The Meaning of the Hadith: “Women are the Counterparts of Men”
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I read in some books that women are the counterparts of men. Is this a hadith reported from the Messenger of Allah? What is its authenticity? And what is the meaning of “counterparts of men”?
Answer:
Yes, it means that they are of the same kind as men, like the other half of a man. She emerged from the womb just as he emerged from the womb; she emerged from a man just as he emerged from a man. Thus, they are the counterparts of men in all matters, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded.
So the meaning—may Allah know best—is that they are like men in what Allah has prescribed and in the blessings Allah has granted them, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded regarding the nature of the woman and the nature of the man. In other matters, the Lawgiver has assigned something to the woman and something to the man. The original rule is that they are equal, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded.
I read in some books that women are the counterparts of men. Is this a hadith reported from the Messenger of Allah? What is its authenticity? And what is the meaning of “counterparts of men”?
Answer:
Yes, it means that they are of the same kind as men, like the other half of a man. She emerged from the womb just as he emerged from the womb; she emerged from a man just as he emerged from a man. Thus, they are the counterparts of men in all matters, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded.
So the meaning—may Allah know best—is that they are like men in what Allah has prescribed and in the blessings Allah has granted them, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded regarding the nature of the woman and the nature of the man. In other matters, the Lawgiver has assigned something to the woman and something to the man. The original rule is that they are equal, except for what the Lawgiver has excluded.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.