Women, the Fitnah, are dwellers of Hell?

About three years ago ahadith that quoted women as ‘fitnah’ and ‘majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire’ upset me and I felt I was not going anywhere in religion because of my gender. Then I sincerely prayed to Allah to guide me. I told Him that I was misled, misguided, lost, and hopeless. I wanted Him to show me the Right Path. I wasn’t scared if the Path was different from what I had grown up to believe was Right. I just wanted to be led to what was Right. One morning I woke up, and just like that I fell in love with the Prophet (pbuh). There was no history, no magic, and no miracle. I woke up and felt this intense pull towards him. I realised that I was giving all those who supposedly narrated these ahadith and Bukhari more importance and credibility than the Prophet (pbuh). By thinking that Bukhari was infallible, I was making Muhammed (pbuh) fallible. I have no doubt in my mind now that somehow, somewhere, someone misquoted him with some “ahadith.”   For almost 18 months I have been trying to understand why the Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) said this:

Abu Said al-Khudri narrated: Once Allah’s Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) on ‘Id-al-Adha or al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, “O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).” They asked, “Why is it so, O Allah’s Apostle?” He replied, “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.” (Bukhari 1.301).

I have consulted innumerable women and three professors of Islamic Studies regarding this hadith. Some women didn’t know about the hadith. Others accepted it as fate. The three professors said it is there in ‘the book’ of Bukhari and nothing is disputable. To cut the long tale short – I decided to find on my own the evidence which would support the hadith. 

First, even a cursory reading of the hadith would tell you that there is something odd about it. It doesn’t sound “Muhammedish.” Muhammed (pbuh), we know very well, was a very kind and polite man who spoke very little and smiled often. There are various ahadith that show that  Muhammed (pbuh) took time before ordering punishment for an errant person or even declaring war (remember the hadith where a fornicating woman came to him to confess her sin and he ignored her three times as if he never heard her?). Look at the following hadith and compare it with the hadith above about women: 

Narrated Abu Hurairah: While we were sitting with the Prophet a man came and said, “O Allah’s Apostle! I have been ruined.” Allah’s Apostle asked what was the matter with him. He replied “I had sexual intercourse with my wife while I was fasting.” Allah’s Apostle asked him, “Can you afford to manumit a slave?” He replied in the negative. Allah’s Apostle asked him, “Can you fast for two successive months?” He replied in the negative. The Prophet asked him, “Can you afford to feed sixty poor persons?” He replied in the negative. The Prophet kept silent and while we were in that state, a big basket full of dates was brought to the Prophet . He asked, “Where is the questioner?” He replied, “I (am here).” The Prophet said (to him), “Take this (basket of dates) and give it in charity.” The man said, “Should I give it to a person poorer than I? By Allah; there is no family between its (i.e. Medina’s) two mountains who are poorer than I.” The Prophet smiled till his premolar teeth became visible and then said, “Feed your family with it.” (Bukhari 3.157).

Do the two ahadith sound like they were said by the same person? Do you think a smiling Muhammed (pbuh) who eventually gave a basketful of dates to a man who had sex with his wife while fasting could have said, “I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you” to a group of women preparing to offer their prayers before Eid?

I don’t want to go into discourse analysis any further but if you read it a couple of more times you will be able to see that the vocabulary, syntax, and pattern of argumentation in the former hadith does not match those used by Muhammed (pbuh). This was just not his style. He also never ridiculed people with words like “A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” Remember he was the man who stood up to give respect to a passing Jewish funeral procession.  

Second, it is Islam that requires two women witnesses and disallows women to pray or fast during menstruation. How could the Prophet (pbuh) turn what he himself set down as Islamic rules into evidence against women? Why would he first say that a menstruating woman cannot pray and then announce that she lacks religiosity and is bound for Hell because she can’t pray during her period? I can’t believe that a man who used to put his head in the lap of his menstruating wife while reciting the Quran ever condemned women for menstruating. 

Finally, I have now read the concept of Hell in the Quran (which I hadn’t earlier) and there is not a single place in the entire Book where women are shown as special inmates of Hell. Hell is mentioned in 106 verses in the Quran and the words used for Hell-goers are ALWAYS gender neutral. The following are the exact words used to describe the types of people mentioned in the Quran who will be ‘rewarded’ with Hell: 

Guilty; Sinners; Disbelievers; Pagans; Idolaters; Rejecters; Those who return to the forbidden; Deviators; Wicked; Persecutors of Muslims  All of these words are gender-neutral. Only two verses in the Quran mention the gender of Hell-goers and both times it is clearly specified that men as well as women will go to Hell: 

“Bring ye up”, it shall be said, “The wrong-doers and their wives, and the things they worshipped- “Besides Allah, and lead them to the Way to the (Fierce) Fire! (Quran, 37.22-23) 

and  

And that He may punish the Hypocrites, men and women, and the Polytheists men and women, who imagine an evil opinion of Allah. On them is a round of Evil: the Wrath of Allah is on them: He has cursed them and got Hell ready for them: and evil is it for a destination. (Quran, 48.6) 

If women and men are going to hell together, how are there more women than men? And why would the Prophet (pbuh) contradict the Quran? Why would he speak so harshly to women? Why would he change his style of discourse when speaking to these women? Why would a man who had all daughters and several wives, who was always kind, polite and generous with women, and who banned female infanticide, suddenly denounce women like that? I don’t think he did.   Food for thought that we may not be the food for Hell… 

I’ll leave you to think about another hadith:  

Usaamah ibn Zayd (may Allaah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I am not leaving behind me any fitnah more harmful to men than women.” (Bukhari, 480  

The first Muslim civil war after Muhammed (pbuh) was called ‘Battle of the Camel’ and popularly referred to as ‘Fitnah.’ This war was led by Aisha Bint Abu Bakr. The Fitnah eventually divided the Muslims into Shia and Sunni and was indeed very harmful.   If the Prophet (pbuh) did say this hadith, was he making a prophecy and is there more to this hadith than mere surface meaning?