The following hadith is one of the most well-known statements attributed to Prophet Muhammad about women. It is graded Muttafaqun ‘alayh (agreed upon by both Bukhari and Muslim — the highest level of authenticity in Sunni Islam):
Sahih al-Bukhari 304 — Menstrual Periods — كتاب الحيض — Grade: Sahih
Arabic:
حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي زَيْدٌ ـ هُوَ ابْنُ أَسْلَمَ ـ عَنْ عِيَاضِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي أَضْحًى ـ أَوْ فِطْرٍ ـ إِلَى الْمُصَلَّى، فَمَرَّ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ ” يَا مَعْشَرَ النِّسَاءِ تَصَدَّقْنَ، فَإِنِّي أُرِيتُكُنَّ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ ”. فَقُلْنَ وَبِمَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ” تُكْثِرْنَ اللَّعْنَ، وَتَكْفُرْنَ الْعَشِيرَ، مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْ نَاقِصَاتِ عَقْلٍ وَدِينٍ أَذْهَبَ لِلُبِّ الرَّجُلِ الْحَازِمِ مِنْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ ”. قُلْنَ وَمَا نُقْصَانُ دِينِنَا وَعَقْلِنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ” أَلَيْسَ شَهَادَةُ الْمَرْأَةِ مِثْلَ نِصْفِ شَهَادَةِ الرَّجُلِ ”. قُلْنَ بَلَى. قَالَ ” فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ عَقْلِهَا، أَلَيْسَ إِذَا حَاضَتْ لَمْ تُصَلِّ وَلَمْ تَصُمْ ”. قُلْنَ بَلَى. قَالَ ” فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ دِينِهَا ”.
English Translation:
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri: Once Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, “O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).” They asked, “Why is it so, O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)?” He replied, “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you.” The women asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.”
This hadith with very similar wording is also reported in Mishkat al-Masabih 19 (Grade: Muttafaqun ‘alayh), Sahih al-Bukhari 1462, and Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 2613 (Grade: Sahih, Darussalam). The sheer number of books that record this statement leaves no room for Muslims to claim it is fabricated or weak. This is one of the most solidly authenticated statements in all of Islamic literature.
Let’s Break This Down
1. “You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands”
Muhammad gives two reasons why women will be the majority of Hell’s population: they curse too much and they are ungrateful to their husbands.
Let’s pause here and ask a simple question: Have you never seen men curse? In most cultures around the world, men are observed to use profanity and harsh language at least as much as women — if not more. Road rage, bar fights, workplace aggression — these are not typically associated with women.
And about being “ungrateful to husbands” — are men never ungrateful to their wives? Do men never take their wives’ cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, and emotional labour for granted? Why is the “ungratefulness” only mentioned as a female sin? This is a one-sided accusation that ignores the same behaviour (and often worse) in men.
2. “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?”
Muhammad uses the rule that two women’s testimony equals one man’s testimony as “proof” that women are deficient in intelligence. But let’s ask the most obvious question: Who made this rule in the first place?
It was Allah and Muhammad themselves! The Quran says:
Arabic (relevant excerpt):
وَٱسْتَشْهِدُوا۟ شَهِيدَيْنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمْ ۖ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَٱمْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ ٱلشُّهَدَآءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَىٰهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَىٰهُمَا ٱلْأُخْرَىٰ
English Translation (Sahih International):
“And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses — so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her.”
So Allah himself declared that one woman’s testimony is not enough — you need two women to replace one man. Then Muhammad turns around and uses this very rule as evidence that women are intellectually inferior. Do you see the circular reasoning here? God makes the rule, and then that very rule is cited as proof of women’s deficiency. If a teacher fails a student unfairly, can the teacher then point to the failing grade as proof that the student is dumb?
3. “A woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses — this is the deficiency in her religion”
Muhammad says that because women cannot pray or fast during menstruation, their religion is incomplete.
