The Muslim Women and Her Husband

Extract from book, ‘In Islam, marriage is a blessed contract between a man and a woman, in which each becomes permitted to the other, and they begin the long journey of life in a spirit of love, cooperation, harmony and tolerance, where each feels at ease with the other, and finds tranquility, contentment and comfort in the company of the other. The Quraan has described this relationship between men and women, which brings love, harmony, trust and

compassion, in the most moving and eloquent terms: (And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your [hearts] . . . (Quraan 30:21)

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Virtues Of Pregnancy In Islam

When a woman is pregnant with a child, all the angels will make Istighfar (repentance) on her behalf. Allah SWT will, for each day of her pregnancy, write for her 1000 good deeds and erase from her 1000 bad deeds.

When a pregnant woman starts to feel the pain from contractions, Allah SWT will write in her records as someone who is doing jihad (spiritual or physical struggle) in His path.

When a woman becomes pregnant by her husband and he is pleased with her, she obtains the reward of a person engaging in fasting for Allah SWT and a person spending the night in ibaadah (worship).

A woman from the time of pregnancy until childbirth and weaning the baby, is like the Mujahid (someone fighting in the path of Allah, swa) who is stationed on the frontiers of the Islamic land. If she dies during this period, she dies the death of a shahid (martyr).

Two raka'at salaat performed by a pregnant woman is better than 80 raka'at salaat performed by a non-pregnant woman.

A woman who is pregnant gets the reward of fasting during the day and of doing ibaadah (worship) during the nights.

A woman who gives birth gets the reward of 70 years of salaat (prayer) and fasting. For each vein that feels pain, Allah SWT gives her the reward of one accepted hajj (Pilgrimage to Makkah).

If the woman dies within 40 days of giving birth, she will die as a shahid (matyr).

"A woman that dies in her virginity or during her pregnancy or at the time of birth or thereafter (in nifaas) will attain the rank of a martyr" Hadeeth

Nabi (salalaallahu alayhi wassallam) is reported to have also said ".......When her labour pains commence, the inhabitants of the earth and the sky are unaware of the stores of comfort that are prepared for her. When she delivers and breast feeds her child, then she will be granted a reword for every gulp of milk, if she had to remain awake during the night for the sake of the child, she will receive the reword of emancipating seventy slaves in the path of Allah Ta'ala. O Salaamat! Do you know who these women are? They are pious, upright, with a delicate nature yet obedient to their husbands and not ungrateful to them"

Invest In Yourself

We often surround ourselves with the glittering things of this world and accumulate what we can, seeking some sort of betterment, but have you ever asked yourself this question: If you lost every material possession you had, would you have anything valuable left? What about your character and personality? Good character is an asset that a person has which transcends their physical existence, their financial circumstances, their age, colour and nationality and shines forth bringing goodness wherever it is experienced. Fatima Barkatulla prompts us to do some soul-searching.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, in a society where social status and wealth determined a person’s worth, Islam made God-consciousness and piety the determining factors of nobility – over and above any other consideration. Allah SWT says in the Qur’an, the meaning of which is:

“Indeed the most noble of you in the sight of Allah are those who are most God-conscious” (Al-Hujaraat: 13).

In the Prophet S we were given an ‘uswatan hasanah’ (Saba: 21) or a model of good character. In one Hadith he S said: “I was sent to perfect good character” (Malik). He encouraged us to cultivate and improve our characters, saying: “The best among you are the best in character (having good manners)” (Bukhari).

Think back to the Biography of our Prophet S and you will remember those countless instances where He S showed integrity and uprightness in the face of abuse - to a degree unmatched by any leader in history. Truly, his always greeting people with a warm smile, gentleness even when dealing with gross ignorance and his method of correcting people are confounding in their chivalry.

Your character even affects the world around you. Abu Qatada bin Rib’i Al-Ansari relates: “A funeral procession passed by Allah’s Apostle who said, ‘Relieved or relieving?’ The people asked, ‘O Allah’s Apostle! What is relieved and relieving?’ He said, ‘A believer is relieved (by death) from the troubles and hardships of the world and leaves for the Mercy of Allah, while (the death of) a wicked person relieves the people, the land, the trees, (and) the animals from him’” (Bukhari).

