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Fatwa CenterThe rationale behind the ineligibility of women to be prophets
Question
Why can’t women and angels be prophets?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Allaah the Almighty chose His Messengers and Prophets from male human beings, not angels, women or jinn. He is the Ever-Wise, the Ever-Knowing. Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {Allaah is most knowing of where He places His message.}[Quran 6:124]
As for angels, Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And what prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them except that they said, "Has Allaah sent a human messenger?" Say, "If there were upon the earth angels walking securely, We would have sent down to them from the heaven an angel [as a] messenger."}[Quran 17:94-95]
Allaah the Almighty did not choose His Prophets to be angels because, as the verse says, a prophet to human beings must be human so that people can take him as an example and have no excuse for not following him.
As for women, Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And We sent not before you [as messengers] except men to whom We revealed from among the people of cities.}[Quran 12:109]
Ash-Shawkaani 
said that this verse indicates that Allaah the Almighty did not send a female or a jinni prophet. This refutes the allegation that there were four female prophets: Hawwaa’ (Eve), Aasiyah [the wife of Fir‘awn (pharaoh)], the mother of Moosaa (Moses) and Maryam (Mary), and it was well-known among Arabs that prophets were only men.
Women are physically and mentally weak, and prophethood requires strength, sternness, confrontation, intelligence, mixing with men and other qualities that do not suit the innate nature of women.
As for the jinn, Ash-Shawkaani said that the aforementioned verse indicates that there was no jinni prophet. The verse says "men" and there are no men among jinn. However, some scholars oppose this view and say there is a verse indicating that there are men among jinn: Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And there were men from mankind who sought refuge in men from the jinn.}[Quran 72:6] Some scholars also say that there were jinni prophets. Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {"O company of jinn and humankind, did Messengers not come up to you from among you.}[Quran 6:130]
Nevertheless, we believe that this verse does not indicate that there were jinni prophets since Allaah the Almighty addressed humans and jinn as one group. Since they are one group, the fact that prophets were from one group does not necessarily mean that there were prophets for each. If Allaah the Almighty had meant that there were both Jinni and human prophets, he would not have talked to them as one group.
And Allaah Knows best.
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