关于伊斯兰中女性的问题，穆斯林中一向清楚明了，也从未有过争议。安拉（SWT）创造了男人和女人，并为两者规定了共同的责任，例如传播达瓦（Daw'ah）以及监督统治者，此外还为each性别指定了特定的责任。穆斯林承认主权属于安拉，与男女相关的规定都是伊斯兰的规定，是依据达利勒（daleel），通过伊贾提哈德（ijtihad）推导出来的。穆斯林中普遍默认，伊贾提哈德的过程和达利勒的概念与性别无关，因此从未出现过"男性的"或"女性的"伊斯兰理解。伊斯兰对任何概念或规定所产生的唯一理解，就是基于达利勒的法律理解。因此，所有穆斯林，无论男女，都完整地遵守伊斯兰的规定；持有这种理解的穆斯林，也免于西方至今仍在困扰其社会的"性别战争"。

The issue of woman in Islam was clear and never debated among Muslims. Allah (swt) created men and women and legislated general responsibilities for both, such as carrying the Daw'ah and holding the rulers accountable, in addition to designating specific responsibilities for each gender. Muslims acknowledged that sovereignty belongs to Allah, and the rules related to both men and women are Islamic rules deduced through ijtihad based upon the daleel. It was implicitly recognized among Muslims that the process of ijtihad and the concept of daleel are not sex-dependent, and thus, a "male" or "female" understanding of Islam never emerged. The only understanding that Islam produced for any concept or rule was the legal understanding based upon the daleel. As a result, all Muslims, whether man or woman, adhered to the Islamic rules in their entirety, and the Muslims with this understanding were saved from the "sex wars" that continue to plague the West until today.

正是由于缺乏这种认识,穆斯林在应对西方关于伊斯兰中妇女地位的冲击时才显得无力。西方发起的思想入侵提出了与伊斯兰社会制度相关的问题,例如为什么男子被允许娶四位妻子,为什么女子必须遮盖全身,只露出面部和双手。更具破坏性的,是西方所构建并宣扬的关于伊斯兰中妇女地位的概念——即在一个男性主导的社会中做奴隶。应对这一切的恰当方式,是认识到西方对妇女的看法源于一种特定的观点。穆斯林本可以轻易地解决这一问题,即以伊斯兰的思想根基来阐释伊斯兰,迫使西方质问:决定男女各自地位的,究竟是人类还是真主更有资格。然而,穆斯林犯下了一个严重的错误,即试图为伊斯兰中的妇女地位辩护,以迎合西方的观念。一些穆斯林对西方的指责作出反应,开始呼吁西方的思想,如妇女解放和两性平等,以为这样做可以挡住部分攻击。作为对这一群体的反应,另一部分穆斯林走向了另一个极端,宣称妇女不应离开家门,并禁止她们经商、受教育和参与政治。还出现了第三群体,试图调和两派,但这不过是试图调和西方思想与伊斯兰情感而已。

It was this understanding that the Muslims lacked in dealing with the onslaught from the West regarding the status of women in Islam. The ideological invasion initiated by the West raised issues related to the Islamic Social System, such as why the man is allowed to marry four women and why the woman must cover her entire body except the face and hands. Even more damaging was the very concept of the status of women in Islam which the West constructed and propagated - a slave in a male-dominated society. The proper response to all of this would be to realize that the outlook of the West towards women stem from a specific viewpoint. The Muslims could have easily addressed this issue by presenting Islam with its intellectual basis, forcing the West to question whether the human being or Allah was fit to decide what status would be conferred to both men and women. However, the Muslims made a critical mistake by attempting to justify the status of women in Islam to accommodate the Western outlook. Some Muslims reacted to the accusations initiated by the West began by calling for Western ideas such as woman's liberation and equality between the sexes, thinking that doing so would stave off some of the attacks. As a reaction to this group, another section of Muslims went to the opposite extreme and claimed that the woman should not leave her home and are prohibited from trade, education, and politics. A third group emerged in an attempt to reconcile between the two camps, which was no more than an attempt to reconcile between Western thoughts and Islamic emotions.

这些尝试解决这一问题的最终结果是彻底的灾难。这些运动直接导致穆斯林乌玛在女性地位问题上面临三种选择：

The end result of these attempts to address this issue was a total disaster. As a direct outcome of these movements, the Muslim Ummah was faced with three options regarding the status of women:

要采纳西方模式，而该模式本身是对一种错误观点的反应；或采纳所谓的"伊斯兰"模式，而该模式是对一种反应的反应；或采纳试图把伊斯兰与西方观念相融合的模式，而这是两种反应之间的妥协。更让问题雪上加霜的是，穆斯林开始混淆伊斯兰与各地的风俗文化和传统，而其中许多确实严重歧视妇女。这些传统与文化中的诸多方面被视为伊斯兰的内容，尤其是在妇女问题上。伊斯兰与地方文化的这种混杂，使穆斯林和非穆斯林都更加坚信伊斯兰压迫妇女的看法。

To adopt the Western model, which was based on a reaction to an incorrect viewpoint; or to adopt what was labeled as the "Islamic" model, which was a reaction to a reaction; or to adopt the model which attempted to mix Islam with the Western outlook, which was a compromise between two reactions. Further compounding the problem was the fact that the Muslims began to lose the distinction between Islam and various local cultures and traditions which did in fact discriminate heavily upon women. Many aspects of these traditions and cultures were deemed Islamic, particularly on the issue of women. This intermixing of Islam with local culture succeeded in magnifying the image among Muslims and non-Muslims that Islam is oppressive to women.

