Rethinking Morality and Gender in the Narration of

Eslami Ardakani, Sayyid Hasan

doi:10.22034/hsr.2024.51237.1014

Rethinking Morality and Gender in the Narration of "Khiṣāl al-Nisāʼ" (Characteristics of Women)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Sayyid Hasan Eslami Ardakani

Professor of the Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Religions, University of Religions and Religions, Qom, Iran.

10.22034/hsr.2024.51237.1014

Abstract

A well-known saying in Nahj al-Balāghah attributed to Imam Ali (AS) states that feminine morality is distinguished from and at times conflicts with masculine morality. According to this saying, the three traits of arrogance, fear, and stinginess are considered the worst vices for men and the best virtues for women. If this statement holds true, it implies the existence of two different moral systems for women and men, which is inconsistent with certain moral teachings of the Quran. Past commentators on Nahj al-Balāghah, influenced by the prevailing beliefs of their time, accepted the content of this statement as correct and passed over it without much scrutiny. However, contemporary interpreters and commentators have sought to defend the validity of this saying by either changing the meanings of these traits or limiting their scope. Nonetheless, these defenses often raise multiple issues and create new problems instead of resolving the existing ones. Therefore, the author examines and analyzes this alleged hadith, assessing its validity from a different perspective. To do this, the author first reviews the sources where this saying is mentioned for the first time and conducts a textual analysis of their chains of narration. Then, the intrinsic meaning of the hadith is analyzed, and the strength of its arguments is evaluated. In the next step, based on biological findings that some commentators have utilized, the claim of distinction is scrutinized. Finally, the difficulties that this saying faces from both an intra-religious and an ethical perspective are articulated, and its credibility is challenged.

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