http://www.wefound.org/ Your website to success through authentic knowledge of Islâm and Da'wah according to the Qur’ân and the Sunnah.
The Ideal Muslimah
(An Excerpt from the Conclusion of the Book “The Ideal Muslimah: The True Islâmic Personality of the Muslim as Defined in the Qur’ân and Sunnah”)
By Dr. Muhammad ‘Ali Al-Hashimi
Translated by Nasiruddin Al-Khattab and Revised by Ibrahim M. Kunna and Abu Aya Sulaiman Abdus-Sabur Copyright and published by the International Islâmic Publishing House (IIPH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1999.
The
Muslim woman’s role is not merely to stay at home, nursing children and taking
care of the home. In addition to all that, the Muslim woman is in fact raising a
heroic new generation, playing an important role in Da’wah and making an
important, constructive contribution in all areas of life, working side-by-side
with men to populate and cultivate the earth, enrich life and make people happy.
It
is abundantly clear that the Muslim woman who is guided by Islâm is pure,
constructive, productive, alert, aware, educated and refined. She fully
understands her duties towards Allâh (
),
and towards herself, her parents, her husband and children, her relatives, her
neighbours, her friends and sisters in Islâm, and her society as a whole, with
all the different types of people, events and transactions it includes.
She
believes in Allâh (
)
and the Last Day; she is alert to the trials of this life and the traps of the
Shaytan; she worships Allâh (
),
obeys His commands, heeds His prohibitions, accepts His will and decree, returns
to His protection and seeks His forgiveness when she stumbles or becomes
negligent; she is aware of her responsibility before Allâh
(
)
towards the members of her family; she is keen to please Him by whatever she
does; she understands the true meaning of being a slave of Allâh
(
)
and supports His true religion; she enjoins what is good and forbids what is
evil as much as she is able.
She
is aware of her obligations towards herself, understanding that she is a human
being composed of a body, mind and soul, each of which has its own needs and
requirements. Hence she is careful to strike the right balance between her body,
mind and spirit; she does not devote attention to one at the expense of the
others, rather, she devotes to each of them the attention that is needed to form
a balanced personality, always guided by the wise teachings of Islâm as seen in
the Qur’ân , Sunnah and examples of the righteous salaf who followed in the
footsteps of the Prophet (
)
with all sincerity.
She
takes care of her outward appearance without going to extremes of excess or
showing off, and she takes care of her inner nature in a manner that befits the
human being whom Allâh (
)
has honoured by making the angels prostrate to him and subjugating all that is
in heaven and earth for his benefit. In this way, she develops a balanced,
likeable character, one that is attractive both in appearance and in her
thinking, reasoning, behaviour and reactions.
She
does not allow her care of her body and mind to distract her from spiritual
matters; she devotes just as much attention to her spiritual development, and
polishes her soul through worship, dhikr and reading Qur’ân . Her guideline
in all of this is to maintain a precise balance between all aspects of her
personality.
She
treats her parents with kindness and respect. She knows their status, and her
duties towards them, and she is very cautious not to disobey them. She never
spares any effort to find the best way to treat them properly, and she surrounds
them with every type of care, honour and respect.
With
her husband, she is an ideal wife, intelligent, respectful, obedient, tolerant
and loving, eager to please him and to respect and honour his family. She
conceals his secrets, and helps him to be righteous, to fear Allâh
(
)
and to do good deeds. She fills his heart with happiness, peace and
tranquillity.
With
her children, she is a loving, compassionate mother who wisely understands the
great importance of her motherly role in bringing them up. She makes them aware
of her love and care for them, and never withholds right guidance from them or
fails to correct them if they need it, so that they will grow up with an ideal
Islâmic upbringing that will cultivate in them the best morals and attitudes
and a love for the highest things.
With
her daughters- and sons-in-law, she is kind, fair and wise, and offers them
sincere advice. She does not interfere in their private matters. She treats them
well and strives to strengthen the bonds of love and to ward off the evils of
disputes.
With
her relatives, she upholds the ties of love, and does not neglect to keep in
touch and treat them well. She is keen to maintain the relationship even if they
do not uphold the ties, acting in obedience to the teachings of Islâm, which
urge the upholding of the ties of kinship with love and affection.
She
treats her neighbours well and is concerned about them. She knows the great
rights they have, which Jibrel emphasised to the Prophet (
)
so strongly that the Prophet thought he was going to make them his heirs. So she
likes for them what she likes for herself. She treats them well, respects their
feelings, puts up with their insults, turns a blind eye to their faults and
mistakes, and is careful not to mistreat them or to fall short in her treatment
of them.
With
her friends and sisters in Islâm, she is distinguished from other women by the
way in which she builds her relationship with them on a basis of love for the
sake of Allâh (
),
which is the highest and purest love that exists among human beings, as it is
free from any impurity or ulterior motive and its purity is derived from the
light of the Revelation and Prophetic guidance. Therefore the Muslim woman is
sincere and tolerant in her feelings of love and sisterhood towards her sisters,
and she is keen to maintain the ties of sisterhood and love between her and
them. She does not cut them off, forsake them, gossip about them, hurt their
feelings with hostile arguments and disputes, bear grudges, or withhold any
favour she could do for them, and she always greets them with a cheerful,
smiling face.
