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Sisters of The Salafiyyah
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Women in Islam
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The Status of Woman in the Muslim Community (Ummah)Page: 1/2(1350 total words in this text)(340 Reads)  Shaikh Abdul-Azeez ibn Baaz
The status of the Muslim woman in Islaam is a very noble and lofty one, and her effect is very great in the life of
every Muslim. Indeed, the Muslim woman is the initial teacher in the building of a righteous society, providing she follows
the guidance from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah[1] of His Prophet , since adherence to the Qur'aan and the Sunnah distances every Muslim - male or female - from being misguided in any matter. The misguidance that the various
nations suffer from, and their being deviant, does not come about except by being far away from the path of Allaah - the Most
High, the Most Perfect - and from what His Prophets and Messengers, may Allaah's peace be upon them all, came with. The Prophet
said: "I am leaving behind me two matters, you will not go astray as long as you cling to them both, the Book of Allaah and
my Sunnah."[2]
The great importance of Muslim woman's role - whether as wife, sister or daughter, and the rights that are due to her and
the obligations due from her - have been explained in the purified Sunnah.The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous
burden and responsibility that is placed on her, and the difficulties that she has to shoulder - responsibilities and difficulties
some, which not even a man bears. This is why from the most important obligation upon a person is to show gratitude to the
mother, and kindness and good companionship with her. And in this matter, she is to be given precedence over and above the
father. Allaah - the most High - says:"And We have enjoined upon man to be dutiful and good to his parents. His mother bore
him in weakness upon weakness and hardship upon hardship, and his weaning is in two years. Show gratitude and thanks to Me
and to your parents. Unto Me is the final destination." [Soorah Luqmaan 31/14]
Allaah - the Most High - said: "And We have enjoined upon man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him
with hardship, and she brings him forth with hardship. And the bearing and the weaning of him is thirty months." [Soorah al-Ahqaaf
41/15]
A man came to Allaah's Messenger and said: O Messenger of Allaah! Who from amongst mankind warrants the best
companionship from me? He replied: "Your mother." The man asked: Then who? So he replied: "Your mother". The man then asked:
Then who? So the Prophet replied again: "Your mother." The man then asked: then who? So he replied: "Then your father." So
this necessitates that the mother is given three times the likes of kindness and good treatment than the father.[3]
As regards to the wife, then her status and her effect in making the soul tranquil and serene, has been clearly shown in
the noble ayah (verse), in His - the Most High's saying:"And from amongst His Signs is this: That He created from you wives
from amongst yourselves, so that you may find serenity and tranquility in them. And He has put between you love and compassion.
Indeed, in this are signs for those who reflect." [Soorah Ar-Rum 30/21] Al-Haafith Ibn Katheer (d.774H) - rahimahullaah (Allaah
have mercy upon him)- said, whilst explaining the term mawaddah means love and affection, and ar-rahmah means compassion and
piety - "since a man takes the hand of a woman either due to love for her, or because of compassion and piety for her,
by giving to her a child from himself…"[4]
And the unique stance that the Prophet's wife Khadeejah took, had a huge effect in calming and reassuring Allaah's Messenger
(upon whom be peace) when the angel Jibreel (Gabriel - peace be upon him)- first came to him in the cave of Hiraa. So the
Prophet returned to his wife Khadeejah with the first Revelation and with this his heart trembling and beating severely, and
so he said to her: "Cover me! Cover me!" So they covered him until his fear was over, after which he told Khadeejah - everything
that had happened, and said: 'I fear that something may happen to me." So she said to him: "Never! By Allah! Allah will never
disgrace you. You keep good ties with relations, you help the poor and the destitute, you serve your guests generously and
assist those who have been afflicted with calamities."[5]
And do not forget about Aaishah and her great effect. Since even the great Sahaabah (Companions) used to take knowledge
of Hadeeths (prophetic narrations) from her, and many of the Sahaabiyaat (female companions) learnt the various rulings pertaining
to women's issues from her…And I have no doubt that my mother - may Allaah shower His mercy upon her - had a tremendous
effect upon me, and has a great excellence over me, in encouraging me to study; and she assists me in it. May Allaah greatly
increase her reward and reward her with the best of rewards for what she did for me.And there is no doubt also, the house
in which there is kindness, gentleness, love and care, along with the correct Islamic tarbiyah (education and cultivation)
will greatly affect the man. So he will become - if Allaah wills - successful in his affairs and in any matter - whether it
be seeking knowledge, trading, earning a living, or other than this. So it is Allaah Alone that I ask to grant success and
to guide us all to that which he loves and is pleased with. And may the prayers of peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and
upon his Family, his companions and his followers.
Footnotes:
[1] The word 'Sunnah' means the 'legal way or ways, orders, acts of worship and statements of the Prophet , that have become
models to be followed by the Muslims'.
[2] This hadeeth is hasan (good): Related by Maalik in al-Muwattaa (2/899) and al-Haakim (1/93), from Ibn 'Abbaas, may
Allaah be pleased with him. It was authenticated by al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah (no.1871).
