Women's Rights Movements in Muslim World
Women in Muslim-majority countries face systematic discrimination, violence, and oppression justified by Islamic teachings and law. While brave women's rights activists work tirelessly for reform, they battle not just cultural traditions but explicit Quranic commands and hadith that enshrine female inequality. These activists face imprisonment, torture, and death for challenging Islamic patriarchy. Understanding their struggle reveals both the courage of Muslim women and the deep incompatibility between Islam and women's rights.
Islamic Teachings on Women
Before examining women's rights movements, we must understand what these activists are fighting against—explicit Islamic teachings that establish male supremacy and female subordination.
"Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them." (Quran 4:34)
This verse explicitly permits wife-beating and establishes male authority over women. It's not metaphorical or cultural—it's direct divine command.
"And call to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if two men be not found then a man and two women." (Quran 2:282)
A woman's testimony is worth half a man's in Islamic law.
"Allah directs you as regards your children's (inheritance): to the male, a portion equal to that of two females." (Quran 4:11)
Women inherit half what men inherit.
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: "Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, 'O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).' They asked, 'Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle?' He replied, 'You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you.'" (Sahih Bukhari 1:6:301)
Muhammad declared women deficient in intelligence and religion, and said most hell-dwellers are women.
What Women's Rights Activists Are Fighting Against
Women's rights activists in Muslim countries battle these practices rooted in Islamic law:
- Male guardianship systems: Women require male permission for marriage, travel, work, or medical procedures
- Unequal divorce rights: Men can divorce by simply saying "I divorce you" three times; women must prove grounds in court
- Child marriage: Muhammad married Aisha at age 6 and consummated at age 9, setting precedent
- Polygamy: Men can have up to four wives; women cannot have multiple husbands
- Unequal inheritance: Women inherit half what men receive
- Legal testimony inequality: Women's testimony valued at half a man's
- Dress codes: Mandatory hijab, niqab, or burqa in many countries
- Honor killings: Family murders of women for perceived sexual impropriety
- Female genital mutilation: Practiced in some Muslim communities with religious justification
- Restricted movement: Women banned from driving, traveling alone, or appearing in public without male guardians
Saudi Arabia: The Guardianship System
Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites and self-proclaimed guardian of the faith, provides the clearest example of Islamic gender apartheid.
Until 2018, women were forbidden from driving—the last country on earth with such a ban. Women still require male guardian permission for major life decisions. Women who flee abusive families face arrest and return, sometimes to be imprisoned or killed by their families.
Loujain al-Hathloul
A prominent Saudi activist who campaigned for women's right to drive and against the male guardianship system. In 2018, weeks before the driving ban was lifted, she was arrested and imprisoned. She was held in solitary confinement, tortured, waterboarded, electrocuted, and sexually harassed. She was offered release if she would declare that she wasn't tortured—she refused. She was finally released in 2021 but remains under travel ban and cannot speak freely.
Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun
An 18-year-old Saudi woman who renounced Islam and fled her family in 2019, seeking asylum. She was detained in Thailand, where Saudi officials and her family tried to force her return. She barricaded herself in a hotel room and used social media to call for help. International pressure led to her being granted asylum in Canada. She revealed she faced death threats from her family for leaving Islam and refusing arranged marriage.
Raif Badawi's Wife, Ensaf Haidar
While her husband Raif Badawi was imprisoned and flogged for "insulting Islam," Ensaf fled to Canada with their children and has campaigned for his release. She has faced death threats and cannot return to Saudi Arabia. Her story illustrates how women are impacted by Islamic blasphemy laws even when they are not the primary targets.
Iran: The Hijab Resistance Movement
Iran's Islamic Republic, established after the 1979 revolution, enforces mandatory hijab for all women. The "morality police" arrest women for improper hijab wearing. Women who resist face imprisonment, torture, and death.
Mahsa Amini (2022)
A 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. She died in police custody from head injuries inflicted during arrest. Her death sparked massive protests across Iran with women burning hijabs and cutting their hair. The Iranian regime responded with brutal crackdowns, killing hundreds of protesters including many women and girls.
White Wednesdays Movement
A campaign where Iranian women wear white hijabs or no hijab on Wednesdays to protest mandatory covering. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist, founded the "My Stealthy Freedom" movement where women post photos without hijab. She faces constant death threats from the Iranian regime and survived a kidnapping attempt in New York in 2021.
Nasrin Sotoudeh
An Iranian human rights lawyer who defended women arrested for removing their hijabs. She was imprisoned in 2018 and sentenced to 38 years in prison and 148 lashes. Her "crime" was defending women's rights and opposing mandatory hijab. She has been subjected to solitary confinement and torture.
Saba Kord-Afshari
A 20-year-old Iranian woman sentenced to 24 years in prison for protesting mandatory hijab by appearing in public without a headscarf. She was accused of "encouraging corruption" and insulting Islam. She was tortured in prison and held in solitary confinement.
