Short answer
The Manusmriti, the Hindu law book also called the Laws of Manu, gives a wife her wedding gifts but not control of her property. It says what a wife earns is acquired for her husband. Its main commentators say she cannot dispose of it on her own. Manu says a woman must never be independent. A wife must worship her husband as a god, even one without virtue. Neither sale nor rejection frees a wife from her husband. Manu does not prescribe remarriage for widows, and it penalises it. The Rig Veda tells the widow to rise and return to life, but the Vishnu Smriti, another law book, offers her the funeral pyre. Hindu women's rights in law came later, from legislatures between 1955 and 2005, not from these books. In the seventh century, Islam gave women their earnings, inheritance, dower, consent and a way out of a marriage.
Full explanation
The law book and its standing
The Manusmriti, the Laws of Manu, is the best known of the Hindu law books. It belongs to smriti, the remembered tradition, which ranks below the Veda. It was not a stray text. Medhatithi, the oldest commentator whose work survives, and later commentators explained it verse by verse. Shankara was a Hindu teacher of about the 8th century, the best-known teacher of Advaita Vedanta. He sided with Manu against Kapila, the teacher of the Sankhya school. He calls Manu the one "who follows the Veda". The commentators also explain why the duties of husband and wife stand in the section on civil and criminal law. The king can enforce them by punishment when either side complains. In fact he is bound to. What follows was meant as law.
“All which proves that the system of Kapila contradicts the Veda, and the doctrine of Manu who follows the Veda, by its hypothesis of a plurality of Selfs also, not only by the assumption of an independent pradhâna.”
“According to Medh., Gov., and Kull. the duties of husband and wife are placed in the section on civil and criminal law, because the king can and even is bound to enforce their observance by punishments, if either of the two raises a complaint.”
Property: her wedding gifts are hers, her earnings are not
Manu does give a woman property of her own. It lists "the sixfold property of a woman" (shadvidham stridhanam), called stridhana. These are six kinds of gift. They are given before the wedding fire, in the bridal procession, as a token of love, and by her brother, mother or father. Manu forbids a father to take even the smallest price for his daughter. Men who live on the separate property of women, it says, sink into hell. But the same book says that a wife, a son and a slave "are declared to have no property". What they earn "is (acquired) for him to whom they belong". Four commentators read this verse more mildly: Medhatithi, Govindaraja, Kulluka and Raghavananda. They say it means only that these persons cannot dispose of their property independently. On either reading, a wife may not dispose of her property on her own. Manu says the same elsewhere: nothing must be done by a woman "independently, even in her own house". A later verse says women may not make a hoard from the family's common property, or from their husbands' own property, without permission. Kulluka and Raghavananda read the verse that way. Two other commentators, Narayana and Nandana, read it as the wife's own property that is not stridhana. She may take nothing from it without her husband's consent. Narayana adds that a later gift and her husband's gifts of affection are not stridhana, so she has no right of free disposal over them.
“What (was given) before the (nuptial) fire, what (was given) on the bridal procession, what was given in token of love, and what was received from her brother, mother, or father, that is called the sixfold property of a woman.”
“No father who knows (the law) must take even the smallest gratuity for his daughter; for a man who, through avarice, takes a gratuity, is a seller of his offspring. But those (male) relations who, in their folly, live on the separate property of women, (e. g. appropriate) the beasts of burden, carriages, and clothes of women, commit sin and will sink into hell.”
“A wife, a son, and a slave, these three are declared to have no property; the wealth which they earn is (acquired) for him to whom they belong.”
“According to Medh., Gov., Kull., Râgh., the verse means only that these persons are unable to dispose of their property independently.”
“By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent.”
“Women should never make a hoard from (the property of) their families which is common to many, nor from their own (husbands' particular) property without permission.”
“But according to Nâr. and Nand. the translation should be as follows, 'Wives should never take anything (for their private expenses) from (their husbands' property, destined for the support of) their families, on which many have a claim, nor from their own property (which is not strîdhana), without the consent of their husbands.'”
“Nâr. remarks that 'a gift subsequent' and 'the husband's affectionate gift' are not strîdhana, or separate property, and that hence the wife has no right of free disposal with respect to these two.”