Two questions arise here:
First: Who prohibited women from praying and fasting during their periods? It was Allah and Muhammad. Women did not choose to stop worshipping — they were told to stop. Punishing someone for following the rules you imposed on them is deeply unjust.
Second: Who created the biological system of menstruation in the first place? If you believe in Allah, then it was Allah himself who designed women to menstruate. So Allah designs women with a biological process, then forbids them from worship during that process, and then calls them religiously deficient because of it? How does this make any sense?
The “Emotional Beings” Defence
Some modern Muslim apologists try to rescue this hadith by arguing that women are “emotional beings,” and therefore their testimony is worth less. Let’s address this directly.
First, neither Muhammad nor Allah ever gave “emotionality” as the reason for halving women’s testimony. The Quran says “so that if one of the women errs, then the other can remind her” — the word used is taḍilla (تَضِلَّ), meaning to err or go astray, not to become emotional. And in the hadith, Muhammad simply says it is proof of deficient intelligence. If the apologists’ interpretation was correct, why didn’t Muhammad or Allah say so?
Second, modern science completely contradicts the idea that women are less intelligent or less capable of rational thinking. Research has shown that differences between males and females are not in general intelligence, but only in some specific factors and tasks. A 2022 meta-analysis reviewing 79 studies found that even small sex-based differences in general intelligence among school-aged children were an artifact of older tests, with current test batteries showing no statistically significant difference between the sexes. The study from Intelligence journal (Reynolds et al., 2022) concluded clearly: “The sexes do not differ in general intelligence, but they do in some specifics.”
As for emotional intelligence (EQ), research shows the mean EQ was higher among females and mean IQ among males, however, on applying unpaired t test, this difference was found not to be statistically significant. In fact, despite evidence from cognitive psychology that men and women are equal in measured intelligence, gender differences in self-estimated intelligence are widely reported with males providing systematically higher estimates than females. This phenomenon is called “male hubris, female humility” — men overestimate their own intelligence while women underestimate theirs.
Third, if we’re talking about “emotional” behaviour causing problems, consider that men — thanks largely to testosterone — are significantly more prone to physical aggression, violent crime, road rage, and impulsive decision-making. There is an old joke: if world leaders were all women, there would be no wars — just a bunch of countries silently not talking to each other. Jokes aside, this would arguably result in far fewer innocent deaths than the male-dominated wars that have shaped human history.
Do You Know Who Was the First Computer Programmer?
A woman.
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, also known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She was the first to recognise the machine had applications beyond pure calculation. Lovelace is often considered the first computer programmer.
According to her Wikipedia biography, Ada Lovelace wrote what is widely regarded as the first published computer algorithm back in 1843. She did this in a world that told women they should stay home. Her “deficient intellect,” as Muhammad would call it, laid the groundwork for the digital age you are using right now to read this blog post.
And do you know about Marie Curie? She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields. She won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. A woman with “deficient intelligence” discovered polonium and radium, pioneered cancer treatment, and changed the course of modern science.
Women Cannot Lead a Country, According to Islam
It’s not just intelligence that Islam questions — it also explicitly bars women from leading nations. Consider this hadith:
Sahih al-Bukhari 7099 — Afflictions and the End of the World — كتاب الفتن — Grade: Sahih
Arabic:
عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرَةَ، قَالَ لَقَدْ نَفَعَنِي اللَّهُ بِكَلِمَةٍ أَيَّامَ الْجَمَلِ لَمَّا بَلَغَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّ فَارِسًا مَلَّكُوا ابْنَةَ كِسْرَى قَالَ ” لَنْ يُفْلِحَ قَوْمٌ وَلَّوْا أَمْرَهُمُ امْرَأَةً ”.
English Translation:
Narrated Abu Bakra: During the battle of Al-Jamal, Allah benefited me with a Word (I heard from the Prophet). When the Prophet heard the news that the people of Persia had made the daughter of Khosrau their Queen (ruler), he said, “Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler.”
