The sacred text of the Glorious Qur’an and the history of early Muslims bear witness to the fact that women are considered as vital to life as men. Islam refuted the idea that Eve tempted Adam to disobey God, and thus caused his downfall. The Qur’an says that they both disobeyed, which negates the idea that women are a source of evil.

In a world where women were no more than objects of sexual gratification for men, and at a time when the religious circles argued over whether women were human or not, possessing souls, Islam proclaimed: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female.” (Al-Qur’an, chapter 49: verse 13)

“O Mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single person, created of like nature his mate, from them scattered countless men and women. Fear Allah, through whom you demand your mutual rights and reverence the wombs (that bore you), for Allah ever watches over you.” (Al-Qur’an, Chapter 4: verse 1)

Men and women are of the same family, and as such have similar rights and duties, and their Lord promises them in the Glorious Qur’an: “Never will I waste the work of a worker among you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the other.” (Al-Qur’an, chapter 3: verse 195)

Thus, in the Islamic tradition, a woman has an independent identity. She is a responsible being in her own right and carries the burden of her moral and spiritual obligations.