Evolution of Gender Roles in Islam: Navigating Diversity, Flexibility, and Harmony within Muslim Family Values
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65586/jli.v2i1.60Keywords:
Colonialism, Gender roles, Islamic feminism, Islamic jurisprudence, Muslim family valuesAbstract
Despite widespread assumptions that Islam prescribes fixed gender roles, scholarly and historical evidence reveal a far more complex reality. This study investigates how gender roles within Muslim families have evolved across time and geography, shaped by normative Islamic teachings, jurisprudential interpretation, and social practice. The objectives are to trace this evolution from pre-Islamic Arabia through classical and contemporary scholarship, to examine divergences across the four Sunni law schools and Shia jurisprudence, and to analyse the influence of colonialism and Islamic feminist thought on contemporary gender norms. The study employs a critical literature review, drawing on the Quran, authenticated Hadith collections, and jurisprudential writings of major Islamic scholars, supplemented by peer-reviewed secondary sources. It distinguishes three analytical layers throughout: normative Quranic and prophetic teachings, interpretive jurisprudential traditions, and documented social practices. Findings demonstrate that the Quran affirms women’s spiritual equality and grants substantive legal and economic rights; that no single scholarly consensus exists on domestic and public gender roles; and that restrictive practices in Muslim societies reflect cultural, colonial, and political legacies more than Quranic mandates. Gender roles in Islam are flexible and negotiable, capable of grounding justice and harmony within Muslim families when rooted in equality, compassion, and mutual respect.
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