On either view, then, the masculine plural forms support this conclusion, just as expressions such as “whoever,” “people of,” “people,” and the like unquestionably do.
Know that there is a second kind of indication here: generality of meaning, which is stronger than generality of wording. Allah says:
“No soul knows what joy is kept hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.”
This “joy” has been interpreted as seeing Allah, among other things. This implies that seeing Him is a reward for their deeds. Men and women share in the deeds by which men have merited Paradise. Seeing Allah is not restricted to those who undertake activities peculiar to men, such as rulership and—according to the majority—prophethood, and the like. Rather, among the men who will see Him are those who have done nothing peculiar to men, but have confined themselves to their obligations, such as prayer, zakat, and other duties. These are shared by both groups.
Likewise, Allah says:
“Indeed, the righteous will be in bliss, looking on from their couches.”
Righteousness is the cause of this reward, and righteousness is shared by both sexes. Likewise, whenever seeing Allah is linked to a designation such as faith, this implies that it is the cause of that reward, and thus encompasses both groups.
It was through this line of reasoning that the leading scholars argued that the disbelievers will not see their Lord. They said: Since the disbelievers are veiled from Him because of His displeasure, this indicates that the believers will see Him because of His pleasure. It is well known that believing women differ from the disbelievers in what earned the latter His displeasure and exclusion from seeing Him, and share with believing men