Comparative Study on Women in the Manusmr. ti and the Qur’an

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to focus on the status of women in the light of the Manusmr. ti and the Qur’an. I have no intention to support or criticise any religious scripture blindly; rather I aim to shed some light on the treatment of women and then social status in these religious scriptures. Importantly, both of the religious scriptures are generally alleged to be responsible for the degradation of women’s status in society. I find this view to be ill-founded or at least not cognizant of the full range of the discussion of women’s rights status, and social treatment as present in these scriptures. When we do take a look at the full-range of the discussion, we also find evidence suggesting that both the the Qur’an and the Manusmr. ti have paid many discussions giving equal importance to man and woman, and even in some particular cases, they recommended giving more respect to women. The matter, in other words, is more complex than what the general critique of these scriptures would suggest.