Short answer
No. The Qur'an makes men and women equal before God (﷾). It promises that no good deed will be lost, male or female. Islamic law gave women rights fourteen centuries ago that women in England and America won only in the last two centuries. A Muslim woman may own property, keep her own earnings and inherit a fixed share. The Prophet (ﷺ) required that a woman be asked before she is married. He undid a marriage a father had forced on his daughter. She may also seek a divorce. The Qur'an punishes anyone who accuses a chaste woman without four witnesses. It condemned the burying of baby girls alive. It never blames Eve alone for the first sin. Where Muslim women are denied these rights today, the fault lies with custom, not with Islam. Islam's answer: women stand equal with men before God (﷾), and their rights are written into its law.
Full explanation
Equal before God (﷾)
The Qur'an speaks to men and women side by side. It promises both the same reward. It says that no one's work is lost, whether male or female. What raises a person before God (﷾) is faith and good deeds, not being male or female. The Qur'an sets two women as the example for all who believe, men and women alike. They are the wife of Pharaoh and Mary.
“And their Lord hath accepted of them, and answered them: "Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female: Ye are members, one of another: Those who have left their homes, or been driven out therefrom, or suffered harm in My Cause, or fought or been slain,- verily, I will blot out from them their iniquities, and admit them into Gardens with rivers flowing beneath;- A reward from the presence of Allah, and from His presence is the best of rewards."”
“For Muslim men and women,- for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in Charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise,- for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward.”
“Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions.”
“And Allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe the wife of Pharaoh: Behold she said: "O my Lord! Build for me, in nearness to Thee, a mansion in the Garden, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those that do wrong";”
“And Mary the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants).”
Her property, her earnings, her inheritance
The Qur'an gives women a share of what parents and relatives leave. It gives a wife her own fixed share of her husband's estate. The Qur'an says women have what they earn. The dower is the gift a husband pays at marriage. It belongs to the bride, not to her family. Islamic law gave all of this in the seventh century.
“From what is left by parents and those nearest related there is a share for men and a share for women, whether the property be small or large,-a determinate share.”
“In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts.”
“And in no wise covet those things in which Allah Hath bestowed His gifts More freely on some of you than on others: To men is allotted what they earn, and to women what they earn: But ask Allah of His bounty. For Allah hath full knowledge of all things.”
“And give the women (on marriage) their dower as a free gift; but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, Take it and enjoy it with right good cheer.”
Consent to marriage and the right to leave it
The Prophet (ﷺ) said a woman must be asked before she is married. He annulled a marriage a father had forced on his daughter. A wife who could not remain with her husband was allowed to end the marriage by returning her dower. She was allowed this even though she had no complaint against him. The Qur'an forbids men to take women as an inheritance against their will. It commands kindness to wives. It also forbids a husband to take his wife back after a divorce in order to harm her.
Aisha asked the Prophet (ﷺ) whether women should be asked for their consent to marriage. He said yes; and when she said a virgin may be too shy to speak, he said her silence is her consent.
Khansa bint Khidam, who had been married before, reports that her father married her off against her wishes, so she went to the Prophet (ﷺ), and he declared the marriage invalid.
The wife of Thabit ibn Qais told the Prophet (ﷺ) she had no complaint about her husband's character or religion, but she could not stay with him. The Prophet asked whether she would give back the garden he had given her as dower. She agreed, and the Prophet told Thabit to take it back and divorce her.
“O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good.”
“When ye divorce women, and they fulfil the term of their ('Iddat), either take them back on equitable terms or set them free on equitable terms; but do not take them back to injure them, (or) to take undue advantage; if any one does that; He wrongs his own soul. Do not treat Allah's Signs as a jest, but solemnly rehearse Allah's favours on you, and the fact that He sent down to you the Book and Wisdom, for your instruction. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is well acquainted with all things.”
Her good name is protected by law
The Qur'an sets a penalty for anyone who accuses a chaste woman of sex outside marriage and cannot bring four witnesses. The penalty, which only a lawful court may carry out, is eighty lashes. And the accuser's word is never accepted as evidence again, unless he repents and changes his ways. So accusing a woman like this is not just frowned on. It is a crime, unless the accuser brings four witnesses.
“And those who launch a charge against chaste women, and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegations),- flog them with eighty stripes; and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors;-”
“Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct); for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Daughters and mothers
The Qur'an pictures the buried baby girl being asked, before all creation, for what crime she was killed. This condemns her killer. The Prophet (ﷺ) promised that whoever raises daughters well will be shielded by them from the Fire. When a man wanted to go out to fight, the Prophet (ﷺ) told him to stay with his mother, for Paradise was beneath her feet.
