Nubuwwa
(Prophethood) of Women
Volume V, pp 17-19
al-Fisal fi al-Milal wa-al-Ahwa'i
wa-al-Nihal
By
Abu Muhammad Ali Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hazm al-Andaluci
(Abu
Muhammad said) This is an issue we know of no debate about it
except here
in Cordoba and in our time. A group of people
went on and denied that Prophet-
hood could not be for women and
made everyone that claims as such an innovator
(Mubtadi').
Another group said that Prophethood is possible for women.
A
third group abstained from discussing this issue.
(Abu
Muhammad said) We find no proof for those who claim that Prophethood
is
impossible for women other than that some of them denied it
based on the
Koranic verse:
" (O Muhammad!) Whenever
we sent before you Messengers to whom we have revealed
Our
messages, they were but men." (1)
(Abu Muhammad said)
This is a verse none can deny as nobody claimed that Allah
(SWT)
sent women Messengers. The issue here is about Prophethood
(Nubuwwa) and
not Messengership. Henceforth the need
to understand the meaning of the word
'Prophethood' in the
language in which Allah (SWT) spoke to us (i.e. Arabic).
We
find that this word is taken from Inba' (prophecy) which means
I'lam
(revelation). So whomever Allah (SWT) tells him about
what will be before
it comes to pass, or reveals to him informing
him about a certain matter, then
he is a Nabi (prophet) without
any doubt.
This (Prophethood) should not be understood as
Ilham (inspiration) which is
natural as Allah said in Surah
al-Nahl:
" And behold! Your Lord has inspired the
bees with this: 'Build thy hives in
the mountains, and the trees
and the creepers over trellis, then drink nectar
from every kind
of fruit, and follow the ways made smooth by your Lord.'
From
its belly comes out a fluid of varying hues wherein is
healing for mankind.
Here is indeed a sign for those who ponder
over it." (2)
It should neither be understood as doubt
(Zann) or illusion which none would
assure its truthfulness except
an insane person (i.e. a crazy person would
think illusion or Zann
as part of what we commonly label as 'truth').
It neither
should be understood as Kahana (sorcery) which is part of what
the
evil spirits (shayatin) try to get by listening to the heavens
and as such get
stricken by shooting stars. As Allah (SWT)
says:
" And We have always set against every prophet
enemies from among satans of
men and satans of jinns who have been
inspiring one another with charming
things in order to delude the
minds. But had your Lord willed, they would
never have done
so. So leave them alone to continue false
allegations."(3)
Such sorcery was ended with the advent
of the messenger of Allah (SWT),
Muhammad (SAAW) (4).
It is
not part of Nujum (fortune telling), which can be learned. Nor
is it
part of dreams which none can assure their truthfulness or
lies.
Revelation which is Nubuwwa (Prophethood) is meant
from Allah (SWT) to inform
that to whom it was revealed of what
Allah wants to tell him. This should be
understood
differently from all the previous cases.
Allah makes to whom
it was revealed fully aware and fully knowledgeable of
the
truthfulness of what was revealed to him - (Exactly) like his
knowledge of what
he can sense and the (obvious) deductions of his
brain - with no doubt in them.
(This revelation) can be
transmitted by one of either ways: through an angel
that comes to
him or through a message directly revealed to him and this is
a
knowledge from Allah (SWT) to whom He gives, with no transmitter
or teacher.
If they deny that this is the meaning of
Prophethood then let them teach us its
meaning for they will not
bring any single proof.
Allah revealed in the Koran that He
sent angels to women to deliver to them
truthful revelations from
Allah (SWT). They gave glad tidings to the mother
of Isaac
(Sarah) of Isaac. Allah says:
"...And his wife was
standing by; hearing this, she laughed. Then we gave her
the
good news of Isaac, and after Isaac of Jacob. She said,' Woe be
me! Shall
I bear a child now when I have grown extremely old, and
this husband of mine
has also become old? This is indeed a strange
thing.' The angels said,' What!
Are you surprised at Allah's
decree? O people of Abraham's household! Allah's
mercy and
blessing are upon you. Indeed, Allah is worthy of all praise
and
glory.'" (5)
This is a direct address from the
angels to the mother of Isaac about the
blessing Allah will bless
her with -Isaac, then after Isaac Jacob - then
their testimony
about the power of Allah and her astonishment of the matter of
how
Allah (SWT) makes things possible.
This could not be an
address from an angel except to a prophet - in one way or
another
- we find also that Allah (SWT) sent Gabriel to Mary mother of 'Isa
-
Jesus - (AS) with a message and told her:
"...I am a
mere messenger from your Lord and have been sent to give you a
pure
son." (6)
This is a true Nubuwwa with a true
revelation and a (clear) message from Allah
(SWT). Zacharias
(AS) used to find with her Rizq (food) for this he asked
Allah
(SWT) to grant him a trustworthy son (7). We found also that
Allah re-
vealed to (Yukabid) mother of Moses that she shall throw
her son into the Yam
(river) and she shall neither worry or have
grief and promised her He shall
return Moses to her and make him a
prophet and a messenger. With no doubt this
is a true
Nubuwwa (revelation) and a logical consequence of our premises.
