42- Islam protects the rights of the woman with regards to her health as it exempts her from fasting if she is breast-feeding or pregnant.

43- Islam protects the right of the woman in her bequest in the sense that she has the right to make a bequest of what she leaves after her death as shown in the statement of Allah The Almighty (which means): {After any bequest they [women, may have] made or debt.} [Quran 4:12]

44- Islam protects the right of the woman with regards to her body after her death - a right in which both the man and the woman are equal. The Prophet said: "Breaking the bone of the dead is (as detrimental) as breaking it when he is alive."

45- Islam protects the right of the woman in her grave - a right in which both the man and the woman are equal. The Prophet said: "It is better for any of you to sit on a piece of ember which will burn his garment and reach his skin than to sit on a grave."

46- Islam protects the rights of the woman in terms of the reckoning before the Lord of the Worlds, and this is common between the man and the woman, making them equal in reward and punishment in the Hereafter. Allah The Almighty Says (what means):

* {Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.} [Quran 33:35]

* {Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.} [Quran 16:97]

* {Whoever does an evil deed will not be recompensed except by the like thereof; but whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - those will enter Paradise, being given provision therein without account.} [Quran 40:40]

* {And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer - those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged, [even by as much as] the speck on a date seed.} [Quran 4:124]

* {And their Lord responded to them, "Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are of one another.”} [Quran 3:195]

* {Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.} [Quran 9:72]

* {[And] that He may admit the believing men and the believing women to gardens beneath which rivers flow to abide therein eternally and remove from them their misdeeds - and ever is that, in the sight of Allah, a great attainment.} [Quran 48:5]

* {On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right, [it will be said], "Your good tidings today are [of] gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein you will abide eternally." That is what is the great attainment.} [Quran 57:12]

Thus, Islam reduced nothing from the right of the woman, nor did it humiliate her: on the contrary, it raised her high. It is sufficient for us to know that Allah The Almighty eternalized her mention in His noble Book by having three Noble chapters concerning her: Soorat An-Nisaa’ (women), Soorat Maryam (Mary) and Soorat At-Talaaq (divorce), and it should be remembered that there is no Soorah carrying the name of Ar-Rijaal (men).

Moreover, Allah The Almighty mentioned man in terms of his being or his dealing with the deal with the most mundane of existence; he is a farmer dealing with the earth, cattle and animals, a man of industry dealing with inorganic material, and so on. However, when it comes to dealing with the woman, then she is the noblest thing in existence, i.e. a human being. The woman who is not convinced of this mission in life is indeed a woman doomed to failure.

Moreover, the Quran eternalized the mention of a woman in Soorat Al-Mujaadilah, and Islam respects her opinion, and placed her in the position of one who argued with and was involved in dialogue with the Messenger of Allah and combined both in one address: {And Allah hears your dialogue; indeed, Allah is Hearing and Seeing.} [Quran 58:1] It validated her opinion, which came to be a general and eternal law in Islam. In this way, Soorat Al-Mujaadalah was an effect of women-friendly thought and an eternal Divine page in which we see, across time, a form of respect that Islam expressed towards the woman's opinion. Islam does not regard the woman as simply a flower that the man enjoys smelling its fine scent of; rather, she is an intelligent, rational creature with an opinion to be taken into consideration, and this opinion has value and weight.

The Messenger of Allah would say about himself: "I am the son of the (women called) ‘Awaatik (sing. ‘Aatikah) of the Quraysh."

The Prophet further said: "Women are peers of men."

The Prophet also said: "Whoever looks after three girls (daughters, sisters, etc), will be admitted to Paradise and will have the reward of the Mujaahids (Holy warriors) who observe fasting (by day) and praying (at night)."

He also said: "The best of you is the best to his wives, and I am the best to my wives among you."

To guarantee that men would not overburden their women, the Messenger of Allah said about them: "They were created from a crooked rib, and if you tried to straighten it, you would break it. So, deal with them gently perchance you would enjoy them."

It was narrated on the authority of Asmaa’ bint Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: “During the period of the truce between the Quraysh and the Messenger of Allah my mother, who was a polytheist, accompanied by her father, came to visit me. I sought the opinion of the Messenger of Allah saying, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my mother has come to me and she desires to receive kind treatment from me, shall I maintain kinship ties with her?’ He said: ‘Yes, maintain kinship ties with her.’"

It was further narrated that a man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, "O Messenger of Allah, who among all people is the worthiest of my good company?” He said: “Your mother.” The man said, “Then, who comes next?” He said: “Your mother.” The man then asked, “Then, who comes next?” He said: “Your mother.” He asked (for the fourth time), “Then, who comes next?” He said: “Then, your father.”

The Messenger of Allah said: "If a woman performs the five (obligatory daily) prayers, fasts the month (of Ramadan), maintains her chastity and obeys her husband, it will be said to her, 'Enter Paradise from whichever gate you like.’"

It is enough of an honor for the Muslim woman that the first person who believed in the Messenger of Allah was his wife Khadeejah, may Allah be pleased with her, and the first martyr in Islam was Sumayyah, the mother of ‘Ammaar ibn Yaasir, may Allah be pleased with her, and the first to be entrusted with the noble Book of Allah after having been collected was the Mother of the Believers, Hafsah bint ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with her.

The Prophet said: "The most perfect in faith among the believers are those who have the best morals and are the best to their wives."

The Prophet said: "The best of you is the best to his wives, and I am the best to my wives among you; and no one honors women but a noble man, and no one humiliates women but a wicked man."

How Islam Has Protected the Rights of Woman - I

How Islam Has Protected the Rights of Woman - II