Aslam

Praise be to Allah.

This is a saheeh hadeeth which was narrated by the two

Shaykhs [al-Bukhaari and Muslim] in al-Saheehayn

from the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), from the hadeeth of Abu

Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him). The Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Treat women kindly,

for woman was created from a bent rib, and the most crooked part of

the rib is the top part, so treat women kindly.”

This is a command to husbands, fathers, brothers and

others to treat women kindly and not to oppress them; to give them their

rights and to guide them to do good. This is what is obligatory upon

everyone, because the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Treat women kindly.”

This is not altered by the fact that a woman may sometimes mistreat

her husband or relatives with her words or actions, because she was

created from a rib as the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, and the most crooked

part of it is the top. It is well known that the top of it is the part

by which it is attached, so the rib will have some crookedness in it

at that point, as is well known.

The meaning is that she will inevitably have some crookedness

or shortcomings in her character. Hence it was narrated in another hadeeth

in al-Saheehayn:

“I have not seen any lacking in rational ability and

failing in religion but (at the same time) robbing the wisdom of the

wise, besides you [women].”

The

point is that this is the ruling of the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is narrated in al-Saheehayn

from the hadeeth of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with

him). What is meant by lacking in rational ability, as the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, is that the testimony

of two women is equivalent to the testimony of one man. Failing in religion,

as the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, means that women spend

days and nights without praying, i.e., because of menstruation or post-childbirth

bleeding.  This is a shortcoming which Allaah has decreed for them,

and there is no sin on them because of that.

So

women should accept this in the way that the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) meant it, even if a woman

is knowledgeable and pious, because the Prophet

(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not speak of his own

whims and desires, rather that was a Revelation that was revealed to

him, which he conveyed to the ummah, as Allaah says (interpretation

of the meaning):

“By the star when it

goes down (or vanishes).

Your companion (Muhammad)

has neither gone astray nor has erred.

Nor does he speak of

(his own) desire.

It is only a Revelation

revealed” [al-Najm 53:1-4]