Women in Islamic Society Social Sciences Essay Paper (Essay Sample)

Women in Islamic Societies
Name
Institution
Women in Islamic Societies
For many years, the role of women, their position and status in the society as well as their nature have been a subject of intermittent debate and heated discussions based on traditions, religion, misogyny, culture, and feminism. In the Islamic society, discussion on women’s role, status, and position in the community has raised high levels of controversy, probably due to misrepresentation, misinterpretation, and distortion of facts and information due to lack of understanding of Islamic holy book, Quran, and basic Islamic teachings. In contemporary Islamic society, the position and status of women can be well-explained in three different dimensions: marriage and family structures, legal systems, and rights as well as health and education.
Firstly, in a traditional Islamic society, women were homemakers and were primarily concerned with household chores and maternal responsibilities. Many Muslim women in most Muslim-majority countries such as Indonesia, Senegal, and parts of the South Asian subcontinent did not take part in the income-generating activities until after the 1970s when civilization engulfed most parts of the world. However, according to Shah (2019), Muslim family set-up is slowly shifting from large extended families and multigenerational households to nuclear family arrangements, which epitomizes a gradual erosion of the traditional patriarchal family system that is based on kinship leadership. Moreover, many Muslim women of the current generation are delaying their marriages due to the increasing number of scholarships and educational opportunities as they embrace the egalitarian nuclear family model.