IN AN AGE WHEN no country, no system, no community gave women any rights, in a society where the birth of a baby girl was regarded as a curse, where women were considered chattel, Islam treated women as individuals. "Believers, men and women are mutual friends. They enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil," says the Koran (12:71). Long ago Islam gave women rights that modern nations have conceded grudgingly and only under pressure.

Since the Koran places great emphasis on human dignity and freedom, it is inconceivable that it would tolerate, much less advocate, any form of discrimination based on race, color or gender. In fact, because of its protective attitude toward all the downtrodden, the Koran appears to be weighted in many ways in favor of women. In terms of human rights, the Koran makes no distinction between men and women. The only criterion by which a person is to be judged is piety (Taqwa), which means "to desist from wrong-doing."

On coming of age, a woman under Islamic law is vested in all the rights which belong to her as an independent human being. She is entitled to a share in the inheritance of her parents. No one - not even her father - can force her to marry against her expressed consent. And a woman does not cease to be an individual after marriage. Muslim marriage is a civil act. Rights of the husband over the person of his wife are restricted by law and do not extend to her property, her dowry or her earnings. The marriage contract is drawn at the behest of the woman and she can add to it such conditions as she deems necessary to safeguard her interest - and they are legally binding on the husband.

Islam permits divorce, though it looks on it as a "necessary evil." In the case of a divorce, the wife retains all that the husband had bestowed on her in marriage and is also entitled to alimony. A woman can also seek a separation, though in this case she has to forego the dowry that her husband had conferred on her.

Polygamy was the natural consequence of the decimation of men in tribal wars, leaving scores of women without any support whatsoever. As such, it was permitted in Islam in a restricted form. However, there were conditions attached to it: "If you cannot treat them equitably, marry only one" (4:2). For the crimes of adultery and fornication, the same harsh punishment is prescribed for both men and women found guilty. Women enjoy equally the right to education. "Education is obligatory on both Muslim men and women, even if they have to go to China to seek it," is a popular saying of the Prophet.

In early Islam when the Muslims had to migrate, many women left their homes and took the road to Medina alone. They were present on the battlefield looking after the wounded and even took part in the fighting. Among the first martyrs for Islam was a woman, Sumiyya.

The egalitarian message of Islam and its insistence on the spiritual equality of men and women, however, was eroded as Muslim societies suffered moral and material decline. The process of transition from empire to monarchy and to diverse forms of authoritarianism, coupled with the contaminating influence of the ancient civilizations, which came under the sway of Islam, led to the revival of the patriarchal tradition with its accent on male domination. The struggle for freedom in various parts of the Muslim world brought women out of their homes. We, in Pakistan, actively participated in our freedom movement. But independence in itself was no solution to the social and political problems accumulated over a long time. No one knows this better than a Muslim woman struggling to disentangle herself from a veritable morass of traditions overlaid by a mass of legal quibbling to buttress the hold of vested interests.

Women are now assuming a more active role in Pakistan's society and economy. Continuing this trend is a key objective of my government. It is an important theme in our Social Action Program, which offers a concerted attack on the organically linked issues of poverty, female illiteracy, population-planning and rural health care.

The fact that at present three Muslim countries have female heads of government gives assurance that the problems of women in Islamic societies can be seriously addressed. We, as women leaders, regard it as our religious and political duty to lead the struggle to restore the women's dignity that has been divinely defined for us in the Holy Koran. May we succeed.