Dr. Sami Alrabaa
Women in Hadith
March 14, 2009

I am really proud of Islam. We all should be proud of Islam. It has released women into freedom! Islam is such a tolerant and merciful religion. Therefore, never forget to repeat ad nausea “Peace be upon Him” every time you mention the Prophet’s name. Here is the proof:

Women who pass by a praying man annul his prayer:

 Narrated 'Aisha: The things which annul prayer were mentioned before me (and those were): a dog, a donkey and a Woman. I said, "You have compared us (women) to donkeys and dogs. By Allah! I saw the Prophet praying while I used to lie in (my) bed between him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something, I disliked to sit and trouble the Prophet. So, I would slip away by the side of his feet." (Book #9, Hadith #493)

A Jew also annuls the prayers of a man:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: Ikrimah reported on the authority of Ibn Abbas, saying: I think the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: When one of you prays without a sutrah, a dog, an ass, a pig, a Jew, a Magian, and a woman cut off his prayer, but it will suffice if they pass in front of him at a distance of over a stone's throw. (Book #2, Hadith #0704)

Prophet Muhammad discriminates even against black dogs:

 Abu Dharr reported: The Messenger of 'Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When any one of you stands for prayer and there is a thing before him equal to the back of the saddle that covers him and in case there is not before him (a thing) equal to the back of the saddle, his prayer would be cut off by (passing of an) ass, woman, and black Dog. I said: O Abu Dharr, what feature is there in a black dog which distinguish it from the red dog and the yellow dog? He said: O, son of my brother, I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as you are asking me, and he said: The black dog is a devil. (Book #004, Hadith #1032)

Women are not allowed to travel alone:

(38) Narrated Ibn 'Umar: The Prophet said, "A Woman should not travel for more than three days except with a Dhi-Mahram (i.e. a male with whom she cannot marry at all, e.g. her brother, father, grandfather, etc.) or her own husband.)" (Book #20, Hadith #192)

(40) Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "It is not permissible for a Woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel for one day and night except with a Mahram." (Book #20, Hadith #194)

Women are not allowed to mourn as long they want. Why only four months and ten days? Only Allah knows:

(49) Narrated Zainab bint Abi Salama: When the news of the death of Abu Sufyan reached from Sham, Um Habiba on the third day, asked for a yellow perfume and scented her cheeks and forearms and said, "No doubt, I would not have been in need of this, had I not heard the Prophet saying: "It is not legal for a Woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days for any dead person except her husband, for whom she should mourn for four months and ten days." (Book #23, Hadith #370)

Non-Muslims are also subjugated to the “law” of Shari’a:

(54) Narrated 'Abdullah bin 'Umar : The Jews brought to the Prophet a man and a Woman from amongst them who have committed (adultery) illegal sexual intercourse. He ordered both of them to be stoned (to death), near the place of offering the funeral prayers beside the mosque." (Book #23, Hadith #413)

A woman is allowed to fast only with permission from her husband:

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: No woman should observe fast when her spouse is present (in the house) but with his permission. And she should not admit any (mahram) in his house, while he (her husband) is present, but with his permission. And whatever she spends from his earnings without his sanction, for him is half the reward. (Book #005, Hadith #2238)

As a man if you see an alien woman, rush immediately to your wife and have intercourse with her to repel the devil in that woman:

Jabir reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) 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. (Book #008, Hadith #3240)

Jabir heard Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) say: When a woman fascinates any one of you and she captivates his heart, he should go to his wife and have an intercourse with her, for it would repel what he feels. (Book #008, Hadith #3242)

Women are solely beauty, status, and believers. Their brains are insignificant:

 Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A woman may be married for four reasons: for her property, her status. her beauty and her religion, so try to get one who is religious, may your hand be besmeared with dust. (Book #008, Hadith #3457)

Women are crooks and useless creature:

 AbuHuraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: woman is like a rib. When you attempt to straighten it, you would break it. And if you leave her alone you would benefit by her, and crookedness will remain in her. A hadith like this is reported by another chain of narrators (Book #008, Hadith #3466)

A woman who commits adultery must be stoned to death. She sacrifices her life for Allah:

