Modernist Muhammad Abduh's Rejection of Polygyny and Hadith

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

اللهم صلى على سيدنا ومولانا محمد وبارك وسلم وصلى عليه

Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), one of the modernists and reformists of the Azhari school, was a Freemason, a member of various Masonic lodges, like his mentor Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani.

His dissent from Sunni orthodoxy, that is the main Jama’ah of the Muslims, is indisputable. Among his heresies was that the statutory laws of Islam in the Shari’ah are mutable, that they are subject to change and modification in keeping with the spirit of modernity. Concerning polygyny, which is clearly sanctioned in the holy Quran (Surah 4, Ayah 3) and upon which the Ummah has an Ijma (consensus), Abduh advocated for its abolition:

فَيَجِبُ عَلَى الْعُلَمَاءِ النَّظَرُ فِي هَذِهِ الْمَسْأَلَةِ خُصُوصًا الْحَنَفِيَّةَ مِنْهُمُ الَّذِينَ بِيَدِهِمُ الْأَمْرُ، وَعَلَى مَذْهَبِهِمُ الْحُكْمُ، فَهُمْ لَا يُنْكِرُونَ أَنَّ الدِّينَ ‌أُنْزِلَ ‌لِمَصْلَحَةِ النَّاسِ، وَخَيْرِهِمْ، وَأَنَّ مِنْ أُصُولِهِ مَنْعَ الضَّرَرِ، وَالضِّرَارِ، فَإِذَا تَرَتَّبَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مَفْسَدَةٌ فِي زَمَنٍ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَلْحَقُهُ فِيمَا قَبْلَهُ فَشَكَّ فِي وُجُوبِ تَغَيُّرِ الْحُكْمِ، وَتَطْبِيقِهِ عَلَى الْحَالِ الْحَاضِرَةِ

Translation: “It is required from the Ulama to revise this issue…the Din was revealed for the welfare of the people and their good and its basis is to prevent harm and destruction. So if there is something causing corruption at an age that was not such previously, then without doubt the ruling should be changed and modified in accordance with the present."

(Tafsir al-Manar; v.4, p.350)

Concerning the government and leadership of a woman, whether it is the position of ruler or judge, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

لَنْ يُفْلِحَ قَوْمٌ وَلَّوْا أَمْرَهُمُ امْرَأَةً

A nation ruled by a woman shall never succeed

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم uttered these golden words when he was informed that the daughter of Khosrow II Parviz لعنة الله عليه a woman named Boran (d. 632 CE) had become Queen of Persia. Her reign was short lived and oversaw the rapid decline of the Empire, fulfilling the prophecy of our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. But the words of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم were not solely prophetic, rather, ahl-us-Sunnah are agreed that they constitute the basis for the prohibition of giving women positions of leadership or judgment. But the modernist heretic Muhammad Abduh dissented from this ruling, and wrote concerning the Hadith about Boran:

أما حديث: ما أفلح قوم يلي أمرهم امرأة فهو نبوءة سياسية من الرسول - صلى الله عليه وسلم - بفشل الفرس المجوس أولئك الذين ملكوا عليهم امرأة وليس حكمًا بتحريم ولاية المرأة للقضاء .. فلا ولايتها العامة ولا الخاصة كانت بالقضية المطروحة على مجتمع النبوة كي تقال فيها الأحاديث

Translation: “It is a political prophecy from the Messenger about the failure of the Persian Magians - they were the ones who were ruled by a woman. It is not a command of prohibition for the leadership of women, neither general nor specific."

(Al-Islam wal-Mustaqbil; p.232)