[3] Authentic: Related by al-Bukhari (no.59710) and Muslim (7/2), from Abu Hurayrah, may Allaah be pleased with him.
[4] Tafseer Qur'aanul-Adheem (3/4439) of Ibn Katheer
[5] Related by al-Bukhaari (1/22) and Muslim (1/139), from the lengthy narration of Aaishah (may Allaah be pleased with
her).
http://www.calgaryislam.com/imembers/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-187-page-1.html
Advice to My Sister
[posted in email author unknown to us]
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My Dear Sister,
Know that you are man's sister and half of humanity. You are
a mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, grand daughter or grand mother. The Prophet said, what translated means, Women
are, indeed, men's partners. [Abu Dawood]. You are a member of the great nation of Islam, the best nation ever produced
for mankind. No other nation on earth has more great men, leaders and conquerors than this nation. It is the nation of guidance
and the straight religion, and it leads humanity to righteousness and truth. It transforms people from worshippers of slaves
to worshippers of the Lord of slaves, from life's pressures to the pleasures of the Life after, and from the injustice of
other religions to the justice of Islam.
Your ancestors, great women of Islam, were one of the main reasons
for this great nation to take this great place among all nations. Allah, Who granted Islam to this nation, made a high place
for Muslim women, and decreed that they share in the responsibilities of enjoining truth, forbidding evil and raising the
flag of Islam. He said, what translated means, The believers, men and women, are loyalists of one another, they enjoin
righteousness and forbid evil, they offer their prayers perfectly and give the Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah
will leave His Mercy on them. Surely Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. [9:71]
Allah has given Muslim women what they can bare of orders and
duties. He is the God Who knows His creation, Should He not know what He created? And He is the Most Kind, All-Aware (of
everything). [67:14].
My dear sister, you are called upon today to truly become an
active member of the Muslim nation, strive to establish victory for Allah's Word, implement the Quran and help build the generation
of Iman.
What Do Your Enemies Want From You?
There are those who want to distract you from doing your duty.
They want to distract you from meeting your noble obligation, that is, to defend the religion of Allah and raise His Word
high. Those enemies use many methods:
First: They distract you from what Allah created you
to perform of worship, belief and Da'wah (propagating Islam). They use this worldly life as their bate: Jewelry stores, fashions
that originate in non-Muslim countries, new models all the time, desires raised, hunger that can never be satisfied, pleasures
and competition for them and endless ways for joy. Allah did not create us for this. Indulging in these matters is usually
accompanied by wasting time and money and igniting enmity and competition between the rich and the poor.
Second: They ignite enmity between you and man. To
those sinners, you are a daughter that is put down, a humiliated mother, an abused wife and an oppressed sister! Men are always
unjust, hypocrites, dictators, freedom- preventers and suppressers, according to them. There is a fabricated war that those
evil ones are starting for no reason other than to direct you to rebel against your father, be arrogant with your brother
and disobedient to your husband. They do not call for justice, mercy and unity. They call for hatred, arrogance and destruction.
Third: They do not stop at their call for rebellion
against parents, brothers and husbands, rather, they plot against Islam. They call upon you to rebel against the obligations
of Islam and the decrees of the All-Knowing King. Islam, to them, is unjust and Islamic laws are imperfect and restrictive.
They call upon you, day and night, to rebel and insist on the disobedience of this religion. They try to rid you of your religion.
They try to rid you of comfort and safety under generous parenthood, happy marriage and good brotherly relations.
Those devils portray piety and honor as chains on freedom. To
them, Hijab does not cover the head, but also covers the mind; prayer, fasting and Zakat are a waste of time and effort; and
obedience to husbands is slavery and a retum to the stone age. They distorted all facts and changed all truths, all to serve
their evil goals.
Dear Sister,
The goals that your enemies and the enemies of your religion
are seeking to achieve are well known. They want you to be available for them to fulfill their evil desires whenever they
wish. They want you to be a mistress that has no honor. They want you to be found everywhere, on roads and in places of sin,
without honor, religion or manners. They seek for you only what they want you to do. The Western world has gone through this
all. Women of the West are the part of society that is facing injustice and dishonor. They strive to please men who keep changing
partners and seek pleasures but with no responsibility and no consideration of the evil consequences of their sinful actions.
O Muslim sister, read and know about those women who discarded
shyness and honor and followed their desires, what was the result of their deeds? Was their end honorable and desirable, or
was it a shameful and hated end?
Advice For My Sister In Islam
Be proud of your religion and the religion of your ancestors.
Be a good example for your sons and daughters and sincere in your belonging to this mighty nation. Know that honor is an honor
to all wise people, and that adultery is dishonorable to all nations, even if some called it freedom. Know that adultery is
also done with the eyes by seeing, with the ears by listening, and with the mouth by kissing, as was mentioned in a Hadith
related by Imam Muslim. Your happiness is in being an obedient and believing daughter, a loyal and generous wife and a pious
and merciful mother. Know that prayer is the cornerstone of Islam. Fasting one day, for the sake of Allah, takes your face
seventy years away from Hellfire, as the Hadith, related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, states. Charity is a major cause for gaining
forgiveness and for repentance to be accepted. Those women who are showing parts of their bodies to men, will not enter Paradise
or smell its fragrance and are cursed, as in the Hadith related by Imam Muslim. Hijab is an honor and protection for you.
