Personal, - The Inherent Differences Between Man and Woman - III

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Should there be equality in all rulings, given the differences in physique and competence, it would be a reversal of Fitrah )natural disposition(, and injustice against both the authoritative sex )men( and the other one )women( if not the entire life of human society, for in this case, it would result in deprivation of the fruits obtained from the capacity of being authoritative and, at the same time, the members of the other sex would be obliged to do what is beyond their capacity. Allaah The Almighty forbids that such injustice, even as much as the weight of a mustard seed, should happen in the Sharee‘ah of Allaah, who is the Wisest of judges. This is why these fine rulings ensure that the woman is provided for while she practices motherhood, maintains her house, and raises the future generations of the Ummah )Muslim nation(.
May Allaah have mercy upon the prominent scholar, Mahmood Muhammad Shaakir, who commented on the previously-mentioned statement of At-Tabari, may Allaah have mercy upon him, saying,
This is merely a type of false wishing and longing which the people of this age are contentiously involved in and misunderstand, and the only way to be saved from it is to have a sincere intention, a correct understanding of the nature of humankind, as well as to separate baseless false wishes from necessity, and to release oneself from the bond of blind imitation of the prevailing nations and from the captivity of the corrupt society which has dragged the nations of today into great turmoil.
However, some of the people of our religion, may Allaah guide them and mend their affairs, have been led astray, while assuming the mode of reform, and have confused what might reform their corruption by means of endeavor, thought and wisdom, with what would corrupt them. People have become radically excessive, and the resentful advocates of falsehood among them who are in charge of the press today have increased. Thus, tongues have spoken confused words, minds have fallen into chaos, and many people have slipped along with those advocates, to the extent that we have come to see some seemingly learned people who are of those of religious knowledge, say about this issue words from which every religious person should disassociate himself.
There is a huge difference between the state in which the life of the Ummah, with its men and women, is correct and pure from evil, disfigurement and ignorance, and the state in which the Ummah eliminates all the barriers between men and women and thus reduces itself to no more than false wishes that bring about envy and transgression with no just cause. Let me repeat the words of Abu Ja‘far, may Allaah have mercy upon him, “O Allaah, guide us to the straight path at a time in which the tongue has betrayed the mind. Let those who oppose the command of Allaah, and reject His fate in them beware lest a calamity would befall them and obliterate their remaining traces on earth as it obliterated the traces of those who were before them.”
Thus, this principle confirms the physical, moral and Sharee‘ah-recognized distinctions between man and woman.
The forthcoming principles will be established on this first one, since they would discuss the distinctions between them concerning adornment and Hijaab.








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Personal, - The audacity of faith

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The Prayer Has Never Been this Hard
Libraries are like studios. No sound goes unheard. No noise passes without someone looking up or, in this case, a librarian hissing and excitedly shushing the disturber of the peace, silencing the noise polluter.
Nervously flitting and creeping about the bookshelves, I was endeavoring to be as quiet as such can be.
Every footfall, every little brave breath was carefully measured to an exact decibel level, no more, no less.
The only dynamics that I failed to control were the thumping of my heart and a much more subtle tone that somehow made it past all my enacted sound barriers, my mental matrix-built firewall, my muffled mind. It was similar to a flute in that it was both soft and gentle. Yet at the same time, it was piercing and bold, a constant anthem striking out through my internal environment. It was my soul, my little life-giving charge.
It was calling to me, chanting a sweet Athaan that only I could hear in this muted world of books. And oh how I loved it, yet dreaded it!
I had to find a place to make prayer, somewhere in this college library, in my first term ever of a higher education. But I was so afraid to do so, so shy to bow my face in the presence of others, so worried about the impression of expression. What if some malicious person attacked me? What if I was held in contempt because I was "fanatical," a loon? Newspaper headings flashed through my mind's eye: Terrorist Plot in University Campus Exposed! Homicidal Ritual Offered in Campus Library! Al Qaeda's Hand Reaches the Countryside! And Librarian Tasers Student Fanatic.
Passing the atomic clock on the wall no less than 10 times, the minute hand began to drive into my mind, each tick sounding like a deafening beat on a kettledrum. The situation was getting desperate. I could not miss my Prayer. But what about the people? What about all the possible pain, the potential outcomes, internal and external?
I felt as though I had to breathe. I had to go make Prayer. It was a bodily function. I silently battled on, pretending to read random books on politics. If the librarians could hear my insides now, what with all the furious debating and intense fracas going on, they would probably eat me alive. How bad it was, this predicament of mine.
Dragging myself just in time, I found a relatively secluded, undisturbed spot and began to perform my Prayer. Every noticeable motion was a huge movement, a draining operation for me. I felt as though my waist, that corporal hinge that enables us to bend and bow down, was rusty. I really needed some spiritual WD-40.
This was a ground-shaking test, at least to me. I've been reflecting on it all week. It took all my will to simply make Prayer, to express my piety, my gratitude to God the Magnificent Being behind my organic architecture, my magical physique, my creative expression, my artistic passion—my nafs, that invisible soul that makes me who I am. And now, fire-tested and gauged, I realize that my soul, the gift from its Crafter, has not been thanked for properly, in the right fashion in the wrong situation.
I look at the creation around me—the horses and the birds, the trees and the falling snow, the little springs and hills —and know that I have seen authentic, whole worship. Flapping, loping, growing, falling, bubbling up, all these creatures worship their Creator in their own unique, prescribed ways. The bird flies and fulfills its Prayer, its bodily functions. Our equine companions thunder about the plains around the world.
They fulfill their purpose, express their worship, and provide momentum not only to their graceful forms, but also to their tender souls. The trees reach into the heavens. The rills gurgle from the earth. Everything worships Allaah Almighty.
One creature among all creations that live in the world, we are in no way exempt from fulfilling our functions to completion. Being creatures composed of minds, souls, and bodies, we must satisfy all these individual aspects to remain healthy, to possess that spunk, that bounce that keeps us in full blossom, at full tilt, if you'll pardon the idiom.
We eat, drink, exercise, make love, and many more things to meet our bodily needs. In order to quaff our intellect, we go to school, read instruction manuals, take on mathematical concepts, and memorize.
But what do we do for our spirit, our internal core that inspires all the other parts of our body? We make Prayer. A simplistic answer? I think not.
Worship opens our entire being to a refreshing breeze from the outside, cools our hot interiors, and inspires the mind, the body, and the soul. Would you live in a house of stifled air? Would you swim in a stagnate marsh, no spring or current to wash it clear? Would you have your wings clipped?
The Prayer to us has become an outstanding act, a massive struggle, five battles a day. Floating about the stratosphere of modern secular life in our hot air balloons, it is tempting to just throw those canvas sacks of Prayer, those weighty responsibilities, overboard.
For in the eyes of my rising generation, the Prayer has been demoted to spiritual baggage, to an audacious act of faith. But without it, how can we be healthy?
Now, if we have to fight ourselves on something as basic as the Prayer, with what might must we strive simply to survive? Worship should be a thing to be proud of not to boast, but to be full with.
The Prayer that we know—this Prayer of Islam—is the ultimate paradox, the real irony, for it brings us literally down to earth and makes us humble. Yet at the same time it elevates us just as unambiguously to the heavens and, behold, we metamorphose into sublime beings, better than the angels. And that is something worth not fighting for. Surrender.








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Personal, - The Hard-Working Muslim Woman

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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.








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