“When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned - For what crime she was killed;”
Aisha reports that a poor woman came to her with her two daughters, and she had only one date to give. The mother split it between her two daughters and left. When Aisha told the Prophet (ﷺ), he said that whoever is tested with daughters and treats them well, they will be a shield for him from the Fire.
Mu'awiya ibn Jahima reports that his father Jahima came to the Prophet (ﷺ) wanting to go out and fight, and asked his advice. The Prophet asked whether he had a mother. When he said yes, the Prophet told him to stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet.
When Western women won the same rights
Under English common law, a married woman's property passed to her husband until the nineteenth century. In England a married woman could not fully own property in her own right until 1882. That was some twelve centuries after Islamic law gave a wife control of her own wealth. Until the 1970s a woman in Britain or America could be refused a loan or credit in her own name. In Britain the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 ended that. In the United States it was ended by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, which took effect in 1975. These rights reached Western women through modern, secular law-making.
Allowed a married woman in England to own and control property in her own right, as if she were unmarried. Before it, most of what a wife owned passed to her husband; an 1870 Act had let her keep only her own earnings and a few other kinds of property.
Made it unlawful in Great Britain to discriminate on grounds of sex in providing goods, facilities and services, including loans, credit and finance (section 29).
Made it unlawful in the United States for a lender to refuse credit to an applicant because of sex or marital status.
Inheritance in the Law of Moses
The Law of Moses is the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. In the order of heirs it sets out, a daughter inherits only if there is no son. A widow is not named at all. The Qur'an gives the daughter a share alongside her brothers, and the wife her own fixed share. A son receives twice a daughter's share, because Islam puts the whole cost of the family on him. What she inherits is hers alone.
“And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter. And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren. And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren. And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
“Allah (thus) directs you as regards your Children's (Inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females: if only daughters, two or more, their share is two-thirds of the inheritance; if only one, her share is a half. For parents, a sixth share of the inheritance to each, if the deceased left children; if no children, and the parents are the (only) heirs, the mother has a third; if the deceased Left brothers (or sisters) the mother has a sixth. (The distribution in all cases ('s) after the payment of legacies and debts. Ye know not whether your parents or your children are nearest to you in benefit. These are settled portions ordained by Allah; and Allah is All-knowing, Al-wise.”
“In what ye leave, their share is a fourth, if ye leave no child; but if ye leave a child, they get an eighth; after payment of legacies and debts.”
Remarriage after divorce
The Law of Moses says a divorced woman may go and be another man's wife. The Qur'an forbids anyone to stop a divorced woman marrying again on fair terms once her waiting period is over. It leaves a widow free to marry after hers. Matthew's Gospel says that whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. On this the Qur'an stands with Moses.
“When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man’s wife.”
“When ye divorce women, and they fulfil the term of their ('Iddat), do not prevent them from marrying their (former) husbands, if they mutually agree on equitable terms. This instruction is for all amongst you, who believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is (the course Making for) most virtue and purity amongst you and Allah knows, and ye know not.”
“If any of you die and leave widows behind, they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: When they have fulfilled their term, there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner. And Allah is well acquainted with what ye do.”
“But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”
Who was blamed for the first sin
The First Epistle to Timothy is a letter in the New Testament. It says that Adam was not deceived but the woman was. On that ground it forbids a woman to teach. Tertullian was a Christian writer of the second and third centuries. He told women that each of them was an Eve and called woman the devil's gateway. This teaching shaped the Christian view of women for centuries.
“Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
Tertullian tells Christian women that each of them is an Eve, and that God's sentence on their sex, and its guilt, still live on. He calls woman the devil's gateway and the first deserter of the divine law, and says that because of what she earned, death, even the Son of God had to die.
The Qur'an does not blame Eve alone
In the Qur'an, Satan whispers to both of them, deceives both of them, and both of them eat. Where the Qur'an names one of them, it names Adam. It then tells how his Lord forgave him and guided him. The Qur'an lays no inherited guilt on women.
“Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them, bringing openly before their minds all their shame that was hidden from them (before): he said: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever." And he swore to them both, that he was their sincere adviser. So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree, their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?"”
“In the result, they both ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow himself to be seduced. But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him, and gave him Guidance.”
The verses critics quote
Qur'an 4:34 — Surat al-Nisa (The Women), verse 34
“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all).”
Cited for
Critics read this as permission for husbands to beat their wives.
The response
The verse sets out steps for a wife's "disloyalty and ill-conduct", in its own words. First comes advice, then separate beds, and last of all a striking. The classical commentators, the scholars who explained the Qur'an, limit that striking to one that is not severe and does no harm. They quote the Prophet (ﷺ) saying so in his Farewell Sermon, given on his last pilgrimage to Mecca. His wife Aisha reports that he never struck a woman or a servant. Muslims keep the law of the country they live in (17:34), and in Britain, America and many other countries any striking of a spouse is a crime.
