Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by hadizadeezy(f): 9:11am On Apr 25, 2015 |
QUESTION:
I would like to know the interpretation of the Hadeeth according to which the prophet Muhamma (S.A.W) stated that women lack in intelligence. A hanafi site on the internet ( islam.tc/ask-imam ) stated in detail that the hadeeth implies what it literally means and that men are more intelligent than women. It gives examples of superiority of Quran amongst other books. Allah forgive me if I am sinful for not agreeing with this interpretation. I would like o know if this is the only interpretation according to the Ahnaaf or even other madhabs? Reply:
(TEXT and SOURCING)
The hadith states that the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, addressed a group of women in the mosque, saying: "I have not seen any one 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 of your 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 your religion."
It is related in al-Bukhari and Muslim. ITS MEANING IS NOT LITERAL The hadith here uses two figures of speech: the first is hyperbole ( mubalagha ) meaning exaggeration in the words "even a prudent, sensible man might be led astray by some of you" i.e. a fortiori an ordinary man. The second figure is synechdoche ( majaz mursal ) consisting in using the whole for the part: intelligence to mean the specific legal testimony of a woman, and religion to mean the prayer and fast at the time of menses. Numerous verses and other narrations stress that the reward of women equals that of men even if their acts differ. So this particular narration is not meant literally but as an acknowledgment of the inordinate power women wield over men while ostensibly less active in the public and spiritual spheres.
THREE ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND MEANINGS
Three additional meanings provide an indispensable completion of the picture of this hadith. These meanings revolve around fundraising for jihad, the blame of women's cursing of their husbands, and the playfulness of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, with his female public.
1. FUNDRAISING
The real import of the hadith - spoken at the Farewell Pilgrimage - and its actual context was that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, challenged the women that were present to realize that unless they helped raise money with their gold and jewelry, they would miss the reward of men waging jihad as well as show ingratitude. 2. BLAME OF CURSING In the full version of the hadith the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, also orders the women to ask forgiveness and desist from frequently cursing their husbands. All this was spoken at a time of (1) the impending departure of the latter on jihad; (2) the impending departure of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, from this world; and (3) the fact that "Cursing the believer is like killing him."
3. PLAYFULNESS
The Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, was also being playful in his use of strong terms to impress this teaching on the listeners. Ruqayyah Waris Maqsud writes: "After the Farewell Pilgrimage at the Eid prayer, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) walked past the men leaning on Bilal's arm, and came to the rows of women behind them. Bilal spread out a cloth and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) urged the women to be generous with their gifts of charity, for when he had been allowed a glimpse into the flames of Hell, he had noted that most of the people being tormented there were women. The women were outraged, and one of them instantly stood up boldly and demanded to know why that was so. 'Because,' he replied, 'you women grumble so much, and show ingratitude to your husbands! Even if the poor fellows spent all their lives doing good things for you, you have only to be upset at the least thing and you will say, 'I have never received any good from you!' (Bukhari 1.28, recorded by Ibn Abbas - who was present on that occasion as a child). At that the women began vigorously to pull off their rings and ear-rings, and throw them into Bilal's cloth." In conclusion, we need to remove the meaning of the words of the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, from our contemporary context of sour feminism and the clash of the sexes, and replace it into its proper context: namely, a parting, wartime exhortation using certain figures of speech which are not meant literally, nor are women the issue although they are addressed pointedly and, as it were, by the scruff of their gender; but rather, to trigger among wealthy and sensible citizens acts of generosity for the greater good while reminding them that life is fleeting and thankfulness a surer way to Paradise than despair. and Allah knows best. gibril [2006-05-30] #copied! |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by tartar9(m): 7:25am On Apr 30, 2015 |
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Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by tartar9(m): 7:27am On Apr 30, 2015 |
hadizadeezy: QUESTION:
I would like to know the interpretation of the Hadeeth according to which the prophet Muhamma (S.A.W) stated that women lack in intelligence. A hanafi site on the internet ( islam.tc/ask-imam ) stated in detail that the hadeeth implies what it literally means and that men are more intelligent than women. It gives examples of superiority of Quran amongst other books. Allah forgive me if I am sinful for not agreeing with this interpretation. I would like o know if this is the only interpretation according to the Ahnaaf or even other madhabs? Reply:
(TEXT and SOURCING)
The hadith states that the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, addressed a group of women in the mosque, saying: "I have not seen any one 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 of your 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 your religion."
