Egyptian Islamic Scholars Discuss Whether Women Are Permitted to Serve As Heads of State

Following are excerpts from a TV debate between Egyptian Islamic scholars on whether women can be heads of state. The debate aired on Al-Arabiya TV on January 28, 2007.

Muhammad Al-Musayyar, Al-Azhar University scholar: Under no circumstances are women qualified to be heads of state. Being male is a condition for heading a state, because a president is a kind of Imam, and the position of Imam is restricted to men. Also, the ruler may have to be present in circumstances forbidden to women, such as private meetings with men . Moreover, during her menstrual period, a woman's temperament or thinking may be affected.

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Said Farahat Al-Mungi, Al-Azhar University scholar: Even when it comes to the position of judge, which is a lower position than the position of ruler or head of state, three of the four [Sunni] jurisprudents - Malik [Ibn Anas], [Muhammad Ibn Idris] Al-Shafe'i, and Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] – agreed that women are not allowed to become judges, let alone when it comes to the position of ruler. That is one thing. The only one to dissent was Imam Abu Hanifa, who said women are allowed to serve as judges in commercial matters. Only in commercial matters. That is one thing. In addition, when Adam was created from clay, the woman was not created like him, from clay. Instead, she was created from flesh and blood. Therefore, her nature and composition are entirely different from those of men. She is the one to cry, the one to be pregnant, the one to menstruate, and the one to give birth. Women undergo many things that men do not. This is why her nature is entirely different from the nature of the man. We sympathize with the woman because of [the emotions] that surge in her, and lead her to desire everything. We treat women with the utmost honor and respect, but there is a limit to the positions she is allowed to fulfill. Even the things most specific to women are beyond her capabilities. For example, the dresses worn by women are made by men. The food that she eats is produced by men. One cannot find even a single successful female gynecologist. She is incapable of doing even the things most specific to women. Men do them. In no way do I mean to belittle women's capabilities. After all, women constitute half of society, and they are the ones who raise the other half.

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[According to the Koran,] in the days of King Solomon, a hoopoe bird was surprised, and said: "I found a woman [the Queen of Sheba] ruling over them." Even the hoopoe was not happy about this... It was not happy that a woman headed that state. It found this very peculiar.

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Su'ad Saleh, Al-Azhar University scholar: Islamic law has kept silent about the issue we are discussing. This means that there is room for independent legal judgment. When we say something is forbidden, there must be clear-cut texts to substantiate this prohibition.

Interviewer: So one cannot rely upon the Imams Malik, Al-Shafe'i, and Ahmad, to whom Sheik Farahat attributed the hadith?

Su'ad Saleh: These Imams prohibited women from becoming judges, but nevertheless, the mufti [of Egypt] issued a fatwa permitting this.

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We must differentiate between a woman in the position of head of state and between a woman in the position of Caliph.

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These days, the [Arab] regimes are nothing like the Islamic Caliphate. The Islamic countries are mini-states. These countries are subject to the system of free elections. They are subject to a constitution, which regulates the politics, and to legislative, parliamentary, and legal institutions, and so on. So the choice is in the hands of the people - men and women alike.

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In other words, women are forbidden from serving as Caliphs and Imams, but with regard to the position of head of state, a position which today is subject to parliamentary regulations, to a constitution, and to elections – gender has nothing to do with this.

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Said Farahat Al-Mungi: A man cannot be divorced [by his wife]. When a woman is divorced by her husband, she completely falls apart. When her husband marries an additional woman, she completely falls apart. She may even see him with another woman... Women are subjected to all those things.

Interviewer: But the same goes for the man. If he sees his wife with another man, he might commit murder.

Said Farahat Al-Mungi: All he has to do is divorce her, and then he calms down. That's it.