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Islamic Philosophers

On Women

AmirAli Maleki considers how Islamic thought changed.

The place of women in Islam has always been controversial, especially as Islamic thinkers were always trying to describe the role of women using religious teachings.

Al-Farabi (c.870-951 CE) emphasized the equal status of men and women in an ideal world, but he also considered differences between the two sexes. For example, a man has superiority in the feeling of ‘anger’, whereas woman score more highly in ‘affection’. However, the essence of man and woman is the same, and both of them are equal in the basic attributes of ‘sense and imagination’ and ‘wisdom’.

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