between them.

So the gender has no effect on the true value of people in Islam’s eyes. Therefore, the perfection and salvation of women doesn’t lie in them having the same status as men, and it is also wrong for men to take pride in their gender, because that isn't what really counts.

What brings superiority for human are endeavors for achieving humanity. Except for differences that are necessitated by the order of creation, there is no difference between the two genders from the Quran and revelation’s perspective.(via  maulana vahiduddin khan )

In revelation’s sight, the woman is a human and gender has no effect on the fundamentals of the obligations and character of people.

Also, women can reach very high levels of spirituality in various eras and it is the clear proof that the spiritual way is open to women.

The True Status of Women in Islam – The Deen Show

Islam does not hold Women to be Inferior to Men

There is a common belief that Islam gives a higher status to men in comparison to women. This is misconception in the truest sense of the word.

Contrary to the common misconception that Islam holds men superior to women, Islam actually gives equal status to women as that of men.

The Quran says:“You are members, one of another.” (3:195)This means that there is no difference between the two as regards status, rights and blessings both in this world and in the Hereafter.

The following Hadith gives an apt description of the role of women:Men and women are two equal halves of a single unit. (Al Tirmizi)We see that both the sacred scriptures of Islam make it clear that neither sex is inferior or superior to the other. However, studies in biology and psychology show that the sexes are different in nature, each being designed for a different purpose. So, the Islamic maxim runs:Equal in respect, but different in role.Each being equal has a different sphere of action. That is, in making their contribution to social activity, the men undertake whatever is harder, while the women deal with whatever is lighter.

The Quran says that men are in charge of, that is, they are ‘maintainers’ of women (4:34). This leads to a common misconception that Islam gives a higher status to men then women. According to this verse of the Quran, it does not mean that men have a distinctive status over women – being maintainers of women has never been intended as a form of discriminatory treatment, it rather concerns the practical management of the home, for which the man is held responsible.

However, this does not mean that a woman will never be allowed to shoulder these responsibilities. If she finds that she can bear this burden, no objection will be raised from any quarter. One example of this can be found in the Quran with reference to the people of Sheba. They lived in Yemen. The famous dam of Marib made their country very prosperous and enabled it to attain a high degree of civilization. The Quran tells us that they were ruled by a woman (27:23) without disapproving of her rule. Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba was very wise and sagacious, even more so than the men in her court. She did not want to embroil her country in war, while the men advised her to confront her enemies, namely, Solomon’s army.

Islams Women - The Status of Women in Islam