On Misogynist Hadith Traditions By Iqbal Khan
For many centuries, prejudices against women have been a characteristic feature of almost all human societies. This has been, in a sense, a universal phenomenon. Despite the egalitarian and emancipatory teachings of the Quran regarding women, it was impossible for Muslim society, after the demise of the Prophet, to remain immune from such prejudices. This was reflected, for instance, in the manufacturing of several reports, wrongly claimed to be Hadith or utterances of or about the Prophet, that sought to justify women's subordination and deny them of their Quranic rights. The so-called hadith were fabricated by orators and story-tellers. Some of them might have had noble intentions in making up such stories, such as to protect the fabric of Muslim society, but there can be no doubt about the baneful impact of this, as well as the fact that concocting such reports and falsely attributing to the Prophet was a grave sin. They were reacting, in their own ways, to the conditions of Muslim society that they saw before them, rather than expressing the actual teachings of the Quran and the sound or genuine Hadith of the Prophet in this regard.
Let me cite one such so-called hadith report. According to this report, the Prophet is said to have remarked that men should seek advice from their womenfolk in all matters, but that they should do exactly the opposite of what they advised. Some people still continue to believe that this is a genuine hadith. This report is totally against the teachings and spirit of the Quran, and so it is inconceivable that the Prophet could have made such a statement. So, too, is another report, which claims that the Prophet declared that women were congenitally less intelligent than men. Consider yet another such report. Some people believe that the Prophet once announced that if a dog, donkey or woman passed before someone who was praying, his prayer would be nullified. When, possibly after the demise of the Prophet, Ayesha, a wife of the Prophet, heard this narration, she protested, saying it was wrong, and that those who had invented this had sought to bring women down to the status of dogs and donkeys. Hence, she said, this could not be an authentic hadith or a genuine Islamic commandment.
In relation to several hadith reports that some may feel to be problematic, including with regard to women, a principle that we must always keep in mind is that the Prophet had basically two aspects or statuses. Firstly, that of a prophet of God, when he used to utter words revealed to Him by God. Secondly, that of a human being and a member of a particular society. I am not making this distinction for the first time. For instance, the well-known eighteenth century Indian scholar, Shah Waliullah Dehlavi, and several other noted Islamic scholars have pointed out this difference in the two statuses of the Prophet, which, in turn, translates into a distinction in the status of what he said in his capacity as a prophet, which was infallible, and what he advised others as a fellow human being. It is important that we keep these distinctions in mind when approaching the corpus of Hadith, including those hadith reports that relate to women.
Let me clarify this point by adducing a well-known incident from the life of the Prophet. It was the practice of the people of Medina to pollinate their date trees. The Prophet suggested that if they did not do so, perhaps it would be better. Accordingly, the people refrained from pollinating their trees. As a result, they yielded a poor harvest. When this was mentioned to the Prophet, he replied, 'I am only a human being like you. If I tell you to do something with regard to religion, then follow it, but if I tell you to do something based on my own opinion, I am only a human being'.
It is obvious in the matter of pollination, a worldly concern, the Prophet admitted that other people might know better than him. He indicated that, in this context, he had spoken to them as a well-wisher and advisor, not as a person laying down a law which was compulsory for them to follow. Hence, in such matters there is a possibility of difference of opinion.
Take another example. The Prophet advised a Muslim woman, Buraidah, not to separate from her husband and to stay with him. She asked the Prophet if this was simply his advice to her or an order. That is to say, she wanted to know if he was speaking here as a prophet or as a mere human being concerned about her welfare. The Prophet replied, saying that he was speaking as a human and was just giving her a suggestion, not a Divine command. Thereupon, Buraidah did not accept or act on his advice.
Another issue that must be considered while analysing hadith reports, including those that deal with women and which may seem to be problematic by some, is that, traditionally, Islamic scholars have sought to test the veracity or otherwise of hadith reports by their isnad or chain of transmission, rather than by their matn or content. Because of this, some hadith reports that might conflict with Quranic teachings (which made them impossible for the Prophet to have uttered) were considered to be authentic hadith narratives simply on the basis of what was judged by the ulema to be their proper isnads. This was one of the main reasons for differences about the authenticity and applicability of various hadith reports. It was not merely in such matters that there have been disputes among Islamic scholars. There were even differences among some Companions of the Prophet as to the details of the way of offering prayers of the Prophet, although they had seen him praying on different occasions.
It is thus necessary that we approach the corpus of Hadith by examining both their isnads and their matn and their compatibility with the Quran, by locating them within the particular contexts in which they are said to have been uttered, and also by noting the crucial distinction between the two statuses of the Prophet: as a prophet of God, and as a human being and member of a particular society. |
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