Never independent, and the husband worshipped as a god
Manu places a woman under a man at every age: her father in childhood, her husband in youth, her sons when her lord is dead. It says so twice, in two wordings. In chapter 5, "a woman must never be independent". In chapter 9, "a woman is never fit for independence" (na stri svatantryam arhati). Day and night women "must be kept in dependence". Then comes the verse that goes furthest. A husband may be without virtue, seek pleasure elsewhere, or have no good qualities. Still he "must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife". Manu binds the husband too. It calls mutual fidelity until death "the summary of the highest law for husband and wife". The king fines a man who casts off his wife. A husband may supersede a barren wife in the eighth year, and one who bears only daughters in the eleventh. To supersede a wife is to marry another wife over her. A wife "must not seek to separate herself" from her father, husband or sons. And neither sale nor repudiation by her husband releases her from him. Medhatithi explains that such a wife can never become the lawful wife of another man.
“By a girl, by a young woman, or even by an aged one, nothing must be done independently, even in her own house. In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent.”
“Day and night women must be kept in dependence by the males (of) their (families), and, if they attach themselves to sensual enjoyments, they must be kept under one's control. Her father protects (her) in childhood, her husband protects (her) in youth, and her sons protect (her) in old age; a woman is never fit for independence.”
“Though destitute of virtue, or seeking pleasure (elsewhere), or devoid of good qualities, (yet) a husband must be constantly worshipped as a god by a faithful wife.”
“'Let mutual fidelity continue until death,' this may be considered as the summary of the highest law for husband and wife.”
“Neither a mother, nor a father, nor a wife, nor a son shall be cast off; he who casts them off, unless guilty of a crime causing loss of caste, shall be fined by the king six hundred (panas).”
“A barren wife may be superseded in the eighth year, she whose children (all) die in the tenth, she who bears only daughters in the eleventh, but she who is quarrelsome without delay.”
“She must not seek to separate herself from her father, husband, or sons; by leaving them she would make both (her own and her husband's) families contemptible.”
“Neither by sale nor by repudiation is a wife released from her husband; such we know the law to be, which the Lord of creatures (Pragâpati) made of old.”
Widows: remarriage not prescribed, and penalised
Manu's rule for a widow is lifelong austerity. She may live on flowers, roots and fruit. But she "must never even mention the name of another man" after her husband dies, and must stay chaste until death. "Nor is a second husband anywhere prescribed for virtuous women", and the re-marriage of widows is not prescribed in the rules of marriage. Manu does know of widows who remarry. It names the son of a widow who remarries "of her own accord". It lets a widow who is still a virgin go through the wedding rite again. But it penalises the remarriage. Manu lists the Brahmins, the priests, who must not be invited to eat at the funeral feast for the ancestors. The son of a remarried woman, and the husband of one, are among them. A Brahmin who knows the law must shun them as "these lowest of twice-born men". Other law books differ. Narada, another law book, lets a woman take another husband in five cases, among them when her husband is lost or dead. Manu's commentators divided over it for a wife whose husband had gone abroad. Medhatithi knew the view that Narada's rule let her remarry, and rejected it. Nandana saw no sin if she took another husband after the waiting term had passed. A widower, by contrast, "may marry again" under Manu. So the exact statement is this: Manu does not prescribe remarriage for a widow, and it penalises it.
“At her pleasure let her emaciate her body by (living on) pure flowers, roots, and fruit; but she must never even mention the name of another man after her husband has died. Until death let her be patient (of hardships), self-controlled, and chaste, and strive (to fulfil) that most excellent duty which (is prescribed) for wives who have one husband only.”
“Offspring begotten by another man is here not (considered lawful), nor (does offspring begotten) on another man's wife (belong to the begetter), nor is a second husband anywhere prescribed for virtuous women.”
“In the sacred texts which refer to marriage the appointment (of widows) is nowhere mentioned, nor is the re-marriage of widows prescribed in the rules concerning marriage.”
“If a woman abandoned by her husband, or a widow, of her own accord contracts a second marriage and bears (a son), he is called the son of a re-married woman (Paunarbhava). If she be (still) a virgin, or one who returned (to her first husband) after leaving him, she is worthy to again perform with her second (or first deserted) husband the (nuptial) ceremony.”
