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Are the "Muhaddathun" among the Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) restricted to men, excluding women, by analogy with prophethood and messengership, based on the addition of "men who are spoken to without being prophets"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The address to men includes women. Allah spoke to Mary through Gabriel. The word "men" (rijal) in the Quran does not necessarily negate the presence of women in the same context, as in His saying, the Most High: "And on Al-A'raf are men" (7:46). Analogy cannot be made with prophethood regarding the issue of inspiration, as prophethood is disputed for women and is a higher status than inspiration. Nevertheless, there were women who were Siddiqat (truthful ones), a rank higher than Muhaddathah (one who is spoken to by angels) and inspiration, such as Maryam bint Imran and Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. The proof of this is that Umm Salamah inspired the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with a sound opinion on the Day of Hudaybiyyah.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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