Why is the witness of one man considered to be equal to the witness of two women?
Question

                Why is the witness of two women considered to be equal to the testimony of one man?
Praise be to Allah.What is meant by witness 
          or testimony is something by which the thing testified may be proven 
          and known to be true and correct, so it is information about it.  
          With regard to the witness of two women being equal to the testimony 
          of one man. Allaah has mentioned the wisdom behind specifying the number 
          of two as being that a woman may forget or get confused, so the other 
          woman can remind her, as He said: 
“…And get two witnesses 
          out of your own men. And if there are not two men (available), then 
          a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one 
          of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her…”
[al-Baqarah 2:282 
          – interpretation of the meaning]
 
          With regard to the phrase, “that if one of them (two 
          women) errs”, Ibn Katheer said: “This means, the two women, if one 
          of them forgets the testimony, then ‘the other can remind her’, 
          i.e., she can remind her about the matter concerning which testimony 
          is being given.” (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, part 1, p. 724) 
 
          Allaah has commanded the testimony of two women so as 
          to be sure that they remember, because the mind and memory of two women 
          takes the place of the mind and memory of one man. (See I’laam al-Muwaqqa’een, 
          part 1, p. 75). 
 
          This does not mean that a woman does not understand or 
          that she cannot remember things, but she is weaker than man in these 
          aspects – usually. Scientific and specialized studies have shown that 
          men’s minds are more perfect than those of women, and reality and experience 
          bear witness to that. The books of knowledge are the best witness to 
          that; the knowledge which has been transmitted by men and the ahaadeeth 
          which have been memorized by men far outnumber those which have come 
          via women. 
 
          This has to do with gender, i.e., the gender of men is 
          more perfect than the gender of women. Allaah says (interpretation of 
          the meaning): 
 
          “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, 
          because Allaah has made one of them to excel the other, and because 
          they spend (to support them) from their means. Therefore the righteous 
          women are devoutly obedient (to Allaah and to their husbands), and guard 
          in the husband’s absence what Allaah orders them to guard (e.g. their 
          chastity and their husband’s property)”
 
          [al-Nisaa’ 4:34]
Nevertheless, there 
          are some women who are far superior to men in their reason and insight, 
          but they are few, and the ruling is based on the majority and the usual 
          cases. 
 
          A woman may compensate for her weaknesses by striving 
          hard, and surpass men when they are negligent. Hence we find that in 
          some colleges, female students surpass male students because of their 
          greater efforts and their keenness to succeed when many of the male 
          students are negligent and are not eager to learn. A man may also excel 
          over a woman in some fields that are basically hers, so we find that 
          some of the most skilled chefs, tailors, cosmeticians and obstetricians 
          on the international level are men. The point is that usually – and 
          no wise person would dispute this – most of the prominent people in 
          the religious sciences, such as fiqh, hadeeth, tafseer, ‘aqeedah and 
          preaching, and in the worldly sciences such as medicine, astronomy, 
          engineering, physics, chemistry, etc. are men. 
 
          If we think about the western societies in which men 
          and women are regarded as equal in all aspects, we will find that despite 
          that men still prevail. Still, Allaah has given women pre-eminence and 
          has favoured them over men in some aspects, such as caring for children, 
          and showing patience, love and compassion towards them, and managing 
          the home. Hence the sharee’ah gives custody to them, for the mother 
          is the first school, from which the future men, leaders of the world 
          and scholars of the ummah graduate. What virtue can be greater than 
          this?
 
          Islam encourages special care for the mother and her 
          children, and enjoins upon children to honour their mother, treat her 
          kindly and give her preferential treatment above the father. It was 
          narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: “A man said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, 
          who among the people is most deserving of my good companionship?’ He 
          said, Your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father, 
          then those who are closest in order of closeness.’” (Narrated by 
          Muslim, 2548). What greater honour can there be than this? 
 
          So let everyone work in his or her field of specialization. 
          Men should not interfere in pregnancy and breastfeeding, and women should 
          not be involved in jihad, fighting the enemy, or holding the positions 
          of khaleefah or ruler. Whatever is permitted to both of them should 
          be done within the guidelines of sharee’ah, such as not allowing free 
          mixing of the sexes and not neglecting other duties such as those of 
          husbands and wives. 
 
          And Allaah is the Source of strength.