Short answer
Yes, in worth, faith and reward. Men and women come from one soul, carry the same duties of belief and worship, and are rewarded equally for the same deeds; the most honoured is the most God-conscious. Some roles and rights differ, such as who must provide for the family. All four schools agree.
This is agreed belief, not a point of difference between the schools. Men and women are equal in human dignity, accountability and reward. The law gives them some different roles, such as the husband's duty of maintenance (nafaqah) and some inheritance shares, and each difference comes with a matching duty.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran starts with a shared origin: Allah created humanity from one soul and created its mate from it. It then speaks to men and women side by side: the believing men and the believing women, the fasting men and the fasting women, and promises both forgiveness and a great reward. Whoever does good, male or female, while a believer, enters Paradise and is not wronged. When Umm Sulaym asked whether a woman has to bathe after a wet dream as a man does, the Prophet ﷺ said yes, women are the twin halves of men.
Equal does not mean identical. Islam gives men and women some different roles, and the scholars explain each one with the duty attached to it:
- Maintenance: a husband must pay for his wife's food, clothing and housing, even if she is wealthy. Her own money stays hers.
- Inheritance: in some cases a son inherits twice a daughter's share, because he carries the family's costs and she carries none.
- Leadership of the home: the husband has a degree of responsibility, and the Quran says that wives have rights similar to the duties expected of them.
- Worship: women are excused from prayer during their period and from Jumuah, as a relief, not a lowering.
Some people ask whether Muslims believe women have souls. They do, without any doubt. A woman is a full moral person who answers to Allah for herself, owns her own wealth and will be judged by her own deeds. The Prophet ﷺ said the best of you are those who are best to their families.
For more on the rights Islam gives women, see women in Islam, the rights of a wife and Quran verses about women.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:1
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍۢ وَٰحِدَةٍۢ وَخَلَقَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًۭا كَثِيرًۭا وَنِسَآءًۭ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ٱلَّذِى تَسَآءَلُونَ بِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْحَامَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًۭا ﴿١﴾
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
Men and women share one origin.
Quran, Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:35
إِنَّ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَٱلْمُسْلِمَٰتِ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ وَٱلْقَٰنِتِينَ وَٱلْقَٰنِتَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ وَٱلصَّٰدِقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ وَٱلصَّٰبِرَٰتِ وَٱلْخَٰشِعِينَ وَٱلْخَٰشِعَٰتِ وَٱلْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَٱلْمُتَصَدِّقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمِينَ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمَٰتِ وَٱلْحَٰفِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَٱلْحَٰفِظَٰتِ وَٱلذَّٰكِرِينَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًۭا وَٱلذَّٰكِرَٰتِ أَعَدَّ ٱللَّهُ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةًۭ وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا ﴿٣٥﴾
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.
Men and women are named side by side and promised the same forgiveness and reward.
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:228
وَٱلْمُطَلَّقَٰتُ يَتَرَبَّصْنَ بِأَنفُسِهِنَّ ثَلَٰثَةَ قُرُوٓءٍۢ ۚ وَلَا يَحِلُّ لَهُنَّ أَن يَكْتُمْنَ مَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ فِىٓ أَرْحَامِهِنَّ إِن كُنَّ يُؤْمِنَّ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ ۚ وَبُعُولَتُهُنَّ أَحَقُّ بِرَدِّهِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ إِنْ أَرَادُوٓا۟ إِصْلَٰحًۭا ۚ وَلَهُنَّ مِثْلُ ٱلَّذِى عَلَيْهِنَّ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۚ وَلِلرِّجَالِ عَلَيْهِنَّ دَرَجَةٌۭ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ﴿٢٢٨﴾
Divorced women remain in waiting for three periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation. And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of them, according to what is reasonable. But the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Wives have rights that match their duties, while men carry a degree of responsibility.
Sunan Abi Dawud 236
Graded hasan... نعم إنما النساء شقائق الرجال ...
"Yes. Women are the twin halves of men."
Women share the same rulings as men unless a text sets them apart.
Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3895
Graded sahih... خيركم خيركم لأهله وأنا خيركم لأهلي ...
"The best of you is the best to his family, and I am the best of you to my family."
Measures a man's goodness by how he treats his wife and family.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Talaq, chapter on maintenance (Bab al-Nafaqah). The husband must maintain his wife whatever her own wealth.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Fara'id. The shares of sons and daughters and the reasons the jurists give for them.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.