74 SOCIAL SCIENTIST in the matter of divorce."14 The expansion of the Islamic empire brought the new religion in confrontation with cultures and civilizations beyond the borders of Arabia, The local customs in different countries also came in the way of an independent status for Muslim women: in Morocco and Sudan, for example, the laws of inheritance could not be operative; in China the Islamic laws of marriage ran counter to the prevailing customs; in India, the Islamic rules of inheritance could not be applied in view of the feudal character of the society which denied such rights to Hindu women. Facing Some Home Truths As a result of the more recent contact of Indian society with the west many social and economic changes came about affording some relief to Indian women steeped in religion and traditions. Unfortunately Muslim women have been denied the benefits of these changes. For example,, stiff opposition came from Muslim leaders and ulemas to alterations in personal law. Although basic amendments in personal law have been made in Turkey and other Muslim countries, the Indian Muslim leaders argue that there is no "male tyranny" and that all the restrictions imposed by Islam on women are in their best interests.18 According to them, purdah is necessary for self-respect and polygamy for keeping the society free from promiscuity and concubinage: it checks immorality and helps the creation of a virtuous society. They also oppose birth control and participation of women in social and political life.16 There has been nothing like the Hindu social reform movement among Indian Muslims. The weakness both of the modernist and the fundamentalist schools of thought has been the apologetic tone and approach. Both start on the premise that there is nothing essentially wrong with Islamic teaching and what is needed is a strong defence of it to enable it to raise the status of women in society. There is a refusal to recognize the plain truth that women's economic independence is the core of liberation which demands not only the stamping out of religious restrictions (with the help of the state, if necessary) but also women's active participation in the political and economic life of the country. As for the status of women in the Muslim world in general, Muhammad Qutb, a great defender of Islam, observes that the woman in the Islamic countries is generally backward with neither respect nor any grace. She lives a life similar to that of animals; her whole existence is but another name for mean earthly desires; she suffers privations more than she ever tastes happiness; she is made to surrender more than she is given; and seldom does she rise above the level of a purely impulsive existence.17 He attributes this condition to poverty and man's worship of power. Ameer Alt contended that backwardness of Muslim women is the result of a lack of culture among the community generally,1B clearly implying that Islam