In this article, writer and broadcaster Ibrahim Essa raises a question about what he calls the “Salafi–Shiite alliance,” revealing a convergence between two schools of thought that are deeply antagonistic to each other on many issues, yet united in a single discourse that debases women. Essa examines the roots of this position in both Sunni and Shiite traditions and deconstructs the contradiction between slogans about honoring women and jurisprudential interpretations that demean women’s intellect and faith—doing so in direct confrontation with the spirit of the Qur’an and its broader context.
This text is an edited version of an episode from Ibrahim Essa’s program on Alhurra’s digital platforms, preserving as much as possible the literal formulation as it was presented on screen.
What astonishes you is this strange consensus between Sunni Salafism and Shiism when it comes to diminishing women. Despite the intense hostility between the two sides—sometimes reaching the level of excessive enmity and obsession with rivalry—these two poles, which spend most of their time attacking, fighting, insulting, and cursing one another, appear perfectly allied when it comes to women. Here, the Salafi Sunni tradition emerges as a very strong ally of the Shiite tradition in its stance toward women, in diminishing their status, their faith, and their intellect.
We are clearly facing a case of what can be called the “commodification” of women—treating them as objects—despite the fact that both sides loudly proclaim that Islam honored women and treated them as dignified beings. Scholars from both camps constantly cite phrases such as “Be gentle with the fragile vessels” and that women are “the counterparts of men.” Yet at the same time, they issue fatwas and rulings that demean women, and they read religion and the sacred text through interpretations that practically result in the degradation of women. Here, we are entitled to ask: My brother, settle on one position, what is this schizophrenia? When you tell me that a woman is deficient in intellect and religion, where exactly is the honor? I want to understand: where is the honoring of women in this discourse? Worse still, they attribute all of this to the Noble Prophet, as though they were speaking on his behalf.
When we turn to Shiite heritage, we find that it is almost a mirror image of Sunni heritage in this regard—despite how astonishing that is. The entire Shiite doctrine is built upon a woman: Lady Fatima, peace be upon her. The backbone of Shiism rests on Fatima and her sons. And yet, while your doctrine stands on this solid symbolic foundation, you are constantly preoccupied with diminishing, belittling, and insulting women. It is strange—bizarre even—to an extreme degree. The concept of the Imamate itself completely excludes women; the doctrine is symbolically founded on a woman, yet women are entirely absent from the lineage of the Imams.
Deconstructing Textual Reason: The Dilemma of Nahj al-Balagha and Its Commentaries
In this context, I will rely on an important book by the researcher Professor Mohammed Al-Khabbaz titled The Image of Women in Shiite Heritage: A Deconstruction of the Mechanisms of Textual Reason, particularly regarding references to Shiite heritage and its commentaries, foremost among them Nahj al-Balagha.
The first striking issue is what appears in Nahj al-Balagha, attributed to Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him. When you read what is attributed to Ali, you encounter, for example, a sermon that says: “Beasts are concerned only with their bellies; predators are concerned with attacking others; and women are concerned with the adornment of worldly life and the corruption within it.”
Can any rational person imagine that Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib would say such words about women? Here we are faced with a context that compares women to beasts and predators. When we see hadiths in al-Bukhari and elsewhere that diminish women and are attributed to the Prophet, we realize that we are dealing with a case of fabrication, falsification, and false attribution to the Noble Prophet and to Imam Ali—by ascribing to them ideas that explicitly contradict the Qur’an. Does anyone believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib would utter words that have no connection whatsoever to the Qur’an? The Qur’an honored the human being; how, then, could it demean women, who are human beings?
In the commentaries on Nahj al-Balagha, al-Shirazi, for example, says that “women are legally deficient in faith, as a consequence of the deficiency of their intellect,” and claims that complete faith is attainable only by men. Who told you this? Who said this to Sunnis? And who said this to Shiites? Then al-Mousawi, in his commentary, explains women’s deficiency in faith by the fact that they refrain from prayer and fasting during menstruation. It is the same story, the same face—just the other side of Salafism. What exactly are you arguing about with one another? Agree among yourselves, attack women, and spare yourselves the trouble.
The claim that women are deficient in intellect and religion is a fabrication that the Prophet never said—and could never have said—because the Qur’an does not state this at all. Even rulings on inheritance, guardianship, and testimony in the Qur’an were historically contextual; women among the Arabs of the Peninsula were treated as property, and the Qur’an had to guide society gradually and progressively in that era. But if you read the Qur’an as a whole, you will find complete equality before God Almighty. So where did you get this idea of deficient intellect? Even medically and scientifically, this claim is pure ignorance. There is no intellectual deficiency that pertains to one sex rather than another.
Between the Intelligence of “Cunning” and the Historicity of Leadership
If you appeal to history, then let us look at early Islamic history. Umm Salama, Mother of the Believers, advised the Noble Prophet during the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah to take a specific action after he struggled to persuade the Companions. The Prophet listened to her advice with wisdom and prophetic insight and carried it out—whereupon the Muslims obeyed him. If women were deficient in intellect, why did the Prophet consult her and act on her counsel?
And if women are deficient in intellect and religion, why, O Ahl al-Sunnah, did you go out behind Lady Aisha, may God be pleased with her, in the Battle of the Camel? And why do you, O Shiites, venerate Lady Fatima, peace be upon her, placing her alongside Mary and the wife of Pharaoh? The truth is that intellectual deficiency belongs to the fanatic man who is incapable of seeing reality. Life, societies, and history all testify otherwise. How many women have led nations and peoples? How many female scholars, physicians, surgeons, engineers, and great innovators have changed the course of history?
As for the argument of “deficiency in religion” because of menstruation, it is a hollow argument. Menstruation is a natural phenomenon created by God Almighty. When a woman does not pray or fast because of it, is this a deficiency in her religion? You, the man, when you have sexual relations with your wife and are not permitted to pray until you perform ritual purification—are you, in that moment, deficient in religion? Is religion merely rituals and practices, or is it something deeper and loftier? A sick person who is prevented from fasting—do we call him deficient in religion? A diabetic who breaks his fast on medical advice—has his religion diminished? A woman makes up what she misses, so why this double standard?
Even more astonishing is what al-Khoei says in his commentary on Nahj al-Balagha about “women’s cunning,” citing the verse: “Indeed, your cunning is great.” He says: “The intent is to warn against them and draw attention to their cunning, which God Almighty described as great in His Noble Book, whereas He described Satan’s cunning as weak, saying: ‘Indeed, your cunning is great,’ and saying, ‘Indeed, the cunning of Satan is weak.’ Therefore, the people of spiritual insight say that women are more to be feared than Satan.”
Sir, if women’s cunning is great, then that is evidence of intelligence. Great cunning implies an active mind, awareness, experience, and the ability to plan and discern. How, then, can a woman be deficient in intellect while her cunning is described as great—unless we are dealing with a genuine case of intellectual schizophrenia? “Great cunning” here is not a condemnation; it is a testimony to a mind capable of strategy. Satan’s cunning is weak because it is confronted by faith.
This frantic and obsessive effort by both Sunni and Shiite Salafism to diminish women—while simultaneously delivering sermons about Islam honoring them—is a blatant contradiction. Pay attention to what you are saying. You are repeating a dual, distorted discourse that issues from people who are truly “deficient in intellect,” in the real sense of the word. As for deficiency in religion, I dare not speak of it—because God alone judges the faith of every human being.
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
