Family Life

• Family


  All important to Muslims to pass on the teachings of Islam, raise children in the faith and arrange marriages
• Extended family units


  • Care for the elderly and provide support
• Younger generations


  Questions about how much freedom is appropriate
• The position of women in Islam is much debated
• There are some prominent Muslim women who have held important positions
• The oppression of Muslim women has been raised as a major issue
• The roles of women in changing times is debated amongst Muslims
• Muhammad


  Promoted harmonious family life, helped his wives with household chores, regarded compassion and play with his grandchildren as so important that he once missed two prayer times to play
• The family gave social security before such systems existed
• Muslims often criticise unmarried cohabitees and gay couples, believing them to be outside the bounds of traditional Islam
• Reformist Muslims believe that the principles of Islam should be reinterpreted for today and these unions should be accepted
• Arranged marriages


  Partly a cultural means to deter mixing
• The freedom of choice of martial partner is an Islamic right that women are reasserting
• Women in the early days of Islam are said to have benefitted by increased equality
• Some women may have even led prayers (e.g. Umm Waraq)
• Women founded places of learning and became surgeons under the Abbasids
• The position of women in Islam is thought to have declined over the centuries
• In modern times, with the rise of women's equality and feminism in the west, Muslim women have been inspired to voice their opinions about their roles
• Aisha Abd Al Rahman 'Bint al Shati


  Pioneered work in Egypt with her writing
• Haleh Afshar


  Promotes feminism but with a subtle difference: she regards the role of mother as different but special for Muslim women
• Hijab, modest dress


  Interpreted as a veil by many - a symbol of identity and expression, liberating to some women, a means of repression to others
• Some Muslim women has led countries as prime ministers and taken other important roles
• The position of women as Imams is contested