一般非穆斯林的人士認為伊斯蘭的女性地位低弱，如一夫四妻制，女性包頭巾且不得外出等都視為女性地位低微的特徵。就連高中歷史課本對伊斯蘭女性有極深的誤解。由國立編譯館編譯的世界文化史上冊的第四章二、三節，談論到回教的興起與文化，其中在第三節談論伊斯蘭的家庭時寫到：「在回教的家庭中，父親是具有絕對權威的家長，而男孩則是家中的寶貝，婦女的地位隨著她的身份和年齡而有不同，一旦美貌消逝，妻子就與家中的僕人無異。回教允許一夫四妻，一個男子可以合法的娶四個妻子，尚不計妾…….。」由上得知，即使是編譯高中教科書籍的國立編譯館也對伊斯蘭教的誤解極深。
既然誤解如此的多，那當然要一一澄清。首先伊斯蘭是個講求男女平等的宗教，我們可從以下的經典看出男女是沒有區別的。古蘭第三章第一百九十五節說：「我絕不使你們任何一個人行善的人徒勞無功，無論他是男的，或是女的----男女是相生的。」意思是無論男人或女人，你們由信仰而做的善事，真主是知道的，男人女人所做的都差不多。另外關於男女平等的規定在古蘭第二章第二二八節說：「婦女享有合理的權利，也應盡合理的義務，但男人的權利比她們高一級。」這裡稍微解釋一下男人的權利比婦女高一級的意思，所謂男性權利高於婦女一級是因為兩性生理有別，所以將家庭的經濟重責劃歸男人擔任，只有此一區別。所以原則上伊斯蘭教中婦女的權利義務完全與男人的權利義務相等。
至於伊斯蘭的婦女享有什麼樣的權利與義務？伊斯蘭的婦女與男子一樣可以自己謀生，享有繼承權也有處理財產的權利。婦女結婚後，男方依規定給女方一份聘禮，這是屬於女方獨有的財產，男方不能干涉女方的財產，婦女可以依照自己的意思處理這筆錢財，如捐給慈善機構，當創業基金等，萬一雙方離異，男方不得索回聘儀，如此婦女的安全便有保障。伊斯蘭對婦女具有相當的保護，在古蘭經未頒降以前，阿拉伯的文化程度很低，當時婦女本身就是男人們的財產，像物品一般可隨一家財產而轉移，且活埋女嬰的惡習由來已久。古蘭經頒降後，把女性由最低的地位，提升到完全自主的地位，而且穆罕默德聖人（求主賜他平安）下令禁止活埋女嬰，在那時代可說是個創舉。伊斯蘭婦女同樣與男性有受教育的權利，婦女接受良好的教育，以培育優秀的下一代。如果說丈夫為一家之主，婦女則是家庭的支柱，夫妻一體，同為一家當局。
接下來將談到大家最關心的主題，也就是一位男性穆斯林可以娶四個老婆的問題。一夫四妻的問題必須要考慮到當時穆罕默德聖人（求主賜他平安）時代的社會背景。當時在一次的戰役中（烏胡德之疫），罹難的六十五名穆斯林個個身後都留有嗷嗷待哺的妻兒，此時真主降示給穆罕默德聖人（求主賜他平安），允許穆斯林娶四個妻子。古蘭經說：「你們可以於你們選擇的婦女結婚，娶兩個、三個或四個。倘若你們害怕不能公平對待她們，那麼就娶一個….。」（古蘭第四章第三節）批評穆罕默德的西方人士傾向將容許一夫多妻的制度解讀為男性沙文主義作祟。然而，考量當時的社會背景，我們發現一夫多妻並非是為了讓男性享受更美好的生活，它其實是一種社會福利法，從傳道之始，孤兒的問題便讓穆罕默德傷透腦筋。當時阿拉伯半島的男丁或許不足，因此有許多女子未婚，而她們都遭受嚴重的剝削。古蘭經最為重視這個問題，因而採用一夫多妻制以為因應。但經文強調，男子唯有承諾公平管理眾多妻子的財產，才能迎娶一名以上的女子。經文同時明文規定，除非孤女自己願意，否則男方不得將她視為動產強行納娶。一夫多妻務必要回歸當時的社會背景，在七世紀的阿拉伯半島上，男性可以隨心所欲迎娶眾多妻妾，最多娶四名的規定是設限，而非一道迫害令。此外古蘭經緊接說明娶妻四人的資格限制，除非男子自信能毫無偏頗，公平對待所有妻子，否則只能娶妻一名，伊斯蘭律法更是架構在這基礎上，丈夫和每位妻子相處的時間必須完全一樣，此外除了在財務和法律上必須公平對待妻子之外，丈夫不得對任何一個妻子有一絲偏心，尊重她們、愛她們的心必須一樣。然而一夫多妻的條文只有在特殊地區和特殊時期才能通用，並非永久性質的，所以原則上伊斯蘭的婚姻制度仍是以一夫一妻制為原則。
最後將談到伊斯蘭婦女的服裝問題，常在電視上看到伊斯蘭的女子包者頭巾，還有蒙上面紗的。伊斯蘭服裝原為禮拜以遮蔽羞體而設，次普及於社會禮教，伊斯蘭規定男人作禮拜時，其服裝最低限度必須遮蓋羞體，此範圍從肚臍到膝蓋不可對他人顯露。而婦女作禮拜時，除臉、兩手可顯露外，身體其他部分均需遮蓋，以維持嚴肅，出入社會亦以此服裝為宜，以免引人注視。婦女服裝以遮蔽羞體及保持嚴肅為主要目的，至於披帶頭紗遮面的起源是因伊斯蘭早期，阿拉伯半島部族多以收養女奴為榮，女奴外出被陌生男子戲弄者，是常有的現象。因此婦女外出，為避免此種侮辱，婦女外出除了穿著普通服裝外，另加上臉罩，以免遭無禮之辱。
I'm worried, baffled, genuinely concerned, is this the best 優秀外交官 that Islamic world has to offer? as someone who watches the conflict between the West and the Islamic world escalating, I sympathise the Muslim countries in the middle east, I shed tears for the unfair treatment the Palestinean civilians received from the Israeli(and his American brother)'s bully . Mr. Ibrahim, I was going to steer away from your blog as I would normally do to blogs I held different views of. Then I remembered the one reason I came to your blog was wanting to understand your religion and belief so that I could stand proudly against