Re-Evaluating the Fatwa on Women’s Testimony and the Claim of “Male Superiority of Mind” [Human]

Abstract

In the modern age, many Muslims find themselves conflicted when encountering fatāwā that label certain ideas or roles as unconditionally ḥarām or inherently inferior for women. One of the most circulated examples is Fatwa No. 20051 from the website IslamQA, which states that “men’s minds are more perfect than those of women,” and claims that the Qurʾān itself confirms this by requiring two female witnesses in place of one male witness in Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:282.

However, when we study the verse carefully within its context, and when we revisit the understanding of major scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, a very different picture emerges. The Qurʾānic instruction was never about intellectual inferiority—it was about experience within a specific social and economic context. Women in that time generally did not participate in business caravans or debt contracts; hence, the rule was a protection of accuracy, not a judgment of intellect.

This article re-examines those verses through the lenses of أصول الفقه [Uṣūl al-Fiqh – the foundational principles of Islamic law] and مقاصد الشريعة [Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah – the higher objectives of the law], concluding that the verse addresses circumstances, not gender superiority. It also highlights how the same fatwā misused another verse, Sūrat al-Nisāʾ 4:34, by translating “قَوَّامُونَ” as “controllers” rather than “caretakers.” By returning to authentic methodology, we find that Islam honors both men and women according to تقوى [taqwā – God-consciousness], not biological hierarchy.

Method: The Framework of Uṣūl al-Fiqh

This analysis is grounded in the classical method of أصول الفقه, particularly:

مقاصد [Maqāṣid] – the higher aims of the Sharīʿah, such as justice, preservation of intellect, and fairness.
عِلّة [ʿIllah] – identifying the effective legal cause behind a ruling.
قياس [Qiyās] – reasoning by analogy.
استحسان [Istiḥsān] – preferring a ruling that best achieves fairness and benefit.
مصلحة [Maṣlaḥah] – considering public interest and welfare.
سدّ الذرائع [Sadd al-Dharāʾiʿ] – blocking harmful means, and فتح الذرائع [Fatḥ al-Dharāʾiʿ] – opening beneficial ones.

A key rule of Uṣūl says:

"الحكم يدور مع علته وجودًا وعدمًا"
A ruling exists and disappears according to the presence or absence of its cause.

In other words, if the ʿillah (effective reason) behind a law no longer exists, the law’s application changes accordingly.

Texts at Issue

1. Qurʾān 2:282 – The Debt Contract Verse

وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمْ ۖ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَىٰ
“And bring to witness two witnesses from among your men. But if there are not two men, then one man and two women from those acceptable to you as witnesses, so that if one of them forgets, the other may remind her.”

This verse is part of a long passage about debt contracts—not about court testimony in every case, and not about intelligence. The reason (“so that if one forgets, the other may remind her”) shows that the issue was memory reliability in commercial contexts, where women at the time lacked exposure. The ruling therefore protects against error, not against gender.

Even early exegetes recognized this context.
Ibn Taymiyyah wrote:

«فيما فيه الضلال في العادة، فإذا لم يكن فيه على العادة خوف ضلال لم تكن فيه على نصف الرجل»
“This (rule) applies in situations where error is customarily feared. When there is no such fear, the woman’s testimony is not half that of a man.”

Ibn al-Qayyim expanded the same principle:

«المرأة العدل كالرجل في الصدق والأمانة والدين، وإنما لما خيف عليها السهو والنسيان قويت بمثلها، وذلك قد يجعلها أقوى من الرجل الواحد أو مثله»
“A just woman is like a just man in truthfulness, honesty, and faith. Only because forgetfulness was feared in such matters was she supported by another. That may even make her stronger than one man—or his equal.”

Both scholars clearly saw that the verse’s ratio (two women to one man) was context-based, not a universal hierarchy. Where women share equal experience—such as law, banking, medicine, or governance—the cause (ʿillah) vanishes, and so does the distinction.

2. Qurʾān 4:34 – “Qawwāmūn ʿalā al-Nisāʾ”

ٱلرِّجَالُ قَوَّٰمُونَ عَلَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ وَبِمَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ مِنْ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ
“Men are caretakers of women because Allah has given some more (in certain responsibilities) than others, and because they spend from their wealth.”

The Arabic word قوّامون [qawwāmūn] comes from qiyām, meaning to stand up for, to care for, to take responsibility. It implies maintenance and protection, not domination or superiority.

Thus, this verse makes men responsible for providing financial and physical security—not for controlling women. The phrase “بِمَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ” literally means “because Allah has favored some of them over others”, not “men over women”. The Qurʾān’s grammar—“some over others”—is intentionally mutual and situational, not absolute.

When read together with the second cause in the verse—“وَبِمَا أَنفَقُوا مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ” (“because they spend from their wealth”)—the concept of qiwāmah becomes a responsibility tied to provision. A man who neglects maintenance loses his claim to qiwāmah. Likewise, a woman who sustains her household can share or assume that role by right.

Refuting the Core Claims of the Fatwa

1. “Men’s minds are more perfect than women’s.”

This statement has no basis in revelation or verified knowledge. The Qurʾān never says “men’s minds are more complete.” The Prophet ﷺ never said this either. On the contrary, Islam recognizes the same moral and intellectual capacity for both genders. The verse 2:282 concerns commercial reliability, not mental perfection.

