Hi bluecake - I might have missed your reply to this - or you may have missed my questions - so here they are again
(For arguments sake I will accept your definition.) Does that mean it no longer applies as many women now work and carry out financial transactions?
لن يفلح قوم ولوا أمرهم امرأة
‘No people shall ever prosper who appoint a woman in charge of their affairs" (Bukhari)
How do you yourself personally 'fee'l about the permission to "tap" one's wife if she behaves badly. Does it sound reasonable to you?
Salaam Hassan. I dont know how to multi quote so I will just give you a block of text
Yes. Certain rules apply more towards the contemporary people at the time or even at limited times during the era such as the apostasy rule. Women perhaps work more in the financial and legal sector than men now even.
There is a spectrum of divided opinions on this.
One argument is that Abu Bakr didn’t understand he narrated an injunction against the leadership of women afterall he was a companion of Aisha and fought among her troops as she led wars. In fact he recalled this hadith even when they were at war under Aisha yet they didn’t leave her sight nor advised anyone else to.
‘Dr Asghar Ali Engineer writes:
In the context of the Battle of the Camel, Aishah was in command of the army which included many illustrious companions of the Prophet. None of them objected to her being in command, nor did they desert her for that reason. Even Abu Bakra, the narrator of the above hadith, did not desert her. Had he been convinced that the Prophet had prohibited women from being imam (leader or head) he should have deserted Aishah as soon as he recalled this tradition. How then could it be said that a woman cannot become leader of a government when her leadership was accepted by such eminent companions of the Prophet ?’Some people argue (still on the same side) that it was relating to a prophecy of the Kingdom of Persia but didn’t have any legal implications beyond that and that this hadith must be read along with related ones as it completes the story of Chosroe who tore the Prophet's letter.
‘Al-Bukhari reported three traditions connected with this episode, two of which were in the chapter on "Letter of the Prophet to Chosroe and Caesar". Abu Bakra's hadith is No 4425. The preceding hadith, No 4424, was reported from Ibn Abbas who said that "the Prophet of Allah sent Abdullah Ibn Huzafa with his letter to Chosroe and commanded him to hand it to the leader of Bahrain for delivery to Chosroe. When Chosroe read it he tore it. I believe Said Ibn Musayyab said: 'Then the Prophet prayed to Allah that he tear them up completely'." The third hadith is No 6639 reported by Bukhari in the chapter on "how the oath of the Prophet was" and it goes:"When Caesar dies there will be no Caesar after him. When Chosroe dies there will be no Chosroe after him. I swear by He in whose hand is my life, you will spend their treasures in the path of Allah!"
These are the three hadiths reported by Bukhari on Chosroe and the Persians and their consistency is self -evident. In one he prays to Allah to destroy the Chosroe's dynasty the way he tore the letter. The second predicts that there will be no Chosroe after him and the Ummah will inherit the Kingdom's treasures. The third, Abu Bakra's, predicts that the Persians (who were still being ruled by Chosroe's dynasty) would not prosper. To extend this last hadith's scope to all societies ruled by women is refuted by the context.’In addition this quote is refuted by Qur'anic evidence on the queen of Sheba (The Ants: 28-44 ). Any one who reads those verses can see that they refer to a people who prospered under a wise and powerful female sovereign.
On the other hand, some people argue that this quote relates to women’s inappropriateness to lead men because of the women’s susceptibility to get raped or unintentionally seduce men (although others could argue that the niqab/hijab takes this into account already) or some irrational men’s anger over feeling dominated and controlled by woman.
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with because it’s more of a stance of disapproval to a sin than anything.
May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be with you,
Topic: Why women are converting to islam at an unprecedented scale