HISTORY – II

TOPIC OF ASSIGNMENT
EXPLAIN THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN QURAN AND HADIS

Submitted by Submitted to
SHUBHAM SINGH Dr. ANIL KUMAR
B.A.LL.B. (HONS.) Assistant Professor
nd
2 SEM (2019-2024) School of Social Sciences and Policy
ENROLLMENT NO – CUSB1913125100 Central University of South Bihar
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher
Dr. Anil Kumar, who gave me the golden opportunity to do this
wonderful project of history on “the status of women in Quran and
Hadis”, who also helped me in completing my project. I came to
know about so many new things. I am really thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This project work is basically based on the doctrinal method
of research no field work is done on this topic.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
To do a depth analysis on “the status of women in Quran and
Hadis”

SOURCE OF DATA
The whole project is made with the use of secondary source.
a) Book
b) Website

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 TABE OF CONTENT
Serial no. content Page no.
Chapter – 1
1  Introduction 3-4
 Women in Quran
Chapter – 2
2  Status of women in Islam 4-5
 Right that Islam give to women
Chapter – 3
 Status of young girl in hadith
Literature
3  Marriage in Islam 5-7
 The age of marriage
 Divorce in Islam
Chapter – 4
4  Conclusion 8
 Bibliography

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 CHAPTER – 1
Introduction

Traditional perception of the female and her role in Islamic societies are being
challenged not only by radical feminism, but also by the undercurrent of
modernism. The world has come of age, and all customary practices and
religious beliefs that are repugnant to natural justice, equity and good
conscience are being rejected. The international community more than ever, is
now very sensitive to all issues that are related to women’s human right. It is
common knowledge that men in some societies subject women to slavish and
atavistic control. Sometimes women are denied their inalienable, fundamental
human rights through the forces of tradition and the legitimation of religion. A
discussion on Islam and woman can be fraught with the perils of exaggeration
and oversimplification. The intention of this study is not to project Islam as
having the worst record in women’s human rights violations; rather it is our
intention to carry out a comprehensive analysis using the tools of critical
scholarship to unravel the strength and weakness of Islam in the treatment of
women. Women in pre-Islamic Arabia lived in misery and were victims of
culturally approved discrimination, dehumanization and social deprivation. In
Islamic history, the period before the advent of Prophet Muhammad is called
the Jahiliyya period, which is interpreted as the period of ignorance. The
Jahiliyya Arabs had a custom of burying their female children alive. It was an
acceptable cultural practice for women to dance nude around the vicinity of
Kaaba during the annual festival. One of the forms of marriage in pre-Islamic
Arabia was by capture, women were captured and married by force without any
resort to parental consent. It was Prophet Muhammad’s social reforms that
stopped such obnoxious criminal practices. Islam has done much to enhance
the status of women more than any other world religion.1

WOMEN IN QURAN
Men are in charge of women, because Allah has made the one of them to excel the
other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So
good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah has guarded. As
for those from whom you fear rebellion, admonish them and banish

1 Etim E. Okon, “The Status of Woman in Islam”, volume 10 IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social
Science (IOSR-JHSS) 21 (2013).

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them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then, if they obey you, seek not a way
against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great (4:34).Women who are
divorced shall wait, keeping themselves apart, three (monthly) courses. And it
is not lawful for them that they should conceal that which Allah has created in
their wombs if they are believers in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands
would do better to take them back in that case if they desire a reconciliation.
And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them in kindness,
and men are a degree above them. Allah is Mighty, Wise (2:228).2

CHAPTER - 2

STATUS OF WOMEN IN ISLAM

A woman is a special person who should be treated as how Allah endowed her.
Women might be weak and not as strong as man physically, but they are very
hard, strong and power spiritually. Besides, a Muslim woman is also has their
obligations. All the laws and regulations pertaining to pillars of Islam which
are prayer, fasting, charity, pilgrimage and doing good deeds, need to apply
by women. These obligations are also the ways on how they upgrade their
status in the eyes of Allah3.

