Women Rights to Education in Light of University Co-Education

Abstract

The vulnerability of the Muslim world has negatively affected women's rights, particularly their right to education, which was seen by the advocates of westernization as an opportunity for the de-religious disengaging of women by making western women a role model. This created a backlash among some Muslim writers, who prohibited women's education because of co-education. Therefore, it has been deemed necessary to clarify the truth by answering the following question: ‘if education is proved to be a right for women, is it permissible to deny women their right to education under such a pretext? The researcher used descriptive and critical approaches to discuss the right of women to education considering co-education in universities. This paper addressed this topic by rooting the concept of this right and its obligations. It also addressed the issue of co-education from a doctrinal point of view on which contemporary studies focused. This paper argues that education is a right that Islam grants to women and women have the right to claim and defend it before those in authority, who assume the responsibility of providing the right environment for women to exercise their right to education.