How Islam Truly Empowers Women Through Education, Knowledge, and Service to the Ummah.

Jamal Dookhy

January 2026

Doha Qatar

Introduction: A Misunderstood Accusation

One of the most persistent accusations made against Islam in modern discourse by missionaries and polemicists is that it oppresses women.
This claim is repeated so frequently in media, politics, and popular culture that it is often accepted without scrutiny.
Yet when examined carefully, much of what is blamed on Islam originates not from revelation, but from cultural practices, economic systems, colonial legacies, or modern ideological agendas.

Islam must be understood from its own sources: the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the lived scholarly tradition of the Ummah.
When this is done honestly, a radically different picture emerges. Islam empowers women not by exploiting them economically or redefining them ideologically, but by educating them, honouring their dignity, and placing them at the heart of social formation. This paper proves that these accusations of Islam oppressing women are far from the truth.

Western Models of Empowerment: Economic Necessity Disguised as Liberation

In much of the modern Western world, women’s empowerment has been defined almost exclusively through labour participation and economic output. During industrialisation, women were drawn into factories and later into full-time employment largely because a single income could no longer sustain a household. Also through sexuality where women are used as vessel to market products from cars to luxury villas and so on.

What began as economic necessity was later reframed as liberation. However, many women found themselves burdened with both professional responsibilities and the primary duties of the home. Islam does not deny women economic agency, but it refuses to reduce empowerment to productivity alone. Islam recognises that societies are built through families, and families are shaped first by mothers.

Culture Is Not Islam

In certain societies, particularly some tribal or eastern cultures, women have historically been denied education.
These practices are often blamed on Islam, yet they have no basis in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Islam does not command ignorance, nor does it fear educated women.

Across the Muslim world today—especially in parts of the Gulf—women serve as professors, medical specialists, researchers, and public officials. These realities demonstrate clearly that Islam and female education are not in conflict. What is often presented as Islam is, in fact, culture.

Education as the Core of Islamic Empowerment

Islam understands a fundamental truth ignored by many modern ideologies: if you want to build a righteous society, you must educate the mother. A woman who is educated becomes the first teacher of her children, the moral compass of the household, and the foundation upon which future leaders are raised. Through her role as the first educator, a woman shapes not only individual character but the future leadership of society. The scholars who interpret law, the doctors who heal communities, the administrators who manage institutions, and the leaders who govern nations all begin their formation in the home. Islam therefore empowers women by entrusting them with the intellectual and moral preparation of those who will one day hold authority and responsibility over others.
For this reason, scholars have long stated that the greatest university a child will ever attend is his mother. This is not poetic exaggeration, but a lived reality confirmed by centuries of Islamic civilisation.

Women as Scholars in Islamic History

• Islamic history records hundreds of female scholars who taught hadith, issued legal opinions, and educated both men and women.
  ‘A’ishah bint Abi Bakr (رضي الله عنها) was among the greatest scholars of the Ummah, and senior Companions and jurists returned to her for knowledge in fiqh and Sunnah.Classical scholars such as Imam Malik ibn Anas (d. 795 CE): The founder of the Maliki school of jurisprudence studied under several female scholars, including Aisha bint Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas.
• Imam al-Shafi’i (d. 820 CE): The founder of the Shafi’i school of jurisprudence was a student of Nafisa bint al-Hasan, an eminent scholar and descendant of the Prophet.
• Ibn Asakir (d. 1176 CE): The celebrated historian of Damascus studied under no fewer than 80 different female teachers in his pursuit of knowledge.
• Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (d. 1449 CE): A prominent Hadith scholar, Ibn Hajar had numerous female teachers, including Aisha bint Abdul Hadi and Zaynab bint al-Shihnah, from whom he received ijazahs (teaching licenses).

Imam al-Dhahabi studied under multiple female teachers, documenting them in his biographical works such as Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’. This demonstrates that women were recognised authorities in Islamic scholarship.

Institution Builders and Patrons of Knowledge

Fatima al-Fihri founded the Qarawiyyin educational complex in Fez in the ninth century, laying foundations for centuries of learning.
Zaynab an-Nafzawiyyah, an influential figure of the Almoravid era, was known for her intelligence, political acumen, and role in shaping a society where women’s education and influence were respected.

These examples demonstrate that women in Islam were not confined to private spaces alone, but contributed meaningfully to public life within Islamic ethical boundaries.

Medical Fields Where Women Are Needed Most

One of the most urgent areas of empowerment today is encouraging Muslim women to enter fields that directly concern women and children.
These include education, pediatrics, gynecology, obstetrics, breast cancer care, fertility treatment, and women’s mental health.
Matters such as childbirth, IVF, gynecological examinations, and breast cancer treatment are deeply sensitive. Many women would naturally feel uncomfortable being examined repeatedly by male doctors, and many husbands would not want this for their wives.

Yet a contradiction exists in many Muslim societies: families demand female doctors while discouraging their daughters from entering these fields.  It is not that the parents discourage their daughters to study in these fields, nor is it a contradiction but the colonial mindset Instilled in the minds of the older generations who were colonized see a role model in the doctors of the western world as role models and want their children to follow. Some going as far as naming their children after these colonial doctors.

Encouraging women into these professions is not merely permissible; it is a communal obligation (fard kifayah).

Choosing Suitable Professional Environments

Islam also encourages wisdom when choosing career paths. Some professions place women in male-dominated environments where they may feel isolated or uncomfortable as the only woman present. This is not a question of capability, but of suitability of environment.

Islamic guidance encourages foresight, balance, and preservation of dignity, urging women and parents to consider fields where moral boundaries and comfort can be maintained alongside professional contribution.

Conclusion: Empowerment Rooted in Purpose

Islam does not empower women by stripping them of modesty or forcing them into unsuitable environments.
It empowers women by educating them, honouring their dignity, and enabling them to shape future generations through knowledge and service.

When a woman is educated, a household is educated. When a household is educated, a society is transformed.
This is not oppression. This is vision.