© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2022 | doi:10.1163/9789004520806_007 Chapter 6 Women’s Status in Islam: An Analysis from the Perspective of Private and Public Spheres Shahbaz Ahmad Cheema Abstract This article analyzes various shades of opinion on status of women from Islamic perspective. Many scholars have expressed their opinions ranging from gender neutral readings to discriminatory constructions of the divine sources. The modernist scholars assume that traditional manner of religious interpretation of the divine texts does not satisfy the modern urge for egalitar- ian construction of Islam and argue for re-evaluation of traditional oeuvre for striking an equilibrium on women’s status. On the other hand, the traditional- ists refuse to put critical glance on traditional corpus including the personal opinions of jurists as if they are divinely ordained. In this context, two appar- ently distinct but theoretically interlinked issues, i.e. the status of women in private and public spheres, are selected for analysis in the article. The same concepts, qawama and segregation of sexes, are instrumental for shaping the opinions for both spheres. In addition to identifying the potential of the divine sources for engendering an egalitarian and non-discriminatory environment for women, the article emphasizes that there is a need to go beyond scrip- tural re/construction to bring an efficacious and long-term transformation to women in Muslim societies. Keywords Qawama – Gender – Islam – Private Sphere – Public Sphere – Quran 1 Introduction This article showcases a broad spectrum of opinions on women’s status in Islam. Some scholars argue for the reconstruction of scriptural/divine sources of Islam for augmenting women’s status in Muslim societies in consonance