The ruling on appointing a woman to the affairs of the state.

The questioner : I have come from Pakistan, and I want to ask you a question. What is the difference between the rule of a woman and the rule of a slave, between the rule of a woman and the rule of a slave? Some scholars say, meaning, there is no difference between the rule of a woman and the rule of a slave?

The Shaykh : The rule of one who was appointed...?

The questioner : The rule.

The Shaykh : Meaning, that a woman takes charge?

The questioner : That a woman takes charge, or that a slave takes charge. There is no difference between them. What is your opinion on this issue?

The Shaykh : This is a legal and political question, and it is indeed a topic of the day, especially in some Islamic countries that are ruled by a woman. Before answering this question.
The questioner: ...

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : I did not hear the question.

The Shaykh : What is the difference between men ruling over a man from among them, or a woman from among them ruling over them? - meaning, a Muslim woman -.

Another questioner : A slave, a slave?

The Shaykh : A slave, meaning a captive?

The questioner : Yes, a captive.

The Shaykh : This has no relevance today. The relationship and the problem are between a woman and a man. Where are the slaves today?

The questioner : Some scholars say that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . This is the issue, Professor.

The Shaykh : I understand your question now, but what is the connection between this question and our present circumstances? Are there free people and slaves?

The questioner : They say, meaning, if a woman is put in charge of you, there is no harm, and likewise a slave? Meaning.

