Fathwa, - Islam protects the wife's right in enjoyment and satisfaction

Question
It is recommended in Islam for men to marry virgin women. "Marry
virgins for they have sweeter mouths, more productive wombs and are
more pleased with less". But for women it is recommended not to refuse
a man because of their age and marital status )if he is already
married( women even have got no right object if her husbands want to
have more wives. Why man's enjoyment, satisfaction and pleasure has
been given more preference to the woman's?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that
Muhammadis His slave and Messenger.
First of all, you should know that being content with the religious
rulings and surrendering oneself to them is the only way to salvation,
and listening to the misconceptions which the devil and his )human and
jinn( helpers whisper to a person are means for destruction. If the
heart accepts these misconceptions, it will be led to destruction; so
one should be very careful. Allaah Says )what means(: }And certainly,
the devils do inspire their friends )from mankind( to dispute with
you, and if you obey them )by making a dead animal legal by eating
it(, then you would indeed be polytheists because they -devils and
their friends- made lawful to you to eat that which Allaah has made
unlawful to eat and you obeyed them by considering it lawful to eat,
and by doing so you worshipped them, and to worship others besides
Allaah is polytheism(.{ ]Quran 6:121[.
Saying that in Islam, the right of the man in enjoying his wife is put
in priority over the right of the wife in doing so is wrong in
principle, and it has no basis. Indeed, Islam protected the right of
the wife in marital relations and other fields, and there are many
other well-known examples but this is not the place to mention them.
It is enough to mention the saying of Allaah )which means(: }And live
with them in kindness.{]Quran 4:19[. Allaah also Says )what means(:
}…And they )women( have rights )over their husbands as regards living
expenses, etc.( similar )to those of their husbands( over them )as
regards obedience and respect, etc.( to what is reasonable.{]Quran
2:228[.
Indeed, Islam urges men to marry virgin women, but this is in order to
achieve greater benefits than just temporarily, enjoinment such as
increasing the progeny, the continuity of marital relationship between
the husband and wife and so forth. On the other hand, a woman is not
obliged to accept to marry someone who is much older or much younger
than her, or someone whose social status is different than hers, and
so on. However, when the scholarssay that it is desirable for the
woman not to refuse a man because of these differences, this is in
order to achieve religious benefits. For instance, a woman is
generally the one who is asked for marriage by a man whereas she is
shy to ask someone to marry her, and if she refuses those who propose
to her for marriage, it might be that )after a while( no one else
would ask her for marriage, and so, she will remain without being
married, and live all her life without a husband. In this case
spinsterhood would spread and this, undoubtedly, leads to many
temptations and corruption.
Allaah Knows best.

Fathwa, - Highlighting the status ofwoman in Islam

Question
Assalamu Alaikum We are living in a time that the opponents of Islam
spreading wrong information about the freedom of women in Islam. But I
am amazed to notice that wherever in the world occures any communal
problems, the Muslim women are abused and molested by the opposite
community but the Muslims are rarely doing the same to the women of
other religion. Is it a result of the teachings of our beloved Prophet
Muhammad )s a s( to respect women? Can we use this matter to the Dawa
purpose? Jazak allah khairan
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that
Muhammadis His slave and Messenger.
There is no doubt that there is no other civilization that respected
the status of the woman as did the Islamic civilization. This is
highlighted in the teachings of Islam in its two authentic sources:
the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
Similarly, Islam advises its followers to be kind to the non-Muslims
and to deal justly with them as long as they are not in war with the
Muslims; Allaah Says )what means(:}Allaah does not forbid you from
those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you
from your homes — from being righteous toward them and acting justly
toward them. Indeed, Allaah loves those who act justly.{]Quran 60:83[.
There is no difference in this respect between their males and
females, young and old.
Even at war, the Prophetforbade killing a woman unless she is a
fighter.Ibn 'Umarnarrated that a woman was found killed in one of the
battles of the Prophetso hedisapproved of the killing of women and
children. ]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
Moreover,Imaam Maalikreported in "Al-Muwatta'a" thatAbu Bakrused to
advise the leaders of his army telling them:"Do not kill a woman or a
child or an old aged person, and do not cut down fruitful trees. Do
not destroy the inhabited places. Do not slaughter a sheep or a camel
except for food. Do not burn palm trees or drown them. Do not steal
from the booty, and do not be cowardly."
There is no doubt that this is from the good traits of Islam whose
followers abide by in most of their cases, and this is evident from
their conduct as well.
Indeed, such good traits should be highlighted by the Muslims and used
in calling non-Muslims to Islam and in their dealings with the
non-Muslims.
Allaah knows best.

Fathwa, - Children’s Islamic upbringing woman’s major role

Question
I am a woman who loves her family very much. Is my exaggerated love
for them considered a sin? If I enter Paradise, will my husband and
children be with me? I do not work for the sake of my children. Have I
committed a sin by not working?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His slave and Messenger.
Allaah The Almighty promised the people who die as believers, as well
as their families, to gather them together in Paradise. Allaah The
Almighty Says )what means(, }And those who believed and whose
descendants followed them in faith - We will join with them their
descendants, and We will not deprive them of anything of their deeds.
Every person, for what he earned, is retained.{]Quran 52: 21[ Allaah
The Almighty told us that by His Grace and Bounty He gathers them in
the perfect way by elevating those who are in lower ranks to those who
are in higher ranks, not vice versa.
Every Muslim, male or female, should be keen on achieving high levels
of faith. They should bring up their children according to the
guidance of faith and righteousness in order to attain this great
reward.
The questioner's love for her husband and children is an innate love
that does not result in any sin as long as she does not give it
priority over the love for Allaah The Almighty, His Messenger and His
religion.
A woman will have a great reward if she is mainly focused on
upbringing her children properly in an Islamic way, devoting herself
for this cause, and observing her husband's rights. These goals are
better for her than the transient earnings of this worldly life that
she could have if she were to work. May Allaah The Almighty guide
everyone to do what He loves and all that pleases Him.
Allaah Knows best.

