More Women in Hell Than Men?

It was narrated from the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) that women will form the majority of the
people of Hell. It was narrated from ‘Imran ibn Husayn that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “I looked into Paradise and
I saw that the majority of its people were the poor. And I looked into Hell
and I saw that the majority of its people are women.”

(Narrated by al-Bukhari, 3241; Muslim,
2737) 

With regard to the reason for this, the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was asked about it and he
explained the reason. 

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Abbas
(may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “I was shown Hell and I have never
seen anything more terrifying than it. And I saw that the majority of its
people are women.” They said, “Why, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Because
of their ingratitude (kufr).” It was said, “Are they ungrateful to Allah?”
He said, “They are ungrateful to their companions (husbands) and ungrateful
for good treatment. If you are kind to one of them for a lifetime then she
sees one (undesirable) thing in you, she will say, ‘I have never had
anything good from you.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhari, 1052) 

It was narrated that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri
(may Allah be pleased with him) said:  

“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him) went out to the musalla (prayer place) on the day of
Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr. He passed by the women and said, ‘O women! Give
charity, for I have seen that you form the majority of the people of Hell.’
They asked, ‘Why is that, O Messenger of Allah?’  He replied, ‘You curse
frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more
deficient in intelligence and religious commitment than you. A cautious
sensible man could be led astray by some of you.’ The women asked, ‘O
Messenger of Allah, what is deficient in our intelligence and religious
commitment?’ He said, ‘Is not the testimony of two women equal to the
testimony of one man?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency in
her intelligence. Is it not true that a woman can neither pray nor fast
during her menses?’ The women said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘This is the deficiency
in her religious commitment.’” 

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 304) 

It was narrated that Jabir ibn ‘Abd-Allah
(may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I attended Eid prayers with the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He started
with the prayer before the khutbah (sermon), with no adhan (call to prayer)
or iqamah (final call to prayer). Then he stood up, leaning on Bilal (may
Allah be pleased with him), speaking of fear of Allah (taqwa) and urging us
to obey Him. He preached to the people and reminded them. Then he went over
to the women and preached to them and reminded them. Then he said, ‘Give in
charity, for you are the majority of the fuel of Hell. A woman with dark
cheeks stood up in the midst of the women and said, ‘Why is that, O
Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Because you complain too much and are
ungrateful to your husbands.’ Then they started to give their jewellery in
charity, throwing their earrings and rings into Bilal’s cloak.”

(Narrated by Muslim, 885) 

Our believing sisters who learn of this
hadeeth should behave like those Sahabiyat (female Companions) who, when
they learned of this, did good deeds which would be the means, by Allah’s
leave, of keeping them far away from being included in that majority of the
inhabitants of Hell. 

So our advice to the sisters is to strive to
adhere to the rituals and obligatory duties of Islam, especially prayer, and
to keep away from that which Allah has forbidden, especially shirk in its
many forms which is widespread among women, such as seeking one’s needs from
someone other than Allah, going to practitioners of witchcraft and
fortune-tellers, etc.

We ask Allah to keep us and all our brothers
and sisters far away from the Fire and the words and deeds that bring one
close to it.

And Allah knows best.