Islamic and Feminist Attitudes towards Family Functions

The present study seeks to view the position of "family" in the feminist thought to find out at the end what the family, which is the first human social institution, has been through in the logic of feminism. On the whole, based on what is perceived from the feminism literature and feminist actions, the family unit is the first place where women are subjected to violence and injustice. As a result, the strategies, which the different waves of the feminist movement put forth in a bid to give an end to injustice and oppression of women, have directly or indirectly led to weakening of the position of family and disintegration of ordinary bonds in the family resulting eventually in enormous social crises in the bio-social structure of human societies. Thus, the basic objective pursued by this article is to study the aftermaths of feminist thinking on “family value developments” in Western societies. Comparatively, it seeks to study Islam’s evaluation and criticisms of feminist thinking. That is because in Islam’s social thought, the feminist attitude and function about the family system and the issues surrounding it are unacceptable as they lead to destruction of this sacred institution. Islam considers feminists’ understanding of certain concepts like freedom, equality, oppression and inequality as invalid, and it introduces a new logic characteristic of Islamic features about the position, status and role of woman in the family.