the "main stream" fear that exists in the part of world I lived in and tell people who are willing to listen to put away their prejudices. My guess is this artical 從德黑蘭看悉尼的女人們 was written by someone else (a female) and you had chosen to publish it with approval. As someone who came to australia at age of 12 and spend the next 16 years living and working in Sydney, I think my point of veiw deserve to be heard. Judging from the resentment this writer held against Sydney, I am guessing and hoping she no longer lives here. Between 1995-2000 Australia accepted an average of 12000 refugees every year, this number is dramatically reduced over the years precisely because there are similar voices/opinions held against cultural diversity from the narrow minded, mostly older generation Australians. What worries me is not just her completely ignorant, irresponible protrayal of Sydney/Australian women, but the fact that this prejudice exists in a young woman such as her is truelly astonishing. 懲罰之三﹐老闆勒令...etc 如果年輕的女人們不遵守這個規則﹐就要受到懲罰 is completely untrue. Australia is a young, democratic and free spirited country. It pains me so much to hear her brushing lightly to personal freedom. I dont want to remind you that Australia has hottest summer, and the most beautiful beach in the world, dressing in singlets is perfect healthy, only filthy minds will come up with her foolish conclusion. Dolly and Cosmopolitan are trashy magazines, NOT bibles. But the freedom of speech far outweighs one's reading material. World trends and capitalism exist for a reason. Most Australian respects and cherishes marriages, young women DO NOT dont just sleep around (besides WHO ARE YOU to tell what one should be doing in privacy of their own ?), like everywhere in the world, single parent is far more complex issue than simply poor motherhood. I can go on retaliating to her artical, but that is just a waste of time. My point is we live in a global village where wars and poverty are happening everyday. Please stop believing you know the TRUTH. USA declares war to Iraq because the ultra conservative president believes he knows the truth, he is a fool. Instead of being so critical to the people of unknown (ethnicity, culture or languages), please be more open minded and trusting...trusting that woman who bares her arms in Sydney airport is as beautiful and pure as that Muslim lady with burqa. To Mr. Ibrahim, I welcome you to visit Sydney sometime, so you know the beauty of this city, but please, put away your criticism and prejudice and show me the beauty of Islam.