ABSTRACT
By the twelfth century when Averroes was deploring the plight of Muslim women, the pedestal of equality the prophet of Islam had outlined for them in the Quran had long since vanished. For Eve's character was a hot subject of discussion not only among theologians and wise men otherwise disconnected from the daily life of ordinary people; it also preoccupied the common folk. Stories about the first woman abounded in the popular culture, and for good reason. The Quran adopts the Old Testament commandment to honor one's father and mother, but pre-eminence is given to the latter: for "paradise lies at the feet of their mothers". The fabulous fable, well-known in the West, begins in the wake of the king's determination to wed and then immediately kill his bride, by way of retaliation against the female sex for the betrayal he suffered at the hands of his adulterous wife.
