Education and Muslim Women – The Contribution of the Wives of Prophet Mohammad

Authors

  • Dr.Taiyaba Nazli Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Keywords:

Education in Muslim women, Contribution of Muslim women in education, Rights of women in Islam, Status of women education.

Abstract

The Holy Qura’ n ordained that acquiring knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim and this narration applies to men and women equally. Knowledge in this context does not refer to knowledge of the Holy Quran only as no Muslim should be ignorant of his/her faith, but also covers the other areas of general education which contributes to the welfare of the society.  Women in Islam are completely free to educate themselves, make contracts, entitled to inherit as a mother, daughter, sister and a wife. According to the eminent scholar Ibn Asakir, plenty of opportunities were available for women’s education in the 12th C in the medieval Islamic World. He stated that women could study and earn Ijazahs (Academic Degrees) and qualify as scholar (ulama) and teachers. He further elaborates that he himself had studied under 80 different female teachers in his times. It is very unfortunate to realize that the majority of women are ignorant about the rights given to them by Islam. It is particularly the ignorance about their religion among Muslims that has created the oppression of women since women believe that it is not right for them to demand their God-given rights, the process of this suppression continues with the following generations. According to Sachar Committee Report “majority, that is, about 69-75% of Muslim women in India do not want to educate their daughters beyond primary level of education”. This paper has presented the details of the services rendered by renowned Muslim women and their educational status in the previous centuries. The purpose is to highlight the issues Muslim women are confronted with. Today’s women can compare their situation with the women in the past and realize what conditions they have come down to.

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Published

2023-03-28