Belittling Women
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 have attained completeness, but from among the women, only Mary daughter of Imran and Asiya the wife of Pharaoh have attained completeness, and the virtue of Aisha over other women is like the virtue of thareed over all other foods. Authenticity ruling of the hadith scholar: [Sahih] Narrator: Abu Musa al-Ash'ari | Hadith scholar: al-Bukhari | Source: Sahih al-Bukhari Page or Number: 3769 Citation: Narrated by al-Bukhari (3769) and Muslim (2431)
Explanation
The most complete of people are the prophets, peace be upon them, and the most complete and superior among them is their final one and leader, Muhammad, may Allah send blessings upon him and grant him peace.
In this hadith, the Prophet, may Allah send blessings upon him and grant him peace, informs that many men have attained completeness, meaning: many of them have acquired the ultimate noble qualities and excellent attributes in religion, and have reached the pinnacle of virtuous and pious characteristics, as well as in intellect, knowledge, truth, justice, and refinement; for completeness in these qualities exists among many men, at their head are the prophets and the saints, such as the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous; for they are the complete and perfected ones. This differs from the women among whom none has attained completeness except Mary, the mother of Isa, peace be upon them both, for she is the one of whom Allah gave an example regarding her chastity and her complete worship, and Asiya the wife of Pharaoh; and this is because she believed in Musa when he overcame the magicians of Pharaoh, and since Pharaoh was the most rebellious and disbelieving person on earth, the disbelief of her husband did not harm his wife when she believed in her Lord.
This hadith does not imply restriction of the complete attributes of righteousness, truthfulness, and piety to these two women only; it is not impossible for others from this ummah to share with them in these qualities; rather, there may be in this ummah—whether in past eras or those after them—someone who reaches this degree.