ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the educational development of Muslim women and their struggle in the national development of Pakistan. Iqbal’s interpretation of Islam and Jinnah’s nationalist movement created a strong political consciousness among Muslim men and women. The feudal lords exerted their authority over their lands, peasants and womenfolk. The women were mainly instruments for producing male progeny that would inherit the father’s wealth. The system of guarding women behind harem walls was further considered to be the cause of ‘Muslim degeneration throughout the Middle Ages. Feudal societies from medieval times to present, developed a strict system of division of labour in which man was the breadwinner and women the producer of children. The ruling elites have aligned themselves with retrogressive religious groups with the aim of dominating women and relegating their social status. Education in Pakistan has been the privilege of a few and least of all of Pakistan women.
