Are women less intelligent than men?

Peter and Abdullah had an email conversation on the topic whether men are more intelligent than women or not. Below is the highlight of this conversation –

Peter: In Islam, a female witness’s testimony counts half of a male witness’s testimony because women are considered less intelligent than men. Do you support such an anti-feminist view of your religion?

References:

“…And Call two of your men to be witness. If you don’t have two men, then call a man and two women of your choice to be witness so that if one woman goes astray, then the other woman can remind her. ….” (2:282)

"[Muhammad] 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.'" (Sahih Bukhari 6:301)

Abdullah: The Quran 2:282 says – “O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a fixed period, write it down….And Call two of your men to be witness. If you don’t have two men, then call a man and two women of your choice to be witness so that if one woman goes astray (تَضِلَّ), then the other woman can remind (فَتُذَكِّرَ) her. The witness must not refuse to testify when their testimony is needed….” (The Quran 2:282)

The Quran 2:282 says to get two male witnesses for a long term debt contract. But if two male witnesses are not available, then it says to get three witnesses (a male witness and two female witnesses). Also, the Quran says once a witness signs the contract, he/she should not refuse to testify his/her witness on a later date if there is a disagreement about the contract between the debtor and the creditor.

The Quran 2:282 says a woman’s testimony counts half of a man’s testimony when it comes to serving as a witness of a fixed period debt contract between two third parties. But note that a woman’s testimony doesn’t count half of a man’s testimony in all situations. For example, the Quran 24:4-9 says a woman’s testimony is equal to a man’s testimony when it comes to defending oneself as a defendant against the allegation of adultery made by a second party (Quran 24:4-9). For more detail, read my post named "Court Trial for Adultery" or click on the link below to be directed to the post -

http://revivedeenislam.blogspot.ca/2013/08/women-are-inferior-to-men-in-quran.html

Note that a couple do not call others to witness when they decide to commit adultery. Adultery may have accidental witness or no witness. This is why God says in the Quran 24:4-9 that it is okay if plaintiff and defendant do not have witness. If plaintiff John claims that the defendant Sarah committed adultery with Paul on Sunday 21st at 4:00 PM in a cottage, then the defendant Sarah can bring Mary as her witness who will testify that the defendant Sarah was with her on the above mentioned date and time. Therefore, the accession of committing adultery with Paul in a cottage on the above mentioned date and time is false. But it is okay if defendant Sarah is not able to bring Mary as her witness. Defendant Sarah’s testimony counts equal to John's testimony.

Women are more gullible than men in general. Women trust others too easily, and are thus often misled. Emotion plays a very important role in trusting others. Women are more emotional than men in general. Maybe this is why the Quran says to get two female witnesses so that if one goes astray (تَضِلَّ), then the other can remind (فَتُذَكِّرَ) her. Note that the Quran doesn’t say a woman will make a mistake for sure when serving as a witness. The Quran says “IF one woman makes mistake” implying a possibility of that.

Does being more gullible due to emotion make women inferior to men? Of course not. Scientists have found that women are better than men at many things, such as raising children, taking care of elderly and sick, having extensive love and pity, taking care of one-selves, and so on. Do these make women superior to men? Of course not. God has given men and women distinct qualities but these qualities are not the indicators of one’s superiority over others. The Quran says both men and women are equal in the eye of God: "And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer - those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged, [even as much as] the speck on a date seed" (The Quran 4:124).

Islam neither favours nor disfavours women by counting women’s witness half of men’s witness. Do I favour women if I count women’s physical strength half of men’s physical strength in a wrestling competition and let two women fight against a man? I think I am not favouring women here, instead I am doing what is right. Women supporters who believe men and women have equal physical strength should be happy about my decision of letting two women fight against a man. This is because if men and women have equal physical strength, then it is an advantage for two women to fight against one man. The Quran 2:282 talks about intellectual fighting, not physical fighting. Debtor’s witnesses will intellectually fight creditor’s witnesses and lawyers in the court. Islam makes it right by letting two women intellectually fight against one man.

Quran says to get two female witnesses so that if one female witness goes astray, the other female witness can remind her. Why does it always have to be a female witness to get the other female witness back on the right track? Cannot a male witness guide a female witness if she goes astray? Islam separates men and women from working together. If a male witness is the unmarriageable kin of a female witness, then they can group up and work together. But if a male witness is a marriageable kin of a female witness, then they can’t group up and work together. When God commands us, he considers about all possible barriers that we may face while carrying out his commandments.

Peter: Correct me if I misunderstood but you admitted that women are less intelligent than men. This proves Islam is an anti-feminist religion.

Abdullah: If you can prove that women are more intelligent than men, then Islam is anti-feminist. But if I can prove that women are less intelligent than men, then Islam is not anti-feminist. Will anyone call you an anti-feminist if you say men are physically stronger than women? No, because it’s true that men are physically stronger than women. This means you are not an anti-democratic person if you speak “truth” about democracy’s weakness.

