نهج البلاغة للسيد الرضي
Nahjul balagha by Syed al Radhi (ra)
View of Imam Ali (as) towards women in Nahjul Balagha
نظره الإمام علي الى المرأة في نهج
البلاغة
View of Imam Ali (as) towards women in Nahjul Balagha
61 - وقال عليه السلام: المرأة عقرب حلوة اللبسة
And (Ali)(as) said: "The woman is a sweet gripped scorpion."
والخلاصة أنّ اعتقادنا في كتاب نهج البلاغة أنّ جميع ما فيه من الخطب والكتب والوصايا والحكم والآداب حاله كحال ما يُروى عن النبي "ص" وعن أهل بيته في جوامع الأخبار الصحيحة وفي الكتب الدينيّة المعتبرة ، وإنّ منه ما هو قطعي الصدور ومنه ما يدخله أقسام الحديث المعروفة ، وأمّا مؤلّفه الشريف فاعتقادنا فيه أنّهُ مُنزّه عن كُل ما يشين الرواة ويقدح في عدالتهم وأنّه لم يُنشيء شيئاً منه نفسه وأدخله في النهج كما أنّه لم يّدخل فيه شيئاً يعلم أنّه لغير أمير المؤمنين ، بل لم يكن كحاطب ليل ، فهو لا يروي شيئاً إلاّ بعد التثبّت ، ولا ينقُله إلاّ عًمّن يعتمد عليه من الرواة وأهل السير والتاريخ ، فجميع ما في النهج هو من كلام مولانا أمير المؤمنين "ع" على رواية الثقة العدل ولا دخيل فيه ولا وضع
موسوعة أحاديث أهل البيت (ع) - الشيخ هادي النجفي - ج ١٠ - الصفحة ٢٠٠
١٢٦٨٥] ١٥ - الكليني، عن علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن النوفلي، عن السكوني، عن أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام) قال: قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم): إنما المرأة لعبة من اتخذها فلا يضيعها (٥
الرواية معتبرة الإسناد
151 و ان النساء همهن زينه الحياه
الدنيا و الفساد فيها.
151- And indeed the focus of women is
beautifying the worldly life and corrupting the world.
ج 238 المرأة شركلها، و شر ما فيها
انه لابد منها
238- The woman is pure evil, and her
biggest evil is that one cannot do without her.
ومن خطبة له عليه السلام بعد حرب الجمل في ذم النساء معاشر الناس إن النساء نواقص الايمان نواقص الحظوظ نواقص العقول. فأما نقصان إيمانهن فقعودهن عن الصلاة والصيام في أيام حيضهن. وأما نقصان حظوظهن فمواريثهن على الانصاف من مواريث الرجال. وأما نقصان عقولهن فشهادة امرأتين كشهادة الرجل الواحد. فاتقوا شرار النساء. وكونوا من خيارهن على حذر ولا تطيعوهن في المعروف حتى لا يطمعن في المنكر
And from a sermon of his [Imam Ali(as)] given after war of camel(jamal) in denunciation of women: "O people, indeed the women are deficient in faith, deficient in fortunes and deficient in intellect. So as for their deficiency in faith, so the prayer and fastings are abandoned from them in their days of menstruation, and as for their deficiency in fortunes so they inherit the half from inheritance of the men, and as for their deficiency in intellect so testimony of two women is equal to the testimony of one man. So beware of the evil women and be wary of their good ones as well. And do not obey them in the good hence that they not wish to command the bad things."
ومن خطبة له عليه السلام بعد حرب الجمل في ذم النساء معاشر الناس إن النساء نواقص الايمان نواقص الحظوظ نواقص العقول. فأما نقصان إيمانهن فقعودهن عن الصلاة والصيام في أيام حيضهن. وأما نقصان حظوظهن فمواريثهن على الانصاف من مواريث الرجال. وأما نقصان عقولهن فشهادة امرأتين كشهادة الرجل الواحد. فاتقوا شرار النساء. وكونوا من خيارهن على حذر ولا تطيعوهن في المعروف حتى لا يطمعن في المنكر
And from a sermon of his [Imam Ali(as)] given after war of camel(jamal) in denunciation of women: "O people, indeed the women are deficient in faith, deficient in fortunes and deficient in intellect. So as for their deficiency in faith, so the prayer and fastings are abandoned from them in their days of menstruation, and as for their deficiency in fortunes so they inherit the half from inheritance of the men, and as for their deficiency in intellect so testimony of two women is equal to the testimony of one man. So beware of the evil women and be wary of their good ones as well. And do not obey them in the good hence that they not wish to command the bad things."
