Islamic and feminist approaches to gender differences

Considering the gender differences or disregarding the differences in women's rights is major disagreement between Islam and feminism. The basis of this disagreement, resulting from the ontological and epistemological foundations of the two schools, is rooted in the fact that who should determine the expediency. In Islam this important task is devoted to Allah, whereas feminism lets man to decide on his/her expediency. Thus, in Islam justice is an intrinsic reality, and hence, since legal equality is against women's existential exigencies, it is considered as violence against women. But, in feminism, justice is completely relative and its meaning changes based on different human experiences, as a result the meaning of violence against women, too, is flexible. After presenting the views of two general groups of Islamic intellectuals in this regard, this paper explains the philosophy behind these legal differences from an Islamic approach. Next, the views of feminists on the role of gender in legal matters are briefly elaborated. Then, the paper deals with two general models: parity and transformation, and after explaining the philosophy of equality in feminism, it is compared to the Islamic philosophy in this respect.