Belittling Women with the Hadeeth: ?Women are Deficient in Intellect and Deen?
Shaykh Abdul-Azeez ibn Baaz
Reference: Majmoo? Fatawaa Wa Maqalaat Mutanawi?ah. Vol. 3/292
Translator: Shadeed Muhammad, Abu Az-Zubayr
We often hear the noble Hadeeth "Women are deficient in their intelligence and in their Deen? and some men use this Hadeeth as a form of
belittlement towards the women. We desire from you O noble shaykh, clarification of the meaning of this Hadeeth?
The meaning of the Hadeeth of the Messenger of Allaah (sal-Allaahu ?alayhe wa sallam):
?I have never seen anyone with a deficiency of ?Aql (intellect) and Deen (religion) who are more overpowering to men than one of you [women].?
So it was said:
?O Messenger of Allaah, what is the deficiency in her intelligence??
He said:
?Isn?t the witness of two women equal to that of one man??
So it was said:
?What is the deficiency in her Deen??
So he said:
?Isn?t it the case that if she is menstruating she doesn?t pray or fast??
So the Messenger (sal-Allaahu ?alayhe wa sallam) clarified that the deficiency of her intellect was from the angle of her weak memory and that her testimony is strengthened with the testimony of another woman. This is because of the preciseness of the witness (in Islaam) and because she could
forget and make an addition or deletion to the testimony
. Just as Allaah says:
{And bring forth two witnesses from your own men. If there are not two men (available) then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs then the other can remind her?} [2282]
As for deficiency in her Deen, then it is because during her state of menstruation and post-partum bleeding, she abandons the Salaat and fasting, and she doesn?t make up the salaat. This is from the deficiency in her Deen. But this deficiency is not blameworthy upon her. Rather it is a deficiency,
which happens as a result of that which Allaah had decreed for her and this was done in a manner of leniency and easiness towards her. For if she
were to fast in a state of menstruation or in a state of postpartum bleeding it would harm her. So from the Mercy of Allaah (towards women) He has
legislated for her to abandon the fast at the time when she is menstruating or in a state of Nifaas, and to make up the fast afterwards.
As for the salaat, then without a doubt, the state of menstruation prevents her from purification. So from the mercy of Allaah, He legislated for her to
abandon her prayer and likewise in the state of Nifaas. He also legislated for her not to make it up, because in making up the (Salaat) is difficulty,
because the Salaat is tremendous, and repetitious, five times throughout the night and day, and the days of menstruation can be plentiful, sometimes
seven or eight days or more than that. And the Nifaas could reach 40 days. So from the mercy of Allaah upon her and from His Ihsaan (doing good)
towards her is that He removed the Salaat from her whether it be the initial Salaat or the make-up.
And this does not necessitate that her intelligence
is deficient in everything! Nor that her Deen is deficient in everything!
But indeed the Messenger (saw) clarified that the deficiency in her intelligence
is from that which happens to her from the lack of precision in her memory and testimony, and that the deficiency in her Deen is from the fact that she
leaves off the prayer and fasting at the time of her menses or in the state of Nifaas
. Also this doesn?t necessitate that she is less than a man in
everything! or the fact that the man is better in everything! Yes, generally the male gender is better than the gender of the females generally for
many reasons.
Just as Allaah the High and Sublime says:
{Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allaah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend their wealth (to support them)?} [434]
But she can surpass him, sometimes, in many things. And by Allaah how many women surpass many men in their intelligence, Deen and precisio!
There could be some affairs that she places great importance on and is precise in them more so than the precision of a man. There are many issues,
which she carefully considers, and is diligent in memorizing and precise in. She would become the foundation in Islaamic history and point of
reference in many affairs and this is clear to those who ponder and reflect on the state of the women during the time of the Prophet (sal-Allaahu
?alayhe wa sallam) and after that. *With this it should be understood that this deficiency should not prevent her from being treated equally in her
narrations and in her testimony