Authenticity of Nahjul Balagha
مدارك نهج البلاغة ودفع الشبهات عنه للشيخ هادي كاشف الغطاء
"Sources of Nahjul Balagha and dispelling the doubts about it" by Ayatullah Hadi Kashif al Ghita
والخلاصة أنّ اعتقادنا في كتاب نهج البلاغة أنّ جميع ما فيه من الخطب والكتب والوصايا والحكم والآداب حاله كحال ما يُروى عن النبي "ص" وعن أهل بيته في جوامع الأخبار الصحيحة وفي الكتب الدينيّة المعتبرة ، وإنّ منه ما هو قطعي الصدور ومنه ما يدخله أقسام الحديث المعروفة ، وأمّا مؤلّفه الشريف فاعتقادنا فيه أنّهُ مُنزّه عن كُل ما يشين الرواة ويقدح في عدالتهم وأنّه لم يُنشيء شيئاً منه نفسه وأدخله في النهج كما أنّه لم يّدخل فيه شيئاً يعلم أنّه لغير أمير المؤمنين ، بل لم يكن كحاطب ليل ، فهو لا يروي شيئاً إلاّ بعد التثبّت ، ولا ينقُله إلاّ عًمّن يعتمد عليه من الرواة وأهل السير والتاريخ ، فجميع ما في النهج هو من كلام مولانا أمير المؤمنين "ع" على رواية الثقة العدل ولا دخيل فيه ولا وضع
And
the bottom line is that our belief in the book Nahjul Balagha is that
everything in it among the sermons, letters, wills, wise sayings and
instructions regarding manners/etiquette could be regarded as what has
been reported from the Prophet (pbuh) and his ahlulbayt (as) in the
authentic collections of ahadith and in reliable religious books, and
its content is solid and is what would be classed among the well known
ahadith. And as for its author, so our belief about him is that he is
far above any disgrace and slander that can be leveled upon the
narrators and their uprightness, and he did not create anything from it
himself and include it in Nahjul Balagha as he did not include anything
in it that he knew not to be from commander of the faithful. But he was
not like the wood collector at night for he would not report anything
except after verification and would not quote except from whom he
trusted among the narrators, biographers and historians. So whatever is
in Nahjul Balagha is the word of our master, commander of the faithful,
upon narration of the trustworthy and upright people. And there is not
included in it additions and fabrications.
موسوعة أحاديث أهل البيت (ع) - الشيخ هادي النجفي - ج ١٠ - الصفحة ٢٠٠
Mausu'ah Ahadith Ahlul bayt (as) by Ayatullah Hadi al Najafi, Volume 10, Page 200
١٢٦٨٥] ١٥ - الكليني، عن علي بن إبراهيم، عن أبيه، عن النوفلي، عن السكوني، عن أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام) قال: قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم): إنما المرأة لعبة من اتخذها فلا يضيعها (٥
الرواية معتبرة الإسناد
٥) الكافي: ٥ / ٥١٠ ح ٢
[12685] 15- Al Kulaini, from Ali b. Ibrahim, from his father, from Nofali, from al Sakuni, from abi Abdullah (as) who said: The
Prophet (pbuh) said: "Indeed the woman is a toy/doll, so whoever takes
them should not waste them."
The narration is of reliable isnad (chains of narration).
الكافي للكليني (329 هـ) الجزء 5
Al Kafi by Shaikh Kulaini (ra) (329 AH), Volume 5
- عن أبي عبدالله (ع)قال: قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله): إنما المرأة لعبة، من اتخذها فلا يضيعها. ج 5 ص 510
From abi Abdullah (as) who said: The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Indeed the woman is a toy/doll, so whoever takes them should not waste them." (Volume 5, Page 510)
عن أبي عبدالله (ع) قال: لا بأس أن ينام الرجل بين أمتين والحرتين، إنما نساؤكم بمنزلة اللعب. ج 5 ص 560
From Abi Abdullah (as) who said: "It is not problematic that the man sleeps between the slave girls and the free women, indeed your women are akin to the toys." (Volume 5, Page 560)
عن عبدالملك بن عمرو قال: سألت أبا عبدالله (ع)مايحل للرجل من المرأة وهي حائض؟ قال: كل شئ غير الفرج، قال: ثم قال: إنما المرأة لعبة الرجل.ج 5 ص 539
From Abd al Malik b. Amru who said: I asked aba Abdullah (as) what is halal (permissible/legal) for the man of the woman while she is menstruating? Imam (as) said: "Everything other than the furuj." He (narrator) said: Then he [Imam (as)] said: "Indeed the woman is the man's toy." (Volume 5, Page 539)
وقال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله): «ما لإبليس
جند أعظم من النساء والغضب ج5 ص515 باب قلة الصلاح في النساء ح5.
The Prophet (pbuh) said: "None in the army of the devil is greater than the women and the rage." (Volume 5, Page 515, Section on the dearth of goodness in women, hadith 5)
Authenticity of al Kafi
معجم رجال الحديث للسيد الخوئي، الجزء الأول
Mu'jam Rijal al Hadith by Ayatullah Khoei, Volume one
الفصل الاول
Section one
النظر في صحّة روايات الكافي
Analysis of the authenticity of the ahadith in al Kafi
وقد ذكر غير واحد من الاعلام أنّ روايات الكافي كلّها صحيحة ولا مجال لرمي شىء منها بضعف سندها.
وسمعت شيخنا الاستاذ الشيخ محمد حسين النائيني : قدّس سرّه : في مجلس بحثه يقول: (إنّ المناقشة في إسناد روايات الكافي حرفة العاجز
And more than one of the great scholars has mentioned that all the ahadith in al Kafi are sahih (authentic) and that there is no question of throwing away anything from it due to weak chain of narration. And I heard our teacher, Ayatullah Naeni, say in his lecture "Indeed, debating about the isnad (chains of narration) of the ahadith in al Kafi is the vocation of the incompetent."
تحف العقول عن آل الرسول (ص)
تأليف
الشيخ أبو محمد الحسن بن علي بن الحسين بن شعبة الحراني
تأليف
الشيخ أبو محمد الحسن بن علي بن الحسين بن شعبة الحراني
Tuhuful uqool by ibn Shu'ba al Harrani, Page 179
وقال عليه السلام: ليس لابليس جند أشد من النساء والغضب
And said (Imam Ja'far al Sadiq)(as): "Nothing of Iblees (devil)'s army is stronger than the women and the rage."
Authenticity of Tuhuful uqool
Preface of Tuhuf ul Uqool
وأسقطت الاسانيد تخفيفا وإيجازا وإن كان أكثره لي سماعا ولان أكثره آداب وحكم تشهد لانفسها ولم أجمع ذلك للمنكر المخالف بل ألفته للمسلم للائمة، العارف بحقهم، الراضي بقولهم، الراد إليهم
And
I omitted the isnad (chains of narrations) for ease/simplicity and
brevity, however, most of it I heard (directly) and because most of it
is about manners and wisdom that testifies to itself, and I did not
compile this for the evil mukhalif (offender/opponent) rather I
compiled it for the submitter to the Imams 
, the one knowledgeable of their right, the one content with their saying, the one who refers to them .
وسائل الشيعة: ج20 ص167 ب86 ح25324
Wasail al Shia by Shaikh Hurr al Amili (ra), Volume 20, Page 167, Section 86, Hadith no. 25324
عن أبي عبدالله (ع)قال: قال رسول الله (صلى الله عليه وآله): إنما المرأة لعبة، من اتخذها فلا يضيعها
From abi Abdullah (as) who said: The Prophet (pbuh) said: "Indeed the woman is a toy/doll, so whoever takes them should not waste them."
وسائل الشيعة ج21 ص186 ـ ص206
Wasail al Shia by Shaikh Hurr al Amili (ra), Volume 21, Page 186-206
عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام (قال:
لا بأس أن ينام الرجل بين أمتين والحرتين، وإنما نساؤكم بمنزلة اللعب
لا بأس أن ينام الرجل بين أمتين والحرتين، وإنما نساؤكم بمنزلة اللعب
From abi Abdullah (as) who said: "It is not problematic that the man sleeps between the slave girls and the free women, indeed your women are akin to the toys."
كتاب وسائل الشيعة ج 2 ص 321 ـ 340
Wasail al Shia by Shaikh Hurr al Amili (ra), Volume 2, Page 321-340
عن عبدالملك بن عمرو قال: سألت أبا عبدالله (ع)مايحل للرجل من المرأة وهي حائض؟ قال: كل شئ غير الفرج، قال: ثم قال: إنما المرأة لعبة الرجل
From
Abd al Malik b. Amru who said: I asked aba Abdullah (as) what is halal
(permissible/legal) for the man of the woman while she is menstruating?
