This research examines the status of women in Islamic society. The status of women originated in the Koran and Mohammed's interpretation of it 1400 years ago. By the time of Mohammed's appearance, the cultural expression of Christianity had become ecclesial and institutional. The cultural expression of Islam on the other hand held that religion and everyday experience were intertwined. Islamic doctrine evolved toward what Campbell describes as the "ungainsayable consensus" and "the mystique authority from heaven" (Campbell 439). The consensus was articulated as Islamic law, called the sharia, characterized by "a transcendental order untouched by the realities of time, or by the sins of those upon whose shoulders it descends" (Campbell 438). In other words, those who administer the sharia are infallible, and Islamic culture escapes "the so-called laws of the nations [that] are but delusions, afflicting all in whose hearts the light has not yet dawned" (Campbell 439).
The facts of history are against the idea that the sharia is unchanging, at least in its real-world application. On the other hand, the severity with which the sharia is applied to women in some Islamic cultures suggests that convictions about its immutability are deeply held. The relevance of this to women's position in Islam can be traced to a famous verse of the Koran:
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all) (Koran, 4.34).
Plainly, the roles o...