Towards An Islamic Framework of Women Empowerment

Abstract

As the title suggests, the present article deals with the aspect which has shattered the Muslim community in contemporary world. The paper argues there is a common view among the scholars, media and masses that Islam in general is the main obstacle for women empowerment. They ahey argue that the Quran and the Prophetic traditions (hadiths) discourage women to work in the public arena. Besides, they also argue that among the Muslim community from the Prophetic period to until now women‟s role in households is restricted to indoors activities only. Considering the immense complexities of analyzing the empoerment the author has confined the issue such as whether woment are allowed to work outside provate place or not. The paper takes the position that the Quran, the Prophetic tradition and activities of early Muslim shows that Islam favors empowerment i.e. allows women the work in public places but with certain conditions. In order to justify the argument the author has brought the Quranic verses with interpretation, Prophetic traditions, opinions of the past and present Islamic scholars as well as some examples of Muslim women activities in the public arena during and after Prophetic period