The Muslim woman was not idle; how could she be idle when she is the mistress of the house and family and has many great tasks such as pregnancy, delivery, suckling, feeding her husband and children, taking care of the children and the home, participating in some tasks of the husband such as watering, carrying water skins, using the hand mill, managing and feeding the horse and carrying date stones from the husband’s land.
It is not one kind of work; rather, there is work that is too heavy to be carried by mountains. They bore these tasks with patience while praising Allah The Almighty. When Allah The Almighty granted Muslims conquests, the husbands of those women alleviated some of their tasks and brought maid-servants to help them with their work.
The highest summit that none could reach but Muhammad and his offspring remained high, facing strenuous work day and night even when there was an abundance of servants and wealth because no one could reach the status of prophethood. Furthermore, it is sufficient for the woman that her pregnancy and delivery are considered Jihaad (struggle) in the way of Allah The Almighty. The Prophet said: “The woman in her pregnancy to her delivery until she weans the child is like the one who guards the frontiers in the way of Allah. If she dies in this period, she would have the reward of a martyr.” [At-Tabaraani (Al-Haythami: the chain of transmission includes Qays ibn Ar-Rubay‘ who was graded as authentic by Sufyaan and Shu‘bah and graded as Dha‘eef by other scholars of Hadeeth; the remainder of the chain are among the narrators of Al-Bukhari and/or Muslim]
Listen to the delegate of women to the Prophet Asmaa’ bint Yazeed Al-Ansaariyyah, may Allah be pleased with her, when she summarized the situation and job of the Muslim woman while she longs for the reward of Jihaad in the way of Allah. She said,
'O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, I am the delegate of Muslim women to you. Allah The Almighty sent you to both men and women. We believed in you and followed you. We (women) are confined and reserved at your houses and bear your children. (However,) you men are preferred over us by attending Friday prayers, congregational prayers, funerals, performing Hajj after Hajj and— better than all of these acts of worship— Jihaad in the way of Allah The Almighty. When you go out in the way of Allah for Jihaad or for Hajj or ‘Umrah, we preserve for you your children and your property, weave your clothes and bring up your children. So, do we share with you the reward?
The Messenger of Allah turned his face to his Companions and said: “Have you ever heard a woman ask a more eloquent question about her religion than this one?” They said, “No. We did not think that a woman would be guided to say the like of this.” Then, the Prophet turned to her and said: “O woman, understand and inform the women who are behind you that being a good wife to your husband equals all that (reward you mentioned for men).” [Al-Bayhaqi]
What glad tidings for women could be greater than this! The reward of being a good wife and beautifying herself for her husband equals the reward of performing Hajj and ‘Umrah and doing Jihaad. This is not the way we see the woman today; she adorns herself when she goes out to the markets and is in a shabby appearance at home with her husband. When she goes out of her home, she exposes her adornments like the pre-Islamic era and even worse. She goes out wearing perfume and struts among men until she is cursed by the angels. Meanwhile, at home before her husband, she is in a shabby state and a terrible condition.
What an excellent advice it was that of Asmaa’ ibn Khaarijah Al-Fazaari when he said to his daughter as stated in Majma‘ Al-Amthaal by Al-Maydaani:
O daughter, you have left the nest where you grew up and went to another that you do not know and to a mate who is unfamiliar to you, so be an earth for him and he will be your sky. Be a resting place for him and he will be your pillar. Be his Bondmaid and he will be your slave. Do not make excessive demands for he will then desert you. Do not become too distant from him for he will then forget you. Should he draw near then draw close to him. Should he become distant stay away from him. Watch for his nose, his hearing and his eye; so, he will smell nothing from you but that which is sweet, hear nothing but that which is good; and look at nothing but that which is beautiful.
This is the best advice ever for every bride on her wedding day. The Muslim woman acknowledged this advice and was the best wife among mankind, and she gave birth to the most unique nation in history, which Allah The Almighty described as the best nation in the verse (which means): {You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe in Allah} [Quran 3:110]
The woman had a great role in the emergence of the best Ummah (nation) in the history of mankind. She was the best wife, mother and teacher. Many are the great men recorded in the history of this Ummah who became prominent through the efforts of their covered up mothers who educated and disciplined them!
There is no doubt, if this Ummah wants to assume its prior status and rise again, then, it should first perfect the upbringing of the incubators who would bring up the children and teach them Islamic teachings. In this way, the mother would indeed be like a school. In a renowned line of Arabic poetry, the poet Haafith Ibraaheem said that the woman is a school, if you prepare her well, you are preparing a highly refined people.