Accepting the Narration of Women in Hadith
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Q: Why do we accept the narration of a single woman , when in testimony in ordinary cases we apply the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: [Al-Baqarah 2:282], and in the science of hadith, greater verification is required, especially since there are a great many hadiths in the two Sahihs from Aisha ? For example, is the statement of Ibn Hajar relied upon in declaring a man defective, while the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not taken: ? We ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that
He may grant you success in providing a satisfying answer to this topic, which constantly occupies my mind and of which I do not speak to anyone.
A: First: The correct view is that a specific number is not required for accepting a narration; rather, one person is sufficient for conveying and accepting a hadith, whether male or female, provided he or she is upright and precise, the chain of narration is connected, and there is no anomaly or valid defect. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was content with sending one person to convey the message, such as Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen , and Dhihyan al-Kilabi with his letter to Heraclius , and the like. Also, Ali ibn Abi Talib was sent to Mecca in the ninth year of the Hijrah to call out to the people during the Hajj season that no polytheist should perform Hajj after that year and that no one should circumambulate the House naked. As for women, Allah the Exalted commanded the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to convey what is recited in their homes of the verses of Allah and wisdom. He said:[Al-Ahzab 33:34]. And if their narration of the Qur'an and Sunnah had not been accepted, they would not have been commanded to convey it. One of them would sometimes participate with another in conveying the message and sometimes do so alone, as is clear to anyone who follows their narrations. No one objected to this regarding them or those who took from them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or in the time of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Thus, the acceptance of their narration, and that of one of them, was established by the Book, the approval of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the consensus of his Companions (may Allah be pleased with
They continued with this practice in the three centuries that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to as being the best, and in the centuries that followed. Indeed, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who came after them agreed on accepting the narration of a woman absolutely, whether she narrates alone or jointly with others, just as a man does, provided she meets the conditions for acceptance. Second: Testimony and narration are not the same in every respect; rather, they differ in several matters. One is that narration is reporting a general matter for the narrator and others, and it is not brought before judges, unlike testimony, which concerns specific cases pertaining to the one testified against and the one testified for, and is usually brought before judges. Another is that a specific number is not required for the acceptance of narration, as mentioned earlier, unlike testimony, where four men may be required, as in the case of the hadd for unlawful sexual intercourse and false accusation of it, or two men may be required, as in intentional killing, or one man and two women may suffice, as in financial rights, or one woman may suffice, as in the statement of a wet nurse regarding the establishment of milk kinship. Another is that because testimony is specific to the one testified against and the one testified for, it does not extend beyond them except by pure dependency, and it is rejected due to kinship, enmity, or the presence of suspicion, unlike narration, where it is sufficient that the truthfulness of the reporter is likely, in terms of integrity and precision, whether the narrator is a man or a woman, one or more. Another is that there may be enmity between many Muslims that could lead one to give false testimony, unlike narration from him (peace and blessings be upon him). Ibn al-Qayyim said in the first part of *Bada'i' al-Fawa'id*: The difference between
testimony and narration is that the ruling of narration encompasses the narrator and others throughout the passage of time, while testimony is specific to the one testified against and the one testified for, and does not extend beyond them except by the way of pure dependency. Therefore, when a specific person is compelled, enmity, the right of benefit, and suspicion that necessitates rejection are expected from him, so precautions were taken for it by requiring a number and maleness, and it was rejected due to kinship, enmity, and the presence of suspicion. This was not done for narration, whose ruling is general and not specific, so no number or maleness was required for it. Rather, what was required for it is what makes the truthfulness of the reporter likely, which is integrity that prevents lying, and alertness that prevents the prevalence of forgetfulness and confusion. And since women are deficient in intellect and religion, they are not among those qualified for testimony. So when the need arises for that, a woman is strengthened by another like her; because at that time, it is further from her forgetfulness and error due to her companion reminding her. End of quote. Third: Those who engaged in the critique of the narrators of the hadith collections, the collections of biography, and history, by vindicating and denouncing them, were a group of known hadith masters who had sharp insight in that matter. They were contemporaries of those they critiqued and judged them based on what they knew about them, and they did not distinguish in their methodology of critique between a man and a woman; rather, they were equal in their eyes regarding denunciation and vindication. As for those who came after them who did not live in the era of those narrators, such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him), his affair with those narrators was to transmit the statements of the masters who were their contemporaries regarding them, to discuss their chains to them, and to prefer one over the other when they conflicted, and the like of that. It is not for him
And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses - so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her
فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّنْ تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاءِ أَنْ تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الأُخْرَىLest one of them forget
أَنْ تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَاHe may grant you success in providing a satisfying answer to this topic, which constantly occupies my mind and of which I do not speak to anyone.
