101 Reasons Why We Left Islam – Chapter 2: Women in Islam – Reason 17
Let us start with a clear disclaimer: if you are a Quranist-only, then you will probably not accept anything we put forward here. This is for 90% of Muslims who believe in the Sunnah being one of the pillars of Islam. Therefore, they conduct their affairs based on the narrations of the Prophet, which Quran 33:21 declares to be the best example for all humanity who seek salvation in heaven.
Contempt is a big word. It means being disrespectful, disregardful, scornful, and beneath consideration. Let us see if there are any bases for this claim in the Hadith and the Quran.
Women are evil:
So, when her husband saw that Joseph’s shirt was torn from the back, he said ˹to her˺, “This must be ˹an example˺ of the cunning of you ˹women˺! Indeed, your cunning is so shrewd!
- Narrated Usamah bin Zaid, and Sa’eed bin Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail: that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “I have not left among the people after me, a Fitnah (deception) more harmful upon men than women.”
https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2780
- Usama b. Zaid b. Harith and Sa’id b. Zaid b. ‘Amr b. Naufal both reported Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) as saying: I have not left after me turmoil for the people but the harm done to men by women.
https://sunnah.com/muslim:2741a
- Jabir reported that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) saw a woman, and so he came to his wife, Zainab, as she was tanning a leather and had sexual intercourse with her. He then went to his Companions and told them: The woman advances and retires in the shape of a devil, so when one of you sees a woman, he should come to his wife, for that will repel what he feels in his heart.
https://sunnah.com/muslim:1403a
Women are intellectually deficient:
We already covered this in Reason #13, but let us remind you of a few more.
- Narrated Abu Bakrah (RA): The Prophet (PBUH) said: “A people who make a woman their ruler will never be successful.” [Also reported by al-Bukhari].
https://sunnah.com/bulugh:1409
- Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri: The Prophet (PBUH) 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.“
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2658
Women are compared to animals:
- It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet (PBUH) said: “The prayer is severed by a woman, a dog and a donkey.”
https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:950
- Narrated `Aisha: It is not good that you people have made us (women) equal to dogs and donkeys. No doubt I saw Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) praying while I used to lie between him and the Qibla and when he wanted to prostrate, he pushed my legs and I withdrew them.
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:519
- When any of you marries a woman or purchases a maid-servant then let him say: … O Allah, I ask You for the goodness of her, and the goodness upon which You have created her, and I seek refuge in You from the evil of her, and from the evil upon which You have created her. If you purchase a camel, then take hold of the top of its hump and say the same.
Most of Hell’s inhabitants are women:
- The Prophet (PBUH) said: “I was shown the Hell-fire and that the majority of its dwellers were women who were ungrateful.” It was asked, “Do they disbelieve in Allah?” (or are they ungrateful to Allah?) He replied, “They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the favours and the good (charitable deeds) done to them. If you have always been good (benevolent) to one of them and then she sees something in you (not of her liking), she will say, ‘I have never received any good from you.”
Narrated `Imran bin Husain:
- The Prophet (PBUH) said, “I looked at Paradise and found poor people forming the majority of its inhabitants; and I looked at Hell and saw that the majority of its inhabitants were women.“
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3241
You have to trust us when we say that this is just a sample of Hadiths that paint women as evil devils, equal to animals, and destined for hell! The question we have is why? And why singling out women as a generalisation?
Who starts wars? Men. Who leads wars and conducts many of the crimes against humanity? Men. What are criminal gangs who made off? Who is more likely to commit violence, killings, rapes, sexual abuse of children, stealing, or cheating? You know the answer very well for this. In every country, men outstrip women in prison at a ratio of 10 men to 1 woman, and men overtake women by an even bigger margin when it comes to serious crimes! Yet, somehow, in Allah’s eyes, it is women who are the evil in this world. Why? Apparently, they will be packed in hell because they talk too much! Or is it because women are ungrateful? Men are always grateful to their wives or mothers. In most cultures, and even in Muslim cultures, it is the daughter who ends up caring for her elderly mother and father.
Or is it because women are a source of temptation? Ask yourself, who needs to have more self-control? Even in Islamic countries where women are covered from top to toe, they are harassed and can be abused. It seems Islam blamed women for everything, even the crimes that men do!
Issue 17.1. Unless you are completely delusional and brainwashed beyond any possibility of recovery, you should be able to see how these views represent no more than uneducated desert dweller’s views. Women are used as scapegoats for everything evil. Yet, statically proven, evil crimes tend to be predominantly male driven. Had Islam tried to present a more balanced view of the source of evil, we would have given the religion of peace some credit, even though it is not necessarily true. But for it to swing all the way toward demonising women shows that Islam and the Prophet failed to grasp a basic understanding of human nature but rather projected his own contempt for women.
Apologists Excuses:
Issue 17.1. Men start wars, commit crimes, or cheat is because of women! This is the general rationale that historically can be proven where armies fought over territory, wealth and women. Even in the animal kingdom, male animals fight for the right to mate to get power, territory, and females. You also seem to assume that Islam puts all the blame on the women. It does not. There is still blame on men who are tempted and fall for that evil. Also, there is nothing in the Hadith that says ALL women are evil. It just says most of it, and there is truth to that.
>> Our Response: We do not see such sexist projection on men to the level you find on women. Much of the response is baseless deflections. The majority of wars are political and territorial and while men are more likely to die, it is the women who suffer the worse effect of something they have no control over! We all know so well how many rape camps were created throughout history to satisfy the lust of the winning army – not least in Islam and the concept of war bounty sex slaves (see Reason #8). Rather than call for peace, rain on the harm and evil that can come from men as well, Islam focused all its contempt on women.
Final Thoughts:
The Prophet had a difficult childhood that is well documented. His father died four years before he was born (yes, unbelievable)! His mother did not want to care for him and give him up to be raised by the tribe – basically abandoning him as an orphan. The Prophet did not have female siblings to whom he could relate in the form of an older sister. Deprived of motherly love and understanding of females, we suspect he developed contempt for women. This was not helped by the fact that he was penniless until Khadijah, a much older and wealthier woman, married him. All this woman power and lack of positive female role models may have developed into contempt for women, so we have reached the last reason. In the next reason, we sum up, objectively, the question that has caused most women to leave Islam: Is Islam feminist?