The Rarity of Women Who Achieved Perfection
Arabic original
- كَمَلَ مِنَ الرِّجالِ كَثيرٌ، ولم يَكمُلْ مِنَ النِّساءِ إلَّا مَريَمُ بنتُ عِمرانَ، وآسيةُ امرَأةُ فِرعَونَ، وفَضلُ عائِشةَ على النِّساءِ كَفَضلِ الثَّريدِ على سائِرِ الطَّعامِ. خلاصة حكم المحدث : [صحيح] الراوي : أبو موسى الأشعري | المحدث : البخاري | المصدر : صحيح البخاري الصفحة أو الرقم : 3769 التخريج : أخرجه البخاري (3769)، ومسلم (2431)
Translation
Many men achieved perfection, but among women, only Maryam bint 'Imran and Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, achieved it, and the superiority of 'Aisha over women is like the superiority of tharid over all other foods. Summary of the hadith scholar's ruling: [Sahih] Narrator: Abu Musa al-Ash'ari | Hadith Scholar: al-Bukhari | Source: Sahih al-Bukhari, Page or Number: 3769 Grading: Narrated by al-Bukhari (3769) and Muslim (2431)
Explanation
The most complete of people are the messengers, peace be upon them, and the most complete and superior among them is their seal and leader, Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace. In this hadith, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, informs that many men achieved perfection, meaning: many of them attained the ultimate of virtues and praiseworthy characteristics in religion and reached the pinnacle of qualities of piety and righteousness, and in reason, knowledge, truth, justice, honesty, and etiquette; for perfection in these attributes exists in many men, and at their head are the prophets and saints, such as the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous; for they are the complete and fully perfected ones. This is unlike women, among whom no one completed perfection except Maryam, the mother of 'Isa, peace be upon them, for she is the one whom God gave as an example for her chastity and the completeness of her worship, and Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh; this is because she believed in Musa when he overcame Pharaoh's sorcerers, and since Pharaoh was the most rebellious and disbelieving person on earth, her husband's disbelief did not harm his wife when she believed in her Lord.
This hadith does not imply restricting the completeness of the attributes of righteousness, truth, and piety to only these two; it is not impossible for others from this ummah to join them in these qualities, and indeed there may be in this ummah—whether in past generations or those who come after—someone who reaches this level.