The Noble prize winner Dr. Alexis Carrel has described the biological differences between men and women in her book “Man, the Unknown.” She concludes with the following analysis:

Woman differs from Man

The difference existing between man and woman do not come from the particular form of the sexual organs, the presence of the uterus, from gestation, or from the mode of education. They are of a more fundamental impregnation of the entire organism with specific chemical substances secreted by the ovary. Ignorance of these fundamental facts has led promoters of feminism to believe that both sexes should have the same education, the same powers and the same responsibilities. In reality woman differs profoundly from man. Every one of the cells of her body bears the mark of her sex. The same is true of her organs and, above all, of her nervous system. Physiological laws are as inexorable as those of the sidereal world. They cannot be replaced by human wishes. We are obliged to accept them just as they are. Women should develop their aptitudes in accordance with their own nature, without trying to imitate the males. Their part in the progress of civilization is higher than that of men. They should not abandon their specific functions. [Dr Alexis, Carrel; Man, the Unknown; New York, 1449 , p.91]

The major biological differences between men and women mean that the two sexes do not duplicate each other, each fighting to fulfill the same roles and behaving in the same manner. Instead they complement each other, exercising their own particular strengths and mitigating their partner’s weaknesses. Feminists in various Muslim countries have demanded that women be full represented according to their population percentage in all fields such as the political and the judicial. Other groups too have demanded not only equality but often superiority based on race, language or regional prejudice. Such calls for ‘positive discrimination’ have been breeding grounds for hatred and disunity within the Muslim Ummah (nation) and can serve no real purpose. The Qur’aan speaks of men and women coming from each other, being garments for each other and being bounded together by love and mercy. The hatred for men that many feminists preach is totally alien to Islamic teachings. Instead of the sexes competing against each other, Islam teaches mutual co-operation to form a harmonious and just society, the bedrock of which is a stable family life. The ultimate goal of both men and women is to win Allah’s Pleasure arid His countless favors in the Hereafter. If a man can achieve them through Jihad, observing the Divine commandments and constantly struggling against the forces of Satan, so a woman too has a way open to her as described by the Prophet.

“If a woman prays regularly five times a day, fasts the month (of Ramadan), guards her chastity and obeys her husband, it will be said to her: Enter Paradise from whichever gate you wish.” (Ibn Hibban)