KYRGYZSTAN TODAY Policy briefs on - Department of Geography

3. The wife is entitled to full material maintenance by her husband, and he has
the right to demand complete obedience from his wife, according to Shariah.
The right to work, to have business and earn money is granted both to husband
and wife, provided that they perform their obligations to each other. The right
of woman to own property, the property received as a gift and all that she has
earned, does not contradict the right of her husband to demand full obedience
from his wife according to Shariah; it also does not contradict the wife’s right to
the full maintenance by her husband.
4. In the event of termination of the marriage, the wife is entitled to material
maintenance in the home of her husband until the end of “idda” (Arabic: a
waiting period of three menstrual cycles after “talaq”, which ends with the
beginning of the fourth cycle, taking into account that “talaq” is not valid during
the menstrual cycles. It is also applied in the funeral-waiting period after the
death of her husband for a period of 4 months and 10 days).
5. The wife has the right to retain her maiden name and not to take her husband’s
name.
6 The wife has the right to require her husband to pay for her education, if it was
previously stipulated in their marriage contract.
7. A woman has the right to inherit from her husband and all relatives of first and
second degrees of kinship on her side.
8. A man is granted the right to have up to four wives, but that does not restrict
the rights of any of his wives. The judge may grant permission for second and
subsequent marriages only on certain conditions, which practically make it
difficult for subsequent marriages for an orthodox Muslim [1, p. 7].
9. And here is the most interesting. According to the opinions of the Muslim law
school of al-Shafii and the most recent Muslim scholars, woman is not obliged
even to work at hom: laundry, cleaning and cooking. This is a voluntary service
of the wife. If she does not agree to do this work, her husband should hire a
servant.
Conclusion
It becomes clear from the above-mentioned that Islam does not restrict the activities
of a woman, limiting her role only to cooking, cleaning and other household work.
Islam encourages her to spiritual, educational and creative growth, her demonstration
of enthusiasm in public and political life. But Islam requires this compliance with a
delicate condition: granting a woman the right to participate actively in social, cultural,
political and economic life, Islam does not turn her into a manlike brutal creature.
Therefore, when it comes to the social status of woman in Islam and her rights,
the following phrase comes to mind: “One’s human rights end where another’s rights
begin.” It raises the question: how can we determine where the rights end and begin?
From the perspective of Islam, rights are determined by performance of duties, and
the duties are determined by natural capabilities (cumulative sense of the Koranic
conclusion; Bakkarat: 286), both in basic capacities and their variants. In other words,
these rights are fully consistent with the duties according to quantitative, qualitative and
even temporal criteria, and all that is based on natural capabilities of man and woman,
both in basic capacities and their variants [5].
This approach is determined by the fact that Islam considers life in all its
completeness and diversity, not excluding any its aspect with regard to women. From the
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