Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
3. Womanhood in Islam
~ 41 ~
treated well. A correct interpretation of the word
‘rib’ has to be one that fits in with the underlying
purpose behind the Prophet’s statement.
The statement, “women have been created from a
rib,” should be taken metaphorically, not literally.
What the Prophet wished to convey was this:
“Women are akin to a rib and should be treated
with due consideration.” There is another tradition
which explains what this means. “A woman is like a
rib,” said the Prophet, “if you try to straighten it, it
will break.”
38
This saying of the Prophet Muhammad, related in
the
Sahih
of both Bukhari and Muslim — the most
authentic collections of traditions — makes it clear
that women are like ribs; they are not actually
created from ribs. The allusion is figurative not
literal. Light is also cast on the meaning of the
metaphor. Ribs break when one tries to straighten
them. So it is with women. Rather than try to
straighten them, it is, better to let them be.
“Women have been created from ribs,” and
“Women are like ribs,” are just two different ways
of saying the same thing. There is a difference in the
