Does Islam Oppress Women? 5 Myths Animation Series
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Is a Woman's Testimony Worth Half of a Man's?
Are women inherently less reliable than men? This misconception is derived from a Qur'anic verse that is often misunderstood. In this animation, we cover the ayah's true interpretation and debunk this myth.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Does Islamic law oppress women? Myth number 3. Women are inherently less reliable than men. This misconception is often derived from a verse in the Qur'an which reads, When you contract a debt, put it in writing and call in two men as witnesses. If two men are not there, then call in one man and two women, so that if one of the two women forget, the other can remind her. Some people see this as the Qur'an saying that a woman's testimony is worth half a man's. But here's why that doesn't add up. First, historically, the domain of women was the same as the domain of men. The domain that required the utmost care and reliability of testimony was in something called Rivaya, or narrating from memory the words and actions of the Prophet, peace be upon him. These sayings make up what we call hadiths, and they're the second major source of Islamic law after the Qur'an. Both men and women were considered equally reliable in the Qur'an. So reliability was based on experience, not the biological makeup of a person. Second, in the social-cultural context of the time, female testimony was deemed more superior in areas that women were more involved in. So, the Qur'an says that women were more likely to be reliable than men. And in the social-cultural context of the time, female testimony was deemed more superior in areas that women were more involved in. Mu'awiyah, a companion, once passed a judgment concerning housing based on the sole testimony of Umm Salama, a woman. One explanation of the verse summed up that,
It is from the nature of the human being, whether male or female, that their memory will be stronger for matters that are of importance to them and with which they are more abundantly involved. Which makes it clear that no, Islam does not consider a woman's testimony as inherently less reliable than that of a man. Stay tuned for the next myth in this series. Do Islamic inheritance laws favor men over women?
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