The righteous woman who is a wife and mother fulfils her duties by raising her children and looking after them and by creating a happy atmosphere for the whole family. This makes the children physically, psychologically and culturally healthy in a way that keeps them adherent to the sound creed. Such children worship Allah The Almighty perfectly and adhere to good morals, sound behaviour and piety and will be firm on the right path.
On the other hand, deviant women are the incubators of all forms of corruption and set a bad example for their children in all aspects of life and at all ages, starting from their childhood. The children of such mothers only acquire corrupt values and bad habits and qualities from them. These mothers leave their children unsupervised with ignorant servants or foreign nursemaids who instil the worst qualities in them. This has a permanent impact that affects the children throughout their life and influences their attitudes, which may lead to their failure at school or work and may cause them to be unable to adapt themselves to society.
The mother’s role in teaching her children, especially her daughters, before they start their formal schooling is very important as the child comes to life knowing nothing. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And Allah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and He made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful.}[Quran 16:78]
Mothers are the ones who teach their children how to walk, speak, eat, hold things and play. Children also acquire language from their parents and others who accompany them; then, they start recognizing their own names by hearing those who call them. After this stage, children start learning simple reading and writing skills, pronouncing words correctly and memorising the Name of Allah The Almighty and the principles of religion.
This important role cannot be performed by a busy mother who spends her time outside her home. Similarly, the mother who is ignorant about her religion and her duties towards her children is not qualified to perform this role either.
When the child moves to the next stage, the role of the mother regarding her children’s acquisition of knowledge goes hand in hand with that of the school. She helps her children do their homework and creates a conducive atmosphere at home so that they feel safe, secure and loved. This makes the children confident, optimistic and hopeful about the future. Moreover, the mother answers her children's questions at this stage where they usually ask about anything that occurs to their minds. According to the soundness of the mother’s answers, the children’s minds and hearts will be filled with the facts of life and they will realize the difference between truth and falsehood; good and evil.
The importance of the mother’s role in this stage lies in her teaching the children their religion, watching how they perform acts of worship and their adherence to the attitude and morals that Islam encourages. The mother also makes them acquainted with the teachings of Islam that are related to society and social etiquette in every aspect of life. This role is complementary to the religious curricula at school, as the mother monitors her children’s application of Islamic etiquette and knowledge.
There are certain matters that girls, in particular, need from their mothers and that depends on the mother’s awareness of such matters and her keenness on telling her girls about them at the suitable time. For instance, mothers should tell their daughters the information that they need to know at the age of puberty and their duties at home so that their daughters would be aware of the rights of the husband and children when they get married.
The above-mentioned duties cannot be fulfilled by a corrupt mother. Moreover, the corruption of the mother’s creed leads her to send her children to foreign schools and direct them towards Western culture, which affects their personality and makes them feel alienated from their society and religion.
Problems afflicting the husband
The corruption of the wife may lead the husband to commit sins, follow the path of Satan and keep away from the right path. The wife’s non-adherence to Hijab (Islamic covering) and the exposure of her beauty in the presence of men may stir the anger and the jealousy of the husband and may lead to dire consequences.
The wife who does not respect marital life harms the whole family and threatens it with destruction through divorce, or through the husband’s negligence of his family, his searching for another wife, resorting to cafes and places of entertainment or being addicted to smoking, drugs and intoxicants.
The problem of divorce in the West highlights the extent of this phenomenon in countries that, ironically, blame Islam for making divorce lawful. The percentage of divorce cases is 60 percent in Sweden, 40 percent in the United States of America, 30 percent in Germany, 28 percent in the Soviet Union and 14 percent in Finland. This study, which was published by Stern magazine in Germany, states that two-thirds of the women who want to get a divorce in France work outside their homes. Nearly 22 percent of divorce cases in Germany are because of infidelity, and 10 percent are because of other sexual causes, while 10 percent are because of addiction.
As for the Arab World, the problem of divorce has reached alarming proportions, which needs a separate study.
Among the prevalent social problems is the woman’s abstention from having children because she does not want to bear the trouble of pregnancy and delivery. This may lead her to have an abortion. A disobedient wife may not fulfill the sexual needs of her husband, which leads him to commit adultery or perversion. This also may affect the husband’s health physically and psychologically and expose him to sexual and psychological diseases.
The corrupt woman may induce her husband to commit financial malpractice in order to obtain money and fulfill her demands by buying her jewelry, expensive clothes and holding parties.