Exploring Evidence on Authorizing Women as Sources of Emulation in Imamiya Jurisprudence

The issue of presence or absence of women in social and political activities has been among controversial issues which have been subject to debates since a long time ago. One of such activities is for women to become sources of religious emulation. In Imamiya jurisprudence there are two viewpoints about women becoming sources of emulation: one group considers manhood as a condition for becoming source of emulation while another group maintains that manhood is not a condition and men and women should be treated equal in this regard. This study first give the most important evidence provided by those who oppose women becoming sources of emulation before pointing out drawbacks of that evidence and proving that there is no indisputable evidence to prevent women from becoming sources of emulation. On the other hand, by analyzing the evidence given by those who believe that gender is not a condition for becoming source of emulation, the paper reaches the conclusion that women, like men, can become sources of emulation.