The Thousand and One Nights offers a unique perspective on the roles of women in Muslim society. Some of the en-framed stories portray women as disobedient wives, as beautiful concubines and slaves who are always eager to please men, and as prisoners isolated from the outside world. The frame tale itself is being narrated by a woman, Shahrazad, who decides to save other women from death by the hands of a deceiving husband, Shahrayar.

     Many critics and readers argue that the tales from the Arabian Nights degrade women. The main reason for these opinions is that women are never more than the objects of pleasure that can be bought, sold, given away, or become gifts worthy of the kings. In "The Tale of Merchant and his Wife” and "The Porter and the Three Sisters” women are brutally beaten and in "The Tale of the Three Apples," even killed. For the modern reader, it may seem that women do not have any rights in these stories: they are held in harems and the husbands may divorce or take another wife at any time.

      If the stories were read from a native person's point of view, such as Egypt or Samrakand, he or she would have a better understanding of the 12th century culture. During this period, the Islamic Golden Age, Sharia law was the foundation for Islamic countries. One of the laws enabled wealthy Muslim men to practice polygamy. As a result of the multiple women in a household, a set of codes was established to help regulate any disputes between the women. According to the Muslim traditions, men are the head of the family and women are to obey them.

     As was mentioned earlier, many stories in the The Thousand and One Nights describe women as mischievous and disobedient: they cheat on their husbands and take revenge for an unfair treatment. In the time when the tales were written, women were thought to be more inclined to sin, thus, the prophet Muhammad reportedly said: “I stood at the gates of Paradise, most of those who entered there were poor, I stood at the gates of Hell, most of those who went in there were women” ( Walther 51).

     The story of "al-Mu'tadid", as well as the other stories from "The Thousand and One Nights", mention female slave musicians who entertain caliphs and wealthy men from the high classes of the society. The selling and buying of female slaves was a common practice in the Middle Ages among Arabs. It was popular to teach female slaves music and use them as vocal and instrumental performers.  Most of those girl-singers possessed sufficient literary knowledge to quote from esteemed poems or even to compose verses. Women had taken a significant part in music. Besides performing at the houses of rich men, female slaves were also found singing in the places where people were amusing themselves: feasts and celebrations (Farag 206).

     The “Tale of Sympathy the Learned” is an exceptional part of the “Thousand and One Nights”. This story is about a young slave girl who is well educated in many different areas. Though most Muslim women are only educated in the works of “The Quran”, Sympathy “[has] studied syntax, poetry, civil and canon law, music, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic...[and knows] the Sublime Book by heart and can read it in seven different ways” (449). She continues the conversation about all the different aspects that about herself, including her knowledge of architecture, logic, and philosophy. Sympathy is a representation Shahrazad uses to show the king women can be trustworthy, intelligent, and virtuous. Since this is such a well known and influential work in the Arabic and Islamic culture, this particular story has been read by women in the Muslim religion for centuries. It gives this culture the chance to see that women can be knowledgeable about the same things as men including education and of life. 

Although the tales from "The Thousand and One Nights" form a plot of imagination and fantasy, we, the reader, can still learn a great deal about the Muslim society and women's role in it. It is crucial to look at the juxtaposition between the women's roles at first glance and the strength demonstrated deeper within. The very idea women such as those in the stories could maintain their dignity through Shahrazad's retelling is amazing.  Despite a Muslim woman's supposed "back seat" in daily life, we cannot ignore the intelligence and power they exude. Women at the time were to act like the possessions they were thought to be. Therefore, the concept of a woman like Shahrazad is liberating for oppressed women and continues to be inspiring for future generations of women.