Position of Women in Islam and Buddhism: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The position of women has been a subject of an important interest in recent decades. In all cultures, particularly in the Western, there has been a rethinking of the position accorded to women in all areas of activity. This has led to an important change in the part performed by women in public, financial and even governmental life. This reappraisal has also moved on the query of the place accorded to women in the main religious traditions around the world. Women have been given certain public, financial and governmental privileges in the Western after decades of struggle which Islam had confirmed certainly 14 centuries ago. Islam has resolved the privileges and responsibilities of both men and women in such a balanced way, but this place of women has been the subject to repeated controversy issue because of the misinterpretations about women in our community. Today, when the part of Women in Society is an issue of worldwide interest it is convenient that we should pause to look at it from Islamic and Buddhist perspective. In previous times, a number of books have been published on the changing position of women in Hindu and Islamic cultures, but with regard to women in Buddhism very little interest has been taken in the subject. It seems, therefore, justified to increase again the query whether the place of women in Buddhist cultures was better than that in non-Buddhist cultures.

Keywords:  Position of Women, Women in Islam, Women in Buddhism