“In a fair manner, women have the same rights against their men as men have against them; but men have a degree above them. Allah is All-Powerful, All-Wise.”
(Al Qur’ān – 2:228)
This ayah indicates that the wife has certain rights on her husband, just as he has certain rights on her, and each is obliged to give the other spouse his due rights. The ayah 4:34 says: “Men shall take care of women with what God has bestowed on the former and with what they have to spend of possessions.”
Islam treats men and women equally, of course considering the physical and physiological differences between the two. Islam gave women the rights over 14 centuries ago which the modern civilized world has not given them as yet.
Some of the important rights Islam gives to women are right to education, the right to work to earn money, if necessary, the right to keep all of her own money, and the right to inheritance. The ayah (4:7) says: “Men shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind, and women shall have a share in what parents and kinsfolk leave behind, whether it be little or much – a share ordained (by God).” Women’s share is less than a man’s due to men’s obligations to financially support their families.
The ayah (3:195) says: “The works of male and female are of equal value and each will receive the due reward for what they do: Never will I suffer to be lost the work of any one of you, male or female…”