Chapter 2
Women's Equality In Judgeship and Leadership


The mullahs preach that a woman's place is in the home, that her voice should not be heard by strangers, that she must not call to prayers, that she must not deliver speeches, that she must not sing. Here, banning women from judgeship and religious and political leadership is of paramount significance because it deals with the most important responsibilities. According to Article 115 of the clerics' Constitution, the President, in particular, must be nominated from among the religious men. As a Muslim woman, I declare that these claims are contrary to Islam. In Islam, women enjoy all these and other rights, equal with those of men.

Unfounded reasons

To deny women their right to judge, govern or become religious leaders, the mullahs draw on common collection of citations. Most of their discussions focus on judgment, from which they derive the ban on female political and religious leadership. Hence, if the reasoning behind the ban on female judges is proven to be groundless, the same applies to the ban on women's religious and political leaders.

Ijtihad (contemporary interpretation of allegorical verses of the Quran by qualified scholars) requires that every decree or judgment be evaluated according to four criteria: 1. The Quran, 2. The Traditions (meaning the methods, sayings and writings) of the Prophet and the Imams, 3. The consensus of Ulema (religious scholars), and 4. Common sense.
The mullahs' logic conforms to none of these specifications.

1. According to the Quran:

There are no statements in the Quran depriving women from acting as judges, and religious or political leaders. On the contrary, when the Quran speaks of judgeship and leadership, it addresses both men and women: "God dot command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; And when yea judge between peoples, that yea judge with justice."1
Verses 71 of Repentance2 and 74 of The Criterion3 underscore women's equal social responsibility and right to leadership. "

2. According to the Tradition of the Prophet:

None of the mullahs' citations from the Traditions (sunna) imply that the Prophet forbid women from becoming judges or political leaders. Besides, it is common knowledge that after the Prophet's death, women's citations of the Prophet's sayings were considered credible and many have been incorporated into the main body of the hadith.

The citations used by the mullahs to prove that Islam bars women from becoming leaders or judges are baseless. The mullahs argue, for example, that if a woman were to become a judge, men would hear her voice when she speaks, promoting sin. Therefore, women are not permitted to sit on the bench. Such reasoning is not only absurd but without credence. Did women, such as Umma Salama, not narrate the Traditions of the Prophet? Did the Prophet's daughter and granddaughter, Fatima and Zeinab, not deliver elaborateate sermons in the mosques and among the people?

3. According to the religious scholars:

Contrary to the notion that all religious jurists concur on these prohibitions, some of the most renowned Sunni jurists think otherwise. Abu Hanifeh, leader of the largest Sunni branch,4 does not believe any such prohibitions existed. Mohammad Jarir Tabari, prominent jurist and the author of the acclaimed Tabari's History,5 wrote: "Since women are allowed to master Ijtihad, they can also become judges, just like men."

Sheikh Mohammad Hassan an-Najafi, author of Jawaher-ol Kalam (The Gems of Discourse), cites "consensus" as proof that judges must be male.6 Allamé Helli, a key Shiite jurist of his time, wrote in Nahjol-Haq (The Road to Truth) that there is no such consensus.7 Hossein Ali Montazeri, the once designated successor to Khomeini who was much acclaimed by his mentor as a jurist, rejects Najafi's contention that there is a consensus in this regard, writing: "In all the books of citations from the infallible Imams I have studied, I have not encountered such a matter."8

One can conclude, therefore, that the serious disagreements among the religious scholars make it clear that there are no citations in the Prophet's Tradition or in the Hadith which prohibit women from judgeship and thereby leadership.

4. According to common sense:

A simple question can be enlightening for any Muslim. How is it possible that women and men bear an equal responsibility, both in terms of their religion and society, to propagate the faith; and bear an equal responsibility, stated in the Quran, to promote justice and Towhid (oneness); but when it comes to the most crucial means of advancing these objectives - judgeship and religious and political leadership - women are excluded? If women are permitted to master Ijtihad, then how can they be deprived, on a par with lunatics and criminals, of the right to religious leadership, even when more qualified? Why should the public be deprived of a woman's superior insight or more comprehensive understanding of the faith?
We are free to debate, at whatever length, the qualifications required for a jurisprudent, judge or leader, until we arrive at a definite conclusion. It is very different, however, to deprive women of the chance to acquire the necessary qualifications and religious knowledge.
As you can see, according to the criteria of jurisprudence, being a man is not a prerequisite to becoming a judge or a leader. Contrary to what the fundamentalists attribute to Islam, the logic of the Quran clearly articulates that women can be judges as well as religious and political leaders.

Muslims believe, as explicitly proclaimed by the Quran and the Prophet of Islam, that the religion and book of God exist to guide all generations of Muslims. The primary paradox invalidating the fundamentalist point of view, therefore, is that it transforms God's religion and book into a set of rigid, lifeless precepts; as Imam Ali, the fourth Caliph and the first Shiite Imam, said of such interpretations of Islam, "Theirs is the version most alien from Islam and the Quran."

In the famous book, Nahjol-Balagha (The Road to Eloquence),9 Imam Ali predicted a day that resembles to an amazing degree the present situation in my country, Iran, ruled by the Pharisees. In sermon 361, he says, "There will come a day when the mosques are thriving on the outside, but are corrupted in their guidance. There will come a day when those who build the mosques and those who attend them are the most evil on Earth."10



Notes:

1. The Glorious Quran, translation and commentary by A. Yusuf Ali (U.K.: The Islamic Foundation, 1975), Sura IV: Nisaa (The Women), Verse 58, p. 197.
2. Ibid., p. 461. Verse 71 of Repentance: "The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil..."
3. Ibid., p. 944. The Quran again speaks on behalf of all Muslims, men and women, in the prayer of verse 74 of The Criterion: "And give us the grace to lead the righteous."
4. Abu Hanifeh was the leader of the largest Sunni branch who passed away in 793 A.D.
5. Mohammad Jarir-e Tabari was a prominent jurist and the author of the acclaimed Tarikh-e Tabari (Tabari's History), one of the most accurate accounts regarding the history of early Islam. Tabari died in 953 A.D.
6. Shiekh Muhammad an-Najafi, Jawaher-ol Kalam (The Gems of Discourse), Beirut: 1981, Vol. 40, p. 12-14.
7. Allamé Helli, Nahj-ol Haq (The Road to Truth), originally cied in Jawaher-ol Kalam, op. cit. Allamé Helli died in 1405 A.D.
8. Hossein Ali Montazeri, Mabani-e Fiqhi-e Hokumat-e Islami (The jurisprudential foundations of Islamic rule), Qom, Iran.
9. Nahj-ol Balagha (The Road to Eloquence), is a compilation of sermons, letters, and sayings of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib.
10. Nahj-ol Balagha (The Road to Eloquence), translation and commentary