The Muslim Woman: Her Status in the Ummah

The status of the Muslim woman in Islam 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 Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wa Sallam. Since adherence to the Quran and the Sunnah distances every Muslim male or female from being misguided in any matter.

The misguidance that the various nations suffer from, the path of Allah the Most Perfect, the Highest, and from what His Prophets and Messengers, may Allah's peace and prayers be upon them all, came with. The Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wa Sallam said: "I am leaving behind two matters, you will not go astray as long as you cling to them both, the Book of Allah and my Sunnah."

The great importance of the Muslim woman's role - whether as a wife, sister or daughter, and the rights that are due to her and the obligations due from her have been explained in the noble Quran, and further details of this have been explained in the purified Sunnah.

The secret of her importance lies in the tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the difficulties that she has to shoulder. In terms of responsibilities, some of which not even a man can bear. This is why from the most important obligations 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. Allah the Highest, 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." [Al-Quran 31:14]

Allah the Highest, 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." [Al-Quran 41:15].

A man came to Allah's Messenger Sallallahu 'Alayhi wa Sallam said: O Messenger of Allah! 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 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.

As regards the wife, then her effect in making the soul tranquil and serene has been clearly shown in the noble aayah (verse), in His - the Highest's - saying:

"And from amongst His Signs is this: That He created for 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." [Al-Quran 30:21]

Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (d.774H) - rahimahullaah - said, whilst explaining the terms mawaddah and rahmah which occur in the above verse. "Al-mawaddah means to love and affection, and ar-rahmah means compassion and pity since a man takes the hand of a woman either due to his love for her or because of compassion and pity for her; by giving to her a child from himself..."

And the unique stance that the Prophet sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam's wife Khadeejah - radiAllahu 'anhaa - took, had a huge effect in calming and reassuring Allah's Messenger sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam, when the angel Jibreel - 'alayhis-salaam - first came to him in the cave of Hiraa. The Prophet sallAllahu 'alayi wa sallam returned to Khadeejah with the first Revelation and with his heart trembling and beating severely, saying to her, "Cover me! Cover me!" So she covered him until his fear was over, after which he told Khadeejah - radiAllahu 'anhaa - everything that had happened, and said: "I fear that something may happen to me." 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 affected with calamities."

And do not forget about 'Aaishah - radiAllahu 'anhaa - and her immense contribution. Even the eminent Sahaabah (Companions) used to take knowledge of Hadeeth 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 Allah 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 assisted me in it. May Allah greatly increase her reward and reward her with the best of rewards for what she did for me. And there is no doubt also, that the house in which there is kindness, gentleness, love, and care, with the correct Islamic tarbiyah (education and cultivation) will greatly affect the man. So he will become, if Allah wills, successful in his affairs and in any matter whether it be seeking knowledge, trading, earning a living, etc. So it is Allah alone that I ask to grant us all success and to guide us all to that which He loves and is pleased with. And may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his Family, his Companions, and his followers.

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source: islamicstudies.islammessage.com

The Muslim golden age

The Muslim golden age

There was a time in the history of the world where Islam stood in a position that was above all. The Islamic Empire was the most magnificent and powerful in the world. It produced the greatest scholars, rulers, scientists, architects, and citizens that flourished in all areas of life.

It wasn’t until much later that we strayed from our teachings and the result of that is what made us a misunderstood nation that is lagging behind.

Today we journey back to dig in the history of the Golden Era of Muslims. Modern day Muslims may not realize how many things; objects and concepts alike, were actually brought into existence by our ancestors whose heritage we are supposed to be carrying. But over the course of thousands of years, the original names were lost and benefitting from that, Europeans who were good at adapting saw the chance and gladly took it, they took the discoveries and inventions and evolved into the successful, developed nation that they are now. In the past, Muslims ruled over Spain, North Africa, the Middle East, and much of Central Asia.

Education was made compulsory on all men and women by Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), as he said, “Seek knowledge even if it is in China.”

In those times China was considered the farthest geographic state recorded. When the prophet said this, he tried to encourage the Muslims to try everything that was in their power to acquire knowledge. Following his teachings, centers of learning were founded in Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, and Cordoba. These centers of learning and study later served as models for European universities.

Allah instructs His servants to contemplate, to look at the wonders in the universe and to try to understand.

“And on the Earth are signs for the certain in faith. And in yourselves. Then will you not see?” (Qur’an, chapter 51, verse 20-21)

The Muslims of that time had a thirst for knowledge and curiosity of what Allah had hidden for them on the Earth and in all of space and time. That led the Muslim scientists to establish that the world was round in the 9th century. The early expeditioners learned how to navigate by looking at the stars. The use of navigation tools and weather forecasting was the expertise of the Muslims. By studying the stars, they would make calendars and decide on the times of prayers.

Modern medicine also has its roots planted in that golden era. In fact, Muslim doctors established the world’s first hospital, which originally was adjacent to the mosques. Also, there were hospital caravans that brought medical care to the people in villages, which evolved into the units that today we call ambulances.

Al-Khwarizmi was given the title of the “father of algebra”. The word algebra came from one of his books. Al-Khwarizmi was the one who introduced the concept of “0” in mathematics and started using it for calculations.

Ibn Sina commonly known as Avicenna is still the most famous and influential scientist in medicine. The Canon of Medicine was his most celebrated book that contained the summary of all the medical knowledge of his time. His book was primarily used as a text book in medical universities for 500 years after he had originally written it. His work on optics was phenomenal and way ahead of its time. He had written a total of 450 books, unfortunately only 240 of these books survived. He was a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and much more.

Muslims believe that only Allah can create something alive, so they turned to shapes and patterns found in nature, and recreated them using geometry. This brilliant art of geometric shapes and arabesque patterns was used decorate a wide range of objects from every day items such as plates and candle sticks to large scale places like mosques and castles.

Arabesque is a method of art that uses basic tools like rulers and compasses to create symmetric abstract art, which is then commonly used to decorate mosques, pottery and textiles.

Calligraphy is the art of writing beautifully which came into being because the Muslims thought that the word of God when written must be as beautiful as can be made. For this reason, they would only let the most professional calligraphers to write God’s name and verses from the Holy Qur’an in buildings and different places. Calligraphy is now taught in universities as a subject.

The contributions of Muslims to all the areas of the world are innumerable, we owe so much to them, that I could not possibly mention all of them here. This is just the tip of the iceberg. But it gives me pride to say that we are people of such a beautiful, rich, and intelligent heritage. We had pride, glory, and respect.

What happened to us? And what can we do to earn our name and place in this world back?

Source: saudigazette.com.sa