The Grand Ayatullah Sayyed M.H. Fadlallah commented on the news of Mauritania’s Premier who argued that while Islam technically allows women to run for presidency, they should be barred from winning to prevent female leadership.
The issue of women assuming political positions is still controversial among the Muslim jurisprudents, due to the presence of several points of disagreement concerning the issue of the limits of the woman’s political guardianship and her running of the general affairs, knowing that the controversy intensifies upon discussing the issue of her assuming the position of head of state; the highest official position.
On this issue, His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra), says: “Actually, this saying which states that the woman is not entitled to assume power is based on a tradition narrated by Al-Bukhari, and it is not narrated in the Shiite Imamate books. This tradition says that when the Messenger of Allah (p.) heard that the people of Persia appointed a woman as their leader, he said: "People who appoint a woman as their leader will never succeed." This Hadith came out to address a special circumstance and it is not backed by any other tradition to establish its authenticity. However, many jurisprudents based their opinions that women are not entitled to assume power on this tradition. It must be noted that other jurisprudents expressed certain reservations on this issue for his Hadith was said in particular circumstances, especially that the form of rule in the past differs from that of our preset time. In the past, the powers of the ruler were absolute; however, nowadays, the ruler is not in charge of everything and he is subjected to the law, let alone there are certain apparatuses that hold him accountable and might even bring him to justice. Thus, supposing that this prophetic tradition is authentic, and its content was true and its denotation was indisputable, we say that it addressed the nature of the government at the time; however, the nature of government nowadays is different…"
[Extracted from the Book “The World of the Woman”, p: 119]
The Grand Ayatullah Sayyed M.H. Fadlallah commented on the news of Mauritania’s Premier who argued that while Islam technically allows women to run for presidency, they should be barred from winning to prevent female leadership.
The issue of women assuming political positions is still controversial among the Muslim jurisprudents, due to the presence of several points of disagreement concerning the issue of the limits of the woman’s political guardianship and her running of the general affairs, knowing that the controversy intensifies upon discussing the issue of her assuming the position of head of state; the highest official position.
On this issue, His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra), says: “Actually, this saying which states that the woman is not entitled to assume power is based on a tradition narrated by Al-Bukhari, and it is not narrated in the Shiite Imamate books. This tradition says that when the Messenger of Allah (p.) heard that the people of Persia appointed a woman as their leader, he said: "People who appoint a woman as their leader will never succeed." This Hadith came out to address a special circumstance and it is not backed by any other tradition to establish its authenticity. However, many jurisprudents based their opinions that women are not entitled to assume power on this tradition. It must be noted that other jurisprudents expressed certain reservations on this issue for his Hadith was said in particular circumstances, especially that the form of rule in the past differs from that of our preset time. In the past, the powers of the ruler were absolute; however, nowadays, the ruler is not in charge of everything and he is subjected to the law, let alone there are certain apparatuses that hold him accountable and might even bring him to justice. Thus, supposing that this prophetic tradition is authentic, and its content was true and its denotation was indisputable, we say that it addressed the nature of the government at the time; however, the nature of government nowadays is different…"
[Extracted from the Book “The World of the Woman”, p: 119]