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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.
.Forward to Sermon 80.Back to Sermon 78.