“An actor or singer, one who has broken the vow of studentship, one whose (only or first) wife is a Sûdra female, the son of a remarried woman, a one-eyed man, and he in whose house a paramour of his wife (resides);”
“A shepherd, a keeper of buffaloes, the husband of a remarried woman, and a carrier of dead bodies, (all these) must be carefully avoided. A Brâhmana who knows (the sacred law) should shun at (sacrifices) both (to the gods and to the manes) these lowest of twice-born men, whose conduct is reprehensible, and who are unworthy (to sit) in the company (at a repast).”
“When her husband is lost or dead, when he has become a religious ascetic, when he is impotent, and when he has been expelled from caste: these are the five cases of legal necessity, in which a woman may be justified in taking another husband.”
“Nand. says, 'the meaning is that no sin is committed if she afterwards takes another husband.' Medh. holds that she shall support herself, as before, by blameless occupations and remain chaste. He mentions the opinion of others, according to which she may take another husband in accordance with Nârada's and Parâsara's precepts, but rejects it.”
“Having thus, at the funeral, given the sacred fires to his wife who dies before him, he may marry again, and again kindle (the fires).”
Sati: the Veda says rise, a law book offers the pyre
Sati is the burning of a widow with her husband's body. The Rig Veda does not command it. Its funeral hymn says the opposite: "Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman". Manu does not command it either, and prescribes a widow's austerity instead. Medhatithi, its oldest surviving commentator, strongly objected to the practice. But the Vishnu Smriti, another law book, lists the duties of a woman. One is this: after her husband's death, "to preserve her chastity, or to ascend the pile after him". Its commentator Nandapandita calls the widow's self-immolation "a specially meritorious act, and not obligatory". So the pyre was not a mere folk custom. It stood in a law book held sacred, as a meritorious choice, against the plain words of the Veda.
“Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman: come, he is lifeless by whose side thou liest. Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.”
“At her pleasure let her emaciate her body by (living on) pure flowers, roots, and fruit; but she must never even mention the name of another man after her husband has died. Until death let her be patient (of hardships), self-controlled, and chaste, and strive (to fulfil) that most excellent duty which (is prescribed) for wives who have one husband only.”
“Medh. takes this opportunity to strongly object to the practice of widows burning themselves with their husbands' corpses.”
“After the death of her husband, to preserve her chastity, or to ascend the pile after him.”
“Nand. states that the self-immolation of widows (Sattee) is a specially meritorious act, and not obligatory.”
Marriage before puberty
The Gautama Dharmasutra is one of the oldest law books. It says: "A girl should be given in marriage before (she attains the age of) puberty. He who neglects it, commits sin." The sin is the father's or guardian's. If he fails, Gautama lets the maiden choose a blameless husband herself after three monthly periods. The question often put to Muslims about the Prophet's (ﷺ) marriage to Aisha is answered on the site's own page on Aisha's age.
“A girl should be given in marriage before (she attains the age of) puberty. He who neglects it, commits sin.”
What the law book says of women's nature, and of the Veda
Manu says women give themselves "to the handsome and to the ugly". It says they become disloyal "through their natural heartlessness". It says that when creating them Manu gave them "impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct". It says that for women no rite is performed with sacred texts. Women, lacking the Vedic texts, are as impure as falsehood itself. For a girl, the rites of childhood are done "without (the recitation of) sacred texts". Her wedding is her Vedic sacrament. Serving her husband takes the place of a student's years with his teacher of the Veda.
“Women do not care for beauty, nor is their attention fixed on age; (thinking), '(It is enough that) he is a man,' they give themselves to the handsome and to the ugly. Through their passion for men, through their mutable temper, through their natural heartlessness, they become disloyal towards their husbands, however carefully they may be guarded in this (world). Knowing their disposition, which the Lord of creatures laid in them at the creation, to be such, (every) man should most strenuously exert himself to guard them. (When creating them) Manu allotted to women (a love of their) bed, (of their) seat and (of) ornament, impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct. For women no (sacramental) rite (is performed) with sacred texts, thus the law is settled; women (who are) destitute of strength and destitute of (the knowledge of) Vedic texts, (are as impure as) falsehood (itself), that is a fixed rule.”
“This whole series (of ceremonies) must be performed for females (also), in order to sanctify the body, at the proper time and in the proper order, but without (the recitation of) sacred texts. The nuptial ceremony is stated to be the Vedic sacrament for women (and to be equal to the initiation), serving the husband (equivalent to) the residence in (the house of the) teacher, and the household duties (the same) as the (daily) worship of the sacred fire.”