Holy Days of Islam

Festivals
There are two Muslim festivals set down in Islamic law: Eid-ul-Fitr
and Eid-ul-Adha ("Eid" or "Id" is a word meaning festival).
There are also several other special days which Muslims celebrate.
Al-Hijra (1 Muharram) - The Islamic New Year's Day
This festival commemorates the Hijra (or Hegira) in 622 CE when the
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) moved from Mecca to Medina.
This was the beginning of the growth of Islam into a world faith.
The Muslim calendar counts dates from the Hijra, which is why Muslim
dates have the suffix A.H. (After Hijra). There is no specific
religious ritual required on this day, but Muslims will think about
the general meaning of Hijra, and regard this as a good time for "New
Year Resolutions".
The Qur'an uses the word Hijra to mean moving from a bad place or
state of affairs to a good one - and so Muslims may think about how
their faith helps them leave behind bad ways of living and achieve a
better life.
Ashura (10 Muharram)
This is a holiday for Shi'a Muslims in particular, and commemorates
the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet (pbuh) in 680 CE.
In Shi'ite communities this is a solemn day: plays reenacting the
martyrdom are often staged, and many take part in mourning rituals.
For other Muslims, Ashura is an optional fasting day.
Mawlid an Nabi (12 Rabi') - The birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
At this time Muslims think about Muhammad (pbuh), and the events of
his life. Muslim parents will tell stories of the Prophet's (pbuh)
life to their children. Those Muslims who celebrate this festival do
so joyfully. Some Muslims disapprove of celebrating the birthday, on
the grounds that it is an innovation, and innovations in religious
matters are forbidden.
Why are innovations forbidden?
Because if changes were made in religious matters it would imply that
Islam was not complete when it was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh), or that the Prophet (pbuh) did not tell Muslims everything
that was revealed to him.
This would be seen as highly sacrilegious by many Muslims.
Lailat al Miraj (27 Rajab)
The night journey and ascent of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), and the
revelation of Salat.
The festival is celebrated by telling the beautiful story of how the
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was visited by two archangels while he was
asleep, who purified his heart and filled him with knowledge and
faith.
The Prophet (pbuh) travelled from Mecca to Jerusalem in a single night
on a strange winged creature called Burqa. From Jerusalem he ascended
into heaven, where he met the earlier prophets, and eventually God.
During his time in heaven Muhammad (pbuh) was told of the duty of
Muslims to recite Salat (ritual prayer) 5 times a day.
Lailat al Qadr (27 Ramadan)
The festival of The Night of Power marks the night in which the Qur'an
was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Allah. Muslims
regard this as the most important event in history, and the Qur'an
says that "this night is better than a thousand months" (97:3), and
that on this night the angels descend to earth.
This is a festival that Muslims spend in study and prayer. Some will
spend the whole night in prayer or in reciting the Qur'an.
Lailat al Qadr is a good time to ask for forgiveness. Allah's Apostle said,
"Whoever establishes the prayers on the night of Qadr out of sincere
faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards (not to show off) then all
his past sins will be forgiven." (Bukhari Vol 1, Book 2: 34)
The date of27 Ramadanis a traditional date, as the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) did not tell us when the Night of Power would be, although he
suggested it was in the last 10 days of the month. Because of this,
many Muslims will treat the last 10 days of the month of Ramadan as a
particularly good time for prayer and reading the Qur'an.
Eid ul Fitr (1 Shawwal)
This marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting, and is a festival
of great celebration. In Islamic countries it is a public holiday. The
first Eid was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) with
his friends and relatives after the victory of the battle of
Jang-e-Badar.
Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but thanking
Allah for the help and strength that he gave them throughout the
previous month to help them practice self-control. The festival begins
when the first sight of the new moon is seen in the sky.
Muslims in most countries rely on news of an official sighting, rather
than looking at the sky themselves.
Eid ul Fitr is very much a community festival and people go out into
the streets to exchange greetings, and visit friends and relatives.
The celebratory atmosphere is increased by everyone wearing best or
new clothes, and decorating their homes. There are special services
out of doors and in Mosques, processions through the streets, and of
course, a special celebratory meal-eaten during daytime, the first
daytime meal Muslims will have had in a month. Eid is also a time of
forgiveness, and making amends.
Eid ul Adha (10 Dhul-Hijja)
The Festival of sacrifice which marks the end of the Hajj or holy
pilgrimage, which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam, however it is
celebrated by all Muslims, not just those who are on the pilgrimage.
This is a 4-day public holiday in Muslim countries.
The festival remembers the prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice
his son when God ordered him to. God appeared in a dream to Ibrahim
and told him to sacrifice his son Isma'il. Ibrahim and Isma'il set off
to Mina for the sacrifice. As they went, the devil attempted to
persuade Ibrahim to disobey God and not to sacrifice his beloved son.
Ibrahim drove the devil away.
As Ibrahim prepared to kill his son God stopped him and gave him a
sheep to sacrifice instead. Ibrahim's complete submission to the will
of God is celebrated by Muslims each year. Each Muslim, as they
celebrate, reminds themselves of their own submission to God, and
their own willingness to sacrifice anything to God's wishes.
During the festival Muslims who can afford to, sacrifice domestic
animals, usually sheep, as a symbol of Ibraham's sacrifice. The meat
is distributed among family, friends and the poor, who each get a
third share. (British law insists that the animals must be killed in a
proper slaughterhouse.) As with all festivals there are prayers, and
also presents.