| Articles
Women's
Testimony "And get two witnesses out of
your own men, and if there are not two men, then a man and two women, such as
you choose for witnesses so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her."
Al-Baqarah (The Cow) Chapter 2: Verse 282 (Partial) - It cannot
be used as an argument that there is a general rule in the Quran that the worth
of a female's witness is only half the male's. This presumed "rule"
is voided by the Quranic reference (24:6-9), which explicitly equates the testimony
of both genders on the issue at hand.
- The context of this passage (verse,
or ayah) relates to testimony on financial transactions, which are often complex
and laden with business jargon. The passage does not make a blanket generalization
that would otherwise contradict 24:6-9, cited above.
- The reason for variations
in the number of male and female witnesses required is given in the same passage.
No reference is made to the inferiority or superiority of one gender's witness
or the other's. The only reason given is to back up the female's witness and prevent
unintended errors in the perception of the business deal. The Arabic term used
in this passage, tadhilla, literally means "loses the way," "gets
confused," or "errs." But are females the only gender that may
err and need back up for their testimony? Definitely not, and that is why the
general rule of testimony in Islamic law is to have two witnesses, even when they
are both male.
One possible interpretation of the requirements related
to this particular type of testimony is that in numerous societies, past and present,
women generally may not be heavily involved with and experienced in business transactions.
As such, they may not be completely aware of what is involved. Therefore, backing
up of a woman's testimony by another woman who may be present establishes accuracy
and, hence, justice. It would be unreasonable to interpret this requirement as
a reflection on the worth of women's testimony, as it is the only exception found
in the text of the Quran. This may be one reason why a great scholar like Al-Tabari
could not find any evidence from any primary text (Quran or hadith) to exclude
women from something more important than testimony: being herself a judge who
hears and evaluates the testimony of others.
- It must be added
that unlike pure acts of worship, which must be observed exactly as taught by
the Prophet (peace be upon him), testimony is a means to an end, establishing
justice as a major objective of Islamic law. Therefore, it is the duty of a fair
judge to be guided by this objective when assessing the worth and credibility
of a given testimony, regardless of the gender of the witness.
A witness of a female graduate of a business school is certainly far more worthy
than the witness of an illiterate male with no business education or experience. Source:
"Gender
Equity in Islam" - Jamal Badawi
| 
|
