The Woman in the Text: A Collection of Essays by Osman Mohammed

Author:Osman, Mohammed [Osman, Mohammed]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SALAM Publications
Published: 2019-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

Hadith Narration ( Riwāyah )

Drawing a comparison between testimony and hadith narration, there appears to be no dissimilarity between males and females, despite the importance and brevity of these actions. Al-Hāfith al-‘Irāqi (d. 806 H) formalises the conditions of an authentic hadith in his Alfiyyah (a versification of Ibn al-Salah’s magnum opus, An Introduction to the Science of Hadith ):

And the first (category) is a connected chain of transmission

By the one who is trustworthy (‘adl) and reliable (dhābit) . [xc]

The two prerequisite conditions for the acceptance of a narrator was their ‘adālah (trustworthiness) and ‘dhabt (reliability). This gender neutrality been echoed throughout the centuries in hadith sciences, and has been taken as near consensus. There were many prolific hadith narrators who were women, chief of which was the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) wife ‘Aisha, who was amongst the most prolific of the companions who have narrated this important source of legislation. Recent research by In his voluminous work al-Muhaddithāt: The Women Scholars in Islam , Akram Nadwi outlines the biographies of over eight thousand women scholars of hadith. [xci] Amazingly, the 8 th century historian Imam al-Thahabi (d. 748 H) said, “I am unaware of a single woman who narrates hadith that has been accused of lying, nor one who has been rejected due reliability.” [xcii] A similar statement has been reported by the 8 th century hadith scholar Ibn Hajr (d. 852 H). [xciii]

The question may be asked: what led to the demarcation between hadith narration and shahādah with respect to women? One immediately notes that there does not exist a consensus amongst Islamic scholars as to the cause of this binary division. Some scholars seemingly understood this point and inferred that the sociocultural milieu may have played an active role in determining whether plurality in women’s testimony was indeed a requirement. In his seminal work I’lam al-Muwaqqi’in , Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 H) asserts that if a woman could prove herself to be trustworthy and dependable in other areas, then her testimony should be accepted, irrespective of the area:

If a woman is credible and trustworthy in her religiosity, then the intended objective has been reached with her testimony, and as such, her lone testimony is accepted in certain places. [xciv]

In his magnum opus on Islamic judicial law, Ibn Qudāmah (d. 620 H) states various scenarios in which a woman’s singular testimony is accepted over a man’s due to these scenarios being generally more attended and witnessed by females:

(A woman’s lone testimony) is accepted in that which men are not usually privy to, such as issues connected to breastfeeding, childbirth, menses, ‘iddah , and affairs similar to these. We do not know of any difference of opinion amongst the scholars regarding this. [xcv]

Thus, the question of whether the ratio legis of verse 2:228 was based on a prevalent sociocultural or economical milieu is still present and argued strongly by numerous scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim.

Qiwāmah - Financial Responsibility

With regard to the acquisitioned ( kasbi ) reason behind

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