[smazibummigue]

Salam 'Aleykum,

Quite a few argued that Mariam (as) was a female Prophet, but you know that this is a weak opinion.

No, Maryam was not a prophet, but you see, she had the potential to be. And so did other pious women in Islam, such as Asiya the wife of Fir'awn and Khadijah (ra).
What Im asking is, why weren't any of females given Prophethood, there certainly were some (like those mentioned above) who had the potential, so why not?

[Eromaveabeara]

No, Maryam was not a prophet, but you see, she had the potential to be. And so did other pious women in Islam, such as Asiya the wife of Fir'awn and Khadijah (ra).
What Im asking is, why weren't any of females given Prophethood, there certainly were some (like those mentioned above) who had the potential, so why not?

Salam 'Aleykum,

What if there was female prophets but we just didn't know about it?

I remember they stated reasons, such as that men were physically stronger, men were considered leaders in the old societies and still are so they are more likely to be taken seriously, well... not even any man, the man had to be wise and known for his honestly among his people otherwise they'd dismiss him straight away... I mean there had to be a reason why Allah didn't send women or angels as prophets...

just a quick search and look what I got:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7EKLcaI3Vg
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthrea...emale-Prophets
http://www.whyislam.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27082

[interbaoui]

No, Maryam was not a prophet, but you see, she had the potential to be. And so did other pious women in Islam, such as Asiya the wife of Fir'awn and Khadijah (ra).
What Im asking is, why weren't any of females given Prophethood, there certainly were some (like those mentioned above) who had the potential, so why not?

The reasons are best known to Allah but there have been hypotheses provided for this issue.

The one that makes the most sense to me is that women menstruate, which makes them impure and it is something beyond their control. They also cannot be purified until after their bleeding stops. There is no such issue for men. Even if a man is in a state of janabah, he can make ghusl and be purified.

Another hypothesis is that women have not been classically seen as strong and powerful in comparison to men (regardless of what feminists would have you believe) - so if a woman were to claim prophethood, she could have been easily oppressed and subdued by the men around her. This is another biological reason.

Another hypothesis has to do with hormones and is related to the first hypothesis, in that women tend to have different tolerance levels depending on their hormone levels. That is to say, women can be quick to anger at some times while calm and collected at others merely due to biological reasons.

A further hypothesis is that if a woman was to have children, she would be expected to raise and rear them. There were no babysitters and daycare centres in the past nor was the role of the man that of a nurturer.

Another issue is that of being faced with dealing with men. Men have a higher libido than women and the higher the amount of interaction a woman has with men, the higher the chance of sexual abuse.

Islam forbids us from having women lead men, for which the reasons are best known to Allah but the few hypotheses mentioned above are enough to suffice as explanations for why women are not allowed to be in leadership roles, let alone be seen as prophets, because the leadership of prophets is the highest form of leadership.