Bigotry: The Dark Danger

Other misconceptions concerning women

Another of the misconceptions concerning women concerns the Prophet Adam (pbuh) and his wife. The Qur’an says nothing about Adam’s wife deceiving him and causing him to sin. We see from reading verses 11 to 28 of Surat al-A‘raf that it was satan who deceived Adam and his wife.

In the same way, the Qur’an says nothing about woman being created from a man’s rib. The fabricated hadith that represents the origin of this claim has been described in earlier sections.

Another misconception is that the Qur’an is addressed to men alone. In fact, more than 90% of the Qur’an addresses believers with expressions such as “you who believe,” which refer to both men and women in general. In the same way that there are some verses addressed to men alone, there are others that address only women. Some other verses of the Qur’an are addressed directly and only to our Prophet (pbuh).

Nonsense such as the Prophet Adam (pbuh) being deceived by his wife or woman being created from a man's rib are slanders that are nowhere in the the Qur'an. Yet much of the Islamic world is ignorant of the Qur'an.

Sayings of our Prophet’s (pbuh) in praise of women

The Qur’an must of course be our guide if we are to properly understand the place of women in Islam. Since our Prophet (pbuh) applied the Qur’an alone, we can be certain of the veracity of those hadiths which describe practices compatible with the Qur’an. These trustworthy hadiths contain meanings and practices completely at variance with those of the fabricated hadiths that exhibit a frightening attitude toward women and are totally divorced from the spirit of the Qur’an. Some of the hadiths that are very probably trustworthy because of their compatibility with the Qur’an are as follows:

Made beloved to me from your world are women and perfume, and the coolness of my eyes is in prayer. [Ahmad and an-Nasa‘i]

Only a person of nobility and honor will value woman. Only bad and base people will despise them... [Ibn ‘Asakir]

The best of you are those who are best to their women. [Ibn ‘Asakir]

Do not torture your wives! They are entrusted to you by God. Be mild towards them and do favors! [Sahih Muslim]

God loves him who gets on well with his wife and banters with her and He increases their sustenance. [I. Lâl]

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