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:: Volume 1, Issue 59 (autumn 2025) ::
islamhistory 2025, 1(59): 79-83 Back to browse issues page
Women of the Hijaz in the Transition from the Age of Jāhiliyyah to the Prophetic Era (PBUH): A Comparative Reappraisal of Social Freedoms and Restrictions
Atefeh Eghbali Kalashami * , Zahra AlhooiiNazari , Zeinab Fazli
Abstract:   (24 Views)
One of the significant issues in Islamic history is the examination of the social status of women during the formative period of Islam. The present study aims to elucidate this status through a comparative investigation of the social freedoms and restrictions experienced by women in the Jāhiliyyah and Prophetic eras. The central question is how the Prophetic teachings, particularly in the domains of education and dress as indicators of social transformation during this transitional process, brought about changes and how these transformations led from the “degradation” of women in the Age of Jāhiliyyah to their “honorification” within the Prophetic community. The study employs the historical method with a comparative-analytical approach and is based on authoritative sources, including the Qur’an, ḥadīth collections, sīrah literature, and historical works. The findings indicate that women in the tribal and stratified society of pre-Islamic Hijaz suffered from limited and discriminatory rights. However, with the advent of Islam, the women of Hijaz, drawing upon their lived experiences of the Jāhiliyyah period, clearly recognized the negative consequences of the previous social structure. Through participation in public gatherings, raising fundamental questions, and actively pursuing their educational needs, they sought access to educational spheres, while the training and emergence of female Companions (Ṣaḥābiyyāt) constituted a tangible manifestation of this active engagement. Likewise, women’s adherence to regulations concerning dress and the organization of social relations arose not from coercion but from an understanding of the necessity of these changes for safeguarding their individual and collective welfare, thereby enabling them to play an active role in shaping the early Muslim community. The study concludes that within the Prophetic model, “freedom” was defined not merely as the removal of restrictions but rather as a combination of “awareness” and “responsibility,” a conception that significantly enhanced the social conditions of women during the Prophetic era.

 
Keywords: Women’s Education, Islam and Women, Ḥijāb, Women of the Hijaz, Early Islam.
Full-Text [PDF 702 kb]   (9 Downloads)    
Type of Study: case report | Subject: Special
Received: 2025/07/12 | Accepted: 2025/09/19
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Atefeh Eghbali Kalashami, AlhooiiNazari Z, Fazli Z. Women of the Hijaz in the Transition from the Age of Jāhiliyyah to the Prophetic Era (PBUH): A Comparative Reappraisal of Social Freedoms and Restrictions. islamhistory 2025; 1 (59) :79-83
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پژوهش نامه تاریخ اسلام (فصلنامه انجمن ایرانی تاریخ اسلام) Quartely Research Journal of Islamic History
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