Question

I saw few things that made me scared. I read 2 hadiths on that women are the least inhibtants of paradise and in another ‘No women will enter Paradise except those who are as rare among them as this crow is among the others’.This is giving me anxiety as it seems that even for muslim women they will abide in hell forever and it is exteremely rare for a woman to not go to hell.Does that mean that Allah will show more mercy to muslim men? Does that mean that the number of women who will go to paradise is extremly little compared to that of men?This makes me feel that 99.99% of those who will go to paradise are men and 0.01% are women. I feel really bad about myself because I see lots of encouragment for men to go to paradise but for women all I see is hell

Answer

A person will enter Paradise or Hell based on their belief and actions. If they believe in Allah the Almighty and carry out good deeds they will enter Paradise. If they do not believe in Allah the Almighty, their destination will be the fire of Hell. If a person believes in Allah the Almighty but also commits sin then if Allah wills He may punish them before entering them into Paradise or He may forgive them and enter them directly into Paradise. This applies to all people regardless of their gender. Being a woman does not mean you have more chance of going to Hell or have less chance of going to Paradise.

As for the narrations you have quoted, these do not state that women have less chance of going to Paradise or that they are destined to go to Hell just because they are women. In fact, if we look at the various hadiths on this issue we actually find that women will make up the majority of the inhabitants of Paradise.

The companions of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) once discussed amongst themselves who would make up the majority of the inhabitants of Paradise. When they asked Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), he argued that women will actually be the majority.

As for Hell, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) informs us that the majority of the inhabitants will be women. From these narrations we understand that women will make up majority of the inhabitants of Paradise as well as Hell. This tells us that from the time of the Prophet Adam (may Allah bless him and give him peace) until the end of time there will be more women in the world than men and that they will out number men in both destinations.

These narrations also emphasise to women that they should be extremely cautious regarding their faith and they should carry out good actions and not fall into those sins which may be common amongst women.

As for the narration of the crow, some scholars have interpreted this to mean that the number of women in Paradise will be less than the number of women in Hell. This is despite there still being more women in Paradise than men.

Hence, to conclude, the focus of a person regardless of being a man or woman should be on their actions. If they act according to the teachings of Islam they will enter Paradise insha Allah.

صحيح مسلم (4/ 2178)
عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ، قَالَ: إِمَّا تَفَاخَرُوا وَإِمَّا تَذَاكَرُوا: الرِّجَالُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ أَكْثَرُ أَمِ النِّسَاءُ؟ فَقَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ: أَوَ لَمْ يَقُلْ أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «إِنَّ أَوَّلَ زُمْرَةٍ تَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ عَلَى صُورَةِ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ، وَالَّتِي تَلِيهَا عَلَى أَضْوَإِ كَوْكَبٍ دُرِّيٍّ فِي السَّمَاءِ، لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ زَوْجَتَانِ اثْنَتَانِ، يُرَى مُخُّ سُوقِهِمَا مِنْ وَرَاءِ اللَّحْمِ، وَمَا فِي الْجَنَّةِ أَعْزَبُ؟

صحيح البخاري (4/ 117)
عَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: «اطَّلَعْتُ فِي الجَنَّةِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا الفُقَرَاءَ، وَاطَّلَعْتُ فِي النَّارِ فَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاءَ

مسند البزار = البحر الزخار (11/ 428)
وَرَأَيْتُ النَّارَ فَلَمْ أَرَ كَالْيَوْمِ مَنْظَرًا وَرَأَيْتُ أَكْثَرَ أَهْلِهَا النِّسَاءَ قَالُوا: لِمَ يَا رَسولَ اللهِ؟ قَالَ: بِكُفْرِهِنَّ الْعَشِيرَ قَالَ رَوْحٌ: وَالْعَشِيرُ الزَّوْجُ. وَبِكُفْرِهِنَّ الإِحْسَانَ، وَلَوْ أَحْسَنْتَ إِلَى إِحْدَاهُنَّ، ثُمَّ رَأَتْ مِنْكَ شَيْئًا قَالَتْ: مَا رَأَيْتُ مِنْكَ خَيْرًا قط

مسند أحمد ط الرسالة (29/ 305)
قَالَ: بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ مَعَ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ فِي حَجٍّ أَوْ عُمْرَةٍ، فَقَالَ: بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي هَذَا الشِّعْبِ إِذْ قَالَ: ” انْظُرُوا، هَلْ تَرَوْنَ شَيْئًا؟ ” فَقُلْنَا: نَرَى غِرْبَانًا فِيهَا غُرَابٌ أَعْصَمُ أَحْمَرُ الْمِنْقَارِ، وَالرِّجْلَيْنِ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: ” لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ، إِلَّا مَنْ كَانَ مِنْهُنَّ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فِي الْغِرْبَانِ

شرح النووي على مسلم (17/ 172)
قَالَ الْقَاضِي ظَاهِرُ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنَّ النِّسَاءَ أَكْثَرُ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ وَفِي الْحَدِيثِ الْآخَرِ أَنَّهُنَّ أَكْثَرُ أَهْلِ النَّارِ قَالَ فَيَخْرُجُ مِنْ مَجْمُوعِ هَذَا أَنَّ النِّسَاءَ أَكْثَرُ وَلَدِ آدَمَ قال وهذا كله فى الآدميات والافقد جَاءَ لِلْوَاحِدِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ مِنَ الْحُورِ الْعَدَدُ الْكَثِيرُ

فيض القدير (1/ 232)
قال السمهودي: وتبين من الأحاديث أن لكل واحد من أهل الجنة زوجتين من الحور العين أصالة وسبعين إرثا من أهل النار وذلك غير أزواجه من أهل الدنيا وأخذ منه أن النساء أكثر أهل الجنة كما أنهن أكثر النار أهل وهو ما فهمه أبو هريرة كما في الصحيحين عنه لكن فيهما مرفوعا أن منكن في الجنة ليسير وفي حديث مسلم الآتي أقل ساكني الجنة النساء. قال ابن القيم: فهذا يدل على أنه إنما يكن في الجنة أكثر بالحور وأما نساء أهل الدنيا فأقل أهل الجنة قال السمهودي: وفيه نظر لإمكان الجمع بأن المراد أن منكن في الجنة ليسير بالنسبة لمن يدخل النار منكن لأنهن أكثر أهل النار ويحمل عليه خبر عائشة أقل ساكني الجنة النساء يعني بالنسبة لمن يسكن منهن النار ويأتي لذلك مزيد

Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow

Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel