Personality of Woman in Islam and Judaism:The Mystical Position

Women related issues are one of the most important affairs which are among the concern of a number of scholars in the present era. Regarding religion، the scholars of both Islam and Judaism have stated their opinions on the basis of their religious educations. In the Old Testament، woman is deemed as the secondary and minor creature. The women rights are highly restricted as compared to men، and except few cases، she is deprived of a great deal of human advantages. This viewpoint has caused a lot of misunderstandings regarding the status of women in existence which ultimately turned into the role of an instrument in western communities. In Islamic view، men and women both have identical essence in humanity and within the realm of human concept they are equal. This important idea is reflected in the verses of the Quran، and the life of the prophet and later Imams is filled with a number of the related examples. A look at the impact of these two perspectives in mysticism suggests that in mystical literature of Judaism، too، the status of women has not developed yet and the same gender look is preserved. Woman is either in lower degree than man or not human at all. Conversely، woman has got a different position in Islamic mysticism. Impacted out of Islam، Mystics too look at women as a creature that is on the way toward perfection having no trouble to be a perfect mankind. This perception is evident in Mowlana''s poems. On the other hand، the mystic women themselves have a great share to prove this idea. The role of these groups of women in enriching mystical literature could not be denied. In addition to examining the personality of women in Islam and Judaism، this paper tries to deal with the position of women in Islam and Judaism.