QUESTION NO. 7
A WOMAN AS WITNESS
. I have still not been able to resolve the issue of male witnesses getting precedence over female witnesses (2:282). Why the imbalance?
- It is sometimes argued that this condition was relevant for that era, but then, the Qur’an is a timeless message, and all its dictums should be valid for every age.
- If female testimony is considered inferior due to them being less educated and/or less intelligent than men, then this is not the case anymore in the 21st century, and we can safely discard this as a reason.
- If (as Dr. Shabbir says), that more than one woman is required for testimony because the first woman could get distracted by a child, then this too can be eliminated as a reason due to the fact that in modern times, women can safely put their children in daycare whilst they visit the court to provide testimony. In fact, even in the old ages, the women could have (and must have) left their children with a myriad of close relatives like sisters, aunts, mothers, or neighbors in order to attend to unavoidable errands. So, Dr. Shabbir’s reasoning does not hold water.
- So, how do we make sense of the Qur’an dictums on this issue?
ANSWER NO. 7 BY AURANGZAIB:
Here neither the question of “era” is an issue, nor is the consideration of women as “inferior” emphasized on any account whatsoever. On the contrary, woman here is seen to have been awarded a special status of privilege and respect by having a companion with her as an escort.
With the glorious message of equality of gender proclaimed by the Quran, it would be preposterous to take its injunctions in those comparative terms. I endorse your verdict about brother Dr. Shabbir’s theory on this issue. I also cannot agree with him.
However, before I present to you the most up to date rational translation of the respective Verse, which is self-explanatory and most satisfying, allow me to throw some light on the natural functions of man and woman by way of a personal discourse. This discourse stems from some of the remarks you made in your question about “women in 21st century”.
To understand fully the spirit of this commandment by Allah, you only have to agree with the universal truth that woman is the boss of man’s internal world, while man is the conductor of all the outer responsibilities and exigencies.
This universal and veritable truth is substantiated by the great difference in physique, feelings, psychology, and social and economic, as well as physical functions, happily performed by both sexes in their own spheres and jurisdictions. And here we also need to reject out rightly the Western hoax of woman imitating man by trying to undertake his outer world functions and thus making herself independent. Woman is befooled on this point and is lured craftily into making herself easily available or approachable to the majority of devious men around.
On-ground realities reveal, and documented facts corroborate, that women working in offices and factories are almost invariably forced and harassed by men to surrender to them sexually. They are always treated discriminately and paid much less than men are. A scant few of them can reach the leading positions. It never means that both cannot perform each other’s functions in special cases when grappling with incontrollable adverse circumstances, and thus feeling compelled to do so. But when they do so, they are mostly exploited. I have a most enlightening and most convincing write-up ready on this theme, and would be happy to share it with you if asked.
NOW, Since women belong to internal world, the signing of agreements, presence in the courts of law, loans taking and repayments etc., do not fall under their area of normal functional routine. Therefore, it will always be a special case where non-availability of men would necessitate participating of women as witnesses in a legal affair. Confronted with such a situation, it is natural for a woman that she would feel perplexed while facing this affair alone. So, it is to help her that a female escort is ordered to accompany her, who would be a psychological support for her companion in the process of testifying as a witness among male strangers.
And now, leaving alone the above discussion that explains our personal points of view, let us see how explicit our Quran stands on this issue. It doesn’t need any explanations when it ordains in all earnestness that:-
فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَىٰ ۚ
“”However, if two men MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE, so be it a man and TWO such women whom you deem fit as witnesses SO THAT IF ONE OF THEM FEELS CONFUSED/PERPLEXED/LOST/COMMITS AN ERROR, the other may prompt the one to help the process.”
The Quranic injunction, as always, is self-explicit. Please note that it makes it a pre-condition that IF TWO MEN MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE, it is only then that you can resort to inducting women in this kind of business. So, Quran makes it clear that it’s a special case of compulsive necessity.
Quran is emphatically making another assertion here too, that the presence of two women does not imply some kind of inferiority for them. It is only to help one face an abnormal, out of routine situation with the help of, and in the company of, another female companion of her.
So, let us not generalize a distinctly rare and exceptional phenomenon, just for the purpose of satisfying our zest for criticism.