Stories of Prophets, - Prophet Yaqub (PBUH)

Allah conveyed to the Prophet Ibrahim(peace be upon him) glad tidings
regarding the birth of elite Prophets, Ishaq and Ya'qub (peace be upon
them). The Holy Quran says:
"We gave him Ishaq and Ya'qub. Each of them We made a Prophet. And We
gave them of Our mercy and assigned to them a high and true renown." (
Surah 19: Verses 49-50)
Qualities of the Prophet Ya'qub
The Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him) was the son of Prophet
Ishaq(peace be upon him) and his wife Rebecca. He was born
atPalestine. He passed his life exactly in the footsteps of his father
and grandfather. He had full faith in theOneness of God. He directed
his followers to do good and shun evil. He advised them to keep up
prayer and give alms. He was a man of parts and wisdom. God showered
His blessings on him and his kith and kin. The Holy Quran affirms:
"And We gave him tidings of the birth of Ishaq, a Prophet of the
righteous and We showered Our blessings on him and on Ishaq and of
their off-spring are some who do good and some who plainly wrong their
own selves." ( Surah 37: Verse 113)
At the age of sixty the Prophet Ishaq (peace be upon him) was blessed
with a pair of twins namely Esau and Ya'qub. Esau was a hunter and
provided his aged parents with meat. Ishaq was chosen to be the
Prophet of the Bani Israel.
His marriage and off-spring
It is narrated that his uncle Laban madeProphet Ya'qub(peace be upon
him) serve him for seven years on promise to marry Rachel with him. At
the end of this period the marriage was solemnized. Later on he
entered into matrimonial contract with three more women. The Prophet
Ya'qub (peace be upon him) had four wives and twelve sons who became
the progenitors of twelve tribes. TheProphet Yusuf(peace be upon him)
and Benjamin were from Rachel. The Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him)
had great affection for them.
Plot against Prophet Yusuf
As the off-springs of his other wives were jealous of Prophet Yusuf
(peace be upon him) they hatched out a plan to separate Yusuf from his
father. They took him out on a lame excuse of tending sheep and threw
him into a waterless well. They came back home shedding crocodile
tears and said: A wolf has devoured Yusuf.
The Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him) suspected foul play on the part
of his sons. He bore with patience the mental torture to which he was
subjected in his old age. He wept bitterly day and night and lost his
eye-sight. After a long time he came to know that Prophet Yusuf (peace
Be upon him) was alive. He was the custodian of storehouse in Egypt.
The Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him) along with the whole family
proceeded towards Egypt on the invitation of his son. They were
awarded a warm reception. He settled inEgypt. He died at the age of
140 years. He was buried inHebron (al-Khalil)according to his will.
When the Prophet Ya'qub (peace be upon him) was on the point of death,
be called his sons and held conversation, with them. It is mentioned
in the following Verses of the Holy Quran:
"The same did Ibrahim enjoin upon his sons, and also Ya'qub (saying):
O' my sons! Lo! Allah has chosen for you the true religion, therefore
die not save as men who have surrendered (unto Him) or were you
present when death came to Ya'qub when he said to his --sons: What
will you worship after me? They said: We shall worship your God, God
of your fathers Ibrahim, Ismail and Ishaq, One God and unto Him We
have surrendered." ( Surah 2: Verses 132-133)

