Title: Women Prophets Question: As a young girl, I always wondered and I wonder even now, why was prophethood never endowed to a woman in Islam. I understand there are none in other religions also, but I want to know about mine. When I compare my religion with others, women seem to be the best off, but when I see within, there are lots of things I do not understand, this being the foremost. Societies are known to be patriarchal, but prophethood was endowed by God. God can't be partial to men alone. I really need an answer to this question, and please do not talk about the four best women (Bibi Asiya, Bibi Khadija, Bibi Fatima and one more that i can't recall right now) and Bibi Rabiyah (the Sufi Saint) and all. Whatever status has been given to them, they were not prophets, right? Regards Tayyaba Jafri India Answer: The Almighty has delivered messages to humankind throughout our existence. To every group of people a prophet was sent to remind and guide them to the One True God. The Qur'an says: For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the People were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth). ( Al Nahl 16:36) We did aforetime send messengers before thee: of them there are some whose story We have related to thee, and some whose story We have not related to thee. It was not (possible) for any messenger to bring a sign except by the leave of Allah: but when the Command of Allah issued, the matter was decided in truth and justice, and there perished, there and then those who stood on Falsehoods. ( Al Ghafir 40:78) Every prophet came from within the community and spoke the language of the people he was delivering the message to. Why this is important is because God was using the most efficient method without infringing upon our freewill to get His message across. To make life easier for the receivers of the message God sent those who were from amongst their community so that the general population could relate to the person. This, of course, would have to take into account ideologies, the make up of the society, the culture, the language etc. So God in His Magnificent Wisdom sent prophets that the community could relate to. It is a fact that all prophets went through some struggle in spreading the word of God. However, this task would've been much greater, if not impossible, had the person been alien to the people and their ways. It would have been no different than God sending the Qur'an in English to the Arabs. That would have been completely foreign to them. People tend to feel more secure with those they can relate to. Having said that, it should be clear that God did not send women as prophets to certain societies because of the nature of those particular societies. As you have correctly mentioned most societies are patriarchal, hence they would reject a woman as soon as she claimed such a thing. There have been matriarchal societies in this world. If God has sent prophets to every community then I see no reason to reject the idea that there were female prophets. But the Qur'an does not state this and therefore it could be construed as conjecture if we try to posit that point. I believe that the above verses leave it open, yet allows us to realize that the guidance is what is truly important not the sex of the messenger. The reason the Qur'an has not mentioned certain prophets is because their stories were not relative to the Arabs, especially when we take into consideration what the Arabs regarded women as. The Qur'an narrated stories of the Semitic people, patriarchal throughout the generations, which the Arabs belong to. There were plenty of examples without having to go into the circumstances of other communities that might have not got the point across as well. Finally, it should be clear that God is not partial to men but that humanity builds certain kinds of societies. In order for these societies to accept the message of God it has to be presented in an acceptable way or else both the message and messenger will be rejected from the onset. It is obvious that the Qur'an has left the door open for various theories, yet they would all be the hypotheses of interpreters. God's Guidance is for man and woman alike. It is what we do with the Guidance that counts, regardless, if it came via male or female courier. I hope I have clarified the issue God knows best Ronnie Hassan April 3, 2003