Can a woman be a leader?
Answer : Wa`alykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Sister, we do really appreciate your question, which shows your keenness in getting yourself well-acquainted with the teachings of Islam. May Allah bless your efforts and guide you to the straight Path!

first of all, you are to bear in mind the fact that Islam deals with both men and women as equals. No privileges are granted to men over women. In this context, we recall the Prophet's Hadith that says: "Women are (the equal) sisters of men."

In the sphere of work and leadership, Islam honors the woman by ranking her in the right place so as to protect her dignity and morality. By the same token, Islam permits the woman to hold some positions provided that some conditions should be met.

Focusing more on the question in point, we'd cite the following Fatwa issued by the prominent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi:

"Woman's invaluable work, in fact, is to look after her children and husband. As for employment, which is meant for earning a living, she is permitted to do it provided that the following conditions are met:

First, it should be legal. The Muslim woman is not permitted to work in a place where she will be in privacy with non-Mahram (marriageable) man, or in clubs where she is supposed to offer alcohol to people.

Second, she should abide by the Islamic morals in dress, talk, etc.

Third, woman's employment should not be at the expense of her immediate work, namely caring about her children and husband.

Accordingly, the Muslim woman is permitted to go to work as long as she is in need of money and there is no person responsible for her maintenance, and the above conditions are met. In this context, we should recall the story of the daughters of Prophet Shu`ayb, peace and blessings be upon, about whom the Glorious Qur'an says, "And when he (Prophet Musa) came unto the water of Midian he found there a whole tribe of men, watering. And, he found apart from them two women keeping, back (their flocks). He said: What aileth you? The two said: We cannot give (our flocks) to drink till the shepherds return from the water; and our father is a very old man." (Al-Qasas: 23)

Apparently, Prophet Shu`ayb's daughters went out to give water to their flocks because their father was an old man and they had no brothers.

Admittedly, the Muslim society is in need of working women in certain fields such as education and medicine in order to educate and treat women.

As for the woman's work in judiciary, Abu Haneefah permits her to be a judge in cases that her witness is accepted in, i.e., in cases other the criminal ones. Ibn Hazm and At-Tabaree, however, are of the opinion that the woman can be a judge in all cases.

Here, we should keep in mind that the permissibility of appointing woman as a judge does not necessitate it. Rather, the public interest of the Muslim society and the welfare the woman herself and the family should be the main criterion in deciding whether it is necessary to appoint a woman in such serious position or not.

A woman is not allowed to be a governor, a ruler, or a Caliph of a Muslim state because often she cannot bear the burdens of that tremendous job. We say "often" to refer to the fact that there may be some women who are more powerful and forbearing than some men. Yet, this is unusual and the Islamic rulings, therefore, cannot be founded upon the exception.

There is no wrong, then, if a woman is appointed as head of an institution, or Member of Parliament as long as it is within the interests of the Muslim society."

The eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hanooti, member of the North American Fiqh Council, adds:

"If we are in need for a woman to occupy such a position, I don’t see anything of the Shari`ah rules that prevents her from taking the position. It is not prohibited, but I say it should be under contingency that we don’t create an atmosphere of fitnah (disorder)."

Allah Almighty knows best.