Witnesses: 2 Men or 1 Man and 2 Women
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One of my cousins went to the mosque to have a marriage contract signed by the imam. He took with him his brother and adult sister as witnesses since he was under the impression that two witnesses would suffice. The imam told them that he would have to come back with another male witness or bring two female witnesses, in addition to the one male witness. He told them that based on the Quran, he could not accept one female only as a witness. From that day on, my female cousin no longer considered herself a Muslim. Her exact words, "I want nothing to do with this boy's club."
I can't imagine that there is any truth in this since we all know that there is no evidence that your average man is in any way smarter than your average woman, or that men have superior eyesight or hearing or memory.
I've heard other imams say the same thing. Why would they? And why are Muslims always saying that Islam promotes equality of the genders? Where's the equality in that?
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Aya 2.282
There is nothing unusual about the Qur'an being willfully or unconsciously misused to divest women of their dignity and rights. The writer and wellknown muslim thinker who died recently, Ali Engeneer, sustains in his writings, and it is born out by the text itself that the Qur'an concerning women insists on their rights and not on their duties, whereas with the males it is different and it insists on their duties. The "interpreters" of the Qur'an through the hadith and through their own contribution have done a job of many centuries undoing that Qur'anic outlook and have twiested every single expresion of the Qur'an to make it mean what it does not. Anything conerning women is turned out either in a prohition or in an obligation. All choice and all freedom is divested from her.
Thbis aya, concerning the two female witnesses is a further proof of that. The situation is well described and nowhere it is said that women are no good witnesses or that they are less conscientious or less clever than males, and nowhere int he Qur'an is anything of the kind suggested. What happens in that aya, and it is very clear, is that witnessing is not a choice, but an obligation, following the Qur'anic outlook of not imposing obligations on women, it says to look for two men. To be born in mind, that it was very likely at the time that far more men than women could read or write. In fact what it does is to say to call women as witnesses if need be and not left anything undone for lack of males. So in fact, set in the circumstances, what it was doing was give an opening to women to intervene in financial questions in places where there might not have been knowledgeable people in general and in the social set up prevalent least still women.
To reject a woman's testimony in something like a marriage is an insult to logic and to the spirit of the Qur'an, because if a woman cannot be a witness in such things.
On the other hand and as shown in the link given by wakas, if there is no express prohibition for women to be witnesses where the general rules are given, and there is not, to prohibit it is an invention of men and they will have to answer before God for trampling on His revelation. And in aya 2.282 there is no prohibition to women at all, there is a hint as to where they might be obliged to testify as opposed to people being willing witnesses.
Salaam
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Salaam,
It is a shame these people draw ordinary people away from God.
God bless you
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One of my cousins went to the mosque to have a marriage contract signed by the imam. He took with him his brother and adult sister as witnesses since he was under the impression that two witnesses would suffice.
Do the courts in your country accept and rely upon the witness of a borther and sister in economic disputes in favour of their brother?
