Does Islam allow the abuse and mistreatment of women?

The Prophet Muhammad {Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him} said:

“How good were the women of the Ansar that they did not shy away from learning and understanding religious matters.”

{Sahih Muslim}

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Imam Malik’s teacher Imam Az-Zuhri رحمه الله taught Imam Malik that women were essential to this Deen.

He said: “The first person to remove distress from the people and explain to them the Sunnah regarding that was ‘Aisha bint Abi Bakr.”

Imam az-Zuhri رحمه الله also says:

“If Aisha’s {May Allah be well pleased with her} knowledge is compiled and compared to the knowledge of all women, her knowledge will surely excel theirs.”

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Imam az-Zuhri was a great scholar of the Qur’an and the Hadith. Many scholars are known to have studied both sciences from him. Imam Nafi himself, studied with him.

In regards to Imam az-Zuhri’ teachers he said: ‘I used to seek knowledge from three men:

1} Sa’id ibn al-Musayyib {the Mujtahid Imam}, who had the most Fiqh of all,

2} ‘Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, who was a bottomless ocean, and if you wish to find a kind of knowledge not found with anyone else you would find it with

3} ‘Ubaydullah.'”

{I’lam, Volume. 1 pg. 18}

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The Scholar of Hadith, Imam al-Hakim رحمه الله said:

“One fourth of the rule of Shari’ah was narrated on the authority of ‘Aisha.”

Aisha’ is considered by many of the scholars to be the greatest scholar of all time, as she taught over 600 of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah and she is known to have always said:

“ Just ask your Umm. “ This is proven by the following statement.

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Abu Musa al-Ash’ari {May Allah be well pleased with him} said:

“Whenever a Hadith was unclear to us – we the companions of the Messenger of Allah– and we asked ‘Aisha about it, we always gained knowledge about that Hadith from her.”

She used to encourage women to study and she said that the most blessed women were the Ansar because their shyness did not keep them from gaining an understanding of the Deen.