Muhammad's claim that woman are "deficient of the mind". Can a Muslimah accept this and have any self respect?

Question

Bukari: “”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."” http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/sunnah/bukhari/048.sbt.html#003.048.826

A common answer Muslims have (to western audiences) is that some haddiths have been corrupted. Notice that they dont rennounce or deny the validity of this verse in the Bukhari when they say that.

Another response I often here to explain this verse is stuff like "ohh well, us woman make-up for it." Its astounding, they literally accept it and laugh it off, like its just a reality of life that woman are deficient of the mind.


I suppose this is a paradox because, any woman who accepts savage Muhammad's stupid claim that woman are deficient of the mind, are deficient of the mind! Naturally the answer to this paradox is easy, considering that under Islam they are raised to have low self esteem.

Oh, and I forgot the other common response "It doesnt mean what it says, it really means ...."

Answer 1

The context of the meaning is: women react more emotionally thus they cannot reason as well as a man can.

which is pretty true in a general sense (albeit with many exceptions)

if this hadeeth was said by the prophet it would mean pretty much that women are controlled by their emotions and they will tend to veer from one psychology to another especially when theyre trying to witness for someones guilt or non guilt.

So the sentence: deficit of mind is perhaps in arabic: deficiency of reason

Answer 2

Thank you for your interest in Hadith (Bukhari). In Islam Man / Woman are treaded equal in humanity and rights but there are certain limitations / natural weeknessess which should not be ignored.

The respective phrase you quoted here is related to Business Deals; Contracts of sales & purchase in which a common woman is not expected to be the expert of deal and may forget some terms of the contract due to lack of interest or any other reason hence witness of two women were prefered for legal judgements only. It was a precautionary measure in a tribal society. It does not mean that women have a permanent deficiency of mind!

If you look arround your judiciary system you also need at least two witnessess ( man or woman ). Why you don't object on two witnessess. Why only one witness is not sufficient?? Do you think any deficiency in the mind of man??

Pls. read again and consult with any scholar and if you still not satisfied then post your objections with confidence.

Peace & Blessings!!

Answer 3

It was only a hundred years or so ago that men in the US thought women's brains were smaller than men's. Just look how things have changed here. Maybe one day perhaps the Muslim women will catch up with American women.

Answer 4

first this hadith is not acurrate,the prophet would not say that and at the same time advice ppl to ask his wife Aiesha about their religion.
second:the saying that ppl know that women is"deficient of the mind" as you said and the expalination why for every 1 man 2 women required as a witness....that because the nature of the woman is more sensitive and emotional and judge things by their feelings,sofor example if she was asked to witness a case where a kid or someone she knows involved,maybe(see,maybe) she would forget or feel sorry for them,so another woman is required to assure her just in case......
if what you said is true,then he could say only men and no women should be witnesses

Answer 5

Muhammad (SAW) also stated that the world rests at the feet of mothers. We learn from our mothers and what message she teaches the child will be manifested in the world. That's a lot of trust to give someone who's "deficient of the mind."

Answer 6

The argument would be that because Muhammad said it does not make it law. Only the word of Allah would be law and so this phrase may no longer hold true

thats the best I can come up with

Answer 7

He didn't mean what you understood , he meant that the affection of women sometimes overcomes their minds and affect their actions, in other words he meant : We are more affectional then men , and I agree

Answer 8

I can't believe you spend your useless time trying to find bugs on Islam but anyway it's your time and I don't think it's even worth reading it

Answer 9

Ok lets look at this hadith:

Volume 3, Book 48, Number 826:
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."


1) Lets firstly look at the issue of witnesses!