It is related in al-Bukhari and Muslim. ITS MEANING IS NOT LITERAL The hadith here uses two figures of speech: the first is hyperbole ( mubalagha ) meaning exaggeration in the words "even a prudent, sensible man might be led astray by some of you" i.e. a fortiori an ordinary man. The second figure is synechdoche ( majaz mursal ) consisting in using the whole for the part: intelligence to mean the specific legal testimony of a woman, and religion to mean the prayer and fast at the time of menses. Numerous verses and other narrations stress that the reward of women equals that of men even if their acts differ. So this particular narration is not meant literally but as an acknowledgment of the inordinate power women wield over men while ostensibly less active in the public and spiritual spheres.
THREE ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND MEANINGS
Three additional meanings provide an indispensable completion of the picture of this hadith. These meanings revolve around fundraising for jihad, the blame of women's cursing of their husbands, and the playfulness of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, with his female public.
1. FUNDRAISING
The real import of the hadith - spoken at the Farewell Pilgrimage - and its actual context was that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, challenged the women that were present to realize that unless they helped raise money with their gold and jewelry, they would miss the reward of men waging jihad as well as show ingratitude. 2. BLAME OF CURSING In the full version of the hadith the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, also orders the women to ask forgiveness and desist from frequently cursing their husbands. All this was spoken at a time of (1) the impending departure of the latter on jihad; (2) the impending departure of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, from this world; and (3) the fact that "Cursing the believer is like killing him."
3. PLAYFULNESS
The Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, was also being playful in his use of strong terms to impress this teaching on the listeners. Ruqayyah Waris Maqsud writes: "After the Farewell Pilgrimage at the Eid prayer, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) walked past the men leaning on Bilal's arm, and came to the rows of women behind them. Bilal spread out a cloth and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) urged the women to be generous with their gifts of charity, for when he had been allowed a glimpse into the flames of Hell, he had noted that most of the people being tormented there were women. The women were outraged, and one of them instantly stood up boldly and demanded to know why that was so. 'Because,' he replied, 'you women grumble so much, and show ingratitude to your husbands! Even if the poor fellows spent all their lives doing good things for you, you have only to be upset at the least thing and you will say, 'I have never received any good from you!' (Bukhari 1.28, recorded by Ibn Abbas - who was present on that occasion as a child). At that the women began vigorously to pull off their rings and ear-rings, and throw them into Bilal's cloth." In conclusion, we need to remove the meaning of the words of the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, from our contemporary context of sour feminism and the clash of the sexes, and replace it into its proper context: namely, a parting, wartime exhortation using certain figures of speech which are not meant literally, nor are women the issue although they are addressed pointedly and, as it were, by the scruff of their gender; but rather, to trigger among wealthy and sensible citizens acts of generosity for the greater good while reminding them that life is fleeting and thankfulness a surer way to Paradise than despair. and Allah knows best. gibril [2006-05-30] #copied! how come the only thing that wasn't fully spelled here was Muhammad's (SAW) name 2 Likes |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by Empiree: 1:53am On May 01, 2015 |
Op, will you be kind enough to provide source (hadith). If you just copied this directly from a site without source embedded, consider it nonsense until you can find one. I dont know if i missing it but i looked through your post, i found none.
Although I did read hadith similar but not this one. That one was interpreted. It has nothing to do with women being deficient intellectually compare to men. Until you can provide the hadith for review, i consider this bogus. 1 Like |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by hadizadeezy(f): 9:23am On May 10, 2015 |
Empiree: Op, will you be kind enough to provide source (hadith). If you just copied this directly from a site without source embedded, consider it nonsense until you can find one. I dont know if i missing it but i looked through your post, i found none.
Although I did read hadith similar but not this one. That one was interpreted. It has nothing to do with women being deficient intellectually compare to men. Until you can provide the hadith for review, i consider this bogus. if you've not seen something like this before, then you don't read hadith as u claimed. |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by Empiree: 10:37am On May 10, 2015 |
hadizadeezy: if you've not seen something like this before, then you don't read hadith as u claimed. sounds like you don't understand my post |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by neocortex: 12:29pm On Oct 02, 2015 |
hadizadeezy: QUESTION:
I would like to know the interpretation of the Hadeeth according to which the prophet Muhamma (S.A.W) stated that women lack in intelligence. A hanafi site on the internet ( islam.tc/ask-imam ) stated in detail that the hadeeth implies what it literally means and that men are more intelligent than women. It gives examples of superiority of Quran amongst other books. Allah forgive me if I am sinful for not agreeing with this interpretation. I would like o know if this is the only interpretation according to the Ahnaaf or even other madhabs? Reply:
(TEXT and SOURCING)
The hadith states that the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, addressed a group of women in the mosque, saying: "I have not seen any one 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 of your 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 your religion."