This hadith is also reported with similar wording in Sunan an-Nasa’i 5388 (Grade: Sahih, Darussalam), where the chapter heading itself reads: “Prohibition of Appointing Women for Judgment” (باب النَّهْىِ عَنِ اسْتِعْمَالِ النِّسَاءِ، فِي الْحُكْمِ).
The Nasa’i version reads:
Arabic:
قَالَ عَصَمَنِي اللَّهُ بِشَىْءٍ سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم لَمَّا هَلَكَ كِسْرَى قَالَ ” مَنِ اسْتَخْلَفُوا ”. قَالُوا بِنْتَهُ. قَالَ ” لَنْ يُفْلِحَ قَوْمٌ وَلَّوْا أَمْرَهُمُ امْرَأَةً ”.
English Translation:
It was narrated that Abu Bakrah said: “Allah protected me with something that I heard from the Messenger of Allah. When Chosroes died, he said: ‘Whom have they appointed as his successor?’ They said: ‘His daughter.’ He said: ‘No people will ever prosper who entrust their leadership to a woman.'”
The Reality: Women Leaders Have Proven Muhammad Wrong
Muhammad said that no nation will prosper under a woman’s leadership. But the real world tells a completely different story.
From 2013 until today, every time the World Happiness Report has published its annual ranking of countries, the five Nordic countries — Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland — have all been in the top ten. These are the very countries that have been at the forefront of women’s political leadership. Germany was led by Angela Merkel for 16 years, making it the dominant economy of Europe. The United Kingdom was led by Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Liz Truss.
No matter whether we look at the state of democracy and political rights, lack of corruption, trust between citizens, felt safety, social cohesion, gender equality, equal distribution of incomes, Human Development Index, or many other global comparisons, one tends to find the Nordic countries in the global top spots. And it’s no coincidence that the world’s happiest countries also champion gender equality socially and economically. The top five countries in terms of political leadership by women were Sweden, Iceland, Slovenia, Finland and Denmark.
So the countries that have empowered women the most — including putting them in leadership roles — are topping every global metric of prosperity, happiness, health, education, and governance. Meanwhile, many countries that strictly follow Muhammad’s instruction to keep women out of leadership… well, let’s just say they don’t top those same lists.
“Never will succeed such a nation as makes a woman their ruler.” Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and New Zealand would like a word.
Ali ibn Abi Talib Said the Same Thing
This view of women is not limited to Muhammad. Ali ibn Abi Talib — the fourth Caliph of Sunni Islam and the first Imam of Shia Islam — repeated and expanded on this same idea after the Battle of Jamal (the Battle of the Camel).
Arabic:
مَعَاشِرَ النَّاسِ، إِنَّ النِّسَاءَ نَوَاقِصُ الاْيمَانِ، نَوَاقِصُ الْحُظُوظِ، نَوَاقِصُ الْعُقُولِ: فَأَمَّا نُقْصَانُ إِيمَانِهِنَّ فَقُعُودُهُنَّ عَنِ الصَّلاةِ وَالصِّيَامِ فِي أَيَّامِ حَيْضِهِنَّ، وَأَمَّا نُقْصَانُ عُقُولِهِنَّ فَشَهَادَةُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ مِنْهُنّ كَشَهَادَةِ الرَّجُلِ الْوَاحِدِ، وَأَمَّا نُقْصَانُ حُظُوظِهِنَّ فَمَوَارِيثُهُنَّ عَلَى الاْنْصَافِ مِنْ مَوارِيثِ الرِّجَالِ; فَاتَّقُوا شِرَارَ النِّسَاءِ، وَكُونُوا مِنْ خِيَارِهِنَّ عَلَى حَذَر، وَلاَتُطِيعُوهُنَّ فِي المَعْرُوفِ حَتَّى لاَ يَطْمَعْنَ فِي المُنكَرِ.
