The
Quran banned female infanticide, gave women the right to own property
and granted them rights of inheritance. It also allowed men to have
sexual relations with consenting female slaves, but any children born of
these unions were free, as was the mother once her owner died.
2.As
the Arab Empire grew in size, the position of women became more limited.
Women started to pray at home instead of in the mosque, and veiling and
seclusion of women became standard practice among the upper and ruling
classes. Other signs of tightening patriarchy, such as "honor killing"
of women by their male relatives for violating sexual taboos which
derived from local cultures, with no sanction in the Quran or Islamic
law.
3.The Sufi practice of mystical union with God allowed a greater role for women than did mainstream Islam.
4.Islamic
education, either in the home or in Quranic schools, allowed some women
to become literate and a few to achieve higher levels of learning.
