Walaykum Salaam Allah says: يٰأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُوۤاْ إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَٱكْتُبُوهُ وَلْيَكْتُب بَّيْنَكُمْ كَاتِبٌ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَلاَ يَأْبَ كَاتِبٌ أَنْ يَكْتُبَ كَمَا عَلَّمَهُ ٱللَّهُ فَلْيَكْتُبْ وَلْيُمْلِلِ ٱلَّذِي عَلَيْهِ ٱلْحَقُّ وَلْيَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّهُ وَلاَ يَبْخَسْ مِنْهُ شَيْئاً فَإن كَانَ ٱلَّذِي عَلَيْهِ ٱلْحَقُّ سَفِيهاً أَوْ ضَعِيفاً أَوْ لاَ يَسْتَطِيعُ أَن يُمِلَّ هُوَ فَلْيُمْلِلْ وَلِيُّهُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱسْتَشْهِدُواْ شَهِيدَيْنِ مِّن رِّجَالِكُمْ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَٱمْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ ٱلشُّهَدَآءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا ٱلأُخْرَىٰ وَلاَ يَأْبَ ٱلشُّهَدَآءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُواْ وَلاَ تَسْأَمُوۤاْ أَن تَكْتُبُوهُ صَغِيراً أَو كَبِيراً إِلَىٰ أَجَلِهِ ذَلِكُمْ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَأَقْومُ لِلشَّهَٰدَةِ وَأَدْنَىٰ أَلاَّ تَرْتَابُوۤاْ إِلاَّ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً حَاضِرَةً تُدِيرُونَهَا بَيْنَكُمْ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَلاَّ تَكْتُبُوهَا وَأَشْهِدُوۤاْ إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْ وَلاَ يُضَآرَّ كَاتِبٌ وَلاَ شَهِيدٌ وَإِن تَفْعَلُواْ فَإِنَّهُ فُسُوقٌ بِكُمْ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ [Baqarah 2:282] O People who Believe! If you make an agreement for debt for a specified time, write it down; and appoint a scribe to write it for you with accuracy; and the scribe must not refuse to write in the manner Allah has taught him, so he must write; and the liable person (debtor ) should dictate it to him and fear Allah, Who is his Lord, and not hide anything of the truth; but if the debtor is of poor reasoning, or weak, or unable to dictate, then his guardian must dictate with justice; and appoint two witnesses from your men; then if two men are not available, one man and two women from those you would prefer to be witnesses, so that if one of them forgets, the other can remind her; and the witnesses must not refuse when called upon to testify; do not feel burdened to write it, whether the transaction is small or big - write it for up to its term’s end; this is closer to justice before Allah and will be a strong evidence and more convenient to dispel doubts amongst yourselves - except when it is an instant trade in which exchange is carried out immediately, there is no sin on you if it is not written down; and take witnesses whenever you perform trade; and neither the scribe nor the witnesses be caused any harm (or they cause any harm); and if you do, it would be an offence on your part; and fear Allah; and Allah teaches you; and Allah knows everything. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explained this: حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي زَيْدٌ ـ هُوَ ابْنُ أَسْلَمَ ـ عَنْ عِيَاضِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي أَضْحًى ـ أَوْ فِطْرٍ ـ إِلَى الْمُصَلَّى، فَمَرَّ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ " يَا مَعْشَرَ النِّسَاءِ تَصَدَّقْنَ، فَإِنِّي أُرِيتُكُنَّ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ ". فَقُلْنَ وَبِمَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ " تُكْثِرْنَ اللَّعْنَ، وَتَكْفُرْنَ الْعَشِيرَ، مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْ نَاقِصَاتِ عَقْلٍ وَدِينٍ أَذْهَبَ لِلُبِّ الرَّجُلِ الْحَازِمِ مِنْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ ". قُلْنَ وَمَا نُقْصَانُ دِينِنَا وَعَقْلِنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ " أَلَيْسَ شَهَادَةُ الْمَرْأَةِ مِثْلَ نِصْفِ شَهَادَةِ الرَّجُلِ ". قُلْنَ بَلَى. قَالَ " فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ عَقْلِهَا، أَلَيْسَ إِذَا حَاضَتْ لَمْ تُصَلِّ وَلَمْ تَصُمْ ". قُلْنَ بَلَى. قَالَ " فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ دِينِهَا ". Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri رضي الله عنه that Once Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion." Sahih Bukhari, Book of Menstruation. حدثنـي يونس بن عبد الأعلـى، قال: أخبرنا ابن وهب، قال: قال ابن زيد: وسوس الشيطان إلـى حوّاء فـي الشجرة حتـى أتـى بها إلـيها، ثم حسّنها فـي عين آدم. قال: فدعاها آدم لـحاجته، قالت: لا، إلا أن تأتـي ههنا. فلـما أتـى قالت: لا، إلا أن تأكل من هذه الشجرة، قال: فأكلا منها فبدت لـهما سوآتهما. قال: وذهب آدم هاربـاً فـي الـجنة، فناداه ربه: يا آدم أمنـي تفرّ؟ قال: لا يا ربّ، ولكن حياءً منك. قال: يا آدم أنَّى أُتـيت؟ قال: من قبل حوّاء أي ربّ. فقال الله: فإن لها علـيّ أن أدميها فـي كل شهر مرة كما أدميت هذه الشجرة، وأن أجعلها سفـيهة، فقد كنت خـلقتها حلـيـمة، وأن أجعلها تـحمل كرها وتضع كرها، فقد كنت جعلتها تـحمل يسراً وتضع يسراً. قال ابن زيد: ولولا البلـية التـي أصابت حوّاء لكان نساء الدنـيا لا يحضن، ولكنّ حلـيـمات، وكنّ يحملن يُسْراً ويضعن يُسْرا. Ibn Zayd said: Shaytan whispered to Hawwa about the tree until she came to it then he made it look good in the eye of Adam. Adam called her for his need, she said "No, not until you come here." Then when he came there she said, "No, only if you eat from this tree." Then they both so then their private parts became manifest to them. Adam went on the run in Jannah, then his Lord called him, "O Adam, is it from me you are fleeing?" He said, " No my Lord, but I feel shame in front of you. When Allah asked Adam what caused this he said, "Hawwa, my Lord." Then Allah said, " Now it is upon me to make her bleed once every month as she made this tree bleed. I must also make her stupid even though I created her intelligent. I must also make pregnancy and birth difficult for her even though I made her to be pregnant and give birth in ease." Ibn Zayd said: Were it not for the calamity that befell Hawwa, the women of this world wound not menstruate, and they would be intelligent and would have an easy pregnancy and easy birthing. Tafsir Tabari under Quran 2:36
Salaam. What is the Islamic perspective on women? Are they less intelligent than men? Are they less reliable? On what grounds can we say such things? When a person says that women are intellectually inferior to men does he mean that every woman is inferior to every man? Or is it a relative inferiority judged with respect to certain thresholds or commonalities. For example, on what grounds can someone claim that a woman sitting in a Mossad office in Israel, coordinating and supplementing their murderous schemes, is intellectually inferior to the average joe who never bothers to think much about anything? One could plausibly claim that she is so with respect to some other male mossad agent who has received equal levels of education and training. But surely not the former? Is this not akin to the proverbial comparison between apples and oranges? And do we not have a history of faqihas and muhaddithaas and female qurrahs amongst the ranks of ahlussunah scholars? Didn't Imam Asqalani marry a faqiha after she was widowed? What about Rabiah-Basariyyah (radhiAllahuanha)? And Umm-ul-Mu'mineen Sayyida Ayesha Siddiqa Tayyibah Tahirah (radhiAllahuanha), who was a mujtahida? Do we not find major sahaba(radhiAllahuanhum) seeking her opinions and advice? How is it possible that such a gifted woman was somehow not as intelligent as the men who sought her counsel? And not to forget that she was fearless enough to lead a battalion to jamal. Does that not speak a ton about her capabilities of independent judgement and firmness in face of hardships? I am asking this because a few friends of mine hold this opinion that women are simple minded and easily fooled and they tend to take their wives and mothers for granted because of this and rarely seek their opinions when making decisions. I can accept that women think differently and that they have certain weak-points owing to which men should be cautious about taking their opinions in these specific domains but what about sweeping statements? And aren't there areas where men are prone to making wrong judgements and women better? The internet is rife with jokes about women being too talkative, vain and easily manipulable. But what is the Islamic perspective? jazakAllah. Wassalaam.
