ABSTRACT
De-contextualized excerpts from religious texts and situated practices from different Muslim societies are used as evidence to support the claims that Islam is in conflict with liberal thought and equal rights, particularly with regard to gender. Women are primarily associated with supportive/subordinate roles in the domestic sphere, which gets transferred to the public and professional contexts, posing challenges for women in formal leadership positions. They are not equal to men, either in positions, power or earnings, even when they might be equally capable or better, although interestingly in the case of Pakistan, there is no difference by gender in salaries in the public sector jobs, particularly in education. It is also quoted by critics as signalling gender inequality in Islam. If women were to participate in the professional domain, they should choose to be invisible or visible as good Muslim women, commanding family honour (izzat), and therefore, segregated educational institutions emerged as appropriate zones for them to function as leaders.
