Hadith on more women in Hell by Dr. Imam Hussain Hashmi Mufti
https://www.iium.edu.my/deed/hadith/muslim/036_smt.html
Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 36:
KITAB AL-RIQAQ
(THE BOOK OF HEART-MELTING TRADITIONS)
Usama b. Zaid reported that Allah's Messenger (way peace be upon him) said: I stood at the door of Paradise and I found that the overwhelming majority of those who entered therein was that of poor persons and the wealthy persons were detained to get into that. The denizens of Hell were commanded to get into Hell, and I stood upon the door of Fire and the majority amongst them who entered there was that of women.
Ibn Abbas reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: I had a chance to look into the Paradise and I found that majority of the people was poor and I looked into the Fire and there I found the majority constituted by women.
This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas through another chain of transmitters.
Ibn 'Abbas reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) stated like this: Re looked into the Fire of Hell. The rest of the hadith is the same.
Imran b. Husain reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Amongst the inmates of Paradise the women would form a minority.
This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Mutarrif through another chain of transmitters.
'Abdullah b. Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) supplicated in these words: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from the withdrawal of Thine blessing and the change of Thine protection (from me) and from the sudden wrath of Thine, and from every displeasure of Thine."
Usama b. Zaid reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I have not left after me any (chance) of turmoil more injurious to men than the harm done to the men because of women.
Usama b. Zaid b. Harith and Sa'id b. Zaid b. 'Amr b. Naufal both reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I have not left after me turmoil for the people but the harm done to men by women.
This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Sulaiman Taimi with the same chain of transmitters.
Abu Sa'id Khudri reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: The world is sweet and green (alluring) and verily Allah is going to install you as vicegerent in it in order to see how you act. So avoid the allurement of women: verily, the first trial for the people of Isri'll was caused by women. And in the hadith transmitted on the authority of Ibn Bashshar the words are : "So that He should see how you act."
'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said: Three persons set out on a journey. They were overtaken by rain and they had to find protection in a mountain cave where at its mouth there fell a rock of that mountain and thus blocked them altogether. One of them said to the others: Look to your good deeds that you performed for the sake of Allah and then supplicate Allah, the Exalted, that He might rescue you (from this trouble). One of them said: 0 Allah, I had my parents who were old and my wife and my small children also. I tended the flock and when I came back to them in the evening, I milked them (the sheep, goats, cows, etc.) and first served that milk to my parents. One day I was obliged to go out to a distant place in search of fodder and I could not come back before evening and found them (the parents) asleep. I milked the animals as I used to milk and brought milk to them and stood by their heads avoiding to disturb them from sleep and I did not deem it advisable to serve milk to my children before serving them. My children wept near my feet. I remained there in that very state and my parents too until it was morning. And (0 Allah) if Thou art aware that I did this in order to seek Thine pleasure, grant us riddance from this trouble. (The rock slipped a bit) that they could see the sky. The second one said: 0 Allah, I had a female cousin whom I loved more than the men love the women. I wanted to have sexual intercourse with her; she refused but on the condition of getting one hundred dinirs. It was with very great difficulty that I could collect one hundred dinirs and then paid them to her and when I was going to have a sexual intercourse with her, that she said: Servant of Allah, fear Allah and do not break the seal (of chastity) but by lawful means. I got up. 0 Allah, if Thou art aware that I did this in order to seek Thine pleasure, rid us from this trouble. The situation was somewhat eased for them. The third one said : Allah, I employed a workman for a measure of rice. After he had finished his work I gave him his dues (in the form of) a measure of rice, but he did not accept them. I used these rice as seeds ,and that gave a bumper crop and I became rich enough to have cows and flocks (in my possession). He came to me and said: Fear Allah, and commit no crueltv upon me in regard to my dues. I said to him : Takeaway this flock of cows and sheep. He said: Fear Allah and do not make a fun of me. I said: I am not making a fun of you. You take the cows and the flocks. So he took them. 0 Allah, if Thou art aware that I did it for Thine pleasure, case the situation for us. And Allah relieved them from the rest of the trouble.
This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Musa b. 'Uqba but with a slight variation of wording.
Abdullah b 'Umar reported: I heard Allah's Alessenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: Three persons belonging to the earlier Ummahs set out on a journey until they had to spend a night in a cave. The rest of the hadith is the same and the additional words are: "A person amongst them said: 0 Allah, I had my aged parents and I served them milk before I (served that) to my wife, children and my servants." And in case of the second one, the words are: "She avoided me until she was hard pressed because of famine and she came to me and I gave her one hundred and twenty diiiirs " And in cease of the third one (the words are) : "I invested his wages, and it brought profit and, as a result thereof, the merchandise increased and there was abundance of goods." And he (the narrator said) that they got out of the cave and began to walk.