If
she was not sure of the revelation that Allah would return her son to
her,
either that this was a mere vision or a feeling she had, she
would be - by
throwing her son in the Yam - committing a crazy act
and a heinous crime
against herself. If one of us did such an act
he would be an extreme trans-
gressor or a crazy person that
deserves the agony and the (psychological)
consequences he has to
go through - (probably) in a bimaristan (a mental
institution).
Such
logical analysis none could deny. Therefore it becomes - with
assuredness
- true that that which came to (Yukabid) - of throwing
her son in the Yam - was
a revelation, like that which was
revealed to Ibrahim (AS) in his dream. He
was ordered to
slaughter his son. If Ibrahim (AS) was not a true prophet,
and
had he slaughtered his son for a dream he saw or a doubt he had in
himself,
it would be true that whoever does such an action would
not be of the Prophets
but an insane person. This nobody
would doubt.
Hence their (the women's) Prophethood becomes
obviously true. We find that
Allah (SWT) while mentioning the
prophets in Surah Mariam, He mentioned Mariam
amongst them and
then said:
" These are the Prophets on whom Allah
bestowed His favors. They were from the
descendants of Adam, and
from the seed of those whom we carried in the Ark with
Noah, and
from the seed of Abraham and of Israel. They were from those
whom we
guided aright and made our chosen ones. They were
tender-hearted that whenever
the Revelations of the Merciful were
recited to them, they would fall down pro-
strate, weeping."
(8)
This is a description of all of them. One should not
single her out as a
special case, to be treated separately.
Now
the saying 'and his mother a Siddiqa' (Koran) does not deny her the
right
to be a prophet as Allah said: 'Joseph, O Siddiq!'(9).
and as is known he is a
true prophet and a messenger; and this
becomes now clear. From Allah only one
seeks guidance.
We
can also include along with them (Yukabid and Mariam) the wife of
Pharao,
as the prophet (SAAW) said:
" There are many
persons amongst men who are quite perfect but there are not
perfect
amongst women except Mary, daughter of 'Imran, and Asiya, wife
of
Pharao." (10) or as the Messenger of Allah (SAAW)
said.
Now perfectness (kamal) for men can only be for some
messengers -for those who
are 'less than them' are not perfect-.
His (the Prophet's) particularization
to Mariam and Asiya (the
wife of Pharao) was a privilege for both of them over
all those to
whom Prophethood was given from amongst women - with no doubt -,
as
those who are a degree less than them are not perfect.
Henceforth
it is clear that these two women became perfect more than any
other
women and even if these women were prophets. From
Koranic texts we find that
Allah says:
" (O Muhammad)
, most surely you are of those who have been sent as Messengers.
Of
these Messengers, We have raised some above others in rank."
(11)
So the perfect of his gender is the one who excels in his
perfection and none
of his gender can reach him. They are
the messengers from amongst men, of whom
we find our prophet
Muhammad and Ibrahim (ASWS).
=================================
Notes:
(1)
Koran, Yusuf (12:10)
al-Nahl (16:43)
al-Anbiya' (21:7)
(2) Koran,
al-Nahl (16:68)
(3) Koran,
al-An'am (6:112)
(4) This is in reference to the verses in
Surah Jinn (72: 8-9), and Surah
Saffat (37: 6-8).
"
'And that we (the Jinns) searched the heavens and found it filled
with guards
and shooting-stars.' And that:' Before this we used to
find a seat in heaven
for eavesdropping, but now if someonetries
to eavedrop, he finds a shooting-
star lying in ambush for him.'"
(72: 8-9)
" We have adorned the lower heaven with
adornment of the stars and have seemed
it against every rebel
satan. These satans cannot hear the words of the exal-
ted
ones (angels) ; they are darted at and driven off from everyside, and
for
them there is a perpetual torment." (37: 6-8)
(5)
Koran, Hud (11:72)
(6)
Koran, Mariam (19:19)
(7) This
is in reference to the verses in Surah Al 'Imran (3:37-38). It
reads:
" Whenever Zacharias entered the sanctuary to see
her, he found some eatables
(Rizq) with her. He would ask, 'O
Mary, whence have these come to you?' She
would answer, 'It
is from Allah, Allah provides without stint for whom he
wills.'
Thereupon, Zacharias invoked his Lord and said, 'Lord, bestow upon
me
from Thyself righteous offspring for Thou alone hearest
prayers.'"
(8) Koran,
Mariam (19: 58)
(9) Siddiq (M) or Siddiqa(F) (Ar.): An
embodiment of truth and righteousness.
(10) This is a part of
a Sahih hadith reported by both Bukhari and Muslim. The
hadith,
as it appears in Sahih Muslim looks as follows:
Abu Musa
reported Allah's messenger saying: There are many persons
amongst men
who are quite perfect. But there are not perfect
amongst women except Mary,
daughter of 'Imran, and Asiya wife of
Pharao. And the excellence of 'Aisha as
compared to women is that
of Tharid (some type of food) over all foods.
