Women site, - Status of Women before Islam

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To judge the status of women in Islam, we must know their status in the religions and nations that preceded Islam. Then, we will discuss her status under Islam given that there is a long period of time between us and the time of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
Before Islam, the status of the woman was degraded and base in most nations. They did not consider her a human being with a soul; rather, they used to believe that she is created from a base soul and that she is the source of evil and sin. The distinction that Islam gave to the woman set a precedent in the history of mankind fourteen centuries ago.
Status of women in Hinduism:
According to the Hindu Laws of Manu, the woman had no rights. She was a mere servant to her husband or father. She did not have the competence to dispose of her property, and she had no right of ownership. Anything that she owned was the property of her husband, father or son. Also, when her husband died, she was to be burnt alive and buried with him. This heinous crime lasted even after the start of the British occupation in India which imposed laws banning the act of burning women alive.
Nevertheless, the burning of wives continued from time to time even in the twentieth century.
Status of women in the ancient Greek civilization:
In ancient times, Greece was the most civilized and urbanized of nations. Athens was the city of wisdom, philosophy, medicine and knowledge. However, the people of Athens used to buy and sell the woman as if she were a mere commodity. They considered the woman nothing but defilement from the devil’s handiwork.
You will be amazed to know that the Spartan women were allowed in the past to marry more than one husband, and most Spartan women practiced polyandry. Undoubtedly, this was one of the most abominable customs.
Status of women in Judaism:
The woman in Judaism was in the rank of a servant. The father had the right to sell his underage daughter. She had no right to inherit if her father had no male offspring. It is stated in the Old Testament )the distorted Torah( that the woman should not inherit as long as there are males in the family; rather, she is part of the inheritance if her husband dies, and the nearest male relative to the husband would inherit her.
She was believed to be the source of evil and sin. They considered her impure especially on the days she was menstruating and whoever touched her during this time became impure for seven days. They blamed her for the expulsion of Aadam )Adam(, may Allaah exalt his mention, from Paradise, as they believe that she enticed him to eat the apple from the forbidden tree. They considered her the reason behind the eternal curse that befell Aadam and his offspring. Accordingly, all her offspring are born stained with the disgrace of sin.
Status of women in Christianity:
There was widespread Christian belief that the woman had no soul. In 586 AD — before the emergence of Islam— the Council of Macon was held to decide whether the woman was a body that had a base soul or that she did not have a 'saved' soul. They made an exception to Maryam )Mary(, may Allaah exalt her mention, because she is the mother of ‘Eesa )Jesus(, may Allaah exalt his mention.
Paul declared that the woman is the source of sin, the basis of every evil and the fountainhead of every abominable act. St. Bonaventure said to his disciples, “When you see a woman, you should not think that you saw a human being or even a beastly being. Rather, you saw the devil in person.”
On the other hand, the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to sleep in the same bed with his wives when they were menstruating, and if any of his wives crept away from bed while menstruating, he used to call her to sleep in the same bed. He used to be tender and touch his wife when she was menstruating while she had her waist sheet on. His wife, ‘Aa’ishah, may Allaah be pleased with her, used to comb his hair when she was menstruating. He used to recite Quran while he rested his head in her lap while she menstruating.
There is a huge difference between the Quran and the distorted Torah and falsified Gospels. The Quran is from Allaah The Almighty while the other two are books that have been distorted by the Jews and the Christians.
Status of the woman in Arab Society before Islam:
In the pre-Islamic period, the Arabs regarded the woman as a piece of property or as rubbish. When the husband died, his guardian would cover the wife of the deceased with his garment and she could not remarry until he permitted her or until she ransomed herself. They used to prevent her from remarrying until the young matrimonial guardian would grow up and then decide whether he wished to marry her or give her in marriage to anyone else and take the dowry as long as she was not his mother. If she was his mother, he would not marry her.
The woman had no rights and she did not inherit anything. She was considered a source of humiliation and shame.
Islam prohibited all this and allocated for her a specific share in inheritance. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share.{]Quran 4:7[
Moreover, the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era did not only deprive the woman of inheritance but also deprived her of life itself. When some of them begot a female child, they would dig a hole and throw her into it and heap dust over her. What is worse and more disgusting is that once, a father was away travelling when his wife gave birth. When he came back, he took his grown up daughter from her mother, dug a hole while she removed the dust from his clothes, and then, taking her by surprise, pushed her into the hole then heaped dust over her while she screamed for pity. But his heart did not soften for her. This situation is described in the Quran when Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}And when the girl ]who was[ buried alive is asked* For what sin she was killed.{]Quran 81:8-9[
Some mothers used to fear this painful destiny. So, the mother would dig a hole herself during her pregnancy. If she delivered a girl, she would throw her into the hole in order to save her from the tragedy that would take place when the father returned from traveling. Some mothers would strangle their baby daughters after delivering them.
Some fathers’ faces used to turn dark when they received the news that their wives had given birth to a girl because of their intense hatred for girls, and they would be hesitant whether to bury her alive or bear the humiliation and let her live. Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}And when one of them is informed of ]the birth of[ a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.{]Quran 16:58-59[
Their hatred for girls was based on two reasons: First, girls do not take part in wars. Second, they feared that the girl may later become a source of shame. Despite their fear of shame, strangely enough, we find that many Arab tribes were quite lenient in the face of prostitution and that they used to force their slave girls into prostitution until Allaah The Almighty revealed the verse forbidding this act )which means(:}And do not compel your slave girls to prostitution, if they desire chastity, to seek ]thereby[ the temporary interests of worldly life. And if someone should compel them, then indeed, Allaah is ]to them[, after their compulsion, Forgiving and Merciful.{]Quran 24:33[
This means that Allaah The Almighty forgives the slave girls who were compelled only, not those who compelled them. The most notorious in this respect was ‘Abdullaah bin Ubayy ibn Salool the head of the hypocrites in Al-Madeenah who used to make money by compelling his slave girls to be prostitutes. When this practice was prohibited by the revealed verses of the Quran, he was furious but then later he yielded in submission.
Women in the pre-Islamic era used to expose their adornments and entice men. Noble verses of the Quran were revealed to prohibit Muslim women from imitating the disbelieving women just as Muslim men were prohibited before them from imitating the disbelieving men. Allaah The Almighty Says addressing women )what means(:}And do not display yourselves as ]was[ the display of the former times of ignorance.{]Quran 33:33[ Allaah The Almighty ordered them to stay in their homes when He Says )what means(:}And abide in your houses{]Quran 33:33[
The woman of today is like the woman in the pre-Islamic era in terms of exposing adornments and immorality. However, the exposure of adornments in the pre-Islamic era was unsophisticated and naïve, whereas the woman’s exposure of adornments nowadays is wrapped in manicure, pedicure, perfumes, cosmetics, revealing clothes and hair-cuts which look like the humps of the camel which incline women to evil and invite men to it.
It is time we noticed the humiliated state of women in these times and discussed the status of women in Islam in order to see the great difference between that low degrading status and the refined, sublime status that Islam granted them.

PUBLISHER Najimudeen M

Women site, - Safiyyah bint Huyayy: Descendant of Prophets

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Allaah The Almighty granted Muslims a great victory over the Jews in the Battle of Khaybar, and Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, was one of the captives in this battle.
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to her:"Your father remained the staunchest Jewish enemy to me until Allaah The Almighty killed him. O Safiyyah, if you choose Islam, I will keep you as my wife; if you choose Judaism, I may release you and let you join your people."