Hijab must be modest in color and not exotic, wide and thick and not revealing, different from the dress of non-Muslim women
and men.
My Dear Sister,
These are words from the heart. These are words of good and
sincere advice. Beware of the loyalists of Satan who want to lead you astray. Be a slave of Allah, righteous and decendent
of righteous women and know your role in building this great nation. Perform your duty and do not be a cause for destruction.
Be a maker of righteous generation that will lead mankind, again, to what is right and proper, to the great religion of Islam.
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The Distorted Image of Women in Islaam |
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By a former Non-Muslim, Naasira Bint Ellison |
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Bismillah Ir Rahman Ir Rahim |
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"PIVOTAL QUOTE" |
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We will never find success and/or solutions to our problems until we realise that Allaah knows best and
that this disbelieving society will ruin itself. |
Since the height of the feminist movement in the late 70's there has been a
magnifying glass placed over the status of Muslim women. Unfortunately, the magnifying glass that has been used is an unusual
one. Unusual in the sense that it is very selective about which items it will magnify; other items it will distort to such
a degree that they will no longer look familiar. I remember once reading in an "in depth" article about the lives of Muslim
women. This article "explained" that at any time a man can divorce his wife by simply stating "I divorce you, I divorce you,
I divorce you". This article can lead anyone ignorant of the Islamic ruling regarding divorce to believe that in less than
five seconds the woman is left with no husband and is left to care for herself (and possibly children) by any means necessary.
The question that immediately popped up in my mind was, "Did the author innocently write that out of sincere ignorance or
was it another of the many attempts to degrade the religion of Islam and its followers (muslims)?" It may be my own paranoia,
but I tend to believe it was the latter of the two.
The truth of the matter is that Islam has the most humane and
most just system of divorce that exists. Firstly, many options are taken and tried before coming to the decision of the divorce.
If the man and woman decide that they can no longer live together successfully as a husband and wife, the husband (in most
cases, not always) pronounces the divorce by saying "I divorce you". At this point the waiting period begins. The waiting
period lasts for three menstrual cycles to assure the woman is not pregnant. This period allows the couple time to think about
what they are doing and if this is what they really want to do. There are no lawyers involved to antagonise an already delicate
situation. In the case that it is realised, that the woman is pregnant, the waiting period lasts the entire time she is pregnant.
During the waiting period (whether the woman is pregnant or not) the man is obligated to provide food, clothing and shelter
to the woman as he did before the divorce pronouncement. If the couple carries the divorce through to the birth of the child
and the woman suckles the baby, the man is obligated to feed and clothe both his ex-wife for the time the woman suckles (the
maximum being two years). After this weaning, the child will be provided for by the father until he/she is no longer in need
of support. It is quite ironic that in such an "advanced society" as America, there are divorce cases in which women are being
forced to pay alimony to their ex-husbands. Can this and many other things we know about the American system of divorce compare
to the Islamic system of divorce?
I have also read stories wherein it is stated that women are forced
to marry men without their consent. This in no way resembles the marriage system in Islam. In Islaam the woman marries the
man of her choice. She may even marry someone that her mother and/or father objects to. The point is that it is the woman
who makes the final decision as to whom she will marry. Once the man and the woman decide that they are interested in one
another for marriage, a dowry is decided upon. A dowry is not a brides price but, it is a gift from the groom to the bride.
They agree upon a gift that is affordable by the groom. In the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam),
often things such as livestock and money were given. This is a wise decision in the event that a woman becomes divorced or
widowed, she has some financial security to fall back on even if it is for a limited amount of time. Once the man and woman
are married, the man is required to clothe, feed, shelter and educate her (or allow her to be educated) in the same manner
as he does himself. The last distorted image that I will cover is that of the Muslim women's dress. The western influenced
media portrays our dress to be outdated and oppressive. Needless to say however, I differ with these adjectives. Our dress
code does not hinder us from doing anything productive in our lives. Muslim women maintain a variety of jobs, non of which
are devalued nor hampered due to their dress code. And as for the timing of muslims women's dress during these contemporary
times, it seems most appropriate due to decreasing morals in the world today.
For those who say that Islamic dress is outdated, they speak from great
ignorance. The decreasing morality and trials of this time makes Hijaab even more in need. More than ever before sex crimes
are rampant. Although this society tells women they can wear what they want to wear, anytime a rape occurs the woman is the
one put on trial an one of the first questions is, "What were you wearing?" This concept seems as though it is a set up directed
against the so called contemporary woman. Also there is a direct correlation between the respect a man has for a woman and
the amount of her body her body she displays flauntingly. In conclusion, I hope this article helped to clear up some distorted/misunderstood
aspects of Islam and women. Women in Islam are respected and held in high regard. We will never find success and/or solutions
to our problems until we realise that Allaah knows best and that this disbelieving society will ruin itself.
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The Distorted Image of Women in Islam Taken from T.R.O.I.D
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