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Sermon
79

SERMON 79

After the Battle of Jamal,(1)
Concerning Women and Their Short comings.

O' ye peoples! 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.

(1).
Amir al-mu'minin delivered this sermon after the devastation
created by the Battle of Jamal. Since the devastation resulting
from this battle was the outcome of blindly following a woman's
command, in this sermon he has described women's physical defects
and their causes and effects. Thus their first weakness is that
for a few days in every month they have to abstain from prayer and
fasting, and this abstention from worship is a proof of their
deficiency in Faith. Although the real meaning of iman (belief)
is heart-felt testimony and inner conviction yet metaphorically it
also applies to action and character. Since actions are the
reflection of Belief they are also regarded as part of Belief.
Thus, it is related from Imam Ali ibn Musa ar-Rida (p.b.u.t.)
that:

iman (belief) is
testimony at heart, admission by the tongue and action by the
limbs.

The second weakness is
that their natural propensities do not admit of full performance
of their intelligence. Therefore, nature has given them the power
of intelligence only in accordance with the scope of their
activities which can guide them in pregnancy, delivery, child
nursing, child care and house-hold affairs. On the basis of this
weakness of mind and intelligence their evidence has not been
accorded the status of man's evidence, as Allah says:
. . . then call to
witness two witnesses from among your men and if there not be
two men then (take) a man and two women, of those ye approve of
the witnesses, so that should one of the two (women) forget the
(second) one of the two may remind the other... (Qur'an, 2:282)

The third weakness is
that their share in inheritance is half of man's share in
inheritance as the Qur'an says:
Allah enjoineth you
about your children. The male shall have the equal of the shares
of two females...(4:11)

This shows woman's
weakness because the reason for her share in inheritance being
half is that the liability of her maintenance rests on man. When
man's position is that of a maintainer and care taker the status
of the weaker sex who is in need of maintenance and care-taking is
evident.

After describing their
natural weakness, Amir al-mu'minin points out the mischief of
blindly following them and wrongly obeying them. He says that not
to say of bad things but even if they say in regard to some good
things it should not be done in a way that these should feel as if
it is being done in pursuance of their wish, but rather in a way
that they should realise that the good act has been performed
because of its being good and that their pleasure or wish has
nothing to do with it. If they have even the doubt that their
pleasures has been kept in view in it they would slowly increase
in their demands and would wish that they should be obeyed in all
matters however evil, the inevitable consequence whereof will be
destruction and ruin. ash-Shaykh Muhammad Abduh writes about this
view of Amir al-mu'minin as under:
Amir al-mu'minin has
said a thing which is corroborated by experiences of centuries.