Speaker Discusses Role of Women

Women played an important role in the life of Muhammad, Ijtihaad Institute research coordinator Salwa Abd-Allah said yesterday in a speech sponsored by the Islamic Society.

Abd-Allah said not all women were subservient to men in the Islamic world of Muhammad. Because many were literate, they played an integral role in interpreting the Koran and passing on the knowledge to those who were illiterate, she said.

"Men would come to women to seek the understanding of the religious writings," Abd-Allah said.

Abd-Allah also said in her speech that in modern times, many Muslim countries have been under Western suppression.

"These countries have recently emerged from repressive Western domination," Abd-Allah said. "Religious fundamentalism is an easy way to form the unity that formed under these regimes."

Abd-Allah also stressed that the world of the Koran is "living" and that though it can change to conform to modern society, it keeps the tenets of moderation, charity, self-sacrifice, and devotion to God.

"The law is living," Abd-Allah said. "Think and understand...the [Islamic] law does not function through dogma and tyrannical enforcement, but through adaptation and understanding."