Afghanistan: Taliban Rule and Women's Erasure
Afghanistan under Taliban rule provides the most extreme example of Islamic law's impact on women. The Taliban claim to implement "true Islam" based on sharia.
Girls are banned from secondary school. Women are banned from universities. Women cannot work outside the home except in limited healthcare roles. Women must wear burqas covering them entirely. Women cannot travel without a male guardian. Women are banned from parks, gyms, and public baths. Women's faces are erased from public advertising and media.
Women's Rights Activists Erased
After the Taliban takeover in 2021, women's rights activists went into hiding or fled the country. Those who remained face arrest, torture, and execution. Women who had been judges, lawyers, politicians, and activists now hide in fear. The Taliban has arrested women protesters and made them disappear.
Zarifa Ghafari
One of Afghanistan's first female mayors, she received constant death threats under the previous government. When the Taliban took over, she fled to Germany. Her father was assassinated by Taliban fighters. She cannot return to Afghanistan.
Pakistan: Honor Killings and Blasphemy
Pakistan experiences approximately 1,000 honor killings annually—murders of women by family members for perceived sexual impropriety or disobedience.
Qandeel Baloch (1990-2016)
A Pakistani social media star who posted feminist content and challenged traditional norms. She was strangled to death by her brother in an "honor killing." He stated he felt no remorse because she had brought dishonor to the family. Despite international attention, he initially received a light sentence (later increased after outrage).
Malala Yousafzai
A Pakistani girl who advocated for girls' education. The Pakistani Taliban shot her in the head when she was 15 years old. She survived and continued her activism, becoming the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She cannot safely return to Pakistan. Taliban fighters specifically cited Islamic justification for shooting her, claiming women's education was against Islam.
Mukhtaran Mai
A Pakistani woman gang-raped by order of a tribal council as punishment for her brother's alleged relationship. Rather than committing suicide as expected, she spoke out and became an activist for women's rights. She faced death threats and government attempts to silence her. Her rapists were initially convicted then acquitted, demonstrating how Islamic legal culture protects male perpetrators.
Egypt: Fighting Female Genital Mutilation
Egypt has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) globally—approximately 87% of women have undergone the procedure. While now officially illegal, it remains widespread due to religious and cultural justifications.
Randa Fakhr el-Din
An Egyptian activist fighting FGM who has faced harassment and death threats. Islamic scholars in Egypt continue to defend FGM as Islamic despite government bans, citing hadith about "female circumcision." This creates a conflict between secular law and religious practice.
Tunisia: The Most Progress, Still Inadequate
Tunisia is often cited as the most progressive Muslim-majority country for women's rights. In 2017, Tunisia banned Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men—then lifted the ban after protests. In 2018, it passed laws on equal inheritance—then faced fierce Islamic opposition.
These examples show that even the most progressive Muslim country faces intense religious resistance to women's equality because equality contradicts Islamic law.
The Problem: Islam Itself
The fundamental problem facing women's rights activists is that they are not merely fighting cultural traditions—they are fighting explicit Islamic teachings. When activists challenge:
- Male guardianship—they challenge Quran 4:34
- Unequal inheritance—they challenge Quran 4:11
- Polygamy—they challenge Quran 4:3
- Divorce inequality—they challenge Muhammad's example
- Child marriage—they challenge Muhammad marrying Aisha
These are not "extremist interpretations"—they are mainstream Islamic law taught by Al-Azhar University, implemented in Saudi Arabia, and defended by Islamic scholars worldwide.
Biblical Contrast: Women in Christianity
Jesus revolutionized women's status in his cultural context. He spoke with women publicly (shocking his disciples - John 4:27), defended the adulteress from stoning (John 8:1-11), appeared first to women after resurrection (giving them authority to announce the greatest news in history), taught women as disciples, and treated women with dignity and respect.
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
While some Christian traditions have limited women's roles, the core teaching is spiritual equality. Christianity's founder never commanded wife-beating, never claimed women were intellectually deficient, never established male guardianship systems, and never said women comprised most of hell's inhabitants.
Christian-majority countries were the first to grant women suffrage, education equality, and legal equality—not despite Christianity, but because of Christian principles of human dignity and equality before God.
Questions to Consider
- Why do women's rights activists in Muslim countries face imprisonment, torture, and death if they are merely fighting "cultural practices" rather than Islamic teachings?
- How can Islam claim to honor women when the Quran explicitly states men are in charge of women and permits wife-beating?
- Why do the most strictly Islamic countries (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan) have the worst women's rights records?
- If Islam truly liberated women (as Muslims claim), why do Muslim-majority countries rank lowest on global gender equality indices?
- How can Muhammad be a model for all time when he married a 6-year-old child?
- Why do Islamic scholars and institutions consistently oppose women's equality if such equality is compatible with Islam?
- What does it say about Islam that women must risk their lives to achieve basic human rights that are taken for granted in Christian-majority countries?
- How can Western feminists support Islam when Islamic law enshrines patriarchy and female subordination?