Imam (as) said: "Everything other than the furuj." He (narrator) said:
Then he [Imam (as)] said: "Indeed the woman is the man's toy."
الحدائق الناضرة - المحقق البحراني - ج ٢٤ - الصفحة ٣٢٧
Hadaiq al Nadhirah by Shaikh Yusuf al Bahrani (ra), Volume 24, Page 328
رواه في الكافي عن غياث بن إبراهيم عن أبي عبد الله عليه السلام (قال:
لا بأس أن ينام الرجل بين أمتين والحرتين، وإنما نساؤكم بمنزلة اللعب
لا بأس أن ينام الرجل بين أمتين والحرتين، وإنما نساؤكم بمنزلة اللعب
It is narrated in al Kafi from Ghiyas b. Ibrahim from abi Abdullah (as) who said: "It is not problematic that the man sleeps between the slave girls and the free women, indeed your women are akin to the toys."
ذخيرة المعاد (ط.ق) - المحقق السبزواري - ج ١ ق ١ - الصفحة ٧٢
Dhakhirah al Mu'ad by Muhaqqiq Sabzwari, Volume 1, Page 72
عن
عبدالملك بن عمرو قال: سألت أبا عبدالله (ع)مايحل للرجل من المرأة وهي
حائض؟ قال: كل شئ غير الفرج، قال: ثم قال: إنما المرأة لعبة الرجل
From
Abd al Malik b. Amru who said: I asked aba Abdullah (as) what is halal
(permissible/legal) for the man of the woman while she is menstruating?
Imam (as) said: "Everything other than the furuj." He (narrator) said:
Then he [Imam (as)] said: "Indeed the woman is the man's toy."
If she's a scorpion, why is increase in love for one's women equal to increase in one's faith? Her status must be not just of a scorpion then. Where are the rest of hadiths about this broad subject?
ReplyDeleteIf this is the status of women in Islam then women are advised to stay clear of this religion.
ReplyDeleteDoes the hadith apply to Syeda Fatema, Maryam, Aasiyah and Ummul Mo'mineen Khadija? Or are they exempt?
ReplyDeleteWhat about believing women whom Allah praises in the Qur'an with the promise of Janna?
@Sadiq M: Salam,
ReplyDeleteAs per hadith(quoted by Shaikh Sadooq from Imam al Sadiq), specific ahadith qualify the general ones. Therefore the women who have been explicitly praised in Qur'an and ahadith are praiseworthy and we have deep respect for them.
so does that mean that there should be no respect for the women not mentioned in Quran?
ReplyDeleteEcstasy - misconception in today's society is that Islam opresses women. This stereotype can be put away for many reasons because Islam promotes women to educate themselves, to teach themselves, and to take care of their families. The men in Islam are given more responsibilities. In this Ahadeeth, Imam Ali (a.s) said this for those women who destroy households, who cheat and try to attract other men. Imam Ali compared the women to the scorpion because once her poison (attraction) is seen by men, this causes quarrel between her husband and if she is unmarried than she is causing an "urge." This is why in Tawfatul Awam (the book compiled of many Ulama) when a women asked the Prophet (s.a.w) what right does a husband have on his wife, he replied, "if it were permissible to prostrate for anyone than God, you should to your husband. The women cannot keep any Sunnati Fasts without the permission of her husband. She cannot leave the house without the permission of her husband. If she does, than the angels of the skies and of the Earth will send Lanat (curses) upon her until she returns back to her home." The Prophet stated more but my point seems to be getting across. And for the point stated by Imam Ali (a.s), the women should cover herself and not urge men to commit even graver sins.
ReplyDeleteas salaamu alaykum
ReplyDeletethe first sermonin al mawaizh has a few interesting sayings about women, do you know if its considered sahih?
But I must say, although I am not in favour of this 'feel good' version of islam that people put out by deceiving people about certain concepts, I don't see much point in posts such as this one, modern day followers of the ahl ul bayt (a) really have perfected the art of self deception, "i believe what i want to believe" pretty much sums it up. So with posts like this, people born into our madhhab won't belive it, but people looking into the way of the ahl ul bayt (a) might be put of by it.
ws
@Anonymous: Wa'laikum assalam,
ReplyDeleteAre you referring to the first sermon in the mawaizh section of Nahjul Balagha? Anyway, when talking about "sahih" hadith, it's necessary to be clear about whether one is referring to the gradings of the muqaddimeen (classical scholars) or the mutakhireen (latter scholars), because both have different manhaj and define "sahih" hadith differently.
