بسم
الله الرحمن الرحيم
والصلاة
والسلام على رسوله الكريم
A
minority view among Islamic scholasticism is that Prophesy is not
exclusive to men, rather there were prophetesses in the past.
According to the Torah, Miriam, the elder sister of Moses, is called
a prophetess (Exodus 15:20). Deborah is called a prophetess (Judges
4:4) along with Huldah (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22). According
to the Christian New Testament, an elderly woman of the tribe of
Asher, Anna daughter of Phanuel, was a prophetess (Luke 2:36)
Muslims
who contend that all prophets were necessarily men cite the following
passage from the holy Quran:
وَ
مَاۤ اَرۡسَلۡنَا مِنۡ قَبۡلِکَ اِلَّا
رِجَالًا
We
sent not before thee as Messengers any but men
My
response to this argument is that this passage is specifically
referring to Messengers or Apostles – those who are sent
with a message. While all Messengers of Allah are necessarily
Prophets, the Prophetesses were not Messengers who were sent to their
people with a message. Rather, they were simply recipients of
prophesy and revelations without being charged with a message to
deliver to their people. This is because it is the teaching of our
Faith that women are meant to be veiled and not public figures who
interact with the people. Another argument put forward to answer the
standard interpretation of this passage in the Quran:
“It
is therefore reasonable to argue that by “men” (rijālan), the
Qur’ān intended “human beings” as opposed to “angels,”
proposed by the sceptics and rejecters. Although possible, the
likelihood that the Qur’ān actually intended “men” as opposed
to “women” is remote and not supported by the occasion of the
revelation. This is simply because the doubters did not propose
“women” – in the first place – to warrant the affirmation of
“men,” having been sent. Instead, they proposed “angels”
which would warrant the Qur’ān countering that with “human
being” but only using “rijālan.” Therefore, construing rijālan
as human beings removes a key premise behind the rejection of the
prophecy of women; after all, women are also human beings. So Fakhr
al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s use of these verses to conclude that God has
never sent a woman as a prophet is methodologically out of sync.
Another indication of the error is that rijālan does not necessarily
have to retain its literal meaning of “men” in this passage. The
Qur’ān has used the term to signify different things such as
angels (7:46), husbands (2:228; 4:34), and of course, men (4:1;
33:40). Ibn al-Jawzī mentions that rijāl is employed in the Qur’ān
in eleven senses and cites Qur’ān, 21:7 as an example where it
means “messengers” and not “men”. Based on this possibility,
it is rather incorrect to use these verses to reject the prophecy of
women.” (Intellectual Discourse, vol.23, no.1, 2015;
pp.83-84)
Ibn
Hajr al-Asqalani mentions the views of several classical Muslim
scholars:
قَالَ
الْقُرْطُبِيُّ الصَّحِيحُ أَنَّ مَرْيَمَ
نَبِيَّةٌ لِأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى
أَوْحَى إِلَيْهَا بِوَاسِطَةِ الْمَلَكِ
وَأَمَّا آسِيَةُ فَلَمْ يَرِدْ مَا
يَدُلُّ عَلَى نُبُوَّتِهَا
وَقَدْ
نُقِلَ عَنِ الْأَشْعَرِيِّ أَنَّ من
النِّسَاء من نبىء وَهُنَّ سِتٌّ حَوَّاءُ
وَسَارَةُ وَأُمُّ مُوسَى وَهَاجَرُ
وَآسِيَةُ وَمَرْيَمُ وَالضَّابِطُ
عِنْدَهُ أَنَّ مَنْ جَاءَهُ الْمَلَكُ
عَنِ اللَّهِ بِحُكْمٍ مِنْ أَمْرٍ أَوْ
نَهْيٍ أَوْ بِإِعْلَامٍ مِمَّا سَيَأْتِي
فَهُوَ نَبِيٌّ وَقَدْ ثَبَتَ مَجِيءُ
الْمَلَكِ لِهَؤُلَاءِ بِأُمُورٍ شَتَّى
مِنْ ذَلِكَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ
وَجَلَّ وَوَقَعَ التَّصْرِيحُ
بِالْإِيحَاءِ لِبَعْضِهِنَّ فِي
الْقُرْآنِ وَذَكَرَ بن حَزْمٍ فِي
الْمِلَلِ وَالنِّحَلِ أَنَّ هَذِهِ
الْمَسْأَلَةَ لَمْ يَحْدُثِ التَّنَازُعُ
فِيهَا إِلَّا فِي عَصْرِهِ بِقُرْطُبَةَ
وَحَكَى عَنْهُمْ أَقْوَالًا ثَالِثُهَا
الْوَقْفُ قَالَ وَحُجَّةُ الْمَانِعِينَ
قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَى وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا
مِنْ قبلك إِلَّا رجَالًا قَالَ وَهَذَا
لَا حُجَّةَ فِيهِ فَإِنَّ أَحَدًا لَمْ
يَدَّعِ فِيهِنَّ الرِّسَالَةَ وَإِنَّمَا
الْكَلَامُ فِي النُّبُوَّةِ فَقَطْ
قَالَ وَأَصْرَحُ مَا وَرَدَ فِي ذَلِكَ
قِصَّةُ مَرْيَمَ وَفِي قِصَّةِ أُمِّ
مُوسَى مَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى ثُبُوتِ
ذَلِكَ لَهَا مِنْ مبادرتها بِإِلْقَاءِ
وَلَدِهَا فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمُجَرَّدِ
الْوَحْيِ إِلَيْهَا بِذَلِكَ قَالَ
وَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بَعْدَ
أَنْ ذَكَرَ مَرْيَمَ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءَ
بَعْدَهَا أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ أنعم
الله عَلَيْهِم من النَّبِيين فَدَخَلَتْ
فِي عُمُومِهِ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ
Al-Qurtubi
said, "The correct opinion is that Mary was a prophetess because
Allah the Exalted revealed to her through an Angel. However, it was
not mentioned that Aasiyah was a prophetess." However, it was
transmitted from al-Ash'ari that some women became prophets, and
these are six. They are Eve, Sarah, the mother of Moses, Hagar,
Aasiyah, and Mary." According to his criteria, if an Angel came
to a person with a ruling, or information about what will happen in
the future, then that person is a prophet. It has been established
that Angels came to these women, and they informed them about
different things from Allah the Exalted. It was also explicitly
mentioned in the Quran that revelation occurred to some of these
women.
In
al-Milal wa an-Nihal, Ibn Hazm mentioned that no difference of
opinion occurred on this issue except during his time in Cordoba. He
mentioned three opinions of the scholars on this issue. The third
opinion was those of the scholars who refrained from giving a view on
the issue. He stated that the proof of those who rejected the
prophethood of women is Allah's statement: "And We sent not
before you [as messengers] except men to whom We revealed"
[Yusuf: 100]. He said, "There is no proof in this verse because
no one has claimed that women were messengers. Rather, the discussion
is on prophethood." The most explicit evidence in this regard is
what was transmitted in the story of Mary, and the story of Moses's
mother. That affirms the prophethood of women. This included Moses's
mother's quickly throwing Moses into the sea inside a basket, as soon
as it was revealed to her to do so. He went on to say, "After
Allah mentioned Mary and the prophets who came after her, Allah said,
"Those were the ones upon whom Allah bestowed favor from among
the prophets" [Maryam: 85]. Thus, Maryam is part of the
generality of this verse. And Allah knows best. (Fath al-Bari; v.6,
pp.447-448):
