By the grace of Allah, I
thus continue my Friday Sermon on the status of the Womenfolk in Islam.
(3) A Mother's Dignity
As mothers, the status of women has been
raised by Islam to such an extent that nothing higher is conceivable. As the
last law-bearing religion, Islam has provided for the every right and need of
the female human species, and perfected them so that these teachings represent
the best of teachings for generations up till the Day of Judgement.
The Holy Quran says: "Your Lord has decreed that you
worship none but Him, and that you be kind to (your) parents. Whether one or
both of them attain old age in your life, do not say to them a word of
contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. And, out of
kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: “My Lord! Bestow on them
Your Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.” (17: 24-25)
It is
reported by Hazrat Abu Huraira (ra) that when the Holy Prophet (pbuh) was
questioned by a disciple as to who after God and His Messenger (pbuh) deserve
his fine treatment, the Prophet said: “Your mother.”
He then asked, “Who next?” The
Messenger of Allah (pbuh) replied: “Your mother.”
He asked again: “Who next?”
He (pbuh) said again, “Your mother.” The man put the question for the fourth
time and it was
only then that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “Your father.” (Bukhari)
This Hadith shows the paramount
importance which the mother enjoys in the eyes of Allah and in the life of his
children and family. She is deserving of much more respect and care, three
times more than the father.
Sacrifices deserve our Respect
The sacrifices of the mother
for her child not only include the long and painful pregnancy period, but also
the moment of delivery (giving birth to the child), which is equally painful.
In the Holy Quran, Allah says: We have enjoined on man
kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him (during pregnancy),
and in pain did she give him birth. (46: 16)
One of the companions came
in the presence of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and asked him: “Whilst travelling there was a place where the ground was so hot that
if you placed a piece of uncooked meat on the ground it would roast! I have
carried my mother on my shoulders for six miles. Am I free from the rights of
my mother?” The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “Perhaps, this could be the
recompense for (only) one of the shocks she endured during labour while giving
birth to you.” (Tabarani).
In Islam the Pilgrimage to
Mecca, i.e., the Hajj is the best action of worship and the reward to a person
who performs the Hajj properly is that all his past sins are forgiven and he
receives a high rank in the eyes of Allah. But in expressing the dignity of the
mother, the Holy Prophet said: “One who looks at the face
of his mother with sentiments of reverence and love once, is rewarded as if he
had performed the Pilgrimage.”
The people asked him, what if he looked twice, to which he
replied: “It is as if he had performed
two Pilgrimages, and thrice, as if he had performed three Pilgrimages and so
on.”
In this respect, the Holy Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) himself set a model for the world. Once, Halima (ra) the lady
who nursed him in his childhood came to see him. The Prophet was sitting with
his disciples. As soon as he saw her, he stood up, called to her as a mother with
reverence and spread his mantle on the floor and requested his foster mother to
take her seat there. It is quite evident from this Sunnah that the respect
which a mother receives from her children in Islam is the highest to which no
other worldly relationship can aspire.
Women deserve an Equal Chance
The doors of spiritual
elevation are open to woman in the same way as they are open to men. They are
commanded to educate themselves in the same way as the men, and if they attain
a high position in learning, then even the men are expected to learn and
benefit from their knowledge and wisdom.
It is reported that after the Prophet’s
death, his disciples used to visit Hazrat Ummul Mumineen Aisha (ra), the noble wife
of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), and seek knowledge from her for the Holy Prophet
(pbuh) before his demise told the congregation of believers that if they wanted
to learn half of their whole religion, then they should consult Aisha (Umayra).
Islamic history is
resplendent with a long list of the names of the ladies who received the
highest honour in society, the highest degree in learning and the highest
qualifications in different branches of human activity. (Inset: Fatima Al-Fihriyya is
credited with founding the oldest known degree awarding academic institution in
the world at Morocco in 859. The university named Al-Karaouine is still
functioning, one of its famous early student was Gerber of Aurvergne (Pope
Sylvester II), who introduced Arabic numerals and use of zero in Europe).
Patriarchy and oppression of Women
Patriarchy and oppression of Women
It was through the influence of other societies - which
were not Muslim – that the idea of the inferiority of the female sex already
existing in those societies spread to the uneducated
class among the Muslims, who knew very little about the teachings of Islam. Had they known the
teachings of lslam, they would have known that in Islam the female sex deserves the same
position, the same respect and the same dignity as the members of the male sex
who, in turn, are not allowed to degrade and insult them and make them their
tools.
To touch them with a bad
intent is considered a sin and even to glance at them with a bad motive is
counted as one of the most heinous sin (e.g. adultery) in Islam. That is why in
the Holy Quran men are commanded: Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and
guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is
well acquainted with all that they do. (24: 31)
Women's role in Society's future
The importance of a woman in
society cannot be overestimated. She is the mother of humanity. She brings up
the child in her womb for at least six months, feeds him at her breast for at
least two years and is mainly responsible for his training at least up to the
age of six or seven.
It is a well known fact of
medical science that the mentality of the mother affects the mentality of her
children just as, or even more than, her physical qualities influence their
physical build. Islam, therefore, commands women to keep themselves away from
places where there may be the slightest chance of their being influenced by an
evil force or evil idea so that their chastity and purity may be preserved and
the mentality of their offspring may be safe from corruption.
Guidelines for Pure Conduct in Islam
This is why Allah
says in the Holy Quran:
O consorts of the Prophet, you
are not like any other women; if you fear Allah, do not be soft in speech lest
he in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire; and speak a speech
that is just. And stay quietly in your houses and do not make a dazzling
display like that of the former times of ignorance; and establish regular
prayer, and give regular charity and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only
desires to remove all abomination from you, O people of the household, and to
purify you a (thorough) purifying. (33: 33-34)
There is no blame on them (the
women) (if they appear unveiled) before their fathers, or their sons, or their
brothers, or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their own women, or
of what their right hand’s possess. And fear Allah; surely Allah is Witness of
all things. (33: 56).
O Prophet tell your wives and your
daughters and the believing women that they cast their outer garments over
their persons (when they go out of their homes). This will be more convenient, that they should be known (as such)
and not molested. And Allah is oft-Forgiving and most-Merciful. (33: 60)
Examples of
the way in which those commandments were interpreted by the Holy Prophet (pbuh)
can be seen in his beloved daughter Fatimah, and his beloved wives, Khadija and
Aisha among others. Nowhere do we find any evidence after the revelation of the
veil (Pardah) that the Holy Prophet’s
wives or his daughters were ever seen with an open face and an open head in
front of strangers save at the time of performing acts of worship like prayer
or pilgrimage. In the conditions of prayer it is laid down that the body of the
woman must be entirely covered except her face and hands. There is also an
express injunction in the Hadith that no woman should put on a veil during the
pilgrimage. In the prayer and pilgrimage, men are strictly forbidden from
gazing at the faces of the womenfolk and they have been warned to remember that
the female servants of Allah are in the presence of their Creator.
Thus with respect to their
position in life, their inherent rights as human beings and their relations
with Allah men and women are on an equal level in Islam. This was the teaching
of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). And this too is the verdict of the Holy Quran for
Allah says: Never will
I allow to be lost the work of any of you, be he male or female. You are
(members) one of another. (3: 196).
May
Allah grant all mankind the capacity to realize the beauty of the teachings of
Islam and give to the women the importance they deserve by not trampling upon
their rights and by giving them the proper respect taught by Islam which shall
see to their growth in both the temporal and spiritual realm for the benefit of
all human species. Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 27 May 2016 ~(20 Shabaan 1437 Hijri) delivered by Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.