The ruling on the hadith: “Do not teach your women reading and writing”

Question:
Honorable father, the questioner asks: What is the authenticity of the hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Do not teach your women reading and writing, but teach them Surat al-Nur”?

Answer:
This is reported, but it is not established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a hadith. It is not established that it is a hadith. What appears to me is that it is the saying of some of the Salaf (the earliest generations). What they intend by this is that expanding the education of women causes some deficiency in her fulfilling her service to her husband, her home, and her children, because she occupies herself with her job or her studies and leaves her children, or her husband, or her home, as is known and the case. So the meaning of the report is to refrain from expanding the education of women and to limit it to teaching them what is necessary, such as teaching the Qur'an, teaching them hadiths, and teaching them writing and reading. That is, the amount of education should be sufficient for her. As for expanding into specializations, this is what wastes the rights of the marital relationship and causes problems between the spouses, as is the case.