LEGAL SITUATION AND SOCIAL STATUS OF WOMEN WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ISLAM

Abstract

Rationale In the Kyrgyz society, women were endowed with particular rights, and had relative freedom of action. Nonetheless, these rights, in large part, were restricted by the moral and ethical standards, and social and psychological barriers that existed in the Kyrgyz society. Islam sets specific requirements upon women; and yet at the same time it gives specific opportunities in the legal and jural spheres.

The aim of research is to provide insights into specifics of the influence of Islam onto the legal and social status of women in Kyrgyzstan. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan took the course of secularization and development of the democratic society. Still as part of the Central Asia region within the context of Islam, Kyrgyzstan maintained the centuries-long cultural, economic and political connections, which were totally broken only in the Soviet period. For seventy years of the Soviet regime, the religion of Islam, representing the worldview and integrated social and cultural system, was subject to suppression. Consequently, following the proclamation of independence, Islam, as part of the mindset of the population, revived and began to play a crucial part in Kyrgyzstan, with vigorous propaganda of Islam being carried out. This is considered to be the return to the true values, and restoration of the lost moral principles of the society.

Methodology. At the outcome of historical and legal analyses, as well as employing specific sociological and comparative law research, particular aspects of the legal situation of women in household and society were determined in accordance with the instructions of the Qur'an; and the social significance of traditions and customs of the Kyrgyz people linked with the rules of the Qur'anic law was revealed.

The research results prove that alongside the ongoing Islamization of the population, various scenarios associated with the shift towards gender equality arise and claim that the Qur'anic law (the Sharia) guarantees gender equality, and Prophet Muhammad is elevated upto the rank of the first genderist. The supporters of Islam assert that this is the only religion in which a woman is given the rights equal to those of a man. In addition, in Islam, a man is regarded as God's deputy on earth. Therefore, a woman shares his destiny as she is also a human being. A woman is a man's partner when it comes to land development and serving God. Side by side with a man, she bears equal responsibility towards God for all the good and evil that she does.

The integrated and comprehensive study into the rights of women throughout various spheres of life within the context of Islam generates the conclusions as follows: Islam grants women equal rights in view of education, participation in public life, signing contracts, running entrepreneurial activities, making money and owning property independently of men. Her life, property and honor are as sacred as those of a man.