Soapbox: Can women be judges? By Mahmoud Ashour That men and women are equal is a basic principle of Islam. Women have the right to own property, marry who they want and keep their finances separate from those of their husbands. Women also have the right to sell, buy, rent, donate to charity, lend, pawn, and enter into contractual agreements independently from men. Women can defend their property and take legal action to secure it. But the right of women to assume political and judiciary office has been in debate for years now. According to Ibn Garir Al-Tabari, women are completely eligible to serve as judges. Since they have the right to testify in court, the argument goes, women can also act as judges. Ibn Hazm agrees with Al-Tabari on that matter. And we know that the second caliph, Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, appointed a woman as market mayor, a job that was equivalent to the job of a judge at the time, for the market mayor was in charge of inspecting the markets and making sure that transactions were conducted in a fair and honest manner. Some people argue that women cannot serve as judges, citing a saying by the Prophet Mohamed to the effect that, "no nation would do well if it puts a woman in charge." This saying, many now agree, was about women assuming the caliphate, a move that wouldn't have been popular by the standards of the time. From the bulk of scholarly consensus, one has to draw the conclusion that women are entitled to serve as judges. This doesn't mean that they have to do so. The whole thing depends on what any given community believes as a whole. At certain times, and under certain circumstances, outstanding women of a certain age can serve as judges. Islam has no problem with women becoming judges. This week's Soapbox speaker is former deputy president of Al-Azhar and member of the Islamic Research Society.
