Yousef Saanei: Difference between revisions
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=== Special Attention to the Holy Quran === | === Special Attention to the Holy Quran === | ||
One of Saanei's primary foundations is the prioritization of the Quran. He, on Qisas issue, appeals to the usuli rule | One of Saanei's primary foundations is the prioritization of the Quran. He, on Qisas issue, appeals to the usuli rule to the effect that the certainly-said Quranic texts (Qat'i al-Sudur) has precedence over the uncertainly-said hadith (Zanni al-Sudur).<ref>Na'ini, Ajwad al-Taqrirat, vol. 1, p. 505.</ref> He cites two verses: [[Surah Al-Ma'idah, Verse 45|“And We ordained for them therein a life for a life...”]] (Ma'idah, 45) and [[Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 178|“Prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered - the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female”]] (Baqarah, 178) and considers their indication of equal Qisas for men and women to be clear and explicit (Nass). Therefore, in his opinion it is wrong to act upon hadiths indicate that taking a woman's revenge against a man as Qisas depends on payment of half the man's Diya, because they are explicitly contradict with the Quran.<ref>Sa'anei, Equality of Qisas, p. 43; cf. Mehrpour, Issues in Women's Rights, pp. 248-249.</ref> | ||
Regarding [[Testimony of Women|testimony of women]], Saanei's focus is on the verse [[Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 282|“And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women... so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her”]] (Baqarah: 282). Based on the verse, he concludes that the ruling of two women's testimony being equivalent to one man's is restricted to financial matters (debt) in the first place as well as it is neither permanent nor does it include all women. This is because scholars of Usul say if an edict is stated with a reason (Illah), and something seems to be a reason for an edict, that edict depends on that reason.<ref>Allamah al-Hilli, Nihayat al-Wusul ila Ilm al-Usul, vol. 2, p. 201; Najmabadi, Al-Usul, vol. 1, p. 508.</ref> Saanei believes that in this verse "the forgetfulness of one woman and the need for the other to remind her" is the reason for inequality in testimony and this is related to the social conditions of women at the Age of Revelation (women had not social activities and they were weak in financial calculations). Since women today have a active presence in social fields and are precise in financial calculations, their testimony in court is equal to that of men because the problem of forgetfulness is no longer relevant.<ref>Sa'anei, Women's Testimony in Islam, pp. 57-59.</ref> | Regarding [[Testimony of Women|testimony of women]], Saanei's focus is on the verse [[Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 282|“And if there are not two men [available], then a man and two women... so that if one of them errs, the other can remind her”]] (Baqarah: 282). Based on the verse, he concludes that the ruling of two women's testimony being equivalent to one man's is restricted to financial matters (debt) in the first place as well as it is neither permanent nor does it include all women. This is because scholars of Usul say if an edict is stated with a reason (Illah), and something seems to be a reason for an edict, that edict depends on that reason.<ref>Allamah al-Hilli, Nihayat al-Wusul ila Ilm al-Usul, vol. 2, p. 201; Najmabadi, Al-Usul, vol. 1, p. 508.</ref> Saanei believes that in this verse "the forgetfulness of one woman and the need for the other to remind her" is the reason for inequality in testimony and this is related to the social conditions of women at the Age of Revelation (women had not social activities and they were weak in financial calculations). Since women today have a active presence in social fields and are precise in financial calculations, their testimony in court is equal to that of men because the problem of forgetfulness is no longer relevant.<ref>Sa'anei, Women's Testimony in Islam, pp. 57-59.</ref> | ||