Q. People say that Islam does not allow that a woman should become the head of state. Could you please explain the reasons for this prohibition?
Abdulwaheed
A. Most scholars maintain that in an Islamic state, a woman could work in any position in government with the exception of being the head of state.
The basis of this ruling is a Hadith which says that on learning that the Persians appointed the daughter of their deceased emperor as the head of their empire, the Prophet said: “A community that assigns its leadership to a woman shall not be successful.”
From another point of view, scholars of old looked at the role of the caliph or head of Islamic state and pointed out a number of functions that a woman does not do, including leading the prayers, commanding armies, and making decisions in a variety of matters that require expertise that a woman does not normally have. They related this to the aforementioned Hadith and concluded that it provides the basis of a ruling applicable to all communities.
However, some scholars questioned this conclusion. They read the Hadith as an informative statement alerting Muslims to what would happen in a particular case, i.e. the Persian Empire.
They look at how modern states function and realize that much of the old duties a head of state used to perform no longer fall under his direct command. Any head of state today work through a host of advisers and experts, who could be of either sex. Such scholars maintain that a properly qualified woman can be the head of a modern state, relying on advice by experts in different fields.