The criticism on Hadith as one of the legal sources in Islam is continually debating until the present day. For certain reasons, the Hadith has been disregarded as an infallible source, and its authenticity often becomes the subject of argument among the past and present scholars. One of the important debates in the study of Hadith is the existence of misogynistic traditions which are claimed to be found in the authentic Hadith collections. This paper aims to discover how the hadith has been criticized for being influenced by patriarchal interpretation and prejudiced as anti-women as claimed by the feminists. It is due to the male domination in major aspects of the Islamic texts, including the process of transmission, preservation, publication as well as interpretation. Unfortunately, the interpretation of the Hadith particularly those pertaining to women contains gender bias and discrimination against women. The feminists argue those Hadiths were interpreted in favor of men’s interests and patriarchal culture. In addition, this study also attempts to examine some reasons for rejecting the patriarchal interpretation as initiated by the feminists, with their aim to reject anti-women discourse and to emphasize the women-friendly interpretation of the Islamic texts. The finding shows that patriarchal interpretation might be the reason for mistreatment towards women, however, the Hadith contains divine wisdom equally for both genders. It is a mutual responsibility to provide a better understanding of the Hadith textually and contextually.

In 2015, United Nations (UN) has implemented 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where the fifth goal aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls all over the world. The efforts of promoting gender equality are not new, yet it is a continuous mission as a global concern from one generation to another. Islam is one of the religions which attempts to emphasize equality for all mankind. Unfortunately, there are claims that gender inequality and injustice are being justified in the name of Islam. Islamic texts are blamed for having deliberately encouraged gender bias and have shown a preference for males over females. The stereotype image of the female role is continuously portrayed as a symbol of the oppression of Muslim women, even though in the present-day women have been given other significant roles in society. Therefore, this study aims to remove any accusation that claims Islam is an unjust religion towards gender equality and analyse its value within the current context. Applying the qualitative design, this study collects and analyses related verses from the Quran and selected hadiths from six canonical books of hadith known as Kutub Sittah. As a result, the study found the similarity and differences on the concept of gender equality in SDG and the Islamic texts from the Quran and hadith. However, eliminating injustice and discrimination towards women should be significantly continued as a global and humanitarian mission.