Text copied Link copied

Al-Fatawa – home

﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

Scholar
Search mode

Mentioning the issue of equality between men and women in rights, including leadership and judging.

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : For example, if a person comes claiming expertise in jurisprudence and understanding, while on the other hand he aims at bringing things closer and at what they claim is the equality of men's and women's rights—this massive call today has diverted many Muslims from Islamic creed and Islamic rulings.
They say, for example, that the woman is the counterpart of the man, and that distinguishing between the woman and the man is rigidity and backwardness, so we must treat the woman as we treat the man. And they may not lack some texts that support them in this direction. For example, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said in Sahih Muslim:
The one who recites most of the Book of Allah is to lead the people (in prayers). If they are equal in recitation, then the most knowledgeable in the Sunnah among them. يؤمُّ القومَ أقرؤهم لكتاب الله ، فإن كانوا في القراءة سواء فأعلَمُهم بالسنة
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 235Sahih (Darussalam)
. And often a gathering is held in a certain house, in a certain family, and it happens that a woman among these people is the most knowledgeable in jurisprudence and the best at recitation. So is it permissible for the jurist who wants this closeness between women and men to say: "My brother, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The people are led by the one among them who is best at reciting. يؤمُّ القومَ أقرؤهم
. So who is the best at recitation among us? Fatimah. Get up, O Fatimah, and lead us in prayer!"
This is a proof you laugh at, and you are right; but if you notice that their argument based on the generality is correct, it is correct. However, the answer to refuting this so-called valid call is: Did the practice of the righteous Salaf proceed by arguing with this hadith based on its generality such that the woman is brought forward for her jurisprudence to lead the men in prayer? The answer is no. Likewise, for example, judging and issuing fatwas: Do we appoint a woman to issue fatwas to the people, to judge between the people, who is a jurist and a judge, and has been given qualities that may not be found in many men? The answer is no. Why? Because it contradicts the life of the Salaf, the Companions and those after them. There were many female jurists and many female hadith narrators among them, and yet the distinction in rulings and transactions between men and women remained as it is known today among the majority of Muslims.
And the examples in this regard are many, and very many indeed, but I will conclude the illustration with a sensitive and realistic example.
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas