Judiciary and political corps
Abu Hanfa establishes that women are not forbidden from occupying positions
in the judiciary system in matters that are of their sphere of testimony,
that is in non-criminal affairs. At-Tabari and Ibn Hazim, on the other
hand, establish the authority of their judgement of criminal cases, as
well as financial and other cases. Yet, that this is not prohibited does
not give it the status of incumbency or necessity. It is a possibility
that can be adjusted according to different circumstances and interests:
the interest of the family, the interest of the community and, above all,
the interest of Islam. Thus, the possibility may lead to a situation where
some distinguished women at a certain point of their age are chosen for
judgeship in certain matters and under certain circumstances.
On the other hand, her ineligibility under the Islamic teaching (shar'a)
to hold the caliphate or head the state is owing to the great burdens of
such a huge responsibility which in most cases outweigh the capacity of
the woman (and the man) and conflicts with the natural disposition of the
woman as mother. This does not exhaust all possibilities since we are aware
that some women could be even more capable than some men. One such example
is the Queen of Sheba whose story is told by Allah in the Qur'an. She led
her nation to happiness and well-being in this and the other life and submitted
herself with Prophet Solomon to Allah, Controller of the Worlds. Nevertheless,
rules are not formed on the basis of rare occurrence but on the frequency
of it. Thus the scholars establish that generally "the rare does not constitute
a rule." But for the woman to be a manager, dean, director, member of parliament,
minister, etc., is all very well so long as it weighs the interests. All
these questions are dealt with in detail in my book Contemporary Legal
Opinions (Fatawa Mu'aserah).