Where it lands — As the classical commentators read it, the verse allows no injury, and his wife reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) never struck a woman.
Qur'an 2:282 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 282
“O ye who believe! When ye deal with each other, in transactions involving future obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing Let a scribe write down faithfully as between the parties: let not the scribe refuse to write: as Allah Has taught him, so let him write. Let him who incurs the liability dictate, but let him fear His Lord Allah, and not diminish aught of what he owes. If the party liable is mentally deficient, or weak, or unable Himself to dictate, Let his guardian dictate faithfully, and get two witnesses, out of your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as ye choose, for witnesses, so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her. The witnesses should not refuse when they are called on (For evidence). Disdain not to reduce to writing (your contract) for a future period, whether it be small or big: it is juster in the sight of Allah, More suitable as evidence, and more convenient to prevent doubts among yourselves but if it be a transaction which ye carry out on the spot among yourselves, there is no blame on you if ye reduce it not to writing. But take witness whenever ye make a commercial contract; and let neither scribe nor witness suffer harm. If ye do (such harm), it would be wickedness in you. So fear Allah; For it is Allah that teaches you. And Allah is well acquainted with all things. If ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose). And if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another, let the trustee (faithfully) discharge his trust, and let him Fear his Lord conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it, - his heart is tainted with sin. And Allah knoweth all that ye do.”
Cited for
Critics read this as saying a woman's word is worth half a man's.
The response
The verse is about putting debts and business contracts in writing. It gives its own reason for the second woman: if one of them errs, the other can remind her. Some matters only a woman could know, such as who had breastfed whom as babies, which can bar a marriage. In such a matter the Prophet (ﷺ) told a husband to part from his wife on the word of one woman. In the Qur'an's oath between husband and wife, her four oaths stand equal to his.
Where it lands — The verse gives its own reason, a matter of memory in business dealings. In a matter a woman knew, one woman's word was enough for the Prophet (ﷺ) to tell a husband to part from his wife. In the oath between spouses her word equals his.
Perspectives
The modern objection: unequal shares
Many critics without a religion point to rules they see as unequal, such as a son inheriting twice a daughter's share. They say Islam treats women as less than men.
Critics say the Qur'an gives a son twice a daughter's share of inheritance, so it treats women as lesser.
Rebuttal
The bigger share comes with a duty. The man must provide for his wife and children from his own money. But a woman's marriage gift and her earnings are her own, and she owes her money to no one. The Qur'an gave women fixed shares and property of their own in the seventh century. Married women in England could not fully own property until 1882. And the Qur'an promises the same reward for the same faith and deeds, man or woman.
The comparison with the West and the Bible
The rights critics say Islam denies women came to Western women late. The Bible's own teaching on women was harsher.
Married women in England could not fully own property in their own names. That changed with the Married Women's Property Act of 1882.
In Britain, a lender could refuse a woman credit because she was a woman. That lasted until the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975.
American women could be refused credit because of their sex or whether they were married. That lasted until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 came into force in 1975.
Most of these reforms in the West came in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They came through non-religious law, not from the Bible's teaching on women.
In the Law of Moses, a daughter inherits only when there is no son. The widow is not named among the heirs at all.
The First Letter to Timothy says that the woman was deceived, not Adam. It gives this as a reason why she may not teach.
Where Muslim women are denied these rights today, the cause is local custom or a country's own laws, not Islamic law. Islamic law itself gives women these rights.
The Islamic perspective
Islam honours women as the spiritual equals of men. In the seventh century, it gave them legal rights that women in England and America won only in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Prophet (ﷺ) required that a woman be asked before she was married, and he honoured mothers above all.
The Qur'an promises that no one's good work is lost, male or female.
The Qur'an gives women a fixed share of inheritance.
Islamic law holds that a woman's earnings and dower are her own property. The Qur'an assigns men and women what they earn and gives the dower to the bride.
The Prophet (ﷺ) required a woman to be asked before she was married. He cancelled a marriage a father had forced on his daughter.
A wife may end her marriage by returning her dower, even without a fault in her husband.
The Qur'an forbids a husband to take his wife back after a divorce in order to harm her.
The Qur'an punishes anyone who accuses a chaste woman of sex outside marriage without four witnesses. It never accepts his word as evidence again, unless he repents.
The Qur'an condemns the burying alive of baby girls.
The Qur'an lays the first sin on Adam and Eve together, and never on Eve alone.
Men and women stand equal before God (﷾), with the same reward for the same faith and deeds.