除了这些问题之外,还涉及了许多其他议题,例如圣战(Jihad)、非穆斯林在伊斯兰教中的地位,以及伊斯兰刑法。为了确保这一进程取得成功,穆斯林世界各地兴建了新的大学和学校,并向穆斯林学生提供奖学金,使其赴西方国家求学。此外,还成立了文化和教育俱乐部,甚至利用医院来在穆斯林中宣扬西方的思想和文化。所有这些手段都被用来传播西方的思想,如民族主义、世俗主义,尤其是对西方一切方面的神化,从其历史、著名的西方人物,到其在艺术和文学方面的成就。这些思想最初为黎巴嫩的一些基督徒所接受,随后传播到穆斯林之中。后来,当西方在军事上殖民该地区时,除个人事务领域外,沙里亚(Shariah)被弃而不用,并强制推行新的教育课程。这一教育课程的存在将保证,在西方从穆斯林土地上军事撤离之后,从这一课程毕业的后代会把西方视为其生活各个方面的理想典范。

In addition to these issues, many others were addressed, such as Jihad, the status of non-Muslims in Islam, and the Islamic penal code. In order to ensure the success of this process, new universities and schools were erected throughout the Muslim world, and scholarships were granted to Muslim students to study in the West. Furthermore, cultural and educational clubs were established, and even hospitals were utilized for the purpose of promoting Western ideas and culture among Muslims. All of these tools were used to spread Western ideas such as Nationalism, Secularism, and, above all, sanctification of the West in all of its aspects, from its history to noted Western personalities to its achievements in the arts and literature. These thoughts were initially accepted by some Christians in Lebanon and later spread among Muslims. When the West eventually colonized the region militarily, the Shariah was abandoned except in areas dealing with personal issues, and a new educational curriculum was imposed. The existence of this educational curriculum would guarantee that, after the military departure of the West from the Muslim lands, the future generations who would graduate from this curriculum would look up to the West as their ideal model in every facet of life.

如今，西方思想在穆斯林中已无处不在。事实上，西方文化已成为知识分子和受过教育阶层中的主导观点。穆斯林世界中存在的大多数出版物、研讨会、知识界圈子和讨论，都受到这一观点的影响。而电信和互联网等新型思想传播手段的出现，又进一步加强了这种影响。

Nowadays, the Western thought has become pervasive among Muslims. In fact, the Western culture became the dominant point of view among the intelligentsia and the educated class. Most of the publications, seminars, intellectual circles, and discussions, which exist in the Muslim World are influenced by this point of view. And the advent of new means of transmitting ideas such as telecommunications and internet further enhanced this influence.

西方思想的影响是对穆斯林产生的最危险的因素，其影响远超希腊哲学和东方哲学的影响。那些古老的哲学或许曾使穆斯林的思想偏离方向，而现代西方哲学则几乎扼杀了穆斯林的思想，并致力于按照西方文化重塑穆斯林后代的思维。如今，大多数穆斯林在情感上仍怀有伊斯兰的情怀，但在思想和观念上却已西方化了。

The impact of the Western thought is the most dangerous factor which affected Muslims, far surpassing the impact of the Greek and Eastern philosophies. While these old philosophies may have diverted the thinking of the Muslims, the modern Western philosophy killed the Muslim thought altogether and worked to reshape the thinking of future generations of Muslims based on the Western culture. Today, the majority of Muslims have Islamic emotions, but are Westernized in their thoughts and ideas.

伊斯兰的思维方式并非一夜之间被摧毁,而是由历史上逐步积累的诸多因素使其慢慢支离破碎。这些因素始于塔比欧(Tabi'een)之后某些思想因素的出现。近来,人们发起了许多努力,试图通过让穆斯林回归前三代人的生活方式,来恢复伊斯兰的思维方式。然而,即便是这些努力也未能成功,因为发起者们把精力局限于对这些早期世代所提出的教法观点进行盲目效仿(taqleed),并在涉及信仰(Aqeedah)的问题上不断重复这些观点,缺乏深入的思想性思考。此外,他们没有区分两件事:一是考察前三代人如何建立并维系其思想,以及如何面对周遭的问题,从而将其作为可以借鉴的榜样;二是照搬当时所存在的工具和技术。结果,他们所呼吁的变革,实际上成了让穆斯林回到骑骆驼的时代的号召,而非让穆斯林效法早期世代的号召。因此,这些运动同样未能解决问题。

The Islamic way of thinking was not destroyed overnight but was slowly dismembered due to many factors which accumulated throughout history. Those factors started with the emergence of some intellectual factors after the Tabi'een. Recently, many attempts were initiated to restore the Islamic way of thinking by returning the Muslims back to the lifestyle of the first three generations. But even these attempts failed because those who pioneered such attempts confined their efforts to Taqleed in Fiqhi opinions produced by these early generations and continuous repetition of their opinions in issues related to the Aqeedah without any profound intellectual thinking. Furthermore, they did not differentiate between examining the first three generations, how they built and maintained their thinking, and how they faced the issues surrounding them as a role model to take lessons from, and actually copying the tools and technologies that existed at the time. As a result, the change that they called for was in fact a call for Muslims to return to the days of riding camels and not a call for the Muslims to emulate the early generations. Thus, even these movements were unable to solve the problem.