Allaah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) honoured women
greatly. He honours them as daughters, mothers
and wives, and gives them rights and virtues, and
enjoins good treatment in ways that are not shared
by men in many cases .
Prior to Islam, women were treated as chattels and
objects. They were inherited like goods and chattels,
and could be left suspended, being neither married
nor divorced. A woman would have to wait for a
year after her husband’s death, neither washing nor
going out of the house, until birds and animals
would die from her foul smell! Women were not
allowed to inherit, let alone the fact that they could
be buried alive, and many other things.
Then Islam came and:

•Stipulated that both men and women are equal in
the eyes of Allah. If a man does good he is rewarded
and if a woman does good, she is rewarded as well
and vise versa.

•Forbade burying females alive; it regarded that as
murder, which is a major sin.

•It commanded that women should be honoured
as wives, daughters and as mothers, and made
the mother’s rights three times greater than those of
the father. It forbade inheriting women, forcing
women to marry against their will and many other
things.

•Islam made women a means of gaining entry
into paradise- Jabir ibn Abdullah reported: The
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him, said, “Whoever has three daughters and he
cares for them, he is merciful to them, and he
clothes them, then Paradise is certainly required for
him.” It was said, “O Messenger of Allah, what if he
has only two?” The Prophet said, “Even two.” Some
people thought that if they had said to him one, the
Prophet would have said even one. Source: Musnad
Ahmad 13835. The same also applies for mothers
whom paradise lies beneath their foot.

•Commanded men to treat women with compassion
and kindness. Men are protectors and maintainers
of women. Men are commanded not to harm their
wives (for example), this includes all form of
physical and emotional abuse.

•It forbade leaving women suspended as a result of
vows or making one's wife haraam by means of
zihaar [a jaahili form of divorce in which the
husband said to his wife, ‘You are to me as my
mother’s back’; intimacy thus became forbidden, but
the woman was not divorced completely and was
not free to enter into a new marriage - Translator].

•Whilst in some cultures women aren’t allowed to
inherit or even remarry after her husband's death or
getting divorced, Islam gave women their share of
inheritance, and stipulated an ‘iddah of four months
and ten days after the death of her husband, during
which she could bathe, change her clothes and see
other women and her mahrams. She is also allowed
also remarry after the iddah period.

•Islam allowed women to buy, sell, and own
property, and encouraged them to seek
knowledge and call people to Allaah . Even after
getting married, a woman is entitled to her wealth
and does not have to give any of it to her husband
but he is obligated to spend on her

•Women have more rights to custody of children
after a divorce (as long as she does not remarry)
until they are mature enough to decide who they
wan to live with.

•One of my personal favorite is the marriage
contract where women are allowed to stipulate rules
such as if a divorce was to take place, the man will
give her X amount of his wealth, or he would give
her certain monthly allowance or not marry a
second wife whilst being married to her.

The list only includes a fraction of women’s rights in
Islam. If I were to go in detail, it would take me the
entire day because then I will have to include
specific rights of mothers, daughters, and wives.
So feel free to add yours to the list.

Mohammed Sani writes from Kano