RIGHT THAT ISLAM GIVE TO WOMEN

Islam gives priority to women in many things and matters. Among them are
the right to enter the marriage, the right after marriage and the right when there
is divorced happen. Allah create women with a soul of the same nature as man.
Allah S.W.T says in the Quran;
"O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person
(Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both
He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand

2
Susan A. Spectorsky, Women in Classical Islamic Law A Survey of the Sources 21. Koninklijke Brill NV
incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP,
Netherlands, 2010.
3 Shuhada Shamsudin, “Women in Quran” 2 https://www.academia.edu/11896986/Women_in_Quran

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your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship).
Surely, Allah is Ever and All-Watcher over you." [Al-Nisa 4:1]4.

CHAPTER - 3

THE STATUS OF YOUNG GIRL IN THE HADITH LITERATURE

Throughout the Hadith and the Sunna the Prophet insisted on and concentrated
on the religious rewards for anyone who took care of, and brought up girls. In
addition, the Prophet stressed the responsibility of the fathers and brothers, the
duty of males towards their daughters, sisters and other female relatives from the
time of birth until marriage. The Prophet laid down the structure for the rights of
girls within their families. He did this for two reasons:
-to save them from being killed.
-to encourage Muslims to treat their girls fairly.
The Prophet declared that "the gravest sins are to be pagan, to kill your infant
for not eating with you and to have an affair with your neighbour's wife". In the
hadith, the Prophet said "God prohibits three things; the killing of an infant
girl, unfaithfulness towards parents and to usurp the rights of others". Malik
mentioned that the Prophet's words at the beginning of every expedition were
"Do not kill the babies" as an order to the soldiers. Ibn Omar narrated that one
day the Prophet saw a woman and a boy who had been killed and were lying
on the road. Thereafter he forbade the killing of women and boys.5

MARRIAGE IN ISLAM (NIKAH)

Marriage in Arabic is called al-Nikah which means “unity”. It is the foundation
of human society. The outcome of marital relationship is the family; one of the
most vital and indispensable social institutions that exist in every human
society. Marriage in Islam is not a sacrament, but a legal contract for life.
Women are granted full rights under Islamic laws to negotiate and insist on
favourable terms. A Muslim woman has the right to determine, collect and
keep her dowry (mahr), as a source of personal pride and comfort. While the
Holy Quran permits Muslim men to marry a maximum of four women, Muslim

4 Shuhada Shamsudin, “Women in Quran” 3 https://www.academia.edu/11896986/Women_in_Quran

5 Salma Saad “the legal and social status of women in the hadith literature” 31,32(1990)

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women are only allowed to marry only one man at a time. While Muslim men
are allowed to marry Muslim women, Jews, or Christians, Muslim women can
only marry a Muslim. Marital unity in Islam is threefold: physical unity,
spiritual unity, mental and emotional unity. Physical unity is realized through
sexual oneness: “He (Allah) it is who created you from a single soul; and there
from did make his mate that he might take rest in her” (surah 7: 189). Spiritual
unity is achieved in studying the Holy Quran and the hadith together. Marital
spirituality covers moments of worship and prayer in the house and in the
Mosque. The highest spirituality of Islamic marriage is the equation of marriage
with blood relationship. This is a wonderful idea, which is peculiar to Islam
among all world religions: “And He (Allah) it is who has created man from the
water and He has made him blood-relationship and marriage relationship”
(surah 25:54). Mental and emotional unity is achieved when there is mutuality,
understanding, harmony and empathy in marital relationship: “They (your
wives) are a garment for you, just as you are a garment for them” (surah
2:187).The Quranic metaphor which describes husband and wife as “a garment”
one to the other is an affirmation of marriage as a cure for loneliness, which
every human being experiences. Since human life is an adventure in conflict
and multiple betrayals, the purpose of Islamic marriage is to help couples cope
with the stark realities of human existence. Allah has instituted marriage as a
solution to anxiety, stress, depression and related neuropsychological disorders.
Islam prohibits celibacy in all its ramifications. Marriage is meant to promote
the moral and spiritual upliftment of society. Here we shall cite two hadiths to
clarify the Islamic viewpoint on celibacy: “He who is able to marry should
marry, for it keeps the eyes cast down and keeps a man chaste; and he who
cannot, should take to fasting...” (qtd. in Doi, Cardinal Principles 1981:127).
“Nikah (marriage) is my sunnah and he who abstains from my sunnah is not of
me” (qtd. in Doi, Cardinal Principles 1981:127).6