If the reasoning for the distinction was forgetfulness due to inexperience, that reasoning no longer applies in an age where women lead financial institutions, universities, and courts.

2. “A woman’s testimony is always half that of a man.”

False. The Qurʾān’s language is limited to a specific contractual setting, not to all legal matters. The cause (ʿillah) was the risk of confusion in recording debt. In other fields, one credible woman may serve as a full witness, as Ibn al-Qayyim stated:

«قد يقضي القاضي بشهادة رجل واحد أو بشهادة امرأة واحدة»
“A judge may rule by the testimony of one man or one woman.”

Islamic judges in history accepted female witnesses in matters where women had expertise—such as childbirth, nursing, or family affairs—long before modern gender equality debates even began.

3. “Men are controllers of women (Q 4:34).”

This translation corrupts the verse. “قوّامون” means caretakers, maintainers, protectors. It does not mean controllers. The Qurʾān sets the qualification: “because they spend from their wealth.” This is an assignment of responsibility, not a declaration of rank. If a man fails to provide, he forfeits the privilege of leadership.

The Qurʾān’s true measure of superiority is in تقوى [Taqwā]:

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ
“The most honored of you before Allah is the most righteous of you.” (49:13)

4. “Science proves men’s brains are more perfect.”

The fatwā claims “scientific studies have proven this” but cites nothing. A claim without evidence has no standing in either science or fiqh.

Modern neuroscience, in fact, shows a complex balance of strengths. Research from Stanford Medicine, Endeavor Health, and other peer-reviewed sources demonstrates that women often excel in emotional regulation, language, multitasking, and memory retrieval—capacities crucial to leadership and decision-making. Men may show advantages in certain spatial or mechanical tasks, but both overlap heavily, and neither is “superior” overall.

Scientific evidence therefore aligns more with balance and complementarity, not inequality.

Historical Reminder: Women’s Authority in Islam

History itself refutes the claim of women’s inferiority. ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr (رضي الله عنها) narrated more than two thousand aḥādīth, corrected senior Companions, and was consulted on matters of fiqh and politics.

Women also participated in scholarship, education, and business. The Prophet’s wife Khadījah (رضي الله عنها) was a leading merchant before Islam was even revealed. Thus, the notion that “women were never mentally equal” collapses when faced with Islam’s own early history.

Uṣūlī Summary and Reconstruction of the Ruling

The legal cause (ʿillah) behind Qurʾān 2:282 is fear of error due to inexperience in debt contracts.
When that cause disappears, the rule ceases to apply.
Maqāṣid [مقاصد] such as justice and preservation of intellect forbid applying rulings that produce harm or humiliation without proof.
Modern application: In professional environments where women have equal or superior expertise, their testimony carries equal legal weight.
The Qurʾān’s spirit demands justice, not blind repetition of context-bound procedures.

Proposed Restatement for Contemporary Jurisprudence

The Qurʾān establishes no inherent intellectual hierarchy between men and women.
Verse 2:282 regulates a specific financial context, not all testimony.
Verse 4:34 establishes financial responsibility and care, not domination.
In modern systems where documentation, training, and law are gender-neutral, equitable witnessing fulfills the purpose (maqṣad) of justice.
Any fatwā that turns a context-specific rule into a universal rule contradicts the method of Uṣūl al-Fiqh.

Conclusion

The statement that “men’s minds are more perfect” is a human assumption, not a divine truth. The Qurʾān nowhere speaks of mental superiority—it speaks of responsibility, justice, and تقوى. The Prophet ﷺ uplifted women as transmitters of knowledge, advisers, and moral equals.

When the IslamQA fatwā reinterprets verses to imply gendered perfection, it steps outside both Uṣūl and Maqāṣid. It is the duty of scholars today to restore balance and truth:
Islam honors men and women as moral partners, not competitors in rank. The Qurʾān’s message remains:

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ
“The most honored of you before Allah is the one most conscious of Him.”

References

Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, vol. 35, p. 132.
Ibn al-Qayyim, Iʿlām al-Muwaqqiʿīn, vol. 1, pp. 283–284.
Endeavor Health, “Differences in Men and Women’s Brains.”
Stanford Medicine, “How Men’s and Women’s Brains Are Different.”
Fundación Casa de la Mujer, “Learn About the Advantages of the Female Brain.”
Cahill, L. (2012). A Half-Truth Is a Whole Lie: On the Necessity of Investigating Sex Influences on the Brain. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7(2), 121–123.

Appendix: Key Terms in Arabic and English

Arabic	English Meaning
مقاصد الشريعة	Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah – the higher aims of the law (justice, preservation of intellect, dignity, etc.)
عِلّة	ʿIllah – the effective legal cause behind a ruling
قياس	Qiyās – analogy based on shared cause
استحسان	Istiḥsān – juristic preference for fairness
مصلحة	Maṣlaḥah – public welfare or benefit
سدّ الذرائع / فتح الذرائع	Sadd / Fatḥ al-Dharāʾiʿ – blocking or opening means to harm/benefit
قِوامة	Qiwāmah – caretaking responsibility, not domination
تقوى	Taqwā – God-consciousness; the only true measure of superiority