The Different Roles of Woman in Islam

31/12/2014| IslamWeb

Allah The Exalted Says (what means): 

• {O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].} [Quran 3: 102]

• {O mankind, fear your Lord, Who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through Whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.} [Quran 4: 1]

• {O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.} [Quran 33: 71-72]

My beloved fellow Muslims:

Two important doors through which the enemies have been able to penetrate to destroy the Muslim Ummah (nation) are the creed and the family.

As for the first door, the enemies managed to create deviated sects and false beliefs and they inserted them into the fundamentals of our religion, thus, corrupting the beliefs of many Muslims and dividing them into sects and groups accusing each other of disbelief and they cut each other’s throats.

The second door is the destruction of the Muslim family through destroying its essential and strong pillar, which is the woman. Reality is the chief witness that substantiates our words.

Shining images of how Islam honors woman

Islam's attitude towards woman has been so distorted that it has become subject to accusation by many people. Here we will start first with shining images of how Islam honors woman, which are unprecedented in any other religion, system or community.

In Islam, the woman is a creature whom Allah The Almighty honored with this religion, safeguarded with this message and exalted with this pure Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation). Whether she is a mother, daughter, wife or any woman in the society, she occupies the highest level of honor under the religion of Islam.

Woman as a mother:

Allah The Almighty joined her right with His right when He Says (what means): {And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment.} [Quran 17: 23] Is there a greater honor than joining her right and His right in one context?

The Messenger of Allah considered her the most worthy of people of good companionship and kind treatment. It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, “A man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Who is most entitled to my good companionship?’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Your mother.’ The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Your mother.’ The man further said, ‘Then who?’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Your mother.’ The man asked the fourth time, ‘Then who?’ The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Your father.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

One may yearn to perform Jihaad (armed struggle), seek the rank of martyrs and long for battlefields in order to be killed in the fields of honor or remain in the life of the prosperous. Nevertheless, the parents' right to company and kind treatment takes precedence over all this except at times when Jihaad becomes an individual obligation. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with them, that he said, “A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘I came to you to take the oath of allegiance on emigration, and I left my parents weeping.’ He (the Prophet ) said: 'Return to them and make them laugh as you made them weep.'" [Abu Daawood. An-Nasaa’i and Ibn Maajah]

It was also narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Prophet said: “Allah is satisfied with a person with whom his parents are satisfied; and He is dissatisfied with a person with whom his parents are dissatisfied.” [At-Tirmithi, Al-Haakim and Al-Bukhari as a Mawqoof Hadeeth]

You could be overcome by yourself, which is a persistent enjoiner of evil or the devils from among the humans and the Jinn and hence, you try to expiate for your sins and seek the channels of purification from filth. In such a case, your mother's satisfaction is the greatest means to attain this. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that a man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have committed a grave sin. Is there any way to expiate for my sin?" The Messenger of Allah said: “Do you have a mother?” The man replied, “No.” The Messenger of Allah said: “Do you have a maternal aunt?” The man replied, “Yes.” Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said: “Be dutiful to her (for this is the expiation of your sin).” [At-Tirmithi, Ibn Hibbaan and Al-Haakim]

A believer's dutifulness includes the woman who was a reason for his existence even if she contradicts him in religion and has deviated from the straight path. It was narrated on the authority of Asmaa’ bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, “My mother came to me while she was still a polytheist, and therefore, I consulted the Messenger of Allah . I said, 'My mother came to me while she was still non-Muslim hoping to receive from me a good treatment, should I maintain good ties with her?' The Messenger of Allah replied: ‘Yes. Maintain good ties with your mother.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Woman as a daughter:

When the woman is a daughter, she enjoys the same rights as her brother in merciful treatment and the kindness of parents, according to the principle of justice instructed in the verses in which Allah The Exalted Says (what means):

• {Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct.} [Quran 16: 90]

• {Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.}[Quran 5: 8]

It was narrated on the authority of An-Nu‘maan ibn Basheer, may Allah be pleased with them, that he said, “The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Treat your children fairly, treat your children fairly, treat your children fairly' (do not prefer one over another).” [Al-Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Daawood]

Had it not been that justice is a binding obligation and a decisive command, daughters would have been worthier of preference and honoring than sons. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the prophet said: “Treat your children justly in giving gifts. If I were to prefer someone over the other, I would prefer women.” [Al-Bayhaqi]

The Quran dispraised the actions of those who adopt deviated beliefs for hating female infants and showing annoyance when they are born. Allah The Exalted Says (what means): {And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.} [Quran 16: 58-59]

The Messenger of Allah considered it a grave major sin when the father loses his fatherly emotion and buries his innocent daughter alive in the dust. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, "I asked the Messenger of Allah ‘Which sin is the gravest?’ He replied: ‘To ascribe a partner to Allah while He has created you.’ I replied, ‘This is indeed grave. What is next?’ He replied: ‘To kill your child for fear that he would share your food.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

The Messenger of Allah urged kindness to daughters on many occasions.

This prophetic guidance considerably influenced Muslim men of letters and hence, they wrote their famous messages of congratulation in this respect. A man of letters would congratulate his friend who was endowed with a daughter and say to him, as in this beautiful passage by As-Saahib ibn ‘Abbaad, “Welcome to the best of women, the mother of children, the one who brings marriage relations, pure offspring, and noble and wise men. Allah The Almighty announces to you blessings and happiness with her birth. So, rejoice and actively go ahead with your life.”

Based on the Arabic linguistic rules, he added, “This worldly life is feminine and men serve it; the earth is feminine and from it creation was brought into existence and offspring increased; the sky is feminine and it is adorned with planets and beautified with the piercing stars; the soul is feminine and it is the basis of the body and the secret of life; Paradise is feminine and it will be the blissful abode of the righteous and the messengers. Congratulations for the good you have been endowed with and I urge you to thank Allah The Almighty for what you have been given.”