Note that I am not saying women are “dumb”. What I am saying is men are “more intelligent” than women. Men have always been dominated women. This proves men are more intelligent than women. Note that men don’t dominate women with their superior physical strength. We know that intelligence is greater than physical strength which is why human beings dominate elephants. Men dominate women with their superior intelligence. What’s the proof that men dominate women? Well, to be honest with you, if you keep your eyes shut, you will not see any proof. You need to open your eyes and look around for proof. Women have always been complained that men dominate them. Feminist movements or women’s liberation movements prove men dominate women.

Note that I do not support men’s domination over women. Men should not take advantage of women’s less intelligence and dominate them. If we follow Islam, men’s domination over women will end. Islam treats men and women based on substantive (real) equality. For example, it is not substantive equality if the government pass a law saying any citizen who sleeps in the street will be arrested. This is because a citizen who has a home will probably never sleep in the street but a homeless citizen obviously will. It is more likely that a homeless citizen will sleep in the street due to poverty than a citizen who owns a house. It is more likely that a female witness will go astray than a male witness. Therefore, it is substantive equality if we let two women intellectually fight against one man.

Peter: You said men are more intelligent than women. This is not true. Women are more intelligent than men. We have female scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, architects, and so on. Statistics found that more women graduate from schools than men. Often women score higher than men in IQ tests. Also, you said men dominate women. This is not true either. Women control their household matters, not men.

Abdullah: I never said women are dumb so they can’t be scientists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, and architects. I said men are more intelligent than women. You said more women graduate from school than men. Statistics found that women take their academic life way more seriously than men. If equal intellectual effort is made by both men and women, men accomplish more than women do. You said sometimes women score higher than men in IQ tests. Please make a note that good memory and devotion plays bigger role in getting good grade at school and in IQ tests than your intelligence. Most of the exams and IQ tests require you to recollect materials more than to apply materials.

Scientists say the most important thing needed to apply knowledge and skills is rationality. Emotion works as a negative factor on rationality. Scientists have found that women are more emotional than men. British feminist scientist Professor Susan Adele Greenfield conducted a research study to find out if women are less intelligent than men or vice versa. She found out that “women seem to function less 'mindfully' than men or, putting it less euphemistically, less 'intelligently'”. She said “the more 'emotion' you experience, the less 'mind' you have.” Sahih Bukhari 6:301 says women have deficiency in عَقْلٍ. If you translate the Arabic word عَقْلٍ using google translation, it says عَقْلٍ can either mean ‘mind’ or ‘intellect’ or ‘reason’.

What does the word “intelligence” mean? Intelligence means the ability to ACQUIRE and APPLY knowledge and skills.  Women are not poorer at acquiring knowledge than men. But obviously they are poorer at applying knowledge than men. Women are better in social science than applied science. Since both “acquiring knowledge” and “applying knowledge” make up the adjective “intelligence”, we can say that men are more intelligent than women.

Also, you said women control their household matters. I agree. But does this prove women’s higher intelligence than men? Most of the husbands obey what their wives say about household matters. Why do they do that? They do it not because they are less intelligent than their wives. They do it for peace and conjugal happiness. A woman can control her husband but not all other men in the society. As a whole, men control women in the society. A crocodile is stronger in the water than it is on the land. So, it is better for a crocodile to stay in the water. A woman is stronger in indoors than outdoors. So, it is better for a woman not to go outdoors. Islam encourages women to stay at home.

References:

Sahih Bukhari, Volume 1, Book 6, Number 301:

حَدَّثَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي مَرْيَمَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ جَعْفَرٍ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي زَيْدٌ ـ هُوَ ابْنُ أَسْلَمَ ـ عَنْ عِيَاضِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، قَالَ خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي أَضْحًى ـ أَوْ فِطْرٍ ـ إِلَى الْمُصَلَّى، فَمَرَّ عَلَى النِّسَاءِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ يَا مَعْشَرَ النِّسَاءِ تَصَدَّقْنَ، فَإِنِّي أُرِيتُكُنَّ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقُلْنَ وَبِمَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ‏"‏ تُكْثِرْنَ اللَّعْنَ، وَتَكْفُرْنَ الْعَشِيرَ، مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْ نَاقِصَاتِ عَقْلٍ وَدِينٍ أَذْهَبَ لِلُبِّ الرَّجُلِ الْحَازِمِ مِنْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ ‏"‏‏.‏ قُلْنَ وَمَا نُقْصَانُ دِينِنَا وَعَقْلِنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَلَيْسَ شَهَادَةُ الْمَرْأَةِ مِثْلَ نِصْفِ شَهَادَةِ الرَّجُلِ ‏"‏‏.‏ قُلْنَ بَلَى‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ عَقْلِهَا، أَلَيْسَ إِذَا حَاضَتْ لَمْ تُصَلِّ وَلَمْ تَصُمْ ‏"‏‏.‏ قُلْنَ بَلَى‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ فَذَلِكَ مِنْ نُقْصَانِ دِينِهَا ‏"‏‏.‏

Source: http://sunnah.com/bukhari/6/