The Hard-Working Muslim Woman - Women site, -

The Muslim woman was not idle; how could she be idle when she is the
mistress of the house and family and has many great tasks such as
pregnancy, delivery, suckling, feeding her husband and children,
taking care of the children and the home, participating in some tasks
of the husband such as watering, carrying water skins, using the hand
mill, managing and feeding the horse and carrying date stones from the
husband's land.
It is not one kind of work; rather, there is work that is too heavy to
be carried by mountains. They bore these tasks with patience while
praising Allaah The Almighty. When Allaah The Almighty granted Muslims
conquests, the husbands of those women alleviated some of their tasks
and brought maid-servants to help them with their work.
The highest summit that none could reach but Muhammad, sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam, and his offspring remained high, facing strenuous
work day and night even when there was an abundance of servants and
wealth because no one could reach the status of prophethood.
Furthermore, it is sufficient for the woman that her pregnancy and
delivery are considered Jihaad )struggle( in the way of Allaah The
Almighty. The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said:"The woman
in her pregnancy to her delivery until she weans the child is like the
one who guards the frontiers in the way of Allaah. If she dies in this
period, she would have the reward of a martyr."]At-Tabaraani
)Al-Haythami: the chain of transmission includes Qays ibn Ar-Rubay'
who was graded as authentic by Sufyaan and Shu'bah and graded as
Dha'eef by other scholars of Hadeeth; the remainder of the chain are
among the narrators of Al-Bukhaari and/or Muslim[
Listen to the delegate of women to the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, Asmaa' bint Yazeed Al-Ansaariyyah, may Allaah be pleased with
her, when she summarized the situation and job of the Muslim woman
while she longs for the reward of Jihaad in the way of Allaah. She
said,
'O Messenger of Allaah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for
you, I am the delegate of Muslim women to you. Allaah The Almighty
sent you to both men and women. We believed in you and followed you.
We )women( are confined and reserved at your houses and bear your
children. )However,( you men are preferred over us by attending Friday
prayers, congregational prayers, funerals, performing Hajj after Hajj
and— better than all of these acts of worship— Jihaad in the way of
Allaah The Almighty. When you go out in the way of Allaah for Jihaad
or for Hajj or 'Umrah, we preserve for you your children and your
property, weave your clothes and bring up your children. So, do we
share with you the reward?
The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, turned his
face to his Companions and said:"Have you ever heard a woman ask a
more eloquent question about her religion than this one?"They said,
"No. We did not think that a woman would be guided to say the like of
this." Then, the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, turned to her
and said:"O woman, understand and inform the women who are behind you
that being a good wife to your husband equals all that )reward you
mentioned for men(."]Al-Bayhaqi[
What glad tidings for women could be greater than this! The reward of
being a good wife and beautifying herself for her husband equals the
reward of performing Hajj and 'Umrah and doing Jihaad. This is not the
way we see the woman today; she adorns herself when she goes out to
the markets and is in a shabby appearance at home with her husband.
When she goes out of her home, she exposes her adornments like the
pre-Islamic era and even worse. She goes out wearing perfume and
struts among men until she is cursed by the angels. Meanwhile, at home
before her husband, she is in a shabby state and a terrible condition.
What an excellent advice it was that of Asmaa' ibn Khaarijah
Al-Fazaari, may Allaah have mercy upon him, when he said to his
daughter as stated in Majma' Al-Amthaal by Al-Maydaani:
O daughter, you have left the nest where you grew up and went to
another that you do not know and to a mate who is unfamiliar to you,
so be an earth for him and he will be your sky. Be a resting place for
him and he will be your pillar. Be his Bondmaid and he will be your
slave. Do not make excessive demands for he will then desert you. Do
not become too distant from him for he will then forget you. Should he
draw near then draw close to him. Should he become distant stay away
from him. Watch for his nose, his hearing and his eye; so, he will
smell nothing from you but that which is sweet, hear nothing but that
which is good; and look at nothing but that which is beautiful.
This is the best advice ever for every bride on her wedding day. The
Muslim woman acknowledged this advice and was the best wife among
mankind, and she gave birth to the most unique nation in history,
which Allaah The Almighty described as the best nation in the verse
)which means(:}You are the best nation produced ]as an example[ for
mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and believe
in Allaah{]Quran 3:110[
The woman had a great role in the emergence of the best Ummah )nation(
in the history of mankind. She was the best wife, mother and teacher.
Many are the great men recorded in the history of this Ummah who
became prominent through the efforts of their covered up mothers who
educated and disciplined them!
There is no doubt, if this Ummah wants to assume its prior status and
rise again, then, it should first perfect the upbringing of the
incubators who would bring up the children and teach them Islamic
teachings. In this way, the mother would indeed be like a school. In a
renowned line of Arabic poetry, the poet Haafith Ibraaheem said that
the woman is a school, if you prepare her well, you are preparing a
highly refined people.