THE AGE OF MARRIAGE

Throughout the Sunna and the Hadith, the Prophet did not fix the age of marriage
for the girl, therefore there is no specific age recommended. However, there was a
practice of child marriage. For instance, the Prophet married a child wife Aisa. In
the hadith, there is no record of marriage between a minor and her wali yet, this
marriage was never considered unlawful or forbidden. In the Koran (4: 5) the age
of marriage is mentioned, but it is not clear, in that it

6 Etim E. Okon, “The Status of Woman in Islam”, volume 10 IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social
Science (IOSR-JHSS) 24 (2013).

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concerns orphans and when they can have control of their property. Abu Hanifa
believed that the age of marriage for both the boy and the girl is fifteen. Unless
the evidence of maturity has been reached at an earlier age. It seems that in the
case of the girl, the age of maturity depends upon each girl and her physical
fitness, which is the decisive point for marriage, in other words, her majority or
puberty is the appearance of the menstrual flow. If this does not appear by the
age of nine the girl should wait.7

DIVORCE (TALAQ) IN ISLAM

Divorce in Islam is lawful and is a right which may be exercised by the man
and under some circumstances by the woman. Although neither The Quran or
the Hadith stated that only a man can act and proclaim divorce, it is a Sunna
and there is general agreement that the man has this right, and therefore the
woman cannot reject it. By contrast the marriage contract should have the
mutual consent of both the man and the woman or her wali (guardian). In
divorce, neither she nor her wali can do anything to prevent the man's decision.
Types of Divorce
There are two types of divorce according to the Quran and the Sunna:
A) Intermediate or single divorce.
B) Ultimate or triple divorce.

Intermediate or single divorce.

According to the Koran, two divorce statements are sufficient (2: 228) whereas
in the Hadith three are considered necessary. Single divorce is when a man
divorces his wife by either one or two pronouncements. It is not considered as a
final divorce in that the man can take his wife back during the period of the
idda if he wishes to do so. This right was fixed in the Koran, saying that their
husbands have the right to take them back (2: 228).
Ultimate or triple divorce.
The second kind of divorce is called "triple divorce". When the man divorces
his wife three times this makes him unable to take back his wife even if he
8
wishes to do so, as triple divorce is regarded as irrevocable or final.

7 http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/508/1/uk_bl_ethos_443314.pdf
8 Salma Saad “the legal and social status of women in the hadith literature” 167,170(1990).

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 CHAPTER - 4
CONCLUSION
To summarise, the creation of every women are very special and their affairs are
regularly being mentioned in the Quran, the book of Allah. Every single thing
regarding the women are talk from the beginning of the world to the end of the
day. Among the example have been discuss and elaborate on the above articles.
No doubt that there are a lots more of the verses talking about the women in the
Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. Therefore, it is
mandatory and compulsory for the women to follow the guideline given to them
by Allah S.W.T in the Quran. These are to ensure the women is preserved and
avoided from being oppressed thus also to give a beautiful life to the women in
the world and the hereafter

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOK
a) Women in classical Islamic law
Author – Susan A. Spectorsky
b) The legal and social status of women in the hadith literature
Author – Salma Saad

Websites
I. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/508/1/uk_bl_ethos_443314.pdf
II. https://www.academia.edu/11896986/Women_in_Quran
III. http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol10-
issue2/C01022127.pdf?id=6205

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