Daughters of Eve

pastor from the region of Frankfurt in Germany, tells us that
“among the holy fathers [at the Council] there was one who
insisted that women cannot, and should not, be called
‘human beings’ (homines).”
Bayle, Dictionnaire Historique et Critique
Physically not having the strength to stand up for themselves and being
therefore subjected to men, women were – and, in many places, still
are today – overlooked and treated with harshness and cruelty. It is for
this reason that Isl\m emphasised compassion towards women so
strongly to men, declaring it even a part of faith itself.
We have already seen how Isl\m demands that fathers and anyone
else in charge of raising girls bring them up with kindness and equality,
telling them that their efforts will be rewarded with Paradise by an
appreciative Lord. We look now towards the treatment Isl\m has
enjoined of women in their other various roles.
The Wife
“And of His signs is that He created for you partners
from yourselves that you may find rest in them,
and He placed between you love and compassion...”
Qur’\n 30:21
Isl\m recognised the fundamental differences between men and
women and that the needs of each were different to the other. Modern
research has arrived at the same conclusions that traditional wisdom
had always held: that while a man’s primary need is to be respected, a
woman’s primary need is to feel cherished. And so the teachings of
Isl\m emphasised at every juncture kindness to and good treatment of
women.
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