51. Where are women mentioned in the Qur’an?

The Qur’an has a chapter called Al Nisa’ or the Women. This surah opens in ayah 1 acknowledging the very important role of women in the earth. Women were created to be mates for men and can demand equal rights with men and reverence for their wombs because every man came from the womb of a women. Surah 3 invites us to marry women of our choice, two, three, or four provided the husband can deal justly with all of his wives. Women are to be given dowry as a free gift on marriage. In the allocation of the estate of the parents, a son is to be given the portion of two females. This surah elaborates in detail how the estate of a deceased person should be divided. Islâm also teaches from the Hadith that in matters of justice the testimony of two women are equal to one man because women have a lesser intellectual capacity than men.

Surah 3 ayah 45 records the great honour given to Mary as she was chosen by Allâh to be the mother of Jesus Christ the Son of Man, born without an earthly father and by the miraculous decree of Allâh.

There are more than 204 hadith about women in Islâm. Hadith 391 reports that the Prophet said, ‘Girls are models of affection and sympathy and a blessing to the family. If a person has one daughter, Allâh will screen him from hell fire owing to his daughter, if he has two daughters, Allâh will admit him to paradise; if he has three, Allâh will exempt him from the obligation of charity and Jihad.’ (Kanz al Ummal:277);(Women in Islâm by M Mazheruddin Siddiqi)