Islam Promotes Harmony Between Men And Women, Rather Than Division

I don't look at the leading female figures in Islamic History in isolation. A key part of their being women was their place in their society, and how they related to the men of that society. What we see in early Islamic history is not women competing with men, but cooperating with men, and vice versa.Everybody was working towards the same goal, establishing a way of life that places cultivation of the soul at the center. Thus, there was mutual assistance among men and women.

This can be seen on the battlefields where the women aided men who had been wounded, or where women actually themselves fought. This can also be seen in the manners, Adab, Akhlaq, or codes of etiquette that were instilled by the Holy Prophet and his Purified Progeny, his daughter Fatimah, and the Imams who came after her.

One simple example is the loving relationship that existed between Lady Fatimah and the Holy Prophet, in a society where it was seen as unmanly, even for one, to have daughters in one's family. She was called Umm Abiyah, the mother of her father, and he used to get up for her when she entered the room and offer his place for her to sit.

We don't even see such respect shown to a daughter by fathers in sophisticated industrialized societies.