The women's rights in the islamic world

• Author: Frasie Cristina Otovescu
• Position: Assist. Prof. Ph.D. Faculty of Law and Administrative Sciences, University of Craiova; Departament: Public Law and Administrative Sciences, Coordinator of Department of Human Rights Studies at Social Institute Oltenia, University of Craiova
• Pages: 325-327

THE WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD

Otovescu Frsie Cristina *

Abstract

In this a rticle I wish to evidence the human rights in the main juridic documents from the Islamic

system. The human righ ts in the Islamic system are protected and guaranteed by Allah. It is very important for

the women’s rights shown in different documents to be presented.

Key words: human rights, Isla mic system, wife's right, Muslim law, woman.

Introduction

Both on the international a nd internal level, it ca n be noticed the affirmation a nd the protection of the

human rights in concor dance with the Islamic law.

Initially, the Muslim law was integr ated orga nically into the Islam's religion. Mainly, the Muslim law

keeps and perpetuates the tra dition but, nowadays, ar e mad e efforts of modernization concerning the law

system

1.

The main juridic documents that stipulate the woman's right in the Islamic world

The material sources of the Muslim law are the customary rules from Mesopotamia, Syria and Medina

and the historic sources are the Koran (it has 500 verses that refer to the law), Sunnah (encompasses facts and

beliefs attributed by the tradition to the Prophet), Idjima (assembly of percep ts of the teachers) and Idjitihad

(represents the jurisprudence). Bo th the man's rights and freedoms are regulated under the po werful influence of

these material and historic sources of the Muslim law. But, during the last period of time, the situation has

changed and the system started to adapt to the modern requests and practices in the human rights field 2.

The human rights in the Islamic system are protected and guaranteed by Allah. Fro m the traditional

point of view, under all the aspects of the public and private life were governed by the law system called Sharia,

which is a collection of developments, historic formulations of the Islamic reli gious law, a vast body of

jurisprudence in which t he jurists expressed their opinion referring to the meaning of the Koran and Sunnah and

to the juridic consequences of these opinions3.

Among the important features of the Muslim woman can be seen her deep belief in the Mighty Allah

and the ca ndid conviction that everything in this Universe, the faith of the world, is submissive to the Will and

Order of Allah. Also, everything that happens to a person couldn't have been avoided and everything that doesn't

happen couldn't have been changed the other way round4.

“Due to cultural and not religious beliefs, in some cases, when women have the right to work and are

educated, women's jo b opportunities may in practice be unequal to those of men. In Egypt for example, women

have limited opportunities to work in the private sector because women are still expected to put their role in the

family first, which causes men to be seen as more reliable in the long term. Islamic law however, per mits women

to work in Islamic conditions:

- The work should not require the man or the woman to violate I slamic law (e.g., serving

alcohol), and be mindful of the woman's safety.

- If the work requires the woman to leave her home, she must maintain her 'modesty' just as

with men”5.

The Universal Isla mic Declar ation on the Human Rights was ado pted in Paris, on December 19th 1981,

at the UNESCO residence. The rights stipulated in this Declaration are: the right to life, the right to freedom, the

right to equality, the right to justice, the right to a fair trial, the right to pr otection against the power abuses, the

right to protection fro m torture, the right to protection of honor and good name, the right to shelter, the r ights of

the minorities, the right to participation to the public life, the right to the freedom of thought, religion and

speech, the right to the religious freedom, the right to free association, econo mic rights, the right to the

protection of prop erty, the rights and the obligations of the workers, the right to have everything needed for the

living.

Within the right regarding the starting of a family, are provided the duties that the spouses have, in the

articles from a-i.

* Assist. Prof. Ph.D. Faculty of Law and Administrative Sciences, University of Craiova; Departament: Public Law and Administrative

Sciences, Coordinator of Department of Human Rights Studies at Social Institute Oltenia, University of Craiova; otocris@yahoo.com.

1 Dumitru Mazilu, Drepturile omului, Lumina Lex Publishing House, Bucharest, 2000, p. 76-77.

2 Idem.

3 Raluca Miga Beşteliu, Protecia internaional a drepturilor omului, the 4th edition, revised, Universul Juridic Publishing House,

Bucharest, 2008, p. 94-95.

4 http://www.islam.ro/pdf/26222724Femeia-musulmana.pdf, p. 7.

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Islam#cite_note-aqy-43.