Who changed it: rulers and legislatures, not the law books
The rights Hindu women hold today were not given by these books. Reformers argued from some law books against others, and a ruler or a legislature decided. The Venetian Niccolao Manucci reports an order of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a Muslim ruler, in the 1660s. Officials in all his lands were "never again" to allow a woman to be burnt. Manucci records that Brahmans had complained when soldiers stopped the burning. How far the order was enforced is another matter. British Bengal made sati a crime in 1829. The government of British India made the remarriage of Hindu widows legal in 1856. The Act itself records that many Hindus held the old ban to be custom, not a true reading of their religion. Monogamy and divorce came to Hindus across India with the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955. Full ownership of her property came with the Hindu Succession Act of 1956. Most of India follows the Mitakshara law of the joint family. Under it, sons were coparceners by birth, that is, owners of a share of the family property from the day they were born. Daughters gained that right first in four states, for daughters not yet married. Andhra Pradesh led in 1986, then Tamil Nadu in 1989, and Karnataka and Maharashtra in 1994. Parliament extended it through the Hindu Succession Act only in 2005. Every one of these rights is welcome. Each came from a ruler or a legislature, and none of them changed a word of the books themselves.
“The king issued an order that in all lands under Mogul control never again should the officials allow a woman to be burnt. This order endures to this day.”
Declared the practice of sati, the burning or burying alive of Hindu widows, illegal and punishable by the criminal courts, first in the Bengal Presidency of British India.
Made the remarriage of Hindu widows legal in British India and the children of such marriages legitimate. Its preamble records that many Hindus believed the incapacity, "although it is in accordance with established custom, is not in accordance with a true interpretation of the precepts of their religion".
Part of the Hindu Code. Made a Hindu marriage void if either party already had a living spouse and made bigamy punishable (section 17), and gave husband and wife alike the right to seek divorce (section 13).
Part of the Hindu Code. Made any property possessed by a Hindu woman, however acquired, including by her own skill or exertion, hers as full owner and not as a limited owner (section 14), and made a daughter an heir to her father alongside his sons.
From 9 September 2005 made the daughter of a coparcener a coparcener by birth in her own right, with the same rights in the joint family property as a son. Until then only sons held that right by birth, except in the few states that had already amended the law for daughters unmarried at the time (Andhra Pradesh in 1986, Tamil Nadu in 1989, Karnataka and Maharashtra in 1994).
What the Qur'an gave women, as scripture, in the seventh century
Set the Qur'an beside each of Manu's rules. Manu gives a wife's earnings to her husband. The Qur'an says "to women what they earn". The Qur'an gives women "a determinate share" of what parents and relatives leave. Manu forbids the father a bride-price. The Qur'an requires the husband to give the dower, his gift to the bride, to the woman herself. It is hers to keep or to remit "of their own good pleasure". It forbids men to "inherit women against their will". Manu does not prescribe remarriage for widows. The Qur'an lets widows, after a waiting term of four months and ten days, "dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner". Manu says not even sale or repudiation by her husband releases a wife. The Qur'an gives a wife a way out: she may end the marriage by returning what she received (2:229). The Prophet (ﷺ) applied it when the wife of Thabit ibn Qays asked to leave her husband. He also ruled that no woman is married without being consulted or giving her permission. None of this waited for a parliament. It came as scripture, and it has not changed.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“A divorce is only permissible twice: after that, the parties should either hold Together on equitable terms, or separate with kindness. It is not lawful for you, (Men), to take back any of your gifts (from your wives), except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah. If ye (judges) do indeed fear that they would be unable to keep the limits ordained by Allah, there is no blame on either of them if she give something for her freedom. These are the limits ordained by Allah; so do not transgress them if any do transgress the limits ordained by Allah, such persons wrong (Themselves as well as others).”
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.
Abu Huraira reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said a woman who has been married before is not to be married again without being consulted, and a virgin is not to be married without her permission.
One origin, one reward, and no one worshipped but God (﷾)
The Qur'an says men and women were created from a single soul. It promises that God (﷾) will not let the work of any of them be lost, "be he male or female". It names believing men and believing women side by side for the same forgiveness and reward. Manu says a faithful wife must worship her husband as a god. The Qur'an calls every person, husband and wife alike, to "worship none but Allah". It says we should take no lords from among ourselves besides Him.
“O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.”