Ar-Rubayyi’ bint Mu’awwith - Women site, -

Pledged allegiance to the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, under the Tree
Her name and lineage
Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith ibn Al-Haarith ibn Rifaa'ah ibn Al-Haarith
ibn Sawaad ibn Maalik ibn Ghanm ibn Maalik. She is one of Al-Ansaar
]the Supporters of the Prophet in Al-Madeenah[ from the tribe of Banu
An-Najjaar. Her mother is Umm Yazeed bint Qays ibn Za'waa' ibn Haraam
ibn Jundub ibn 'Aamir ibn Ghanm ibn 'Adiyy ibn An-Najjaar. Her father
is Mu'awwith, one of the honorable Companions who participated in the
Ghazwah of Badr. Her husband is the respected Companion, Iyaas ibn
Bukayr Al-Laythi, who is one of the prominent Emigrants.
Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith has numerous virtues, one of which is that
the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, visited her on her wedding
day. She narrated: "The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
entered upon me on my wedding day and sat on my bed just as you are
now sitting. Some girls were playing the Duff lamenting the death of
their fathers in the Ghazwah of Badr; one of them said: "We have among
us a prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow." The Prophet,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said: "Do not say so. Just continue
what you were saying earlier." ]Al-Bukhaari[
The reason why the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, told the
girls so, is that Allaah The Exalted is the Only One who knows the
future. None of His creation has the ability to predict the future, as
Allaah The Exalted Says )what means( :}]He is[ Knower of the unseen,
and He does not disclose His ]knowledge of the[ unseen to anyone. *
Except whom He has approved of messengers, and indeed, He sends before
each messenger and behind him observers.{]Quran 72:26-27[
Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith held many courageous stances in Islamic
history that prove her sincere adherence and commitment to Allaah The
Exalted, to Islam and to all Muslims. She did not fear the blame of a
critic and was not afraid of any one who did not implement the orders
of Allaah The Almighty.
Ar-Rubayyi' narrated: "I went to buy perfume from Asmaa' bint
Makhrabah, Abu Jahl's mother, and she told me: 'Write a piece of paper
stating that you owe me money for that perfume.' Ar-Rubayyi' replied:
'Yes, I will write you a paper stating that I, Ar-Rubayyi' bint
Mu'awwith, owe you that money.' Asmaa' then said: 'Oh, I hope you
would lose someone dear to you and shave your hair mourning him/her.
You are the daughter of the man who killed his master.' Ar-Rubayyi'
said: 'Rather, I am the daughter of the man who killed his slave.'
Asmaa' said: 'By Allaah, I shall not sell you anything.'"
Ar-Rubayyi' is the mother of Muhammad ibn Iyaas ibn Al-Bukayr.
A number of the Companions and Taabi'oon used to come to her to
benefit from her knowledge on the rulings of Islam and to ask her
about her narrations.
Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith narrated: "The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam, told the villages of the Ansaar early on the morning of
'Aashooraa' )the tenth of Muharram(: 'Whoever is not fasting today
should continue the day and whoever is fasting should preserve his
fasting.' She said: "From that time on, we started fasting on the
tenth of Muharram. We used to make our little children fast too, and
whenever a child felt hungry, we would distract him with a toy made of
wool till the time of Iftaar." ]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, conferred honor upon
Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith and Umm Sunbulah
At-Tabaraani narrated that Ar-Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwith ibn 'Afraa', may
Allaah be pleased with them, said: My father, Mu'awwith ibn 'Afraa',
sent me with a measure of ]some[ ripe dates and Hisaa` ]soup[ made of
small cucumbers to the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, as the
Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, used to love cucumber. There
was jewellery that the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, had
received from Bahrain and he gave me a handful of it." In another
narration, she says: "So he gave me a handful of jewellery or gold."
This Hadeeth was narrated by Ahmad with this wording and he added in
another version:
"The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said to her:'Adorn
yourself with this.'Al-Haythami said that both narrations are Hasan,
and At-Tirmithi narrated the brief version.
At-Tabaraani narrated in Al-Awsat that Umm Sunbulah, may Allaah be
pleased with her, offered the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
a gift but his wives refused to accept it. The Prophet, sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam, ordered them to accept it, so they did. The
Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, granted Umm Sunbulah, may
Allaah be pleased with her, a piece of land which 'Abd-Allaah ibn
Jahsh, may Allaah be pleased with him, later on bought from Hasan ibn
'Ali, may Allaah be pleased with them.
Al-Haythami said that 'Amr ibn Qaythi is one of the narrators of this
narration and he did not know him, and the rest of the narrators are
trustworthy. There are numerous narrations on the generosity of the
Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, in giving charity.
Umm Sunbulah, may Allaah be pleased with her, died during the
Caliphate of Mu'aawiyah in the 45th year AH. Ar-Rubayyi' bint
Mu'awwith, may Allaah be pleased with her, died during the Caliphate
of 'Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwaan between the 73rd and the 79th years AH.