Imran b. Husain reported that a woman from Juhaina came to Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) and she had become pregnant because of adultery. She said: Allah's Apostle, I have done something for which (prescribed punishment) must be imposed upon me, so impose that. Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) called her master and said: Treat her well, and when she delivers bring her to me. He did accordingly. Then Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) pronounced judgment about her and her clothes were tied around her and then he commanded and she was stoned to death. He then prayed over her (dead body). Thereupon Umar said to him: Allah's Apostle, you offer prayer for her, whereas she had committed adultery! Thereupon he said: She has made such a repentance that if it were to be divided among seventy men of Medina, it would be enough. Have you found any repentance better than this that she sacr ficed her life for Allah, the Majestic? (Book #017, Hadith #4207)

Women are simply bad luck, bad omen:

 'Umar b. Muhammad b. Zaid reported that he heard his father narrating from Ibn 'Umar that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) had said. If bad luck is a fact, then it is in the horse, the woman and the house. (Book #026, Hadith #5526)

Narrated Sa'd ibn Malik: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There is no hamah, no infection and no evil omen; if there is in anything an evil omen, it is a house, a horse, and a woman. (Book #29, Hadith #3911)

Women are breeding machines:

Narrated Ma'qil ibn Yasar: A man came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said: I have found a woman of rank and beauty, but she does not give birth to children. Should I marry her? He said: No. He came again to him, but he prohibited him. He came to him third time, and he (the Prophet) said: Marry women who are loving and very prolific, for I shall outnumber the peoples by you. (Book #11, Hadith #2045)

A woman is an unavoidable evil, and marrying a woman is like buying a slave:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If one of you marries a woman or buys a slave, he should say: "O Allah, I ask Thee for the good in her, and in the disposition Thou hast given her; I take refuge in Thee from the evil in her, and in the disposition Thou hast given her." When he buys a camel, he should take hold of the top of its hump and say the same kind of thing. (Book #11, Hadith #2155)

If you incite a slave against their master, you are not a good Muslim:

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Anyone who incites a woman against her husband or a slave against his master is not one of us. (Book #12, Hadith #2170)

Islam makes it difficult for women to divorce:

Narrated Thawban: The Prophet (peace be_upon_him) said: If any woman asks her husband for divorce without some strong reason, the odour of Paradise will be forbidden to her. (Book #12, Hadith #2218)

If you want to free a slave, free first the men, then the women:

 Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Al-Qasim said: Aisha intended to set free two slaves of her who were spouses. She, therefore, asked the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) about this matter. He commanded to begin with the man before the woman. The narrator Nasr said: AbuAli al-Hanafi reported it to me on the authority of Ubaydullah. (Book #12, Hadith #2229)

Forced marriage and forced divorce:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: A woman embraced Islam during the time of the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him); she then married. Her (former) husband then came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said: Apostle of Allah, I have already embraced Islam, and she had the knowledge about my Islam. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) took her away from her latter husband and restored her to her former husband. (Book #12, Hadith #2231)

No prostitution in Islam:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Abbas: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There is no prostitution in Islam. If anyone practised prostitution in pre-Islamic times, the child will be attributed to the master (of the slave-woman). He who claims his child without a valid marriage or ownership will neither inherit nor be inherited. (Book #12, Hadith #2257)

According to the latest report of the International Labor Organization in Geneva/Switzerland, (2008) Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam, and country that applies the Shari’s law, is one of the countries which has the highest rates of prostitution in the world. It is all clandestine.

The son of a slave woman consummated by a free man is not allowed to inherit anything:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) decided regarding one who was treated as a member of a family after the death of his father, to whom he was attributed when the heirs said he was one of them, that if he was the child of a slave-woman whom the father owned when he had intercourse with her, he was included among those who sought his inclusion, but received none of the inheritance which was previously divided; he, however, received his portion of the inheritance which had not already been divided; but if the father to whom he was attributed had disowned him, he was not joined to the heirs. If he was a child of a slave-woman whom the father did not possess or of a free woman with whom he had illicit intercourse, he was not joined to the heirs and did not inherit even if the one to whom he was attributed is the one who claimed paternity, since he was a child of fornication whether his mother was free or a slave. (Book #12, Hadith #2258)