Allah SWT describes His servants, saying “The servants of The Merciful, who walk upon the earth lightly, and if the foolish people address them, they say ‘Salaama’ ” (Al-Furqan: 63). Ibn Kathir says in the explanation of these ayat: “… they walk with dignity and humility, not with arrogance and pride … If the ignorant people insult them with bad words … they forgive and overlook, and say nothing but good words. This is what the Messenger of Allah did: the more ignorant the people, the more patient he would be.”

There are many ahadith which indicate that on the Day of Judgement, Allah may forgive Muslims who were great sinners, for acts of kindness they did on earth: like the prostitute who had mercy on a thirsty dog and gave it water and the man who didn’t have any good deeds, but he used to be lenient towards those who owed a debt to him.

Developing our good character is considered to be worship if done with the intention of pleasing Allah and it can make us reach the level of great worshippers, for the Messenger of Allah r said: “By his good character a believer will attain the degree of one who prays during the night and fasts during the day” (Abu Dawud).

Lectures For Sisters

Egyptian descent, Yahya Adel Ibrahim was born in Canada and currently resides in Perth, Western Australia. He began memorizing the Quran at the age of 16 and finished 20 months later, receiving an Ijaazah. He began lecturing at the main mosques in Toronto at the age 17. In his quest for authentic and classical Islamic knowledge, Yahya Ibrahim traveled the world to meet, translate and study with Islamic scholars and students of knowledge. Being proficient in Arabic and English, he has translated books and various works from Arabic into English for many Islamic dignitaries.

• Rewards of Women in Jannah 1
• Rewards of Women in Jannah 2
• Who are the Daughters of the Prophet 1
• Who are the Daughters of the Prophet 2
• Where are the Women Scholars

When I Covered My Head, I Opened My Mind

I was not able to see that I was oppressed until I stepped out of the darkness of this oppressive society into the light of Islam ..
By: Sharrifa Carlo

As a non-Muslim living in Western society, the idea of modesty was not exactly foremost in my mind. Like all other women of my generation and mind-set, I thought such ideas were antiquated and excessive. I felt pity for the poor Muslim woman who had to “wear all that junk,” or “walk around in bed - sheets” as I used to call it

I was a modern woman, educated and liberated. Little did I know the awful truth. I was more oppressed than any Muslim woman in the most culturally oppressive village in the Muslim world. I was oppressed not by an inability to choose my clothing or to choose my life-style, I was oppressed by an inability to see my society for what it really was. I was oppressed by the idea that a woman’s beauty was public, and that lustful admiration was equal to respect.

It was when Allah guided me to Islam, and I put on the hijab, that I was finally able to step out of the society in which I lived and see it for what it really is. I could see how the highest paid women were those who exposed themselves to public display, like actresses, models and even strip-tease dancers. I was able to see that the relationship between men and women was unfairly stacked in the man’s direction. I knew I used o dress to attract men. I tried to fool myself by saying I did it to please myself, but the painful reality was that what pleased me was when I was admired by a man I considered attractive.

I was not able to see that I was oppressed until I stepped out of the darkness of this oppressive society into the light of Islam. With the light shinning on the truth, I was finally able to see the shadows that had been so obscured by my Western outlook. It is not oppression to protect yourself and society; it is oppression to voluntarily throw yourself into an unclean social quagmire while thinking that it is the best way of life.

I am grateful to Allah that He allowed me to recognize that when I covered my head, I was taking away from people any means for judging me other than my mind, my soul and my heart. When I covered my head, I took away the incentive for exploitation based on beauty. When I covered my head, I made people respect me because they saw that I respected myself, and when I covered my head, I finally opened my mind to the truth.

One of the factors which attracted me to this great deen of ours was the fact that so much of it can be understood based on logic and reason. Islam is a great religion that satisfies all of our basic intellectual and emotional needs; it does this simply because it is the truth, and the truth is always easy to understand and defend.

