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WOMEN

an-Nisa' 4:19; al-Ma'idah 5:5; an-Nur 24:31

  • accept those seeking refuge from non-believing husbands, al-Mumtahanah 60:10

  • and pain in childbirth

  • beating of, an-Nisa' 4:34. (YA: beat [lightly]). Some Khalifites say that the meaning is "get out", but the majority of Muslim scholars and translators translates beat. In Sad 38:44, the footnote of Yusuf Ali says, "He (Job) must have said in his haste to the woman that he would beat her: he is asked now to correct her with only a wisp of grass, to show that he was gentle and humble as well as patient and constant." However, as is clear from the translation, "lightly" is added by Yusuf Ali and not in the text.

  • deficiency in intelligence, religion, etc.
    * Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
    Once Allah's Apostle 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 Apostle?" 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 Apostle! 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 1.301, Sahih Bukhari 2.541)
    see also two women's witness equal to one man.

  • difficult to straighten,
    * Narrated Abu Huraira:
    Allah's Apostle said, "Treat women nicely, for a women is created from a rib, and the most curved portion of the rib is its upper portion, so, if you should try to straighten it, it will break, but if you leave it as it is, it will remain crooked. So treat women nicely." (Sahih Bukhari 4.548, also Muslim)
    Note: It is not stated in the Qur'an that women are created from a rib. cf. Gen 2:21-22.

  • equal to dogs and donkeys?
    * Narrated 'Aisha: Do you make us (women) equal to dogs and donkeys? While I used to lie in my bed, the Prophet would come and pray facing the middle of the bed. I used to consider it not good to stand in front of him in his prayers. So I used to slip away slowly and quietly from the foot of the bed till I got out of my guilt. (Sahih Bukhari 1.486, cf. Sahih Bukhari 1.490, Sahih Bukhari 1.493, Sahih Bukhari 1.498)

    A detailed discussion of these and other hadiths on the issue can be found in the article, On Women, Dogs & Islamic Prayer.

  • gross moral depravity, an-Nisa' 4:15

  • ill willed, an-Nisa' 4:34

  • lack of outer garments for older, an-Nur 24:60

  • man has a degree of advantage over them, al-Baqarah 2:228

  • many go to hell,
    * Narrated Ibn 'Abbas:
    The Prophet said: "I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful." It was asked, "Do they disbelieve in Allah?" (or are they ungrateful to Allah?) He replied, "They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favors and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say, 'I have never received any good from you." (Sahih Bukhari 1.28, Sahih Bukhari 2.541)
    It seems therefore that believing women who are ungrateful to their husbands will be condemned to hell.
    "Usamah relates that the Holy Prophet said: I stood at the gate of Paradise and observed that the generality of those who entered it were the lowly. The wealthy had been held back from it. Then those condemned to the Fire were ordered to it and I stood at the gate of the Fire and observed that the generality of those who entered it were women.(Hadith 260, chap 32, Bukhari and Muslim.)
    See also the article The Majority in Hell are Women.

  • pledges of believing women, al-Mumtahanah 60:12

  • prayers annulled by women, donkeys or dogs passing in front,

    * Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: A woman, an ass and a dog disrupt the prayer, but something like the back of a saddle guards against that. (Sahih Muslim, Number 1034)

    * Narrated 'Aisha: The things which annul the prayers were mentioned before me. They said, "Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)." I said, "You have made us (i.e. women) dogs. I saw the Prophet praying while I used to lie in my bed between him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something, I would slip away, for I disliked to face him." (Sahih Bukhari 1.490)

    For a detailed discussion of these somewhat contradictory hadiths, see the article On Women, Dogs & Islamic Prayer.

  • prohibited from attending mosque.
    This is an oblique comment that came from an article published by a Muslim organization in South Africa. The article was discussing about the famous Muslim apologist from South Africa, Ahmad Deedat's Islamic knowledge.

  • right to take oath belongs only to husband,
    [Malik said:] The right to make an oath only belongs to the husband of the woman, and the master of the slave. (Malik's Muwatta Book 36, Number 36.4.7)

  • righteous guard intimacies revealed to them, an-Nisa' 4:34; at-Tahrim 66:3-6

  • should not raise their heads from prostrations till men had sat straight,
    * Narrated Sahl bin Sa'd:
    The people used to pray with the Prophet tying their Izars around their necks because of their small sizes and the women were directed that they should not raise their heads from the prostrations till the men had sat straight. (Sahih Bukhari 1.778)
    ordered to do so, Sahih Bukhari 2.306

  • should not travel
    • for more than one day with chaperone,
      * Narrated Abu Huraira:
      The Prophet said, "It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel for one day and night except with a Mahram." (Sahih Bukhari 2.194)

    • for more than two days with chaperone,
      * Narrated Qaza'a Maula:
      (freed slave of) Ziyad: I heard Abu Said Al-khudri narrating four things from the Prophet and I appreciated them very much. He said, conveying the words of the Prophet. (1) "A woman should not go on a two day journey except with her husband or a Dhi-Mahram. ..... (Sahih Bukhari 2.287)

    • for more than three days with chaperone,
      * Narrated Ibn 'Umar:
      The Prophet said, "A woman should not travel for more than three days except with a Dhi-Mahram (i.e. a male with whom she cannot marry at all, e.g. her brother, father, grandfather, etc.) or her own husband.)" (Sahih Bukhari 2.192, Sahih Bukhari 2.193)

  • term (time) of pregnancy, see PREGNANCY

  • two women's witness equal to one man due to deficiency of women's mind,
    * Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:
    The Prophet said, "Isn't the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said, "Yes." He said, "This is because of the deficiency of a woman's mind." (
    Sahih Bukhari 3.826)

  • would have forbidden women to go to mosque if Muhammad knew what they were doing,
    * Narrated 'Aisha:
    Had Allah's Apostle known what the women were doing, he would have forbidden them from going to the mosque as the women of Bani Israel had been forbidden. Yahya bin Said (a sub-narrator) asked 'Amra (another sub-narrator), "Were the women of Bani Israel forbidden?" She replied "Yes." (Sahih Bukhari 1.828)
    * Other hadiths: "To find a good woman among women is similar to finding a white crow among a hundred crows."
    "The marriage commitment is a kind of slavery for women."
    "If anybody has been required to prostrate before others beside God, the woman should prostrate before her husband."
    "If the body of the husband is covered with pus and his wife licks it with her tongue, she still will not be able to pay her debt to him."
    (Bukhari and Muslim) [Note: haven't tracked down all the sources]

  • majority of inhabitants in hell are women, Sahih Bukhari 4.464


Further reading: Articles on Women in Islam from different perspectives.


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