The Shaykh : Okay, let it go for now. So, after our brother has clarified his question, I will answer it after we demolish the foundation upon which they built it: The rule of a woman in Islam is rejected by two things:
The first: It is rejected by the practice of the Muslims throughout these long centuries in which the Muslims had many rulers, some of whom applied Islam perfectly, such as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and some who were close to that, and so on in degrees. That is, over the course of these years, Islam was ruling, even if some of them sometimes deviated much or little from ruling by Islam in some details. But - and praise be to Allah - it did not happen in these long centuries that a woman ruled the Muslims as is common in some lands of the disbelievers, such as the English and those who imitated or resembled them. The practice of the Muslims in not appointing a woman to the caliphate, the practice of the Muslims in not appointing a woman to the caliphate and what is close to it, is the decisive proof for one who believes in such powers - Blessed and Exalted is He: . The point of this verse, as we touched upon in some detail in a previous session, is His saying - the Exalted: . The Lord of the two worlds did not limit Himself to saying in this verse: , but He added to the opposition of the Messenger . So what is the wisdom of this phrase added to ?
The wisdom is that the believers are those who transmit the methodology followed by the first Muslims. For that reason, the hadiths came one after another ordering us to follow the Salaf. And for that reason - as we said in a previous lecture - we belong to the righteous Salaf, and one of us says about himself that he is a Salafi, and hopes to be so; because our saying "Salafi" is like our saying "believer," but there is a great difference between one who says "believer"; for this word in the present age includes the seventy-three sects, including the Qadiyyah who have destroyed the creed of many Muslims, especially there in India and in Pakistan, where they claimed that prophethood has not ended yet, and that a prophet came to them - they claimed! - and that other prophets will come after him, and their speech is correct with the addition of false prophets; and that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: .
The point: The Salaf transmitted to us what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did in explaining the Book and the verbal Sunnah. So the Khalaf received that from the Salaf, and it became a path for the Muslims. So when we did not find in all these centuries - and especially the three centuries attested to as blessed - a woman who took charge of rule, that is proof that the path of the believers is that a woman should not rule over them. This is the first proof, and it is a very, very strong proof for one who understands and comprehends this verse and its implication . The concern of some scholars reached the point of prioritizing the practical Sunnah upon which the Muslims practiced over his sayings - peace and blessings be upon him - because the saying may be susceptible to more than one aspect of interpretation, whereas the practical aspect cannot be interpreted except in one way. Take, for example, His saying - the Exalted: . So if a man came to this Qur'anic text from which no falsehood comes from before or behind, and brought a new opinion, - may Allah forbid - from the shoulder, how do we argue with him? This is a hand, or he said from the elbow, - also - is this a hand?
The answer: The practical Sunnah upon which the Messenger - peace be upon him - practiced, and his Companions followed him in that, this is the decisive argument in determining the intended meaning of the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is a very important rule, so I hope it will be on your minds and in your remembrance. This is the first proof.
The second proof: That Allah - Mighty and Majestic - decreed with His perfect wisdom that the non-Arabs, the people of Persia, after the death of their king, appointed a woman. So when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) was informed of that, he said: , .
And the truth - our brothers - if a Muslim reflected on this hadith alone, he would find it sufficient to deter the Muslims - if they were truly believers! - from appointing a woman over them; because the meaning of that, in the language of the situation and the matter, as the scholars say, "and the language of the situation is more eloquent than the language of speech," is that the situation was reversed in those lands, so the women became men, and the men became women; because they did not find anyone to take charge of their affairs and manage their matters according to the Shari'ah of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - except a woman. There is no doubt that this reality alone is sufficient to show that these people will not succeed. How then, when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) informed with this explicit phrase: . If it is established - and it is established - if Allah wills - with certainty - that it is not permissible in the Islam practiced by tradition, nor in the Islam that supports this practice by his saying - peace be upon him - that a woman should rule over them -; if this is established, it becomes a premise for answering the reversal of the truth by some people, which is their saying that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) permitted a non-Arab, Abyssinian man to take charge of the affairs of the Muslims. So we answer this with what the people of knowledge said, combining the hadith they rely on with the hadith to which they do not pay any attention. And by doing so, they thrust themselves into the company of the people of desires who take from Islam what agrees with their desires, and leave what contradicts their desires.
We say: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said—as attested by the mass transmission of the testimony of the Commander of the Faithful, Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani—that his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): , is an authentic hadith, and not merely authentic, but also mass-transmitted, as attested by the Commander of the Faithful in his time and in the time after him, as far as we know. Thus, our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) establishes in this hadith a condition for the ruler who wishes to rule the Muslims, which is that he must be a Qurayshi. I know that some people of desires—both in the past and the present—interpret this hadith based on what one of the historians mentioned in the past, namely that this was because Quraysh had dominance, power, status, and rank among the Arabs, where the Arabs submitted to them by inheritance, reverence, and respect. And on this basis came his saying (peace be upon him): . However, after this Arab tribal bond between the tribe of Quraysh and the other tribes disintegrated, there is no longer room for continuing to apply this hadith, because in their claim it was said for the reason mentioned above. Our response, naturally, to our scholars regarding this interpretation, which is closer to denial (ta'til) in the matter of the verses and hadiths of the attributes, is our response to this interpretation with his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . Thus, their interpretation of the first hadith as being, in their expression, a temporary law in the first era, is invalidated by this authentic hadith. If we know this reality, the scope of discussion in this issue is also wide, given our current circumstances, but it is necessary to also link this introduction to answering the doubt mentioned by the noble brother earlier.
It is reported in the Sunan and in "Musnad Ahmad" from various paths that strengthen one another, from al-'Abbas ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), that he addressed them one day, and they said: "O Messenger of Allah, we see you..." They said: "O Messenger of Allah, give us an advice that we will not need anyone after it, ever." He said (peace be upon him): , and in a narration that is authentic in other than this hadith, it was added: .
Thus, his saying (peace be upon him): —and it has corroborating narrations, some of which are in "Sahih Muslim"—does not mean that if someone is appointed over you from among people who do not rule by the law of Allah, but rather that if you are appointed a ruler who rules by what Allah has revealed; because we have known from what preceded that it is a condition for this ruler that he be an Arab Qurayshi. So if he appoints an Abyssinian slave to a certain authority, obedience to him is obligatory, not because he is an Abyssinian slave, but because a Qurayshi Muslim who has the right of authority appointed him. And on this basis, the practice of the Muslims also proceeded. So here we are facing two issues, with no conflict or contradiction between them:
The first issue is the major authority (the caliphate), and the Muslims proceeded on the basis that it is a condition for it that the person be an Arab Qurayshi.
The minor authority does not require the person to be Qurayshi, and on this basis, the practice of the Muslims also proceeded.
And if we know this reality, the correct evidence is established to refute the claim of one who takes the hadith: as a proof that it is permissible to appoint a woman, because we will say that if it is an Abyssinian slave, he is more deserving of the authority that suits him, as detailed earlier, than a Qurayshi woman, because a Qurayshi woman has no authority by the ruling mentioned earlier. Thus, my answer to that question ends here.