Incidentally, just as an aside:
We've talked a lot on these boards about the effect of religion on womens' social roles. We've also talked a good deal about the different types of religion, including that of Islam.
So, here is a quick run down of how Islam responded to women, in its earliest guise.
From the Qur'an, describing the day of judgement:
Quote:
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When the sun shall be darkened, when stars shall be thrown down....when the buried infant shall be asked for what sin she was killed.....a soul shall know what it has produced' (81:1-14)
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The buried infant, the victim of infanticide, would normally have been a girl. By banning infanticide, the Qur'an increases the value of girls in the eyes of the faithful and gave girls and women a new dignity. Though it allowed for polygyny, it limited this to four wives at one time and stipulated that they be treated equally (a serious improvement on the status quo)It mandated dowries and offered some females inheritence rights. Even the practice of men and women praying separately was a later addition (8th Century).