Female Prophets

 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):