Many a misogynistic Muslim man has gleefully quoted the hadith that mentions that women will make up the majority of the inhabitants of Hellfire, and many a Muslim woman has felt despair and resentfulness regarding it. Yet what is lesser known is that the scholars of the past had a different debate - did this hadith mean that the majority of the inhabitants of Paradise would also be women? It appears that the general conclusion is yes - women will indeed be the majority of the inhabitants of Jannah, inshaAllah! Muhammad reported that some people stated with a sense of pride and some discussed whether there would be more men in Paradise or more women. It was upon this that Abu Huraira reported that RasulAllah said: The (members) of the first group to get into Paradise would have their faces as bright as full moon during the night, and the next to this group would have their faces as bright as the shining stars in the sky, and every person would have two wives and the marrow of their shanks would glimmer beneath the flesh and there would be none without a wife in Paradise. (Sahih Muslim, Book #040, Hadith #6793) It was the opinion of Abu Hurayrah (radhiAllahu anhu) that women would in fact outnumber men in Jannah, due to the above hadith - which according to some narrations included the clarification that of the two wives mentioned, both would be from among the *human* believing women (and not the Hoor al-Ayn). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Qadhi Iyadh, and others also considered it to be a logical extension that women will make up the majority of the inhabitants of Paradise. This is not only due to Abu Hurayrahs statement, but also the understanding of the fact that every Muslim who experiences a punishment in Hellfire will *also* be removed from it and enter Jannah, due to the shafaaah (intercession) of RasulAllah (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) or even simply the fact that they uttered the Shahaadah (as per the hadith, Whoever says Laa ilaaha illAllah, will enter Paradise). Accordingly, those women will leave Hell and enter Jannah - subsequently tilting the scales in their favour, as it were. It is also generally accepted that women have and will continue to outnumber men in terms of sheer population numbers; extended to the Muslim Ummah, this continues to be so. Thus, many scholars believed and understood that the original hadith regarding the number of women in Hell was *not* to be taken in isolation, nor limited in understanding, nor meant to be used as an evidence against women (although the spirit of the hadith, as a warning to believing women, of course still stands), but rather, to be understood in a much more holistic manner... one which recognizes that there is no superiority of the genders other than in terms of piety and righteousness.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:00:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015