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Fatwa CenterThe majority of the dwellers of Hellfire are women
Question
Once Allah's Apostle went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) 'Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Apostle! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion." Please explain this Hadith. Why does the Prophet(may Allah bless him and give him peace) say that women are ungrateful? are all women like that? is it inherent? and why is having menses making us deficient in religion when that is decreed by Allah Most High...?
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.
The narration you referred to in the question is authentic and it is reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others 
. The meaning of the narration is that the Prophet 
urged women to give charity and informed them that he saw that the majority of the dwellers of Hellfire were women. He clarified two reasons why women enter Hellfire. The first reason is that they curse too much, and the second one is that they are ungrateful to their husbands. If a husband has always been kind to his wife and she sees once what she considers as a mistake from him, she would say that she has never seen any good from him. The Prophet informed us about this because, generally speaking, this is a true. As soon as a wife has a dispute with her husband, she would forget all the good that he has done to her and she would say that she has never seen any good from him.
As regards why menses are considered as a deficiency in her religion; when a woman has her menses, she does not pray and she does not fast, as mentioned in the Prophetic narration; undoubtedly, this is a deficiency in religion. This is something that Allaah decreed on her, but He does not punish her for it [due to not being able to pray or fast], and the narration does not state that she enters Hellfire due to this.
The expression “...and I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion...” is a continuation of the narration and it is not stating the reason why they enter Hellfire.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 81237 and 87751.
Allaah Knows best.
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