The Prophet Muhammad said that "The pursuit of knowledge is the duty of every Muslim, man and woman", this gave people the motivation to educate themselves, regardless of their gender, which was originally frowned upon (Angha). Because women are now able to educate themselves, they have the knowledge to take advantage of their newfound freedom by joining the workforce. By joining the workforce, women in Islamic culture can truly experience a sense of freedom because they are no longer expected to simply sit at home and take care of the house and children, while their husband is at work. Women's education and work skills also help further promote equality and allow them to join “reformist efforts to challenge the male clerical elite's control over social life” (Fisher). Women in Islamic culture have gained the power to make changes through the ability to obtain further education. In the pre-Islamic period, women could not purchase their own property, but since women could not work, they would never have had the funds to purchase property. Today in Islam, women can work and use money to buy their own property, another step towards women's equality