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Question
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
1) After me, I have not left any Fitnah (trial and affliction) more harmful to men than women." [Al-Bukhari). Isn't this Hadith degradin women's status?
2) I would like to ask of the most frequently asked question and would want a detailed reply.
Why is a woman considered a half witness. If a women is the only witness at a murder scene what does the Islamic Shariah would say in this regard
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
Answer to 1st question:
Imam Bukhari and Muslim reported from Usama Bin Zayd (Radiya Allahu Anhum) that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: “I did not leave a worst Fitnah on men except that of women.”
There is no humiliation of women in this Hadith. Its meaning is that men are most afflicted by women, and any other desire is of a lesser degree than the desire for women.
Ibn Hajar said in the interpretation of this Hadith: ‘The Hadith means that being afflicted with women is worse than being afflicted with other than women. The evidence of this is the saying of Allah (interpretation of meaning): {… Beautified for men is the love of things they covet; women, ….}[3:14], so Allah considered women amongst the love for desire, and He started mentioning women before mentioning other kinds of Fitan, because this is an indication that in principle women are the root of the Fitnah.
We notice that a man likes more the children from his wife rather than the children from the wife he married who had children with another husband.
Therefore, in this Hadith, women are venerated, and they are not humiliated, as the questioner is saying. Because if they are humiliated, then money and children will be despised as well, and Allah says (interpretation of meaning): {Your wealth and your children are only a trial, ….} [64:15].
Answer to 2nd question:
A female witness is considered half of that of a man by the text of the Qur'an:
Allah says (interpretation of meaning): {… And get two witnesses out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her. …} [2:282].
Imam Bukhari reported from the Hadith narrated by Abu Said Al-Khudri, and Muslim from the Hadith narrated by Ibn Umar (Radiya Allahu Anhum) that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: “I have never seen before women who are weak in mind and religion who overcome the people who are more minded than yourselves.” A woman said: ‘O, Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam), what is the weakness of mind and religion.’ The Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) replied: “The weakness of mind is that the witness of two women is equal to the witness of one man, this is the weakness of mind. And a woman spends several nights (or days) without praying, and she breaks the fasting in Ramadan (while she is in menstruation or after childbirth – while men are fasting), and this is the weakness of religion.”
However, she is not blamed for this weakness because she cannot do anything to avoid it. Allah, the Most-High, pointed out her weakness as a witness by saying (interpretation of meaning): {… so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her. …} [2:282].
She might forget when standing as a witness, and another woman would remind her. That’s why the Islamic jurisprudent could not take the testimony of one woman only, but of the two together.
Sheikh Zindani mentioned that modern science discovered that there are two focuses (in the brain) for each of the man and the woman, a focus for speech and a focus for remembering. When a man speaks, one-focus functions and the second remains for remembering. However, when the woman speaks, the two focuses function, that’s why she cannot completely remember what she is giving witness to, so the second woman would remind her, so that the purpose of witnessing will not be missed.
As regards the witness of one woman if she is the only witness on a murder, then her witness is considered as indication, not an evidence, because even if the witness is one man, his witness will not be considered as a sufficient evidence to prove the murder, because there must be two trustworthy witnesses to establish the evidence, but that would be considered as an indication that a given person is the murderer.
Allah knows best.
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