What follows are
two commentaries by two Islamic scholars about this issue and
the
whole issue of the Prophethood of women.
After referring to
Surah Tahrim, Ayah 11, Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (12) says:
We
can infer from this restriction of description (hasr) that they
(Mariam
and Asiya) were prophets as the perfection in human beings
can only be for
prophets (Anbiya'), then for Saints (Awliya'),
then for the Truthful (Sid-
diqin), then Martyrs (Shuhada').
If they were not prophets then it would be
necessary that there is
no Waliyyah, Siddiqa, or Shahidah in the ranks of
women.
On
the other hand, we find these characters are present for quite a
number of
them. It is as if he said: 'And there were
no prophets amongst women except
so and so.' Had he also said that
'the character of Siddiqa, Waliyya or
Shahida was only for
so or so,' then we would infer that these characters
cannot be for
other women.
Another possibility would then be to assume that
there is another type of
perfection other than Prophethood.
As such, the proof can no longer hold.
And Allah knows best.
Any
how, the Prophet meant 'of those who came before his time.'
Now he
mentioned only 'Aisha of those of his time. We can by
no means infer that
this is a clear declaration that 'Aisha (RA)
is better than other women, for
Tharid is better than other food
in the easiness of storing it, and the
easiness in digesting it.
It was the best food in their time... There is
another addition in
Tabarani after Mariam, daughter of 'Imran, and Khadija,
daughter
of Khuwailid, and Fatima, daughter of Muhammad...
Qurtubi
said,' The truth is that Mariam is a prophet as Allah (SWT)
revealed
to her through an angel. But Asiya, there is no
clear proof of her prophet-
hood.'
Kirmani said: ' It
should not be understood from the word perfect (kamal) a
proof of
her Prophethood as the word is used to describe the completeness of
a
certain thing and the highest point it can reach. So the
meaning is 'she
reached the best of all qualities that women can
have.'' He then said:' It
has been reported that there
is consensus between scholars (Ijam') that there
is no Prophethood
(Nubuwwa) for women.' This is what he said.
al-Ash'ari was
reported as saying "There were six women who were
given
prophecy: Eve, Sarah, the mother of Moses (Yukabid), Haggar,
Asiya,
and Mariam.' The condition for such a prophecy is
that who ever an angel
talked to about a rule of Allah, or
revelation of what will come to pass then
he is a prophet.
And - for him - It has been proven that the Angel came to
them
from Allah (SWT) with different matters, and there is clear
indications
that a direct revelation was given to some of them in
the Koran.
Ibn Hajjar, then brings the above testimony of Ibn
Hazm.
Imam Nawawi (13), on the other hand says this hadith is
used as a proof by
those who believe in the Prophethood of women,
however the majority (Jumhur) of
Muslim scholars do not approve of
the Prophethood for Mariam and Asiya.
In the interpretation of
this hadith, he follows the same line of reasoning
as that of
Kirmani.
(11) Koran, al-Baqarah (2:253)
(12) Ibn Hajjar
al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari bi-Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 6,
pp
514-516, Dar al-Rayyan lil-Turath. Cairo, 1986
(13) Imam
al-Nawawi, Sahih Muslim bi-Sharh al-Nawawi, Vol. 15, pp 198-199,
Dar
Ihya' al-Turath al-'Arabi, Bayrut, Lebanon, 1984.
This
is an extremely controversial subject but it needs to be
addressed.
Anbiyya is the plural of Nabi and nabi means
prophet. It is not indicative
of male or female just as in
the Quran the word "man" is used to represent
both male
and female (i.e. mankind). The assignment of
prophethood
exclusively belonging to men has been a misnomer.
It is the product of men
wanting to arrogate and usurp everything
in our religion for themselves.
The office of prophethood has
been occupied by both genders but each gender
has different
functions.
There will be many who will disagree, but there are
some shuyuk who have
argued that no person who wasn't a prophet
had contact with Gibrail(as) but
Maryam(may ALLAH bless and
sanctify her secret) was the only women who has
been known to
speak and meet with Gibrael(as). The fact that this
occurred
places her above all other women and brings her into the
rank of
prophethood. Now that does not mean that she was
higher than Isa(as) but
her role was to teach Isa(as) and be a
role model for all the other women
around her. The Quran
mentions Maryam(as) various times and an entire Sura
was named
after her. That speaks for itself.
Past Maryam(as) there
are very few other women specifically mentioned in the
Quran Eve
or Hawwa, Sarah, the mother of Moses (Yukabid), Haggar and
Asiya
(wife of Pharaon). All of these women were especially
loved by ALLAH(swt)
and given the high rank of prophethood but
there work was totally different
to the work given to the male
prophets. I must also mention that there are
degrees of
prophethood just as there are degrees of sainthood.
Like I
said this is an extremely controversal area and as time goes on
(and
Muslims become more open minded) this issue will be addressed
and wrong will
set to right.
InshaALLAH.
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