In
her relationship with her society, she is a social being of the highest class,
because of what she has learned of the wise teachings of Islâm concerning
social dealings and high morals. From the rich spring of Islâm she derives her
customs, habits and behaviour and the ethics and values which purify her soul
and form her distinct social character.
She
is of good character (has a good attitude towards others) and is sincere and
straightforward with all people. She does not cheat, deceive or stab in the
back. She is not a hypocrite. She does not speak falsely (or bear false
witness). She offers sincere advice and guides others to good deeds. She keeps
her promises. She has the characteristic of modesty and self-respect. She does
not interfere in that which does not concern her. She avoids slandering the
honour of others and seeking out their faults. She does not show off. She is
fair in her judgements of others. She does not oppress others. She is fair even
to those whom she does not like. She does not rejoice in the misfortunes of
others. She avoids suspicion. She restrains her tongue from malicious gossip.
She avoids cursing and obscene speech. She does not make fun of anybody.
She
is gentle with people. She is compassionate. She strives to benefit others and
protect them from harm. She eases the hardship of one who is suffering. She is
generous. She does not remind the beneficiaries of her charity. She is patient.
She is tolerant. She does not bear grudges or harbour resentment. She is
easy-going, not harsh. She is not envious. She avoids boasting and showing off.
She does not speak in an affected or exaggerated manner. She has a likeable
personality. She is friendly and likeable. She keeps secrets. She is of cheerful
countenance. She has a sense of humour. She tries to make people happy. She is
not over-strict. She is not arrogant. She is humble. She is modest in her dress
and appearance.
She
pursues noble things. She is concerned about the affairs of the Muslims. She
honours guests. She prefers others to herself. She measures her habits and
customs against the standards of Islâm. She uses the greeting of Islâm. She
does not enter any house other than her own without permission. She sits
wherever she finds room in a gathering. She does not converse privately with
another woman when a third is present. She respects her elders and distinguished
people. She does not look into any house other than her own. She chooses work
that suits her feminine nature. She does not imitate men.
She
calls others to the truth. She enjoins what is good and forbids what is evil.
She is wise and eloquent in her da‘wah. She
mixes with righteous women. She hastens to reconcile between Muslim women. She
mixes with women and puts up with their insults. She appreciates favours and is
grateful for them. She visits the sick. She does not attend funerals. This is
the personality of the Muslim woman as defined by the teachings of Islâm.
No
doubt the Muslim woman is the most refined example of womanhood ever known in
any human society. Along with all the fine qualities listed above, the Muslim
woman also possesses wisdom, purity of soul, a high level of spirituality, a
sound concept of life, the universe and humanity, and a deep awareness of her
important role in life.
Surely
a woman’s reaching such a high level of intellectual, psychological, spiritual
and moral development is a great human blessing, which is unequalled by any of
the many other blessings that human beings enjoy. It is a cultural achievement greater than any other
reached by humanity in its long history. The fact that women have reached this
high level of development means that they are mature and are fully qualified to
play their important role in life.
What
we see today in many parts of the Muslim world of Muslim women’s backwardness
and failure to reach that high level that Islâm wants for them, is a result of
the fact that the Muslims in general have wandered far away from the pure
sources of Islâm and have become lost in various kinds of jahiliyyah or
intellectual and psychological dependency on others. None of this would have
happened to the Muslims in general, and Muslim women in particular, if the
Muslims had preserved their spiritual and intellectual sources properly, and men
and women had drunk from these pure sources which would have given them
immunity, originality and distinction.
Whilst
the attack on the Muslim world was aimed at the identity of the Muslims in
general, men and women alike, to disrupt it and to contaminate its original
intellectual sources, no doubt many prongs of this attack were aimed at the
Muslim woman in particular, with the aim of stripping her of the dress of virtue
by which she had been known throughout history, and making her wear the alien,
tight-fitting, borrowed dress that makes her look like a copy of foreign women
in her appearance, thinking and behaviour.
Tremendous
efforts were devoted to the call for the Westernization of Muslim women by
various societies, organizations and movements. Al-hamdu lillah, all of
it ended in failure in the face of the reawakening of educated Muslim woman who
understood the teachings of Islâm. Many of the men and women who supported
Westernization have now retreated, admitting the depth of the Muslim woman’s
belief, and the originality of Islâm in her thinking, psychology and feelings.
The
great hopes that are pinned on the Muslim woman, who is aware of her role,
require her to be even stronger in proving her Islâmic identity, wherever she
may live and whatever her circumstances may be. By reinforcing her Islâmic
identity, she clearly demonstrates her awareness, high aims, sincerity and
devotion to Islâm and its distinctive culture. This is also indicative of her
ability to contribute to the revival of the ummah to which she belongs and the
development of the country she lives in.
/
If
you are interested to learn how to be an effective writer and public speaker or
to
know more about Islâm in order to attain success, click on WISDOM.
/
Wisdom
Enrichment Foundation (WEFOUND)
http://www.wefound.org
“Our Rabb (Cherisher and Sustainer)!
Accept (this service) from us. Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All
Knowing.” (Qur’ân 2:127)