When a person foreign to the religion of Islam looks at Muslims, particularly the practicing women, they will likely see many of them wearing the hijab (clothes covering the entire body, excluding the face and hands). Sadly, many who live in the West will automatically look at that and think of oppression. However, when did wearing more clothes equal oppression? When did that mean that the men living with these women are abusing and harassing them off their human rights? Did one stop and actually ask those women if they are indeed being oppressed? One has to genuinely ask him/herself these and see if there are any hidden biases in one’s thought processes.

We have to be fair and look at the actual teachings of Islam, see what is said about women’s rights, and then decide if there is equality or not. In the Qur’an, we see that God says,

“O humanity! Indeed, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may ˹get to˺ know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous among you. Allah is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.“

[Qur’an 49:13]

Thus, we can see that to God, nobility is determined by piety. He did not mention anything else. He did not mention gender nor race. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Women are the full siblings of men.”¹

The default in Islam is that men and women are treated the same – they have the same rights and same responsibilities. However and rightfully so, there are some situations where men may have certain rights and responsibilities that women won’t have and the opposite where women will have more. We cannot deny scientifically that men and women are different, whether it’s biologically, hormonally, or psychologically. Thus, treating them exactly the same in every situation would not be just. God acknowledges that in Islam. For example, when women are on their menstrual period, they are excluded from their daily prayers. Men obviously can never have that exception. Men have the financial responsibility of taking care of his wife and children. Women don’t.

An article by Yaqeen Institute explains, “Historically, the Qur’an and Sunnah were viewed as neither oppressive nor regressive, but rather advocates on behalf of women. No narrations can be found from any of the Prophet ﷺ’s female companions ever complaining about the revelation itself nor the manner in which the Prophet ﷺ implemented it.“²

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1. Musnad Aḥmad, no. 5869; Sunan al-Tirmidhī, no. 105; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, no. 204, authenticated by al-Albānī in al-Silsilah al-Ṣaḥīḥah (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Ma‘ārif, 1996), 6:860, no. 2862.
2. https://yaqeeninstitute.org/read/paper/we-used-to-have-no-regard-for-women-gender-equity-the-advent-of-islam