Lottery in Islam:

Narrated Zayd ibn Arqam: Three persons were brought to Ali (Allah be pleased with him) when he was in the Yemen. They and sexual intercourse with a woman during a single state of purity. He asked two of them: Do you acknowledge this child for this (man)? They replied: No. He then put this (question) to all of them. Whenever he asked two of them, they replied in the negative. He, therefore, cast a lot among them, and attributed the child to the one who received the lot. He imposed two-third of the blood-money (i.e. the price of the mother) on him. This was then mentioned to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and he laughed so much that his molar teeth appeared. (Book #12, Hadith #2263)

A woman whose husband dies must not use any make-up, neither dress up as she pleases. The same does not apply to the man:

Narrated Umm Salamah, Ummul Mu'minin: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: A woman whose husband has died must not wear clothes dyed with safflower (usfur) or with red ochre (mishq) and ornaments. She must not apply henna and collyrium. (Book #12, Hadith #2297)

Weird story:

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: No woman of Banu Qurayzah was killed except one. She was with me, talking and laughing on her back and belly (extremely), while the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) was killing her people with the swords. Suddenly a man called her name: Where is so-and-so? She said: I I asked: What is the matter with you? She said: I did a new act. She said: The man took her and beheaded her. She said: I will not forget that she was laughing extremely although she knew that she would be killed. (Book #14, Hadith #2665)

Discrimination among animals. Kill only black dogs:

Narrated Jabir ibn Abdullah: The Prophet of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) ordered to kill dogs, and we were even killing a dog which a woman brought with her from the desert. Afterwards he forbade to kill them, saying: Confine yourselves to the type which is black. (Book #16, Hadith #2840)

Expressing emotions is forbidden:

 Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed the wailing woman and the woman who listens to her. (Book #20, Hadith #3122)

A woman is not allowed to give gifts to anybody without the permission of her husband:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: It is not permissible for a woman to present a gift (from her husband's property) except with the permission of her husband. (Book #23, Hadith #3540)

What if a woman has cancer in her private parts and needs an operation?

 Narrated AbuSa'id al-Khudri: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: A man should not look at the private parts of another man, and a woman should not look at the private parts of another woman. A man should not lie with another man without wearing lower garment under one cover; and a woman should not be lie with another woman without wearing lower garment under one cover. (Book #31, Hadith #4007)

Strict sex-segregation in terms of clothes:

Narrated AbuHurayrah: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed the man who dressed like a woman and the woman who dressed like a man. (Book #32, Hadith #4087)

Narrated Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin: Ibn AbuMulaykah told that when someone remarked to Aisha that a woman was wearing sandals, she replied: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed mannish women. (Book #32, Hadith #4088)

Using perfume is also forbidden in Islam:

Narrated AbuMusa: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: If a woman uses perfume and passes the people so that they may get its odour, she is so-and-so, meaning severe remarks. (Book #33, Hadith #4161)

Justice a la Islam:

 Narrated Wa'il ibn Hujr: When a woman went out in the time of the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) for prayer, a man attacked her and overpowered (raped) her. She shouted and he went off, and when a man came by, she said: That (man) did such and such to me. And when a company of the Emigrants came by, she said: That man did such and such to me. They went and seized the man whom they thought had had intercourse with her and brought him to her. She said: Yes, this is he. Then they brought him to the Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him). When he (the Prophet) was about to pass sentence, the man who (actually) had assaulted her stood up and said: Apostle of Allah, I am the man who did it to her. He (the Prophet) said to her: Go away, for Allah has forgiven you. But he told the man some good words (AbuDawud said: meaning the man who was seized), and of the man who had had intercourse with her, he said: Go, you’re free. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) also said: He has repented to such an extent that if the people of Medina had repented similarly, it would have been accepted from them. (Book #38, Hadith #4366)

Arbitrariness:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar: A woman was my wife and I loved her, but Umar hated her. He said to me: Divorce her, but I refused. Umar then went to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and mentioned that to him. The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Divorce her. (Book #41, Hadith #5119)