How to Handle Burdens - Women site, -

We all have stress and burdens in our daily lives. Whether it is
school or work or just the trials of life, we carry much on our
shoulders. Some of us carry our own loads and some of us carry loads
that we share with others, such as health problems, personal family
issues, financial dilemmas, marital discord, employment troubles, and
the list could go on. These burdens that we bear can be heavy. In
fact, most of us may say that at one time or another, these burdens
are too hard to bear.
But, in Chapter two ]Quran 2[, Allaah Almighty promises us that we
will never have to carry a burden that is greater than what we can
bear. So why do we feel then that the burden is too heavy for us to
carry? Why do we feel as if we had the weight of the entire world on
our shoulders and as if we had more than our share of worries and
woes?
We feel this way not because of the weight of the burden, but rather
the way we carry it.
Bend at the knees
When we physically carry heavy loads in our arms, we are always told
to `bend at the knees' to avoid breaking our backs and injuring our
necks. There is great wisdom in ensuring that something is sincerely
done in our own best interest, and not just done as a task that we
want to get rid of. Likewise, a burden that is carried with little or
no care or concern for our own well-being does not make much sense. In
a short amount of time, one would `burn out' and be of much less use
to the same people that we were intending to help in the first place.
So, a burden carried on our shoulders should be carried with care as
well, otherwise it could similarly become a `pain in the neck'. In
other words, a burden on its own is not such a pain but a mere
responsibility; but a burden that is not carried well becomes a pain,
a hassle that one harbors reluctantly.
No matter how heavy our burden is, if we carry it with confidence and
self respect, we can handle the weight of it and carry it to fruition
or to the point that it needs to be carried.
Sometimes, this weight that we carry is for a short period and
sometimes it is for a long period; whatever the duration, our attitude
determines in large part the outcome. The way that we handle any
situation determines how that situation can end. Think about many of
the burdens that you may have in your life at this very moment. The
way you see them can have a huge impact on the way they affect your
life. If you think they are enormous, then you tend to visualize them
as such.
If you imagine that it is the end of the world, you would probably
feel as if the world was about to come crashing down on you.
Instead, if we can remember at times like this that there is no such
thing as a burden too great, we can take a deep breath and remind
ourselves that we can handle it. We have to remember that Allaah
Almighty Knows what we can handle. After all, He Almighty created us
and thus Knows better than anyone else what we can and cannot handle.
Pulling our own weight
In remembering this, it would be better for us to handle our
responsibilities not with complaints and grouchiness but with
self-restraint and grace. The burdens placed on our shoulders should
not weigh us down to the point of immobility. Instead, we can think of
them as challenges that we can learn to face and overcome. The reality
is that, no matter how bad the situation is, there is always someone
out there whose situation is harder than ours. Maybe we can't see that
person when we need to, but we need to know that this reality exists
and that our own burdens are meant for us. The burden of other people
could be much worse.
All of the burdens that we have are a test from Allaah Almighty—we
know that already. What we sometimes forget is how to handle those
burdens. Usually, we complain about everything that is 'going wrong'
in our lives. If we can change our perspective and balance those
burdens with a stronger back and with a more positive attitude, we
will see that the burden is not as heavy as the reward for being
grateful for those things that we have in our lives that are going
well.