By Zubair Kahir (Dawrah Student, DarusSalam Seminary)
For centuries, the Prophet Muḥammad’s ﷺ Ḥadīth have been a source of light and guidance for every believer. They show one the conduct of those who are near to Allāh, proper human relations, good character, rectification, and everything that a Muslim or a Muslimah must know. For true believers, the Ḥadīth are sacrosanct. There are thousands of them transmitted from our beloved Prophet ﷺ. But keep in mind, there is a pitfall that one must avoid. When a layman studies Hadīth without the guidance of a learned scholar, he may become confused. Just like the great muḥaddith, Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah, said: “Ḥadīth can be misleading for those without deep understanding (fuqahāʾ).” [1]
One ḥadīth that is ambiguous to some is: “The majority of the dwellers of the fire are women.” Upon hearing this, some women become pessimistic and despondent after not finding any suitable explanation for what it means. And some men have used it to control women for their advantage. Here, in this paper, I will clarify some misconceptions surrounding it.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“I was shown hell. I saw that most of its inhabitants were ungrateful women… The Prophet was asked: ‘Were they ungrateful to Allāh?’ He replied: ‘They were ungrateful to their husbands and for the favors and the good done to them. If you show benevolence to one of them and then she sees something in you not to her liking, she will say: ‘I have never seen any good in you.’”[2]
I intend to discuss how the scholars explained this ḥadīth. One should keep in mind that the explanations they give are based on their own reasoning (ar. ijtihād); thus, their differences of opinion should not confound one.
ʿAllāmah Muḥammad Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī’s view is that the women referred to are the women of the Jāhilīyah. These women would habitually curse, swear, and backbite. Acts such as these would lead most of them to the fire. Also, the Prophet ﷺ saw hell during his time, when most of the Muslim women were still alive. This indicates that the women of the Jāhilīyah were intended in the ḥadīth.[3] For this reason, understanding it to infer Muslim women does not make sense, especially considering that their hearts changed when Islām came to them. They adopted righteous qualities and did not exhibit the sinful qualities that would lead them to hell.[4]
An objection remains. There are Muslim women who have these blameful qualities, would that not infer that most of them could be in the hellfire?
Mawlanā Rashīd Aḥmad Ganghohi said:
“Women, when compare to men, are more. For that reason, one will find that they are the majority in the fire as well as in paradise.”[5] This is proven through a ḥadīth in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “From among the portents of the hour are the following: …. Men will decrease in number and women will increase in number, so much so that fifty women will be looked after by one man.”[6]
Mullā ʿAlī al-Qārī said:
“Initially, the majority of the women will be in the fire, then they will be taken out and shall enter paradise. Thus, the majority will be in paradise. Or, most of them will deserve the fire, but Allāh will forgive them and thus they will be the majority in paradise.”[7]
A question remains, why are women still the majority in the fire?
There is a ḥadīth that Imām Bukhārī related in which the Prophet ﷺ said: “Every one of them (i.e., the people of paradise) will have two wives.” Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar mentioned that the wives refer to the women of this world.[8] He mentioned that Abū Hurayrah cited this ḥadīth to establish that, in comparison to men, most women will be in paradise.[9] But there seems to be a contradiction between these two reports. Ibn Ḥajar reconciles this by saying: “The majority of them being in the fire does not necessitate that the majority cannot also be in paradise.”[10] This is like if someone says, “There are a lot of Muslims in South Africa.” This statement does not mean there are not a lot of Muslims in India. ʿAllāmah Anwar Shāh al-Kashmīrī differed with Ibn Ḥajar on this issue. He said that Ḥāfiẓ (i.e., Ibn Ḥajar) offered a weak response regarding the ḥadīth. Kashmīrī said: “The wives referred to are the ḥūr al-ʿiīn, like what is related in Bukhārī on Abū Hūrayrah’s authority: ‘For every man, there will be two wives from the ḥūr al-ʿiīn.’” [11] Thus, he reconciles between those two ḥadīth.
Imām al-Qasṭallānī proves that the woman in hell shall be those with these specific qualities. In a ḥadīth related on Jābir’s authority the Prophet ﷺ said:
وأكثر من رأيت فيها النساء اللاتي، إن ائتمنّ أفشين، وإن سألت بخلن، وإن سألن ألحفن، وإن أعطين لم يشكرن. فدلّ على أن المرئي في النار منهن من اتصف بصفات ذميم
“The majority of the women whom I saw in the fire were those who spread secrets when they are entrusted with them. When someone asks them for something, they are stingy. When they ask others, they do so in a demanding way. And when they are given something, they are not appreciative.”[12]
These specific women will be the majority; however, women altogether should not be generalized. If they stay away from these sins, they will be from amongst the dwellers of paradise. Another ḥadīth located in Bukhārī proves this point. The Prophet ﷺ said: “I was shown paradise, I saw that most of its inhabitants were the poor… and I was shown hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women.”[13] If this was a comparison between men and women, the Prophet ﷺ would instead say the majority of the inhabitants of paradise were men, however, he said the poor which also includes women. This shows that the majority are women who have specific qualities that will lead them to the fire.
This view should clarify the issue, because just like Allāh and His Messenger ﷺ warn men from abstaining from immoral acts, women must abstain from immoral acts too. Not doing so means that women with those qualities will be the majority in hell. Thus, no women should feel despondent, because every Muslim needs a warning. And no man should feel dominant over women because they have also been warned.
[1] al-Jāmʿ fī al-Sunan wa al-Ādāb wa al-Maghāzī 118.
[2] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī #29.
[3] Fayḍ al-Bārī 1:192.
[4] Ibid.
[5] al-Kawkab al-Durrī 3:325.
[6] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī #5231.
[7] Mirqāt al-Mafātīḥ 2:532.
[8] Fatḥ al-Bārī 6:325.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Fayḍ al-Bārī 1:192.
[12] Musnad Imām Aḥmad 23:110.
[13] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4:117.
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