Women's Rights Between Secular Legislation and Divine Laws

Abstract

Throughout history, women faced oppression in both secular systems and religious laws before Islam. Ancient societies viewed women as inferior beings or even as demons inciting evil. They were bought and sold like commodities, inherited but not allowed to inherit, and always subjected to male authority. Men held dominance in all matters, while women were treated as property with duties but no rights. Some religious councils even debated whether women had souls or were mere impure beings. Eventually, one council in Rome declared them soulless creatures, fit only for worship and service, silenced to prevent them from speaking or laughing. Islam came and honored women, recognizing them as equals to men and forbidding the injustices they had endured in pre-Islamic times.