How can one dismiss this preconceived image and see where a woman fits in a truly Muslim society? I can only try to highlight the status of women in the actual teachings of Islam as opposed to the practices of many so-called Muslim countries and the misrepresentation of movies. Then, it would be up to the individual to pass a fair judgment on where women stand in a truly Muslim society. In the religion of Islam, a woman is an independent entity, and thus a fully responsible human being. Islam addresses her directly and does not approach her through the agency of Muslim males. A woman would assume full capacity and liability once she has attained maturity and has received the message of Islam. No woman is said to have truly accepted the message of Islam unless she does so out of original and independent will. Admission to faith is entirely a personal matter. Nor does a woman become a Muslim merely because of her relationship to father, husband or any other male. .
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Muslim women, on the strength of their unshakable personal faith, used to work for the propagation of Islam. Many of them helped to promote the cause of Islam within their respective family circles, through discussion and debate. Among Muslim ladies were some that invited their suitors to embrace Islam and made that a precondition for marriage. If the embracing of Islam by a woman is an entirely personal matter in the Islamic tradition and can not be done through proxy, so are all obligations and duties that Islam enjoins on her. No one else can do them on her behalf. She performs her acts of worship purely on the basis of her own intention and as these are treated in Islam as her personal achievements. .
On the basis of her own action, a woman earns reward or punishment. No man is allowed to plead or intercede for a woman, nor is he held responsible for her actions and their consequences. The doctrine of ultimate accountability does not take the family as a unit for collective responsibility; rather, each individual is an independent unit of reckoning in front of God, and is held directly responsible for his or her actions or his or her share in joint acts.