Islamic laws and cultural customs impact various stages of a Muslim women's life , including her education, employment

opportunities, rights to inheritance, female circumcision, dress, age of marriage, freedom to consent to marriage, marriage contract, mahr, her ability to receive justice in case of crimes, property rights independent of her husband, and when Salat (religious prayers) are mandatory for her. In fact it would be better to say that whole Islam provides a wholly frame work for women according to which she should spend her entire life. I will briefly try to depict the womens place, rights and rules & regulations in following headings. Sources of influence: There are two sources by which Womens are guided in Islam, primary Islamic sources of personal laws, namely the Quran and Hadiths and by the secondary sources such as ijmas, qiyas, ijitihad in the form of fatwas. The secondary sources vary according to the various sects of Islam and school of jurisprudence. The sects interpret all the rules and regulations and rights according to their own theological schools and doctrines. Gender roles: The Quran dedicates numerous verses to Muslim women, their role, duties and rights. Some verses are considered as key in defining gender roles in Islam, one being Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great. Female education: Islam, not only encourages religious education and knowledge of women but also the modern secular education which is essential and necessary to make their lives easy. According to a hadith attributed to Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.W), he praised the women of Medina because of their desire for religious knowledge, How splendid were the women of the ansar; shame did not prevent them from becoming learned in the faith. Female employment: Some scholars refers to Hazrat Khadijah( R.A) who was a merchant before and after converting to Islam, and to verse in Quran to justify Muslim women may undertake employment outside their homes. So in an Islamic society it is permissible for women to do jobs.

Property rights: Women's property rights in the Quran are based around the marriage contract. A woman, according to Islamic tradition, does not have to give her pre-marriage possessions to her husband and receives a mahr (dower) which she owns. Furthermore, any earnings that a woman receives through employment or business, after marriage, are hers to keep and need not contribute towards family expenses. Womens inheritance rights to her fathers property are unequal to her male siblings, and varies based on number of sisters, step sisters, step brothers, if mother is surviving, and other claimants. The rules of inheritance are specified by a number of verses, including Qurans Surah Baqarah.

Along with all stated above headings many other aspects and matters still left to be discussed such as under Islamic law, marriage is not a status; it is a contract that requires a woman's consent. Islam also specifies dress codes for women. The Quran admonishes Muslim women to dress modestly and cover their breasts and genitals. This topic is very broad topic which cannot be discussed such briefly. But in short Islam provides full codes of conduct for women too and places very high emphasizes to fulfill their rights on men.