How are women treated in Islam?

Answer

In Islam, women are undoubtedly second-class citizens. Although the Koran does not actually say that women must wear a hijab or even the niqab, many Muslims insist on them for cultural reasons. In Saudi Arabia, women have only recently begun to be allowed to drive cars.

Islam allows relatively easy divorce for men, but it is difficult or impossible for women to divorce their husbands. In some countries, a man can marry up to four wives, as long as he treats them equally, but a woman can never marry more than one husband. The Koran specifies that women must receive a fraction of any inheritance that their brothers receive. It also states that the testimony of women is worth only half that of men.

On the other hand, men are required to provide for their wives. However, the real effect of this, in combination with the other restrictions, is to make women subservient to their husbands.