“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.”
“Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say ye: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will).”
The replies, answered
Manusmriti 9.194 — chapter 9, verse 194
“What (was given) before the (nuptial) fire, what (was given) on the bridal procession, what was given in token of love, and what was received from her brother, mother, or father, that is called the sixfold property of a woman.”
Cited for
Manu gives a woman her own property, the sixfold stridhana, and it goes to her children. Men who live on it sink into hell. The leading commentators say 8.416 means only that she cannot dispose of her property independently, not that she owns nothing.
The response
That is true, and this page says it. The question is what the stridhana covers and who controls it. The six kinds are gifts: at the wedding fire, in the procession, from her husband, and from her own family. What she earns by her own work is not among them. Verse 8.416 gives it to "him to whom" she belongs. And the commentators' reading is that she cannot dispose of her property independently. Narayana counts a later gift and her husband's gifts of affection outside the stridhana, so she has no free disposal over them. With Nandana he reads 9.199 as forbidding her to take anything from her own property that is not stridhana without her husband's consent. So Manu gave her gifts, but kept her earnings from her. It made her disposal of her property depend on men. The Qur'an gives her both. "To women what they earn" covers her earnings. Her dower is hers to keep or remit "of their own good pleasure". Her inheritance is "a determinate share" fixed by God (﷾).
Where it lands — Manu's stridhana is real, but it is gifts, not her earnings, and the commentators deny her the independent disposal of her property. The Qur'an gives a woman her earnings, her inheritance and her dower, under her own control.
Manusmriti 3.55-59 — chapter 3, verses 55-59
“Women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers, brothers, husbands, and brothers-in-law, who desire (their own) welfare. Where women are honoured, there the gods are pleased; but where they are not honoured, no sacred rite yields rewards. Where the female relations live in grief, the family soon wholly perishes; but that family where they are not unhappy ever prospers. The houses on which female relations, not being duly honoured, pronounce a curse, perish completely, as if destroyed by magic. Hence men who seek (their own) welfare, should always honour women on holidays and festivals with (gifts of) ornaments, clothes, and (dainty) food.”
Cited for
"Where women are honoured, there the gods are pleased" (yatra naryas tu pujyante ramante tatra devatah). Manu honours women more than any other ancient law. The dependence verses are about protection: "her father protects (her) in childhood".
The response
Read the verse with its neighbours. Women are to be honoured by their fathers, brothers and husbands "who desire (their own) welfare". The reason given is the men's welfare. The honour it spells out is "(gifts of) ornaments, clothes, and (dainty) food" on holidays and festivals. Honour of that kind sits beside rules that give a woman no independence at any age and no control of her property. It sits beside a husband "worshipped as a god" even when "destitute of virtue". The same book also says women give themselves "to the handsome and to the ugly", and that heartlessness is their nature. It says Manu gave them "impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct". Protection that denies the protected person her own earnings is not honour. Islam's honour is a set of rights: earnings, inheritance, dower and consent. Its reward from God (﷾) is equal to a man's, "be he male or female".
Where it lands — Manu honours women with gifts, for the men's own welfare, inside a law that keeps them dependent. The Qur'an honours them with rights.
Sahih al-Bukhari 304 — Kitab al-Hayd (Menstrual Periods), hadith 304
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reports that on an Eid day the Prophet (ﷺ) urged the women to give charity. He said he had been shown that most of the people of the Fire were women, because they cursed often and were ungrateful to their husbands, and he called them deficient in intelligence and religion. When they asked what this meant, he said the witness of a woman is half that of a man, and that she does not pray or fast during her period.
Cited for
Islam says the same. The Prophet (ﷺ) said most of the people of the Fire he had been shown were women. He called women deficient in intelligence and religion. Manu is no harsher than that.
The response
He did say "deficient in intelligence and religion". When the women asked what he meant, he explained both words himself. The first is that two women's witness equals one man's, the rule of 2:282 for a written debt. That verse gives its own reason: if one errs, the other can remind her. The site's page on whether Islam oppresses women answers it in full. The second is that a woman does not pray or fast during her period. Both are rules of law, not a flaw of character. His warning about the Fire names deeds, cursing and ingratitude, not a nature given at creation. Manu's list is of another kind. It says that when creating women, Manu gave them "impure desires, wrath, dishonesty, malice, and bad conduct". The Qur'an says God (﷾) will not let the work of any of them be lost, "be he male or female".
