'The best of you is the best to his family' addresses both men and women

28-4-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Does the hadith, “The best of you is the best to his family,” include women also? If the woman is best to her family, does that mean that she will get the reward mentioned in the hadith? Or is that for men only?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger. 

We did not find any statement of the scholars stating that this hadeeth is particularly for men and not for women. The basic principle is that the religious texts address both men and women, and there is no distinction between them in this regard unless there is evidence specifying the address to either men or women. The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, “Women are the counterparts of men.” [Ahmad and others - Ahmad Shaakir and Al-Albaani graded it saheeh (sound)]

Hence, the apparent indication is that the hadeeth applies to both men and women who prove to be the “best” to their families.

Allaah knows best.