Question:

Dear Brothers, Assalam o Aleykum,

First and foremost I should greatly thank you for realising your Institution on the Web -Media. Alhamdulillah, I believe most people who get access to it can learn a lot about our religion, the only way in life, and InshaAllah Allah will guide them through.
The other day we were arguing with my sister (no blood relations, only that we come from the same country in this foreign land-Turkey),  can women become judges ? The point from where we came was about the Iranian Revolution of 1979 when Khomeini was after strict interpretation of Islam (hence no women judges) to the present liberal -tending regime of Khamenei( together with Khatemi) whereby things are relaxing, among others women can be appointed as High court judges. I would like, if possible, to be enlightened on this matter as I had no concrete matter to argue or she was right. Thanks in advance InshaAllah hoping for reply encompassed with the Qur'an and Hadith.
 

Ali
Technical University
Ankara.

Answer:

Dear Brother Ali, Assalam o Alaikum.

The question whether women can become ‘judges’ or hold the high public posts, has both been supported as well as contested by the Muslim scholars, providing almost equally sound reasons. Our considered opinion is that the issue be left open-ended for a given social setting, period of time and stage of economic and civic growth, to make appropriate decision. A few points will, however, help understand the mood of the Islamic shariah and polity:

1. The nature and physiology of man and woman suggest distinct and specific gender roles.  Seen within the comprehensive scheme that Islam proposes for human life, the role relating to the former is more ‘outward’, whereas women have to do a lot ‘in house’. Whenever this distinction was overlooked in the human  history, we find a chaos and anarchy  and the ultimate fall of the civilization - Muslim or non-Muslim. This is very high a price for the gender equity or emancipation demand, and must be carefully weighed before jumping on the band-wagon of ‘equity’.

2. What we find in the Islamic Shariah is that women are absolved of a number of ‘responsibilities’ and ‘obligations’, without least affecting their ‘rights’. This points to the very high importance attached to the bearing and upbringing of the offspring.  Remember, providing for the household expenditure in a Muslim family, is the sole responsibility of MAN (as husband, as father, as son for mother, and as brother for unmarried and divorced sisters). This is so even if a woman (more specifically the wife) is rich personally  -  through inheritance, endowments, business etc.  Why then, under normal circumstances, would she like to seek a job and a remunerative employment (including to be a judge)?

Briefly, there is no question of prohibition. Rather, it is the RIGHT of the woman to refuse to work outside her house for earning, specifically to share the household expenditure. Let us not mix up ‘rights’ and ‘obligations’, and that will make the issue easier to understand. BEWARE OF ONE THING. To seek a job for earning is totally different from acquisition of knowledge (in any field as long as it is not injurious - and that is true for men as well). On that score women, like men, are duty-bound to acquire the highest level of knowledge and guide and help the society in any suitable capacity.  After all, we find ladies of highest letters and caliber in our history who acted in their private capacity, as jurists and teachers. The house of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) itself stands witness to it.  Without Aisha (r.a.) and Umme Salma (r.a.), we will certainly loose a third of our religion. Wassalam,

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