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The Religious Life of Islam 41
the home the patriarchal system
still
rules,
the servant is a part of the family, and is
treated with kindness.
Is he not a brother
in the Faith
The position
of woman remains as it was
left by Muhammad thirteen hundred years
ago for there is no growth
in Islam and
it is not easy
to define it. On the one hand
is the marriage law, which gives
to the
husband full
power over his wife or wives ;
on the other, the property law, which
grants to a woman holding property in
her own right,
absolute control over it.
In the latter respect, therefore, the law of
Islam is in advance of the law of great
Britain. I have known the curious
anomaly of a woman whose person was at
the mercy of a brutal drunken wretch,
whom she yet
held in some degree
in check
through his dependence upon her for the
means with which to live his chosen life.