Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (15/273)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

his daughter as their ruler. When news of this reached the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, he said: “A people who entrust their affairs to a woman will never prosper.”

It has been said regarding this hadith that it is general, because the word “people” is indefinite in a negative construction and therefore conveys generality. Yet qawm (people) refers to men, as Allah Most High says:

“O you who believe, let not one people ridicule another people; perhaps they may be better than them. Nor let women ridicule other women; perhaps they may be better than them.” [al-Hujurat 49:11]

When qawm is used on its own, however, it may sometimes include women, as in the messengers’ address to their peoples: “O my people,” [Noah 71:2] and, “And when Moses said to his people, ‘O my people,’” [al-Baqarah 2:54], and similar expressions.

Others hold that it is specific, meaning that it is as though he said: These people have no good in them and will never prosper, because they entrusted their affairs to a woman. Based on this view, those who advocate it say that it does not necessarily follow that every people who entrust their affairs to a woman will not prosper, for we see peoples who have entrusted their affairs to a woman and succeeded. These are the advocates who call for women to serve as ministers, presidents, and the like. They say: This hadith does not prohibit that, for it concerns a particular people; that is, these people will not prosper because they entrusted their affairs to a woman.

But we say: even if we concede and say that the hadith refers to those particular people who entrusted their affairs to a woman, we still say that others are like them and are analogically compared to them. What difference is there between the Persians and others? The point is that failure to prosper is made contingent upon the ruler being a woman. There is no difference in this regard between the Persians, the Arabs, the Romans, and others. Thus, even if the wording does not encompass anyone besides the Persians, its meaning does. How could those people fail to prosper because they entrusted their affairs to a woman, while other peoples who entrusted their affairs to a woman prosper?

عليهم ابنته، فبلغ ذلك النبي ﷺ فقال: «لن يفلح قوم ولّوا أمرهم امرأة»، فقيل في الحديث: إنه عام؛ لأن كلمة «قوم» نكرة في سياق النفي فتكون عامة، والقوم هم الرجال؛ لقوله تعالى: ﴿يَاأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِنْ نِسَاءٍ عَسَى أَنْ يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهُنَّ﴾ [الحجرات: ١١] وإذا أطلق القوم وحدهم ربما يدخل فيه النساء كقول الرسل لأقوامهم: ﴿يَاقَوْمِ﴾ [نوح: ٢] و ﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَاقَوْمِ﴾ [البقرة: ٥٤] وما أشبه ذلك، ويرى آخرون أنه خاص، يعني كأنه قال: هؤلاء القوم لا خير فيهم ولن يفلحوا؛ لأنهم ولوا أمرهم امرأة، وبناء على هذا القول يقول مدعوه: إنه لا يلزم أن لا يفلح كل قوم ولوا أمرهم امرأة؛ لأننا نرى أقواماً ولوا أمرهم امرأة ونجحت! وهؤلاء هم الدعاة الذين يدعون إلى أن تكون المرأة وزيراً، ورئيساً، وما أشبه ذلك، ويقولون: هذا الحديث لا يمنع، فهو ورد في قوم معينين، يعني لن يفلح هؤلاء القوم؛ لأنهم ولوا أمرهم امرأة. ولكن نحن نقول: إن هذا الحديث وإن تنازلنا وقلنا: إنه يراد به هؤلاء القوم الذين ولوا أمرهم امرأة، فإننا نقول: ومن سواهم مثلهم، يقاس عليهم، فأي: فرق بين الفرس وغيرهم؟! المقصود أن عدم الفلاح رتب على كون الوالي امرأة، ولا فرق فيه بين الفرس والعرب والروم وغيرهم، فإذا كان لا يشمل من سوى الفرس بمقتضى اللفظ فإنه يشمله بمقتضى المعنى، وكيف لا يفلح هؤلاء القوم لما ولوا أمرهم امرأة، ويفلح أقوام آخرون ولوا أمرهم امرأة؟!