Therefore, if we go strictly by the modern usooli standard, then no doubt ALL of nahjul balagha is mursal because none of its reports contain isnad (chains of narration), making it unreliable as a whole. BUT...interestingly almost all the modern usooli scholars consider it extremely authentic as a whole and have argued for its authenticity. For example, Allama Amini in his al Ghadir has very extensively argued for its authenticity and claimed that its reports are mutawatir. You can read it here (from page 193-198):
http://rafed.net/books/aqaed/al-qadir-4/index.html
Many others such as Muhadith Noori etc also did its tawtheeq.
The only usooli scholar that I know of who has criticized its authenticity is Ayatollah Fadlullah, but then, he differed from majority shias in other issues as well.
On the other hand, if you follow the manhaj of our classical scholars (http://realtashayyu.blogspot.com/2011/09/manhaj-of-our-classical-scholars.html) then the reports of nahjul balagha would be considered sahih because Syed al Radhi was a thiqa scholar and all the reports in nahjul balagha have shawahid from other reliable sources.
Lastly, about the harmful effects of this post, you do have a point but at the end of the day I can't make everyone happy. Besides, even though this blog is not for dawah purpose but still it has many posts which highlight the "positive" (palatable to the masses) points of tashayyu, so it would be irrational of someone interested in the madhab of ahlulbayt (as) to make up his mind just by reading this post and ignoring the others.
Wassalam.
Assalaamu 'Alaykum,
ReplyDeleteA lot of these aHaadeeth are repetitious. You are quoting muta'akhireen scholars who are quoting from the mutaqadimeen scholars. I think you should take out the repetitive hadeeeth, so people will be able to know that some of these hadeeth aren't said multiple times in our books.
@Nader: Wa'alaikum assalam brother,
ReplyDeleteYes, you're correct about the repetition. I didn't mean to give the impression that these ahadith are certainly mutawatir or highly mashhoor among the taifa, the point was just to highlight that muta'khireen scholars also quoted such ahadith and that they weren't just dug up from nowhere or from some "rusty old obsolete book" like kafi (as many people seem to display this saddening attitude).
Sometimes I also quote the hadith from mutakhireen so as to include their grading.
But yes, on the downside the repetition can get tedious, especially for people like you who're proficient with our sources.
Wassalam
I think that the "face value meaning" of this saying is impossible to be issued by Imam Ali (a.s.), why? Because we have an Islamic standard for all sayings, set by the members of the house (a.s.) to distinguish between the valid & the invalid sayings. This standard suggests that in order to know whether a certain saying is authentic or not, we have to compare it with what is stated in Koran, the book of Allah; if the saying conforms , with the meanings of the Koran, we accept it, but it disaccords with it, then we reject it.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Holy Koran talks about women & men, it gives them equal responsibilities, so if the women are evil in their nature, then why she should be given such responsibility. According to the divine justice in Islam, women are like men; she is neither totally good nor completely evil.
O you men! surely We have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honorable of you with Allah is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely Allah is Knowing, Aware. (Holy Qur'an 49:13)
The words of a husband to his wife, "I truly love you," should never leave her heart. - The Prophet of Islam (saw)
A man said to the Messenger of Allah (saw): I have a wife who welcomes me at the door when I enter the house, and sees me off when I leave. When she sees me grieved, asks me: 'What are you grieved for? If you are anxious about your livelihood, it is guaranteed by other than you: or if you are worried about the hereafter, may Allah increase your worries.' The Messenger of Allah said: "Allah has agents and she is one of them. She will get half a martyr's reward."
Women are like flowers. They should be treated gently, kindly, and with affection. - Imam Ali (as)
Act moderately with women in every instance. Speak to them nicely in order that their deeds become good. - Imam Ali (as)
Whoever is our friend, expresses kindness to his spouse more often. - Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as)
May Allah bless a man who creates a good relationship with his wife, because Allah has appointed man to be the guardian of his wife. - Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as)
When you love someone, let the person know. - Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as)
Whoever marries must respect his wife. - Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as)
There are so many hadiths and sayings of Holy Prophet (pbuh&hp)and the Holy IMAM(as) that u disregarded... and many things u posted here are taken out of context. There's only 1 reason for it you can't be a Shia you are nothing but a ignorant hater of woman and enemy of us SHIA.
ReplyDelete