revelations of the Holy Prophet men and women were spoken of as standing on the same level in the sight of God2 and it is mentioned that both male and female were made perfect.3 It was also in the earlier revelations that it was made clear that spiritually the woman stood on the same level with the man.4 Women were also spoken of as receiving Divine revelation,5 the greatest spiritual gift. They were chosen by God and purified as men were chosen and purified.6 And generally women are spoken of as equal to men in all spiritual aspects.7
The Holy Prophet, however, went further and introduced a reform by which woman became a free person in the fullest sense of the word. She could earn, inherit and own property. “For men is the benefit of what they earn and for women is the benefit of what they earn” (4:32). This direction opened for her all vocations, and though her maintenance was a condition of marriage, she could support herself and even become the breadwinner of the family, if she stood in need of it. Further, the Arabs had a very strong tradition against inheritance by women. Islām had a new message for her: “ … for women is a share of what the parents and the near relatives leave … an appointed share … ”(4:7). Every woman was, in fact, made the owner of some property at her marriage, and there was no limitation to the amount of dowry.8 This was a practical step to raise the status of the woman. The status of a woman even before marriage was recognized by laying down that a woman could be taken in marriage only with her permission or consent.9 In fact marriage has been described in the Holy Qur’ān as a sacred contract10 (mīthāq) and there would be no contract without the consent of the two parties.
For the stabilization of society everyone was required to live in a married condition. There is a clear injunction to this effect: “And marry those among you who are single” (24:32). The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that “the man who marries perfects half his religion”. Marriage was thus recognized as a means to the moral uplift of man, and such it is in fact. Mutual love between husband and wife and parental love for offspring lead to a very high development to the feeling of love of man for man as such, and this in turn leads to the disinterested service of humanity. Through marriage the home is
5 28:7.
7 33:35.
9 4:19; Bu. 67:42, 43.
10 4:21.