If someone were to say: “How do you answer the reality that the Prime Minister of Britain is a woman, the President of the Philippines is a woman, and likewise among other disbelieving nations?”

We say: If these women have prospered, it is because the ones who actually administer the government are men who support and assist them; they have not exercised sole authority as the queen did in the era of Kisra.

A second answer is that perhaps, had they appointed a man to govern their affairs, they would have prospered more than they do now. And what do we know? Perhaps appointing a woman over those people has diminished their prosperity, though it has not eliminated it altogether. But the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A people who entrust their affairs to a woman will never prosper.” (1)

Thus, in Islam, it is not valid for a woman to hold judicial office, because it is a condition for a judge to be male. The proof is what has preceded.

As for the rationale, they said: this is because a woman is weak in reason, planning, and judgment, and weak in perception; she does not comprehend matters as she should. It is true that there are women who do comprehend, but most women do not.

She also possesses a third characteristic: a woman is easily swayed by emotion; everything can turn her away, and everything can draw her near. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Were you to treat one of them well for a lifetime, then she saw something unpleasant from you, she would say, ‘I have never seen any good from you at all.’” (2) Thus, she is quick to emotion and inclined