Islam provides better rights to men and women than all other religions. Explore with arguments.

Introduction and approach

The claim that Islam provides better rights to men and women can be defended strongly in certain respects, especially by comparing the rights it gave in the seventh century with those found in earlier religious and legal systems. But such a comparison must be fair. Ideals should be compared with ideals, and practice with practice. Other traditions also teach human dignity, and many have since reformed. Muslims should also admit that their own societies often deny the rights that Islam gives.

Foundations of rights in Islam

Rights in Islam come from Allah, not from a government or from a majority vote. For this reason, they cannot be removed by any human power, in principle. All human beings share one origin and are honoured by their Creator.

وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ …

"And We have certainly honoured the children of Adam…" (Al-Isra 17:70)

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍۢ وَٰحِدَةٍۢ …

"O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul." (An-Nisa 4:1)

Rights common to men and women

1. Right to life and dignity

Life is sacred, regardless of gender.

… مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًۢا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍۢ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ ٱلنَّاسَ جَمِيعًۭا …

"…Whoever kills a soul, unless for a soul or for corruption in the land, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely." (Al-Ma'idah 5:32)

2. Equal spiritual status

Men and women are addressed side by side, and share the same promise.

إِنَّ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَٱلْمُسْلِمَٰتِ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ …

"Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women…" (Al-Ahzab 33:35)

مَنْ عَمِلَ صَٰلِحًۭا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌۭ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُۥ حَيَوٰةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ ۖ وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُم بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ

"Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while being a believer, We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward according to the best of what they used to do." (An-Nahl 16:97)

3. Knowledge

Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim (Ibn Majah; its chain is graded weak, though the saying is widely quoted), and both Hazrat Aishah (RA) and many other women taught men and women alike.

4. Property and earning

Each person owns what he or she earns.

… لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌۭ مِّمَّا ٱكْتَسَبُوا۟ وَلِلنِّسَآءِ نَصِيبٌۭ مِّمَّا ٱكْتَسَبْنَ …

"…For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned." (An-Nisa 4:32)

5. Justice and equality before the law

No rank or lineage gives immunity from the law.

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُونُوا۟ قَوَّٰمِينَ بِٱلْقِسْطِ شُهَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ …

"O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah…" (An-Nisa 4:135)

6. Privacy and honour

Spying, backbiting and entering homes without permission are forbidden (Al-Hujurat 49:12; An-Nur 24:27).

7. Freedom of belief

"There is no compulsion in religion" (Al-Baqarah 2:256).

8. Mutual social responsibility

Men and women are allies in public good.

وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍۢ يَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ …

"The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong." (At-Tawbah 9:71)

Specific rights of women

As a daughter

Islam condemned female infanticide and the shame of having a daughter.

وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ

بِأَىِّ ذَنۢبٍۢ قُتِلَتْ

"And when the girl buried alive is asked, for what sin she was killed." (At-Takwir 81:8–9)

The Prophet ﷺ promised that whoever raises two daughters well will be close to him on the Day of Judgement (Muslim).

As a wife

She has a right to consent, to dower, to financial maintenance and to kind treatment. She keeps her own name and property, and can seek release through khula. The Prophet ﷺ said: "The best of you is the best to his family" (Tirmidhi).

وَمِنْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًۭا لِّتَسْكُنُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةًۭ وَرَحْمَةً …

"And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquillity in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy." (Ar-Rum 30:21)

As a mother

The Prophet ﷺ named the mother three times before the father as the person most deserving of good treatment (Bukhari, Muslim).

As an heir

She has a fixed share as daughter, wife, mother and sister (An-Nisa 4:7–12).

As a widow or divorcee

She may remarry, and the Prophet ﷺ himself married widows and a divorcee, in a sharp contrast with the social stigma widows have often suffered.

Specific rights of men and mutual duties

The Quran assigns men the responsibility of maintaining the family (An-Nisa 4:34), and this gives them a corresponding role in the household. Islam also gives men rights: respect as fathers and husbands, an honourable right to work, and protection from false accusation. However, it also limits male power, by requiring kindness and fairness, by restricting polygyny to four wives, with strict justice among them (An-Nisa 4:3), and by forbidding the harsh treatment of wives. Both parties have rights.

… وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَيْهِنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ …

"…And due to them is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable." (Al-Baqarah 2:228)

Comparison with other traditions

What follows concerns historical legal and religious practice, and does not represent every view within those traditions, most of which have since changed considerably.

Pre-Islamic Arabia

Daughters were sometimes buried alive, and widows might be inherited with the estate.

Ancient Rome and Greece

Greek women in Athens had very limited legal standing, and Roman law for a long time gave the father of a family wide authority over women in his household.

Medieval Christian Europe

Under English common-law coverture, for example, a married woman's property and legal identity largely merged with her husband's until the Married Women's Property Acts of the late nineteenth century. Divorce was generally unavailable in the Catholic tradition. Christianity has also made a powerful contribution to human dignity, and Christian women led many reform movements.

Classical Hindu law

Manusmriti placed a woman under the guardianship of her father, husband and son, and she had limited rights to inherit. Sati occurred in some communities until banned in 1829, while widow remarriage only became legal in British India in 1856. Reform came through Indian reformers and modern legislation such as the Hindu Succession Act of 1956.

Judaism

Jewish law gives women significant protection, including the marriage contract (ketubah), and it long gave priority to sons in inheritance, with later rabbinic and modern reforms.

Buddhism

Women could achieve spiritual progress, and the Buddha founded an order of nuns, with additional rules for them, but it gave few detailed laws on inheritance and on family life.

Where Islam stands out

It gave women in the seventh century an independent right to property, to inherit, to consent and to divorce, and this was all written into the foundational scripture itself, which is why those rights cannot easily be set aside by custom.

Critical appraisal

Against the claim

Modern secular human-rights law, and many reformed religious communities, now give formal equality in inheritance and in other areas. Islamic law retains differences on inheritance shares, on some matters of testimony and on family roles. Muslims would answer that these form a package with male financial responsibility, and many scholars call for new interpretation in view of changing conditions. Others see these as real inequalities. An honest answer acknowledges this debate.

In favour of the claim

Islam's rights are comprehensive and balanced: they cover this life and the next, the individual and the family, and rights and duties alike. They also have a strong moral sanction that does not rely on the state.

The verdict

The strongest version of the claim is that Islam was historically ahead of its time, and that its framework remains balanced and just. The weaker claim, that all Muslims today treat men and women better than all others, is plainly untrue.

Pakistan: from teaching to practice

Honour killing, forced marriage, denial of inheritance, child marriage and domestic violence all persist in Pakistan, and they are often justified in the name of religion. Men, too, suffer from a culture of feuds and violence, and from an excessive burden of being expected to provide. The Constitution (Articles 25 and 34) and laws such as the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Act 2011 support reform, but enforcement is weak. If Muslims wish to convince the world of this claim, then their actions must support it.

Conclusion

Islam grants men and women life, dignity, spiritual equality, knowledge, property, justice and social responsibility, and gives women specific rights as daughters, wives, mothers and heirs. Historically, it was far ahead of many earlier legal and religious systems. The claim is therefore well supported when understood in terms of principles and history, though a fair analysis must respect the contributions of other traditions and acknowledge the ongoing debates. The best argument for Islam is a Muslim society that actually provides these rights.

The writer can be reached at ma6749429@gmail.com