Putting Women In Their Place

William Breiannis on November 17, 2013 in Life and Islam, Misc

بسم اللّه الرحمن الرحيم

All praise is due to Allah alone, the One who created all creation in pairs. May He send the best benedictions and peace upon the best of creation, sent for the guidance of all mankind without exception, Muhammad; and upon his family and companions. To proceed:

This is a post that can be explored and expounded upon to great lengths but due to the limits of the medium, it will be a short post entitled: “Putting Women in their Place“ By Wm. Halim Breiannis (hvsmrspct@aol.com)

Allah, The Mighty and Majestic has said,

وَلَيْسَ الذَّكَرُ كَالأُنثَى

“And the male is not like the female”

(3:36)

This must be reflected upon and understood well. Hanna, the mother of Maryam (may Allah be pleased with them both) dedicated the child in her womb for the service of the temple. When she gave birth to Maryam, she was remorseful at the birth of a daughter because serving the temple was the role of men. She complained to Allah, and this is the response to that complaint, “And the male is not like the female.” And the birth of this pure and noble woman, Maryam, (may Allah bestow peace upon her) was a great mercy and blessing bestowed upon the world because it was through her that Allah sent the Messiah, Jesus (peace be upon him).

There is a saying in English that our sheikh, Muhammad Daniel (may Allah preserve him) has mentioned on several occasions, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” and that is in reality what must be understood from this ayat. Our women are the lifeline of this ummah. It is through our women – our mothers, our sisters, our wives, and our daughters – that our deen flows and flourishes from one generation to the next.

This, however, should be taken as a severe warning for us today. What this means is that if our women are ignorant of their Islam and weak in their Iman then our entire Ummah is weak and tomorrow is bleak. If our women are wavering in their deen, disobedient to Allah or astray, then know that our next generation will follow suit. This is known by the enemies of Islam and this is why they target our women in their propaganda. This is why we see such a push for the so called ‘feminist’ and ‘women’s liberation’ movements. This is why such movements are funded and assisted by the west throughout the Muslim world…and in the west itself. If our women can be made to reject the deen outright or twist and manipulate it from within, the west has gained a victory without a single bullet being fired.

These movements, far from being helpful, are a means of spreading further corruption, despite their claims. This is as Allah, the Most High, said what is translated to mean,

“And when it is said to them, ‘Do not spread corruption on the Earth’

they say, ‘ we are those who set things aright’.

No indeed, they are the mischief makers though they may perceive it not”

(2:11,12)

This is not meant to deny the evils done to our women, the injustice and chauvinism that pervades so many homes and communities, rather it is a denial of that strategy to counter it. Rather than turn to the enemies of Islam for solutions, let us look to our own system, the guidance of Allah and His messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for the true solution. Did Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, not say what is translated to mean, “…Women have rights similar to those over them…”(2:228)? Did the prophet (may the best benedictions and peace be upon him) not say, “The most complete of the believers in faith are those with the best character, and the best of you are the best in behavior to their women”? If we are believers, if we are people of the Qur’an and sunnah, then this is our solution.

If someone oriented to a western perspective were to ask, “what about women in the work place”, then an Islamic response could only be, “It always depends”; there are many different considerations to be taken and a simple halal/haram verdict is neither adequate or just. This too, however, is a symptom of the diseases of our times (for males and females) that people think so highly of their ‘careers’. Very true are the words of the non-Muslim author, Tom Hodgkinson who said in his book “The Freedom Manifesto”, “Very depressing it is that women, too, have fallen for the career myth. How on earth bossing around [others] can be more important than playing with your kids, hanging out with your friends and family or doing creative things in the home is completely beyond me. Over the last hundred years or so, women have equated career with liberation. To escape the perceived boredom, tyranny and powerlessness of domestic life…they have sought out work which will provide money and fulfillment. That is the promise. But what is the reality? Mothers with children start to feel like their lives are being sucked up by children and domestic toil and that motherhood is not valued by their peers. You are only someone if you have a job.” And so we see the breakdown of the family, the spread of materialism and the loss of our Islam.

We need our women to be women and they need our men to be men. Men are to be the protectors and maintainers of women, their defenders and supporters. They, the men and women of this ummah, are supporters one of another and so they must support and help one another grow – to grow in knowledge, to grow in strength and confidence, and to grow in faith. We must change as an ummah, for the better – growing together. The men must take up their role and facilitate this for their women folk knowing that they are a key means to change – for better or for worse.

Women are not just half of our ummah, they are the mothers of tomorrow’s men. They are the future wives of our mujahideen and the teachers of our students and scholars. They are our supporters and helpers, our advisers and comforters. They are our tomorrow, they are the future, they are the ummah, so prepare them well.