Where it lands — The Prophet (ﷺ) explained his words by two rules of law, not by a corrupt nature. Manu ascribes vices to women from their creation.
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.1 — chapter 4, section 5, verse 1
“Yâgñavalkya had two wives, Maitreyî and Kâtyâyanî. Of these Maitreyî was conversant with Brahman, but Kâtyâyanî possessed such knowledge only as women possess.”
Cited for
Vedic women were seers and philosophers. Maitreyi was "conversant with Brahman", and Gargi questioned Yajnavalkya before the assembly of sages. Hinduism honoured women's learning long before other religions.
The response
Gargi and Maitreyi are honoured figures of the Upanishads, and tradition names women among the seers of Rig Veda hymns. Muslims too honour learned women. But the question is what the law allowed ordinary women in later centuries. The same verse that praises Maitreyi says the other wife, Katyayani, "possessed such knowledge only as women possess". Maitreyi is presented as the exception. And the law book that governed women's lives closed the Veda to them. Manu says the rites of a girl's childhood are done "without (the recitation of) sacred texts". Her wedding is her Vedic sacrament, and serving her husband replaces a student's years with his teacher. Bühler's note draws the conclusion: women must not be initiated. In Islam the scripture is addressed to women directly. The Qur'an names believing men and believing women side by side, for the same forgiveness and the same reward.
Where it lands — Two learned women in the Upanishads do not undo a law that kept the Veda from women. The Qur'an was given to women and men alike.
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
Islam is no better. Qur'an 4:34 lets a husband beat his wife, and 2:282 counts two women as one witness. Verse 4:11 gives a daughter half a son's share, and 4:3 allows four wives.
The response
The site answers each of these in full on its own pages. They cover whether Islam oppresses women, women's inheritance in Islam and the Bible, and whether polygamy is unfair to women. In brief: 4:34 is a last step after advice and separate beds. The Prophet (ﷺ) himself said the striking must not be severe, and he never struck a woman. 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. Nothing in it makes a husband a god, and a wife who cannot stay may leave by returning her dower. Verse 2:282 is about witnessing a written debt. It gives its own reason for the second woman: so that if one errs, the other can remind her. In 4:11 the son's larger share comes with the duty to pay the dower and support the family. The daughter's share is hers alone. Under the Hindu Succession Act, daughters became coparceners by birth only in 2005. On polygyny, Manu lets twice-born men who marry again "through desire" take wives of their own and lower castes. It also condemns a Brahmin who takes a Shudra wife. The Qur'an sets a limit of four, with justice, "then only one" if a man fears he cannot be just.
Where it lands — Each verse has a stated limit and a stated reason, and each is answered on the site. None of them gives a husband worship, or takes a wife's earnings or her way out.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5133 — Kitab al-Nikah (Book of Marriage), hadith 5133
Aisha reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) married her when she was six, that the marriage was consummated when she was nine, and that she then lived with him for nine years.
Cited for
Islam allowed child marriage too. Aisha says the Prophet (ﷺ) married her at six and that the marriage was consummated at nine. So the rule of consent did not protect a girl any better than Gautama's law.
The response
Aisha herself gives those ages, and the site's page on Aisha's age answers the question in full. The point here is narrower. Gautama makes it a sin for a father not to give his daughter in marriage before puberty. No verse of the Qur'an and no authentic hadith makes early marriage a duty. Islamic law forbids married life until a wife can bear it without harm. Malik, al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifa held that this readiness differs from girl to girl. Today the law of each country sets the age of marriage, and Muslims keep it wherever they live (17:34). The rule of consent protects a woman able to give it. The Prophet (ﷺ) cancelled a marriage that a father had forced on his daughter, a woman married before. And years later, when Aisha was offered her freedom, she chose to stay.
Where it lands — Gautama made early marriage a father's duty. Islam made it no one's duty, forbids married life before a wife is ready, and makes a grown woman's permission a condition of her marriage.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (Act 30 of 1956), section 14
Part of the Hindu Code. Made any property possessed by a Hindu woman, however acquired, including by her own skill or exertion, hers as full owner and not as a limited owner (section 14), and made a daughter an heir to her father alongside his sons.
Cited for
This is history. Hindu women are equal in law today. The Hindu Code gives them property, divorce, monogamy and equal inheritance. Nobody lives by the Manusmriti now.
