When Muhammed became the established prophet, women lost their economic independence, their autonomy, and the right to a monogamous marriage. After the prophet's death in 632, the mechanisms for controlling women's lives were more clearly articulated by the succeeding caliphs. Umar himself was very harsh toward women both in private and in public. Her point has far-reaching implications for how we understand Islam's attitude toward women. Islam's ethical vision, which is stubbornly egalitarian, including with respect to the sexes, is thus in tension with, and might even be said to subvert, the hierarchical structure of marriage pragmatically instituted in the first Islamic society.
Good women are obedient. . . .
As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them. To survive in this kind of atmosphere, women had to resort to manipulation, poison, intense rivalries, and falsehoods. Once again, Ahmed observes, the ethical injunctions of Islam were rarely translated into enforceable laws. This, indeed is one of Ahmed's central arguments. Amin argues passionately for the abolition of the veil and for fundamental changes in culture, society, and even in Arab character.