When Islam first began, the teachings and examples set by the Prophet Muhammad following his revelations reinforced the strong position held by women in early Islamic communities. However, within a century of the death of Muhammad, the strong position enjoyed by the women of Arabia had begun to erode. This change occurs because of the expansion of the Islamic empires and their adoption of patriarchal, “civilized” traditions. After Muhammad’s death, his successors, the powerful caliphs of the Islamic empires, began to conquer urbanized, “civilized” populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. As they did, the patriarchal traditions that have long existed in Persia, Mesopotamia, and Byzantium began to take influence and were eventually adopted by Muslims within the empire and eventually throughout Dar al-Islam. As seen in history, urban civilizations tend to be more patriarchal. In more “civilized” societies, men begin to dominate positions of power and the more beneficial occupations. Women in “civilized” societies become subjected to men and more confined to the roles of homemakers and child bearers.
From Europe to India, Muslims adopted the practice of veiling their women. Male Islamic scholars interpreted “modesty” in the Qur’an as meaning women should covering most, if not all, of their skin (as seen on the left). Muslim women became more restricted to the home; their work and educational opportunities diminished. Upper-class women experienced increased restrictions on their movement and activities. In the palaces that sprang up in the cities of the Islamic empires, upper-class women were often kept in rooms separated from the rest of the house by high walls and gardens. In the palaces of government officials, the harem was developed. Harem means “forbidden area”, and it is in the harem where the officials secluded their wives and concubines (sex slaves). Here, the women were guarded by the watchful eyes and sharp swords of the eunuchs (castrated men). When upper-class women left the house and ventured into the city, they were veiled from head to toe to keep them from the prying eyes of unrelated males.
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Working-class women were never strictly protected compared to upper-class women. Women from poorer families had to work to survive. Therefore, at times they had to leave the house veiled but unchaperoned. Furthermore, whereas upper-class women often had servants to attend to daily matters in the home, working-class women did not. As a result, poorer women also had to work hard in the home. Their domestic duties included cleaning, weaving, rug-making, and other crafts that might support the family income. Despite these changes in the lives of women in Islam, the status of women never declined to the same extent as in India, China, or Europe. Because of the need to read the Qur’an, women continued to be educated. Sharia law preserved many rights for women, for example, the right to inherit and own property as well as the right to divorce and remarry. These were rights that were not offered to women in other “civilized” societies. Thus, the strong position women had enjoyed in early Islam was never entirely undone by the patriarchal traditions encountered by Muslims as they came to rule the urbanized centers in the rest of the Middle East. Indeed, many of the egalitarian practices were built into the foundations of Islam as it emerged.