It is not true that two female witnesses are always considered as equal to only one male witness. It is true only in certain cases. There are about five verses in the Qur’an that mention witnesses, without specifying male or female. There is only one verse in the Qur’an, that says two female witnesses are equal to one male witness. This verse is Surah Baqarah, chapter 2 verse 282. This is the longest verse in the Qur’an and deals with financial transactions. It says:

"Oh! ye who believe!
When ye deal with each other,
in transactions involving future obligation
in a fixed period of time
reduce them to writing and get two witnesses
out of your own men and if there are not two men,
then a man and two women, such as ye choose,
for witnesses so that if one of them errs
the other can remind her."
[Al-Qur’an 2:282]

This verse of the Qur’an deals only with financial transactions. In such cases, it is advised to make an agreement in writing between the parties and take two witnesses, preferably both of which should be men only. In case you cannot find two men, then one man and two women would suffice.

For instance, suppose a person wants to undergo an operation for a particular ailment. To confirm the treatment, he would prefer taking references from two qualified surgeons. In case he is unable to find two surgeons, his second option would be one surgeon and two general practitioners who are plain MBBS doctors.

Similarly in financial transactions, two men are preferred. Islam expects men to be the breadwinners of their families. Since financial responsibility is shouldered by men, they are expected to be well versed in financial transactions as compared to women. As a second option, the witness can be one man and two women, so that if one of the women errs the other can remind her. The Arabic word used in the Qur’an is ‘Tazil’ which means ‘confused’ or ‘to err’. Many have wrongly translated this word as ‘to forget’. Thus financial transactions constitute the only case in which two female witnesses are equal to one male witness.

However, some scholars are of the opinion that the feminine attitude can also have an effect on the witness in a murder case. In such circumstances a woman is more terrified as compared to a man. Due to her emotional condition she can get confused. Therefore, according to some jurists, even in cases of murder, two female witnesses are equivalent to one male witness. In all other cases, one female witness is equivalent to one male witness. There are about five verses in the Qur’an which speak about witnesses without specifying man or woman.

While making a will of inheritance, two just persons are required as witnesses. In Surah Maidah chapter 5 verse 106, the Glorious Qur’an says:

"Oh you who believe!
When death approaches any of you,
(take) witnesses among yourself when making bequests."
[Al-Qur’an 5:106]

two just persons of your own (brotherhood)
or other from outside if you are journeying
through the earth and the chance of death befalls you."
[Al-Qur’an 65:2]

Two persons endued with justice in case of talaq.

"Four witnesses are required
in case of charge against chaste women,
[Al-Qur’an 24:4]

There are some scholars who are of the opinion that the rule of two female witnesses equal to one male witness should be applied to all the cases. This cannot be agreed upon because one particular verse of the Qur’an from Surah Noor chapter 24, verse 6 clearly equates one female witness and one male witness:

"And those who launch a charge
against their spouses, and have (in support)
no evidence but their own -
their solitary evidence can be received."
[Al-Qur’an 24:6]

Hazrat Ayesha (RA) hadith narrated of one witness

Many jurists agree that even one witness of a woman is sufficient for the sighting of the crescent of the moon. Imagine one woman witness is sufficient for one of the pillars of Islam, i.e. fasting and the whole Muslim community of men and women agree and accept her witness! Some jurists say that one witness is required at the beginning of Ramadaan and two witnesses at the end of Ramadaan. It makes no difference whether the witnesses are men or women.

Some incidents require only female witness and that of a male cannot be accepted. For instance, in dealing with the problems of women, while giving the burial bath i.e. ‘ghusl’ to a woman, the witness has to be a woman.

The seeming inequality of male and female witnesses in financial transactions is not due to any inequality of the sexes in Islam. It is only due to the different natures and roles of men and women in society as envisaged by Islam.

2) Note the hadith says "MIND" and not brain, so it is not incorrect scientificly speaking.

Let's look at jobs where maths or finance is required engineering, accounting etc what do you see? That females are under represented in these jobs!

This is why there is a drive to push women to enter these jobs.

So you see the hadith generally speaking is correct, women have deficiency in their MIND, it's doesn't mean they can't it just means they perfer not to.