English Translation:
“O people! Women are deficient in Faith, deficient in shares and deficient in intelligence. As regards the deficiency in their Faith, it is their abstention from prayers and fasting during their menstrual period. As regards deficiency in their intelligence it is because the evidence of two women is equal to that of one man. As for the deficiency of their shares that is because of their share in inheritance being half of men. So beware of the evils of women. Be on your guard even from those of them who are (reportedly) good. Do not obey them even in good things so that they may not attract you to evils.”
Notice how Ali uses the exact same reasoning as Muhammad: menstruation = deficient faith, half testimony = deficient intellect. He even adds a third dimension — their inheritance share being half of men’s — as proof of their deficiency in “shares” (حظوظ).
But then Ali goes even further. He says:
“Be on your guard even from those of them who are (reportedly) good. Do not obey them even in good things so that they may not attract you to evils.”
Read that again carefully. Even if a woman is known to be good, Ali says you should not obey her — even when she tells you to do something good! Why? Because obeying her in good things might “encourage” her to command you in evil things later. Can you think of a more blatant expression of misogyny and patriarchal control? A woman can never be trusted — not even when she is right.
The Shia Defence: “It Was Only About Aisha”
Some Shia Muslims argue that this sermon was specifically directed at Aisha bint Abu Bakr, who led an army against Ali in the Battle of Jamal and was defeated.
But this defence falls apart for several reasons:
First, if Ali meant Aisha specifically, why didn’t he name her? Ali was known as “Sher-e-Khuda” (the Lion of God) in Islamic tradition — a man famed for his bravery. Was this lion afraid to name a single woman who had already been defeated by him?
Second, if not naming her directly, Ali could have at least said “this woman” or “that woman.” Instead, he says “النساء” — women — a general, plural term. He addresses “معاشر الناس” — “O people!” — not “O people, let me tell you about one particular woman.”
Third, even if we accept for a moment that Ali was upset with Aisha, he could have easily used a qualified phrase like “some women” or “certain women” to make his point without condemning the entire gender. He could have said, “Some women are deficient…” or “A woman like this is deficient…” But he did not. He made a sweeping, unqualified statement: “إِنَّ النِّسَاءَ نَوَاقِصُ الاْيمَانِ” — “Indeed, women are deficient in Faith.” The Arabic uses the definite noun “النساء” (al-nisaa — the women / women as a category), not “بعض النساء” (ba’dh al-nisaa — some women). This is a deliberate, general statement. Arabic is a precise language, and Ali — one of the most eloquent speakers in Arabic history — knew exactly what he was saying.
Fourth, read the full sermon. Every single sentence is a general statement about all women:
- “Women are deficient in Faith” — all women
- “Women are deficient in intelligence” — all women
- “Beware of the evils of women” — all women
- “Be on your guard even from those who are good” — all women, even the good ones
- “Do not obey them even in good things” — all women, in all circumstances
There is nothing in this sermon that limits it to Aisha. It is a sweeping generalization about the entire female gender that perfectly mirrors and extends his uncle’s (the Prophet’s) own teachings.
Conclusion: A System Built on Circular Logic
Let’s summarize the circular logic of Islam on women:
- Allah makes women’s testimony worth half a man’s → Muhammad uses this as proof that women’s intellect is deficient.
- Allah creates menstruation as a biological process → Allah forbids women from praying during it → Muhammad uses this as proof that women’s faith is deficient.
- Allah gives women half the inheritance → Ali uses this as proof that women’s shares are deficient.
In every case, God creates the rule or the biology, and then the woman is blamed for it. This is not justice — this is a rigged system.
The real world — with Ada Lovelace programming the first computer, Marie Curie winning two Nobel Prizes, Angela Merkel leading Europe’s strongest economy for 16 years, and the Nordic countries topping every prosperity index on earth — has decisively refuted the claim that women are deficient in intellect or incapable of leadership.
The question for every Muslim reading this is simple: If Allah is all-knowing and all-just, why did He design a system that punishes women for the very things He created them with?