Bahno Ke Liye Tofa{URDU}

O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies (i.e.screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way). That will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable women) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever OftForgiving, Most Merciful. Soorah Al-Ahzaab 33.59

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Equality of Men and Women in all Three Levels of Islam

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

By Shaykh `Abdul Rahman `Abdul Khaliq

My brothers and sisters everywhere! Islamic law - that Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) sent down to His Messenger Muhammad - came to announce that women (exactly like men) are full human beings. Women (like men) are therefore required to follow the way appointed by Allah.

A woman (like a man) is therefore obligated with all three degrees of this religion: Islam (outward submission to Allah), Iman (inward faith in Allah), and Ihsan (perfection of worship of Allah).

It is thus required for every woman to testify that there is none deserving worship but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Messenger; to pray; to give charity; to fast; and to make a pilgrimage to Allah's House if she has the means.

It is likewise required for every woman to believe in Allah, His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in Allah's decree (and that the good and evil consequences thereof are from Allah).

These are the fundamentals of Islam and Iman.

It is likewise required for every woman to worship Allah as if she sees Him. For although she cannot see Allah, she must believe that He sees whatever she does in secret and in public.

Women (exactly like men) have been commanded with these three levels of the religion (Islam, Iman, Ihsan).

Women are also obligated to enjoin good and forbid evil; to wage jihad by saying that which is truthful; and to adhere to all noble behavior, like: truthfulness, trustworthiness, courage, modesty, and self-respect.

Every Muslim woman is commanded to be steadfast in her religion and not to be negligent with her faith. It is impermissible for her - under any pressure or compulsion - to open her heart to accept the word of disbelief. Hence every Muslim woman falls under Allah's statement:

"Whose disbelieves in Allah, after he has believed - excepting him who has been compelled, and his heart is still at rest with the Faith - but whosoever's breast is expanded in unbelief, upon them shall rest anger from Allah, and there awaits them a mighty chastisement." (Qur'an 16:106)

Clearly when Islam charged women with all these duties and in all these obligations made her equal to men, the intent was to honor her and permit her to reach the highest degree of perfection of her being.

The duties that Allah has obligated humanity with are but a means to honor us. Prayer, as well as fasting, is an honor for the servant and a means to raise his rank. To adhere to Allah's straight path and the manners of Islam are, without doubt, a means to honor us and not to humiliate us as imagined by those who are ignorant of Allah and follow their desires.

Such people think and imagine that a human being who does not believe in Allah, does not uphold the trust of these duties, and does not perform what Allah has commanded him is of a higher standing than the believer who adheres to the obligations of Islam. Such an idea is ignorance and renders human beings on par with the animals.

Humans have been created to be tried by Allah and have been charged with fulfilling these duties to Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) and His creatures. As for animals, while they have been created by Allah, they have not been charged with this trust.

Whoever considers that a human being who does not uphold what Allah has obligated as equal to those who fulfill what Allah has obligated is like those who consider humans and animals to be equal. For this reason, Allah has said:

"Shall we treat that those who have surrendered (as Muslims) as We treat the guilty?" (Qur'an 68:35)

And He has said:

"We have crated for Hell many of the jinn and humanity; they have hearts, but understand not with them; they have eyes, but perceive not with them; and they have ears, but they hear not with them. These are like cattle; nay, rather they are further astray! Those - they are the heedless." (Qur'an 7:126)

The disbeliever in Allah is a guilty criminal, for he does not know whom He is to worship, i.e., his Creator, his Protector, his Lord, and He Who created this universe in which he lives. The disbeliever enjoys what Allah has blessed him with and yet forgets the One Who blessed and preferred him with such blessings. As for the believer, he is the honorable servant who knows His Lord and Creator, Allah, Whom he worships. He fulfills what Allah has obligated and travels upon the path that Allah has delineated for him.

Courtesy Of: Islaam.com Source: The Wisdom Behind the Islamic Laws Regarding Women
Translator: Ali Al-Timimi