Women: From the shadows of hadith to the light of the qur'an
Imagine a young girl, born into a world of simple faith. She loves God with a pure heart. But in the mosque, the lessons are not about that love. They are about fear.
She is taught that if she plucks her eyebrows, the angels will curse her until she puts her hand down. She hears that women are the majority in Hell because we are ungrateful and deficient. She is told her voice is ‘awrah, her laughter is a fitnah, her very presence can break a man’s prayer. She is a problem to be managed. A destiny of failure.
She tries to shrink herself. To be quieter, to ask for less, to apologize for existing. She carries a weight of inherent sin she did not choose.
This is the story of so many of us.
But what happens when that girl grows up? When a quiet voice inside her, a voice that knows God is Just and Merciful, begins to whisper: "This cannot be true."
She begins the most important journey of her life: she opens the Qur’an. Not a book of commentary. Not a book of man’s interpretations. Just God’s words. And she asks, with a trembling heart: My Lord, what do You say about me?
The answers she finds are not what she was taught. They are a revolution of light...
The lie: Abdullah reported that Allah had cursed those women who tattooed and who have themselves tattooed, those who pluck hair from their faces and those who make spaces between their teeth for beautification changing what God has created.
Sahih Muslim 2125 a
The light: Say, “My Lord has forbidden immoralities—both open and secret—and sin, and unjustified aggression, and that you associate with God anything for which He revealed no sanction, and that you say about God what you do not know.
Quran 7:33
The Quran speaks in principles of morality and righteousness. It does not enumerate specific cosmetic acts with eternal curses. It calls us to modesty and goodness, a message of guidance, not microscopic control.
The Lie: We are created from a bent rib, and if you try to straighten us, we will break.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3331
The Light: O people, be aware of your Lord who has created you from one soul and He created from it its mate and sent forth from it many men and many women; and be aware of God whom you ask about, and the relatives. God is Watcher over you.
Quran 4:1
Our origin story in the Quran is one of equality and shared essence. We are not created from a man; we are created from the same soul (nafs). We are not inherently crooked; we are inherently equal.
The lie: Narrated Usamah bin Zaid, and Sa'eed bin Zaid bin 'Amr bin Nufail:
that the Prophet said: "I have not left among the people after me, a Fitnah more harmful upon men than women."
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2780
The Light: And know that your money and your children are a trial [Fitnah], and that God has the greatest reward.
Quran 8:28
Blaming women as the greatest trial is misleading. The Qur’an makes it clear that true tests are wealth and children - real responsibilities that challenge a person’s patience and character, not simply relationships with women.”
The lie: Narrated `Imran bin Husain: The Prophet said, "I looked at Paradise and found poor people forming the majority of its inhabitants; and I looked at Hell and saw that the majority of its inhabitants were women.
Sahih al-Bukhari 3241
The light: Say: "None in the heavens and the earth knows the Unseen except Allah, nor can they perceive when they shall be resurrected."
Quran 27:65
They who disbelieve and deny our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) are those who will be the dwellers of the Hell-fire.
Quran 5:10
This Hadith falsely targets women, while the Qur’an makes clear that only Allah knows the unseen (27:65) and that both men and women enter Hell or Paradise based on their deeds (4:56, 16:97).
The lie: Narrated Ibn `Umar: Evil omen was mentioned before the Prophet: The Prophet said, "If there is evil omen in anything, it is in the house, the woman and the horse."
Sahih al-Bukhari 5094
The light: And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.
Quran 42:30
The Qur’an teaches personal responsibility. Misfortune is a consequence of his own actions, not the presence of a woman.
The Lie: Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah said: A woman, an ass and a dog disrupt the prayer, but something like the back of a saddle guards against that.
Sahih Muslim 511
The light: Woe to those who pray, those who are heedless of their prayers.Those who put on the appearance and withhold the assistance.
Quran 107:4-7
O People who Believe! Do not approach the prayer when you are intoxicated until you have the sense to understand what you say,
Quran 4:43
It is disgusting to see women degraded by being lumped with dogs and donkeys, when the Qur’an teaches that only one’s own heedlessness, hypocrisy, or drunkenness can disrupt prayer (4:43, 107:4–6). To equate a believing woman with animals is not just un-Qur’anic — it strips away the honor Allah has given to every child of Adam (17:70).
The lie: Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri: Once Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."
Sahih al-Bukhari 304
The light: And they ask you about the menstruations? Say: ”It is harmful, so retire yourselves sexually from the women during the menstruations, and do not approach them until they are purified.
When they are purified, then you may approach them as God has commanded you.” God loves the repenters and He loves the purified.
Quran 2:222
Allah only restricted intimacy during menstruation. He never forbade women from prayer, fasting, or touching His Book. To call this “deficiency in religion” is an insult to Allah’s wisdom.
The Light: O you who believe, if you borrow for a future period, then you shall record it. And let a scribe of justice record it for you; and let not the scribe refuse to record as God has taught him. Let him record and let the person who is borrowing dictate to him, and let him be aware of God, and let him not reduce from it anything.If the one who is borrowing is immature or weak or he cannot dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate with justice; and bring two witnesses from among your men; if there are not two men, then a man and two women from whom you will accept their testimony, so that if one of them becomes blindsided, then the one can remind the other. And let the witnesses not refuse to come if they are called. And do not fail to record it no matter how small or large until its maturity, that is more just with God and better for the testimony, and better that you do not have doubts. Exempt is trade done on the spot between you, then there is no sin upon you if you do not record it—and have evidence if you trade. No scribe shall be harmed nor any witness; for if you do so then it is a wickedness on your part, and be aware of God and God teaches you and God is aware of all things.
Quran 2:282
This verse is a mercy, not a curse. It does not say women are forgetful by nature. It says if anyone forgets, the other can remind. Allah gave women a safeguard, a backup — a protection against exploitation. Men forget too, but they were not given this safety net. To twist this into “deficiency” is to spit on Allah’s protection.
This hadith slanders women as defective beings, but Allah never made them so. Menstruation is not a spiritual flaw - it is a natural sign Allah Himself created (2:222). The testimony rule in 2:282 applies only to financial transactions in that specific context to provide safety and prevent disputes; it does not imply inferiority in all matters of testimony or intelligence. And the Qur’an crushes all such lies with a single truth: men and women are equal before Allah, and only righteousness counts (49:13). Any claim that degrades women is not from Allah - it is a human insult dressed as religion.
With every verse, the weight she carried begins to crack and fall away. The shackles of those man-made narratives break.
She realizes the terrible truth: For centuries, these human reports have been used to build a cage around the hearts and minds of women, obscuring the liberating truth of the Qur’an.
She is not deficient. She is a believer.
She is not an omen. She is a servant of God.
She is not destined for Hell. She is destined for a great reward based on her own actions.
This is not a rejection of faith. It is the deepest embrace of it. It is a return to the pure, unadulterated source of divine love and justice.
Sister, that girl is you. That girl is me. It is time to stop listening to the voices that condemn us and start listening to the Voice that created us. It is time to close the books of men and open the Book of God.
Read it for yourself. Let His words, and not the words of others, define your worth. You will find a God of immense mercy, a God of perfect justice, and a faith that liberates you, not one that binds you.
You are not who they told you you were. You are who Allah says you are: And for the believing women, He has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.
Hold onto that. It is your truth. It is your freedom.