The place and role of women in Islam is a subject debated in both the Islamic world and the West, though the West has only a distorted perception of the parameters of this debate. Leila Ahmed (1992) writes of the subject as a problem with historical roots and shows how the role of women has developed through time, over the history of the rise of Islam. The position of women in the Arab world at the time of Muhammad is discussed, though Muhammad made changes in the way women were to relate to society and were to be treated by society. The autonomy and monogamy that had existed before was exchanged for male guardians and the male prerogative of polygamy thereafter, and these elements can be seen as embodying a general view of women that has been reproduced in laws and religious practices ever since. In essence, Ahmed shows that the position of women in society is closely bound with the prevailing marriage practices in that society. The practices existing before Muhammad and those existing after were related, but in both cases these practices involved attitudes toward the role and responsibilities of women. The essential attitudes set forth in marriage practices in Islam are carried over into every aspect of women's lives.
Ahmed discusses the role of women and notes that there are two aspects to the issue, though she concentrates largely on only one of them. She notes first that there is the pragmatic matter, the actual way women were treated and the role of women in marriage. The second is an ethical question based on teachings of Islam on this particular subject. There is a tension between the pragmatic and the ethical perspectives and has been from the beginning, and this tension is seen in the Quran as well. There are some verses in the Quran that seem to see marriage in one light and women as equal to men while other passages emphasize marriage as a hierarchical institution and men as privileged.
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