伊斯兰清楚地界定了男女在生活中的角色，并对他们在生活各个领域的相处方式给出了详尽的指引。这些界定与角色源自创造人类的真主（SWT）。因此，它们与人的本性完全相符，伊斯兰教中不存在任何让男女相互压迫或歧视的空间。

Islam defines very clearly exactly what are the roles of men and women in life, and gives detailed guidance as to how they should interact with each other in every sphere of life. These definitions and roles come from Allah (swt) the Creator of human beings. As a result they perfectly accord with human nature and there is no scope in Islam for either men or women to be left to oppress or discriminate against each other.

人类被视为由人组成，他们拥有相同的本能，如生存本能、精神本能和繁衍本能，以及吃、睡、呼吸等机体需求。无论性别如何，他们都具有这些共同之处。因此，男人和女人都是真主（SWT）的创造物，在这一点上地位绝对平等。伊斯兰教规定，人生的目的纯粹是崇拜真主（SWT）。

Mankind is regarded as consisting of human beings, who have the same instincts, like the survival, spiritual or procreational instincts, and organic needs such as the need to eat, sleep, breathe etc. They share these regardless of their gender. As such, men and women are both creations of Allah (swt) and in this respect are absolutely equal in status. Islam defines the purpose of life for human beings as being purely a worship to Allah (swt).

“我创造精灵和人类，只是为了让他们崇拜我。”[TMQ 51:56]

“I have not created jinn and human beings except as a worship unto me.” [TMQ 51:56].

这种崇拜是通过遵从安拉的命令和禁令而实现的，一个人在这方面所尽到的程度，将在审判日接受审判，以决定他将获得天堂的回报还是火狱的惩罚。这对男性和女性同样适用，两者之间没有任何一方享有优先地位。在安拉（SWT）看来，男性和女性地位平等。安拉（SWT）说：

This worship is fulfilled by living in obedience to the commands and prohibitions of Allah (swt), and the extent to which a person has done this will be judged on the Day of Judgement, to determine whether they are to gain the reward of Paradise or the punishment of Hellfire. This applies equally to both men and women, with neither having any preference over the other. In the eyes of Allah (swt) men and women have equal status. Allah (swt) says,.

“他们的主接受了他们，并应答他们：‘无论你们中的哪一个，无论男女，我都不会使其所行的善功白费，你们彼此相连，同为一体。’”【《古兰经》3:195】

“And their Lord has accepted of them and answered them, ‘never will I suffer to be lost the work of any of you be you male or female, you are members of one another.’” [TMQ 3:195].

然而，人们承认，真主（SWT）创造男人和女人时，赋予他们不同的 fitrah（天性），使他们在生活中扮演不同的角色。这是因为有些特质是男人或女人所独有的，无法为另一方所分享；例如，女人怀孕生育并哺乳子女，而男人虽然体力更强，却无法做这些事。人造制度中的诸多错误之一，便是把“平等”等同于“相同”。于是，男女被迫相互竞争，去承担同样的角色。

It is acknowledged however, that Allah (swt) created man and woman with a different fitrah (nature) which gives them different roles to play in life. This is because there are some attributes that are exclusive to men or women, that cannot be shared by the other; for example, women bear children and breast-feed them, but while men are physically stronger, they are unable to do these. One of the many errors found in the man-made system, is that ‘equality’ has taken the same meaning as ‘sameness.’ Thus, women and men are forced to compete with each other to fulfil the same roles.

伊斯兰教的教法（沙里亚）防止了这种情况。在一些不分性别的领域，男女遵循相同的规定，例如礼拜、起誓和斋戒，但考虑到二者天性的差异除外：例如在月经期间，女性不礼拜；怀孕时，女性可以不斋戒（不过所缺的日子之后需要补还）。而在另一些分性别的领域，男女扮演不同的角色、遵循不同的规定，例如为人母或为人父。因此，男女之间不是竞争，而是和谐与安宁。

The Shari‘ah of Islam prevents this. In some areas, which are not gender specific, men and women follow the same rules, as in the prayer, the giving of oaths or the fasting, except where there is an acknowledgement in the differences of their nature - so in times of menstruation, the woman does not pray, and when pregnant, the woman need not fast (although the missed days are made up later). But in others, which are gender specific, men and women have different roles to play and rules to follow, e.g. motherhood or fatherhood. Thus instead of competition between men and women, there is harmony and tranquillity.