The response
These rights are real, and they are welcome. But look at how they came. The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ordered an end to sati on his return from Kashmir, Manucci reports; historians date it to 1663. British Bengal made sati a crime in 1829, and British India legalised widow remarriage in 1856. The Hindu Code came from India's parliament in 1955 and 1956. The daughter's right by birth under the Hindu Succession Act came in 2005. Hindu reformers did argue from their own books. The 1856 Act itself says many Hindus held the ban to be custom, not "a true interpretation of the precepts of their religion". They quoted Narada and Parashara, who let a woman take another husband in five cases. But Manu says no second husband is prescribed. Medhatithi rejected the appeal to Narada's rule. The books gave both answers, so a legislature had to choose between them. Not a verse of the books was changed. Muslim countries have passed family laws too, but most of them regulate what the Qur'an already permits, such as a second marriage. Where local custom had kept a daughter from her share, the law only had to apply the Qur'an. No legislature had to choose between scriptures to give a wife her earnings, a daughter her share, or a widow the right to remarry. The Qur'an gave those as scripture, in the seventh century. Why a son's share is larger is answered on the page on women's inheritance.
Where it lands — Hindu women's rights in law came through legislatures, choosing between law books that gave opposite answers. The rights the Qur'an gives women stand in its own text, and came as scripture.
Shankara, commentary on Brahma Sutra 2.1.1 — Sacred Books of the East 34, p. 295
“All which proves that the system of Kapila contradicts the Veda, and the doctrine of Manu who follows the Veda, by its hypothesis of a plurality of Selfs also, not only by the assumption of an independent pradhâna.”
Cited for
Manu is only smriti, and smriti yields to the Veda. It was never binding on all Hindus, and much of it may be interpolation.
The response
Smriti does rank below the Veda, and Shankara says so: a smriti that contradicts the Veda is set aside. But he names Manu as a smriti that follows the Veda, in a passage on the one Self. The classical commentators explained Manu's rules on women verse by verse as law, and did not set them aside. They say the king is bound to enforce the duties of husband and wife by punishment. On interpolation, Bühler, whose translation this page uses, agrees that the book grew. He thought the section on women's duties in chapter 5 had "probably" been enlarged. But his test for old material is whether a rule stands in the older law books. The rule that "a woman is never fit for independence" stands in the Vasishtha Dharmasutra too, and in Baudhayana. By the same test, Bühler listed the verses on honouring women (3.55-60) among the doubtful passages. So the theory cannot remove the harsh verses and keep the kind ones. And the tradition gives no agreed test for which law book, and which verse, is God's (﷾) will. The Qur'an's rules on women stand in its own text, and no legislature changed them.
Where it lands — The classical tradition upheld and enforced Manu, and its rule of dependence is older than Manu. Setting it aside is a modern choice, and it leaves no agreed scriptural law in its place.
Rig Veda 10.18.8 — Mandala 10, Hymn 18, verse 8
“Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman: come, he is lifeless by whose side thou liest. Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.”
Cited for
Sati was never Hindu scripture. The Rig Veda tells the widow to "rise, come unto the world of life". Sati was a social evil that Hindu reformers themselves fought.
The response
Islam agrees that the Veda does not command it, and this page says so. But the Vishnu Smriti, a law book held sacred, lists ascending the pyre among a widow's duties, as an alternative to chastity. Its commentator Nandapandita calls it "a specially meritorious act". Manu's own commentator Medhatithi had to object to it strongly. The tradition has a rule for such conflicts, which Shankara quotes: where smriti contradicts the Veda, the smriti "is to be disregarded". Yet the rule never removed the pyre from the law book or its commentary. Sati was ended in law by a British regulation in 1829, after a Mughal order had tried to stop it. Law books that contradict their Veda on a woman's life do not give the clear guidance people need. The Qur'an has no such contradiction: a widow waits four months and ten days, and then may marry again.
Where it lands — The Veda and a sacred law book gave opposite answers on the widow's pyre, and the tradition's own rule did not remove it. The Qur'an gives one answer: she lives, and may remarry.
Perspectives
Manu honours and protects women (traditional Hindu reading)
Manu commands that women be honoured, and warns that a family where they grieve will perish. It gives a woman her own property, the stridhana, which passes to her children, and calls it a sin for men to live on it. Its rules of dependence are rules of protection: father, husband and sons each must guard her. It binds the husband too. Mutual fidelity until death is the highest law of marriage, and the king fines a man who casts off his wife.
