'Women have the same rights as men in Islam.' Discuss.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Mark according to the levels of response marking grids for AO1 and AO2. Answers may refer to any religious theory or teaching. Candidates may propose, analyse and evaluate some of the following arguments. All relevant arguments must be credited.
2. Candidates could explain about the rights of women and how this has changed after the advent of Islam.
3. Islam promotes and honours the position of woman in society. Qur'an (4.1) shows that there is no superiority of one gender over the other.
4. Islam has liberated Muslim women by granting them equal rights as men as indicated by the Prophet (pbuh) 'Women are the twin halves or sisters of men.'
5. In Islam women have spiritual equality with men based essentially on the practice of worship and on rewards and punishments in the hereafter as is proved in Qur'an 4.124.
6. Qur'an 9.71 shows that men and women are equal in terms of their responsibility towards others. ‘The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers, practise regular charity, and obey Allah and His Messenger.'
7. In Islam women have rights to property, to work and wages, to choose their spouse, to divorce if marriage does not prosper, to education and to participation in economic, social and political activity, as shown in the time of the Prophet (pbuh). Candidates could mention a few examples from the life of the Prophet (pbuh) himself, such as the wives of the Prophet (pbuh), Khadija being a successful businesswoman, or Aisha as a leading scholar in her time.
8. Candidates could say that women in Islam have the same rights as men. However, the principles of women human rights and gender equality are denied in some societies due to social and cultural norms and practices even though they are not based on Islam.
9. Candidates could argue that most Muslim societies have their own cultures and customs. In many of these societies, women are not treated according to their Islamic-given rights. Forced marriage, honour killing, preventing women from leaving the homes without a male Mahram, are a few examples of women being deprived of their rights. Muslim women are subjected to both cultural issues, patriarchal features of their society, and political oppression.
10. Candidates could argue that some verses in the Qur'an seem to imply that men have more rights than women. As an example: '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.' Qur'an: 4.34 could be interpreted by some as men being superior to women.
11. Some laws in Islam also are seen as favouring men, as examples the rule for women to wear hijab, when no specific such rule exists for men, or the rule of one-man witness being equivalent to two women witnesses. Also, the law of men receiving more inheritance than women in Islam may lead to think that women have less rights than men.
12. Another way to argue would be to say that in fact in Islam women have more rights than men, since they benefit from lots of exemptions (e.g. not praying and fasting when in menstruation and after childbirth, not having to go for Jihad, praying in mosques not being obligatory on them, etc.).
13. Candidates could also argue that today in no society – Muslim or non-Muslim - do women enjoy the same opportunities as men and gender disparity is a problem that all society suffers from. Therefore, this problem is not to do with Islam, but with other factors such as the set-up of society, for example patriarchal societies, socio-cultural customs and so on.
14. Conclusions might discuss whether women and men do have equal rights in Islam or some have more rights than the others depending on their gender. A personal evaluation of the factors should draw together this discussion.