She replied, "O Messenger of Allaah, Allaah The Almighty Says ])what means([:}And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another.{]Quran 39:7[ I appreciate Islam and I have believed in you even before I ended up in your custody. Moreover, I am in no need of Judaism, nor do I have a father or a brother under it. Since you have given me the option to choose between Islam and disbelief, I do prefer Allaah The Almighty and His Messenger to being freed and returned to my people." ]Ibn Sa‘d[
When Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, wanted to ride a camel, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, bent his knees for her to climb on, but she refused to put her feet on his thigh out of reverence. Instead, she put her knee on his thigh and mounted the camel. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, rode beside her and put a veil over her. They traveled with the Muslim army until they were six miles from Khaybar, the home of the enemy where the battle had taken place, where they stopped to rest.
While they were resting, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, wanted to consummate the marriage with her, but Safiyyah refused, which upset him. Reaching As-Sahbaa', which is sixteen miles away from Khaybar, Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, obeyed him. He asked:"Why did you refuse during the first rest?"She replied, "O Messenger of Allaah, I was afraid for you because the Jews were too near.” The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, appreciated and respected her for that. ]Ibn Sa‘d[
Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, said that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came one day after she had heard ‘Aa'ishah and Hafsah, may Allaah be pleased with them, saying that they were more honored in the sight of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, than her, for they were his wives as well as from his tribe.
She narrates, "When I told him about that, he said:‘You should tell them, 'How could you be better than me when my husband is Muhammad, my father is Haaroon )Aaron( and my uncle is Moosa )Moses(?'"]At-Tirmithi[
She also said,
I went to visit the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, while he was in the state of I‘tikaaf )seclusion in the mosque during the last ten days of Ramadan(. After having spoken to him for an hour, I stood up to return. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also stood up with me. When we reached the gate of the mosque near the door of Umm Salamah, two men from the Ansaar )Helpers( passed by at a quickened pace and greeted the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said to them:"Do not hurry. She is Safiyyah, daughter of Huyayy ]my wife[.''
They said, "Subhaan Allaah! )Glory be to Allaah('' They showed astonishment at the Prophet’s telling them who I was. Therefore, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:"The devil ]circulates[ like blood does in the son of Aadam. I apprehended that the devil might drop some evil thoughts into your minds.'']Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
When the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was suffering from the fatal sickness due to which he died, Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, said, "O Messenger of Allaah, by Allaah, I wish I were the one suffering instead of you." The other wives of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, looked at each other )as if they mocked what she said(. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saw them and said:"Wash your mouths.”They said, “From what?” He said:"From ridiculing her with your looks to each other. By Allaah, she is truthful.”]Ibn Sa‘d[
Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, was always openhanded and generous. One day, she gave Faatimah, may Allaah be pleased with her, and some of the Mothers of the Believers rings of gold and she gave the price of her house in charity before she died.
It was reported that once her slave-girl went to ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allaah be pleased with him, and said, "Safiyyah loves the Sabbath and has good relations with the Jews." When ‘Umar, may Allaah be pleased with him, sent for her and asked her about that, she replied, "As for the Sabbath, I do not love it because Allaah The Almighty has given me a better day ]i.e. Friday[. As for the Jews, I have kindred among them so I maintain kinship ties with them." After that, she asked the slave girl why she had behaved that way, and when the girl told her that the devil had tempted her into carrying tales, Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, set her free. ]Ibn Abdul-Barr[
Such was the Mother of the Believers, Safiyyah bint Huyayy ibn Akhtab, a descendant of Prophet Haaroon, may Allaah exalt his mention. Her mother was called Barrah bint Samaw’al from Banu Quraythah. Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, married the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, at the age of 17, and, despite her young age, she had been married twice before that. She was first married to Salaam ibn Mishkam Al-Qurathi, the warrior of her tribe and one of its great poets. She then married Kinaanah ibn Ar-Rabee‘, the defender of the fort of Al-Qamoos, which was the strongest fort in Khaybar.
Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, related that when she married the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he saw a bruise near her eye. So, he asked:"What is this, Safiyyah?"She said, "I saw in my dreams that a moon fell into my lap. When I told my husband about that dream, he slapped me very hard, saying, ‘You desire to be under the king who comes from Madeenah )referring to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam(.” ]Ibn Sa‘d[
Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, supported the truth when the Commander of the Believers ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, may Allaah be pleased with him, was put under siege in his home. She made a bridge between her house and that of ‘Uthmaan, may Allaah be pleased with him, with pieces of wood through which she transferred water and food to him.
Safiyyah, may Allaah be pleased with her, died in the month of Ramadan, 50 A.H. during the caliphate of Mu‘aawiyah ibn Abi Sufyaan. She was buried in the cemetery of Al-Baqee‘ at the side of the other Mothers of the Believers, may Allaah be pleased with them.

PUBLISHER Najimudeen M

Women site, - Hijaab protects against corruption

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Allaah The Almighty Says )what means(:}O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves ]part[ of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allaah Forgiving and Merciful.{]Quran 33:59[
Consider with me how Allaah The Almighty starts with the wives and daughters of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam. He starts with the chaste, pure, righteous, ascetic women, whom He commands to adhere to Hijaab )Islamic covering( and put on the outer garment, and forbade to display their beauty or expose themselves, as they are the Mothers of the Believers and the mistresses of the women of Paradise. Moreover, from which men were they commanded to veil and screen themselves? From the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, may Allaah be pleased with them, the possessors of pure and chaste hearts.
Then, what do you think, my sister, of the men and women of our days? What do you think of those who spend long hours watching the channels of corruption and destruction, and their hearts are replete with love for shameful desires, and they are about to lose their minds longing to meet a lover, seeing a beautiful girl, or hearing the voice of a girlfriend?
By Him in whose Hand is my soul, the command to adhere to Hijaab should be adhered to with greater strictness these days; and you are responsible before Allaah The Almighty, for you are a source of Fitnah )trial(, which is the greatest Fitnah on the Ummah )nation( of Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam. He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam, said:"I have not left after me a Fitnah more harmful to men than women."
In these days, the hearts of men are diseased, except for him upon whom my Lord bestows mercy, and how few are they! Their eyes turn here and there in the communities of women, and their souls are longing for evil and corruption. Amidst that, the girl displays her adornment and exposes the beauty of her body to ignite the fire of Fitnah in their chests, and urge them to come close to her and fall, along with her, into corruption and shame. Then, in the end, that young man comes out to wash the dirt and impurities of his actions with the water of repentance, and starts a new life, that is if he has a living heart that fears the punishment of Allaah The Almighty. But as for you, you would remain a source of shame on yourself and your family, and the community would never forgive for you your slip, nor overlook your crime; even if you wash your heart with the water of repentance and return to Allaah The Almighty, who will wash away the damage and destruction that will have afflicted your body?
I think you understand what I mean. So, please be careful before it is too late and before you fall and, subsequently, are filled with regret. But at that time, neither regret nor weeping, nor grief nor tears would benefit you.
A pious woman once said, "The rational person, is the one who considers the current state of women nowadays and would consequently burn with grief, dissolve in shyness, be burnt with agony, and blaze with pain. The believing hearts have the right to rupture in pain, and the sincere eyes to shed blood. How could a faithful believer feel the pleasure of food and drink, how could he rejoice in cheerfulness and sleep in comfort while he sees what embitters the bodies, tears and breaks the hearts? It seems that those women have realized the hope of the Jew Oskar Levi when he said, 'We, Jews, are but masters and corruptors of this world, rousers and harbingers of trials and the ones who inflict pain.'
The Jews have a long history of destroying nations through women. The Islamic Sharee‘ah )Islamic legislation( has taken excellent care of the Muslim woman, which ensures the maintenance of her chastity and has made her cherished and lofty. The conditions imposed upon her in her adornment and clothing are only meant to eliminate the means that lead to corruption. That is not to restrict her freedom, but rather to protect her from falling to the bottom of abasement and the mire of degradation.
The Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa salam, said:"Indeed Allaah is Bashful and the Sitteer )Concealer of faults(, and He loves )that His servants should adhere to( bashfulness and concealment )of faults(."]Abu Daawood and An-Nasaa‘i["
The war is being waged against you, my dear sister, and you are its target and aim. Our enemies from the West hold long sessions to design attractive fashionable clothes for you, in order to bewitch the minds, dazzle the sights and cause hearts to be fascinated by you. Do you know what these clothes are for? It is for your Abaaya that was imposed on you to screen your body and divert eyes from you, causing you to live a chaste and pure life.
They have drawn you in to get you to remove your Hijaab, achieving victory over you, and to make you leave your house uncovered, bare-faced and displaying your beauty, having removed your modesty before you removed your outer garment.
In his lecture, "The Story of an Abaaya", Shaykh Muhammad Al-Habdaan, may Allaah protect him, shows the gradual approach made to drive women into removing their Hijaab:
They began with the step of a transparent chiffon Abaaya and continued along these lines for a long time, after which they moved to another step, i.e., the short Abaaya, until when a long time passed and the believing hearts took the initiative to revive the )traditional( long Abaaya, they were disturbed by it, but said, "No problem! Let it be long, but with lace at its ends." They paused a little at that step, and when they found none objected, but rather a lot of women admired it, and increasingly bought it, then, let the model of the on-shoulder Abaaya come into existence, since it is easier for the woman and religion is to make things easy.
After that, the gate was opened wide, and a torrent of afflictions started to pour in, once by a variety of laces on the right and on the left )of the Abaaya(, and once by the broad decorative bands of glittering beads, followed by beautiful embellishments to make the hand look more beautiful, and then the Abaaya with lace and with embroidery on the front and on the back, ending with the Abaaya with various colors."
They also added many different colors like yellow, red, green, and orange. Some of them designed an Abaaya for the bride, another for university, a third for school, a fourth for a soiree and a fifth for a physician.
What makes matters worse, burns the heart, and causes the eye to shed tears is that the ones who design those clothes for the various purposes are Muslim women: we ask Allaah The Almighty to guide them, and return them to Him with good return. They have indeed abandoned their religion, manners and )real( beauty, and forgotten, or seemed to forget, that the woman's head cover beautifies her and increases her in reverence and elegance, in so much as when she enters Paradise )we ask Allaah The Almighty to make us among its inhabitants(, she would beautify herself for her husband therein with that head cover.
It is narrated in a particular Hadeeth )prophetic narration(:"And indeed a woman )of Paradise('s head cover on her head is better than this world and what it contains."
According to the narration of Imaam Ahmad, may Allaah have mercy upon him:"And the head cover of a woman from Paradise is better than this world and the like of it along with it."
According to the narration of Al-Bazzaar and Ibn Abi Ad-Dunya, may Allaah have mercy upon them:"… and if one of the Hoor )maidens( reveals her head cover, the sun would seem, compared to its beauty, like a lightless wick in the sun."
If this beauty lies only in the head cover, then, what about the beauty of she who wears the head cover? Exalted be Allaah Who made all things perfect! On the occasion of mentioning the headcover, let me say to her who has abandoned it, let alone the headcover and full Hijaab: consider how the head cover is among the elements of beauty on the head of the Hoor in Paradise, whereas many of you argue to abstain from wearing it, saying that she does not look fashionable in it, and that it does not suit her; and another argues that she will wear it after marriage. But at the same time, another, astonishingly, puts on the head cover for she sees, as she states, her beauty, intelligence and personality in it. To this latter, let me say, "Make )this deed( for )the countenance of( Allaah The Almighty, since the )rewards of( deeds depend on intentions."
Do you have any doubt, after this, about the obligation of covering the face?

PUBLISHER Najimudeen M