Shari'ah and Women's Status as Judges

In this study, masculinity as a necessary requirement to make legal decisions has been studied from a jurisprudential perspective. It has been concluded, albeit after explaining the prerequisites and studying the most authentic Islamic sources as well as the opinion of grand jurists, that masculinity is one of the essential and basic requirements of an appointed judge. Therefore, judgments passed by women as appointed judges would not be in order and legally binding. In case the parties to a dispute consent to a woman acting as a judge to settle their dispute and if all other conditions are met, there would no objection to her rendering decisions according to Shari'ah. Based on the evidence and arguments presented in this article, the arguments offered by some scholars in support of women as appointed judges are criticized.