Women and Jannah

 "Are there more men or women in Jannah?" is a question that Muslims have been asking since the time of the Companions of RasulAllah (sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam). While Abu Hurayrah (radhiAllahu 'anhu) produced a narration which I would think would settle the debate quite easily, apparently there are too many people who would rather quibble on endlessly about how that can't be true because of other ahadith that say that there will be more women in Hell, and since those ahadith are quoted far more often (in almost every lecture reminding us of how women are the sources of almost all evil), then it should be obvious that most women are doomed to an eternity of hellish damnation... 

Academia, on the other hand, is little better; Aisha Geissinger's paper "Are Men the Majority in Paradise or Women?" almost gleefully seizes upon quotes from medieval Islamic scholars (and calls upon laughable ideas of masculinity and femininity medieval Islamo-Grecian philosophy to posit equally laughable ideas about how gender exists in Jannah) to seemingly insist that all Islamic thought portrays the concept of women in Jannah in a less than just manner.

Putting aside the ignorance, stupidity, and clearly twisted desire on the parts of such people to somehow present women as inherently evil creatures who should hold little hope of God's Mercy and reward, there is another, deeper issue that seems to underlie most discussions related to Muslim women and Jannah. Somehow, it seems that everyone is overlooking the fact that Muslim women lived Islam from its earliest days, pursued Jannah as a goal from the very beginning, and in fact, were promised Jannah as their ultimate reward for all their sacrifices.

Khadijah (radhiAllahu 'anha) was the very first believer, and received glad tidings from Jibreel ('alayhissalaam) of the incredible palace of Paradise in which she will reside; a place of peace, joy, tranquility, and safety, for all the torment, abuse, and harassment that she endured in this world. 

Sumayyah bint Khayyat (radhiAllahu 'anha), the elder African woman who was the first martyr of Islam, killed for her unyielding belief in Allah, was promised "Paradise will be your meeting place!" by the Messenger of Allah, who wept to see her tortured daily. 

Aasiyah, the wife of Pharoah, had her supplication immortalized in the Qur'an: "O Allah, build for me, close to You, a home in Paradise!" (Qur'an 66:11)

Umm Salamah (radhiAllahu 'anha) demanded to know why the Qur'an always specified men - "What about women?" she asked - and Allah revealed: "Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward." (Qur'an 33:35)

The believing women of the past were not passive women whose faith or spirituality was dictated by men around them. They engaged with the Qur'an and with God's Messenger directly; their belief was fervent, strong, and powerful; their intellect was wielded as a tool of faith, to seek knowledge, to gain deeper understanding. Jannah, to them, was not insignificant, nor were they unmotivated to pursue it. Jannah was not a distant idea; they did not feel that there was not enough incentive for them to seek its rewards; they believed, truly and deeply, in Allah's Promise that He would never withhold or shortchange any believer, man or woman, of their rewards in Paradise.

Fixating on questions of demographics or debating whether women matter in Jannah, or what we get vs men, is not only a waste of time and insulting to God's Justice, but is an insult to the believing women of the past - those who literally gave their lives for God, seeking His Love and His Reward. For us to frame Paradise as an academic exercise, or just another way to belittle women and exclude them from God's Mercy, is a perversion of what religious discourse should be. Indeed, it is precisely because of these types of discussions that so many Muslim women's faith has been harmed - because rather than referring to the Qur'an for breathtakingly beautiful descriptions of eternal joy, peace, and pleasure, some people prefer to invoke specific ahadith (usually out of context!) in order to insult, belittle, and put women down.

Discussions about Jannah should be about reminding believers, men and women, of all that awaits us for our lifetimes of faith and difficulty. Jannah, for women, is not just another place where we will face injustice - why then would we even want to be there?! 

This very subject is, perhaps, yet another reason that Muslim women need female scholars to turn to: that our faith and spirituality is bolstered by positive discussions of Jannah, that we may have conversations where our gender is not the focus of questions about our worthiness as humans and believers, where we are reminded, with love and joy, of God's Love for us, and of His Promised rewards.