Efforts to improve the status of women in Islam occurred during the early reforms under Islam between 610 and 661, when Arab women were given greater rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance. In 622 the Constitution of Medina was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, outlining many of Muhammad's early reforms under Islam, including an improved legal status for women in Islam, who were generally given greater rights than women in pre-Islamic Arabia and medieval Europe. Women were not accorded with such legal status in other cultures until centuries later. Indeed according to Professor William Montgomery Watt, when seen in such historical context, Muhammad "can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of women’s rights.
The general improvement of the status of Arab women included prohibition of female infanticide and recognizing women's full personhood.The dowry, previously regarded as a bride-price paid to the father, became a nuptial gift retained by the wife as part of her personal property. Under Islamic law, marriage was no longer viewed as a "status" but rather as a "contract", in which the woman's consent was imperative. "Women were given inheritance rights in a patriarchal society that had previously restricted inheritance to male relatives. Annemarie Schimmel states that "compared to the pre-Islamic position of women, Islamic legislation meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the letter of the law, to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work.