A: First: The correct view is that a specific number is not required for accepting a narration; rather, one person is sufficient for conveying and accepting a hadith, whether male or female, provided he or she is upright and precise, the chain of narration is connected, and there is no anomaly or valid defect. This is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was content with sending one person to convey the message, such as Mu'adh ibn Jabal to Yemen , and Dhihyan al-Kilabi with his letter to Heraclius , and the like. Also, Ali ibn Abi Talib was sent to Mecca in the ninth year of the Hijrah to call out to the people during the Hajj season that no polytheist should perform Hajj after that year and that no one should circumambulate the House naked. As for women, Allah the Exalted commanded the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to convey what is recited in their homes of the verses of Allah and wisdom. He said:
And remember what is recited in your houses of the verses of Allah and wisdom. Indeed, Allah is ever Subtle and Acquainted [with all things].
وَاذْكُرْنَ مَا يُتْلَى فِي بُيُوتِكُنَّ مِنْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَالْحِكْمَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ لَطِيفًا خَبِيرًاThey continued with this practice in the three centuries that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to as being the best, and in the centuries that followed. Indeed, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who came after them agreed on accepting the narration of a woman absolutely, whether she narrates alone or jointly with others, just as a man does, provided she meets the conditions for acceptance. Second: Testimony and narration are not the same in every respect; rather, they differ in several matters. One is that narration is reporting a general matter for the narrator and others, and it is not brought before judges, unlike testimony, which concerns specific cases pertaining to the one testified against and the one testified for, and is usually brought before judges. Another is that a specific number is not required for the acceptance of narration, as mentioned earlier, unlike testimony, where four men may be required, as in the case of the hadd for unlawful sexual intercourse and false accusation of it, or two men may be required, as in intentional killing, or one man and two women may suffice, as in financial rights, or one woman may suffice, as in the statement of a wet nurse regarding the establishment of milk kinship. Another is that because testimony is specific to the one testified against and the one testified for, it does not extend beyond them except by pure dependency, and it is rejected due to kinship, enmity, or the presence of suspicion, unlike narration, where it is sufficient that the truthfulness of the reporter is likely, in terms of integrity and precision, whether the narrator is a man or a woman, one or more. Another is that there may be enmity between many Muslims that could lead one to give false testimony, unlike narration from him (peace and blessings be upon him). Ibn al-Qayyim said in the first part of *Bada'i' al-Fawa'id*: The difference between
testimony and narration is that the ruling of narration encompasses the narrator and others throughout the passage of time, while testimony is specific to the one testified against and the one testified for, and does not extend beyond them except by the way of pure dependency. Therefore, when a specific person is compelled, enmity, the right of benefit, and suspicion that necessitates rejection are expected from him, so precautions were taken for it by requiring a number and maleness, and it was rejected due to kinship, enmity, and the presence of suspicion. This was not done for narration, whose ruling is general and not specific, so no number or maleness was required for it. Rather, what was required for it is what makes the truthfulness of the reporter likely, which is integrity that prevents lying, and alertness that prevents the prevalence of forgetfulness and confusion. And since women are deficient in intellect and religion, they are not among those qualified for testimony. So when the need arises for that, a woman is strengthened by another like her; because at that time, it is further from her forgetfulness and error due to her companion reminding her. End of quote. Third: Those who engaged in the critique of the narrators of the hadith collections, the collections of biography, and history, by vindicating and denouncing them, were a group of known hadith masters who had sharp insight in that matter. They were contemporaries of those they critiqued and judged them based on what they knew about them, and they did not distinguish in their methodology of critique between a man and a woman; rather, they were equal in their eyes regarding denunciation and vindication. As for those who came after them who did not live in the era of those narrators, such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him), his affair with those narrators was to transmit the statements of the masters who were their contemporaries regarding them, to discuss their chains to them, and to prefer one over the other when they conflicted, and the like of that. It is not for him
And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.