The Manusmriti with its classical commentators
Manu says the gods are pleased where women are honoured. Where they are not, no sacred rite brings any reward.
Rebuttal
The same passage gives the men's own welfare as the reason. The honour it spells out is gifts of ornaments, clothes and food on festivals. Islam's honour is a set of rights: earnings, inheritance, dower and consent.
Manu lists six kinds of property that belong to a woman. He says men who live on a woman's own property sink into hell.
Rebuttal
That is true, and it is to Manu's credit. But the six kinds are gifts. What a wife earns "is (acquired) for him to whom" she belongs, Manu says. The Qur'an gives women "what they earn".
The dependence verses are about protection: her father, husband and sons protect her at each stage of life.
Rebuttal
The same verses end: "a woman is never fit for independence". Protection that takes a woman's earnings is not honour. In Islam she keeps her earnings, and a grown woman is not married without her permission.
The leading commentators read 8.416 narrowly. It means only that a wife cannot sell or give away her property on her own, not that she owns nothing.
Rebuttal
Grant that reading. Even so, a wife may not dispose of her property on her own. The Qur'an gives her earnings, dower and inheritance, and they are hers.
Manu calls faithfulness to each other until death the highest law for husband and wife. And it sets a fine for a man who casts off his wife.
Rebuttal
Grant it. But the same book tells a faithful wife to worship her husband as a god. The Qur'an calls every person, husband and wife alike, to worship none but Allah (﷾).
Manu is not the Veda (reforming Hindu reading)
The Veda is the highest authority, and smriti yields to it. The Veda tells the widow to rise and live, and the Upanishads honour women who knew Brahman. The harsh verses of Manu are later growth, and modern Hindu law has given women equal rights.
Hindu reformers and many Hindus today
The Rig Veda's funeral hymn tells the widow to rise and come back to the world of life.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees, and this page says so. But a law book held sacred, the Vishnu Smriti, still offers her the pyre. The Qur'an gives one answer: a widow waits, then may marry again.
The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad presents Maitreyi as conversant with Brahman, and Gargi questions Yajnavalkya before the assembly.
Rebuttal
They are honoured, and Muslims honour learned women too. But Manu says a girl's rites are done without sacred texts. The Qur'an names believing men and believing women side by side.
Medhatithi, Manu's commentator, strongly objected to widow-burning.
Rebuttal
He did, and that is to his credit. But his objection did not remove the pyre from the Vishnu Smriti.
Shankara himself states the rule that where smriti contradicts the Veda, the smriti is to be disregarded.
Rebuttal
He does. Yet the Vishnu Smriti's own commentator still calls the pyre "a specially meritorious act". The rule was there, and the tradition did not apply it to the widow.
Other law books, such as Narada, let a woman take another husband in five cases. Reformers pointed to them when they argued that widows may remarry.
Rebuttal
They did. But Manu says no second husband is prescribed, and Medhatithi rejected the appeal to Narada's rule. The books gave both answers. The Qur'an lets a widow remarry after her waiting term.
Indian law now gives Hindu daughters the same rights as sons in the joint family property.
Rebuttal
That right is welcome. But a legislature gave it in 2005, and no word of the books changed. The Qur'an gave women a fixed share of inheritance as scripture in the seventh century. The daughter's share is hers alone. The son's larger share comes with the duty to spend on his dependants (4:11).
The Islamic perspective
Men and women come from one soul and are judged by one measure. The Qur'an gives a woman what she earns, a fixed inheritance and a dower of her own. It gives her a way out of her marriage, and remarriage when widowed. The Prophet (ﷺ) added that she is not married without her consent. The Qur'an came as scripture in the seventh century, not as a later reform, and it forbids worshipping anyone but God (﷾).
The Qur'an gives women what they earn and a fixed share of inheritance.
The dower belongs to the wife, and men may not inherit women against their will.
A widow may remarry after her waiting term, and a wife may end her marriage by returning the dower.
The Prophet (ﷺ) ruled that no woman is married without her consent.
Men and women were created from one soul, and God (﷾) rewards the work of each alike.
Worship is for God (﷾) alone, so no husband may be worshipped as a god.