and there is no doubt that this is an entirely plausible possibility. For Allah rewards His servant for reciting:

“Say: He is Allah, the One,”

despite its few letters, as much as He rewards him for reciting a third of the Quran. This being so, someone denied the kind that is superior in quality may be granted the inferior kind, even if the latter occurs more frequently—whether the qualitatively superior kind is superior overall or the two are equivalent when weighed against each other. The hadiths concerning the increase in bliss contain indications of this. For they return to their families having grown more handsome and beautiful, and say:

“Today we sat with our Lord, the Compeller, so it is only fitting that we should return as we have.”

Another hadith states:

“There is nothing they need more than Friday, so that they may gaze upon their Lord more and receive greater honour.”

Anyone who reflects on the context of “the aforementioned hadiths” will realize that Allah’s revealing Himself on Friday has a tremendous impact upon them, unlike anything they experience on other days. This implies that this kind of vision is superior to the vision occurring twice each day, even though the latter is more frequent. Thus, if women are denied this favour, it does not follow that they are denied what is below it. This is clear to anyone who reflects upon it.

(The third response:

Grant that seeing Allah twice each day is superior overall to seeing Him on Friday. Their being deprived of the lesser reward does not necessarily entail their being deprived of what is greater. A servant may perform a superior deed for which he deserves a tremendous reward, yet not perform a lesser deed and therefore not deserve its particular reward. Allah, glorified be He, has always singled out those of lesser rank in every category for special privileges not granted to those of higher rank. This is well established both with respect to individuals among the prophets and the steadfastly truthful, and with respect to deeds.