Nothing has received more vilification from commentators and writers across the world than the issue of Islam's view on women. Images of fully covered women, with veils across their faces, leap to mind whenever the media discusses the issue.
The treatment of women in any society has become a key benchmark measurement to its progress so when the Muslim world is assessed it miserably fails on the standard Western tests ranging from the treatment of women to their involvement in society. This has led to a number of ferocious attacks on Islam: which includes the continuous vilification campaign against Islam and its view on women, the banning of hijab, and so on.
Whilst there are some sincere misconceptions in the West with regards Islam and women at the same time the hatred against Islam is a consistent feature in Western newspapers and magazines.
These misconceptions, however, are not just restricted to the West, across the Muslim world there are many misconceptions with regards to Islamic male-female relations and the Shari’ah rules with regards to women.
As a reaction to this, some women have turned to the West and have taken on the decades-long struggle of becoming man's equal. Many women who are Islamic have looked towards the West for their salvation and continue to call for the separation and removal of what remains of Islam.
The aim of this booklet is to assess the struggle Western women undertook to achieve their rights as this continues to be held as the benchmark for women and societies across the world. The Islamic social system will then be looked at to assess what Islam actually says about women, how it regulates male-female relations and its suitability as a model for women and society.