It is related in al-Bukhari and Muslim. ITS MEANING IS NOT LITERAL The hadith here uses two figures of speech: the first is hyperbole ( mubalagha ) meaning exaggeration in the words "even a prudent, sensible man might be led astray by some of you" i.e. a fortiori an ordinary man. The second figure is synechdoche ( majaz mursal ) consisting in using the whole for the part: intelligence to mean the specific legal testimony of a woman, and religion to mean the prayer and fast at the time of menses. Numerous verses and other narrations stress that the reward of women equals that of men even if their acts differ. So this particular narration is not meant literally but as an acknowledgment of the inordinate power women wield over men while ostensibly less active in the public and spiritual spheres.
THREE ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND MEANINGS
Three additional meanings provide an indispensable completion of the picture of this hadith. These meanings revolve around fundraising for jihad, the blame of women's cursing of their husbands, and the playfulness of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, with his female public.
1. FUNDRAISING
The real import of the hadith - spoken at the Farewell Pilgrimage - and its actual context was that the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, challenged the women that were present to realize that unless they helped raise money with their gold and jewelry, they would miss the reward of men waging jihad as well as show ingratitude. 2. BLAME OF CURSING In the full version of the hadith the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, also orders the women to ask forgiveness and desist from frequently cursing their husbands. All this was spoken at a time of (1) the impending departure of the latter on jihad; (2) the impending departure of the Prophet, upon him blessings and peace, from this world; and (3) the fact that "Cursing the believer is like killing him."
3. PLAYFULNESS
The Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, was also being playful in his use of strong terms to impress this teaching on the listeners. Ruqayyah Waris Maqsud writes: "After the Farewell Pilgrimage at the Eid prayer, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) walked past the men leaning on Bilal's arm, and came to the rows of women behind them. Bilal spread out a cloth and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) urged the women to be generous with their gifts of charity, for when he had been allowed a glimpse into the flames of Hell, he had noted that most of the people being tormented there were women. The women were outraged, and one of them instantly stood up boldly and demanded to know why that was so. 'Because,' he replied, 'you women grumble so much, and show ingratitude to your husbands! Even if the poor fellows spent all their lives doing good things for you, you have only to be upset at the least thing and you will say, 'I have never received any good from you!' (Bukhari 1.28, recorded by Ibn Abbas - who was present on that occasion as a child). At that the women began vigorously to pull off their rings and ear-rings, and throw them into Bilal's cloth." In conclusion, we need to remove the meaning of the words of the Prophet MHMD upon him blessings and peace, from our contemporary context of sour feminism and the clash of the sexes, and replace it into its proper context: namely, a parting, wartime exhortation using certain figures of speech which are not meant literally, nor are women the issue although they are addressed pointedly and, as it were, by the scruff of their gender; but rather, to trigger among wealthy and sensible citizens acts of generosity for the greater good while reminding them that life is fleeting and thankfulness a surer way to Paradise than despair. and Allah knows best. gibril [2006-05-30] #copied! You are asking a rhetorical question, the prophet was being frank with his words , nothing to explain in that hadith. |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by alexis(m): 12:56pm On Oct 02, 2015 |
neocortex:
You are asking a rhetorical question, the prophet was being frank with his words , nothing to explain in that hadith. So, what did he mean? |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by neocortex: 1:00pm On Oct 02, 2015 |
alexis:
So, what did he mean? It is already in her post, a woman is half as intelligent as a man - Prophet Muhamed. |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by usermane(m): 5:33pm On Oct 02, 2015 |
Anyone looking for the reference of this hadith should look Sahih Bukhari; Book of Menstrual Periods; Hadith 301.
I don't understand what the OP don't get here. Traditonal Islam regard women to be intellectually inferior to men as implied by this Hadith. That is why, under Shariah, a woman cannot be a leader or a judge. The testimony of a woman is generally half of a man 's. You don't need to take my word for it. Do your homework, study Books on Shariah and see the judicial system of Saudi Arabia or Iran where women cannot be rulers, their testimonies in court carries far less weight than men and they cannot serve as judges to decide on cases in such courts. |
Re: Women's Intelligence-hadith Again by alexis(m): 3:11am On Oct 04, 2015 |
neocortex:
It is already in her post, a woman is half as intelligent as a man - Prophet Muhamed. Oh thanks, I was just confirming |