Form vs Substance

I was reminded yesterday to be mindful of the distinction between substance and form – something which I often forget. This was what I remember. I hope I interpreted a friend’s comment on “form vs substance” accurately and get the facts correct:

He commented that when the Muslim prophet Muhammad declared the opinions of two women as equal to those of one man, he was ahead of its time [such that] when Christian scholars in Europe received the news, they were aghast at such a development. The Christian scholars believed that women were being given more rights than they ought to receive.

If practiced today, the concept of “two women, one man” is indeed unequal, but the same concept placed in the context of that period represents a development towards gender equality because it granted women more rights than they [previously enjoyed]. A policy of “two women, one man” may appear unequal when it is [in fact otherwise because] we fail to consider the context in which that policy was designed for. Different and possibly flawed interpretations on government policies may arise as we ignore the substance and looked purely on its form. We need context to interpret.