The Early
Muslim Women
Introduction
Praise be ro Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his household, his companions and those who follow his guidance .
A woman is a half of humankind and bears the other half. Thus, she is the whole world. Among the most wonderful mysteries of our nature is that of sex .
The unregenerate male is apt in the pride of his physical strength, to forget the all-important part , which the female plays in his very existence , and in all the social relationships that arise in our collective human lives . The mother that bore us must ever have our reverence . Sex , which governs so much of our physical life , and has so much influence on our emotional and higher nature , deserves –not our fear , or our contempt or our amused indulgence , but –our reverence in the highest sense of the term .
On of the effective ways that magnify the belief in one’s heart is to highlight some stories of the early believers . Such stories explain the seeming contradictions of life , the enduring nature of virtue in a world full of flux and change and the marvellous working of Allah’s eternal purpose in His plan as unfolded to us on the wide canvas of history .
When one looks at the women , who will be dicussed , however those who risked their lives in Jihad against the enemies of Allah and those who presented their sons and all what they had for the cause of Allah , an explanation of their motivations that downplays faith in Allah and His Messenger ( pbuh ) must surely need a great deal more to be convincing than this type of brief detail . However , hereunder there are some snapshots of their lives that may highlight the development of their chasracters .
The Mother of the
Mankind
Hawwa'
She is the mother of mankind . She is created from one of Adam’s ribs . Allah the Almighty says ,
He created you ( all ) from a [
single person : then created of like
nature , his mate . ]
( Az – Zumar : 6 )
It was after Adam had been created the angels were asked to prostrate to him , for by Allah’s grace , his status had actually been raised higher . All of the angels prostrated save Iblis ( Satan ) who in turn was expelled from the Garden owing to his rebelliousness .
Adam and his wife , Hawwa ' were placed in the Garden of comfort and bless , but it was Allah’s plan to give him a limited faculty of choice . All that he was forbidden to do was to approach the Tree , but he succumbed to Satan’s suggestions .
Adam and Hawwa' were innocent in matters material as well as spiritual . They knew no evil . But the faculty of choice , which was given to them and which raised them above the angels , also implied that they has the capacity of evil , which by the training of their own will , they were to reject . They were warned of the danger . When they fell , they realized the evil . They were ( as we are ) still given the chance in this life on a lower plane , to make good and recover the lost status of innocence and bliss .
Adam and Hawwa' were commanded to inhabit the earth . They were very sad . Both of them repented and Allah accepted their repentance because it was sincere . They were told by Allah that earth is their original abode where they would live and die and be resurrected from on the Day of Judgement . Allah the Almighty said ,
Therein shall ye live , and therein [
Shall ye die : but from it shall ye be
taken out ( at last ). ]
( Al-A raf : 25 )
some people claim that Hawwa' is the real reason why mankind does not dwell in Paradise because she asked Adam to eat from the tree .
They belive that if it were not for this sin , we would have continued to live there .
This is undoubtedly a naïve view . When Allah the Almighty willed the creation of Adam He told the angels ,
I will create a vicegerent on [
earth . ]
( al-Baqarah : 39 )
He Almighty did not say , "Iwill create a vicegerent on Paradise." Allah , the High Exalted , Knew that Adam and Hawwa would eat from that Tree and descend on earth . He knew that Satan would rob them of innocence . The knowledge they learned was to become essential for their life on earth .
From the very early down of life on earth , Satan tried to tempt our parents ( and all of us ) in order that he might manage to keep them away from the path of Allah . Thus it is an ongoing war and we should fight against Satan to win Paradise .
The Mothers of the Prophets
Sara
She was the only woman of Ibrahim’s people to believe in Allah . She, afterwards, became his wife . She stood by her husband all the time when calling his people to Allah .
When Ibrahim realized that no one other than his wife and his nephew, Lut was going to believe in his call, he decided to immigrate, to a city called Ur and another called Haran and then departed for Palestine with them . After Palestine, Ibrahim arrived in Egypt .
His wife, Sara was barren. The pharaoh of Egypt, during her stay in Egypt, presented her a slave girl to serve her . Ibrahim was getting old and he had had no son by her . Sara was past the age of childbearing as well. Sara thought about how she and Ibrahim were lonely, for she was barren. She thought that Ibrahim should take her slave girl, Hajar as a wife. Sara let her husband Ibrahim marry Hajar, Then Hajar gave birth to Ismahil, Ibrahim’s first son .
One day, Ibrahim received a group of strange guests. He chose a fat calf and gave orders for it to be slaughtered.
Ibrahim then invited his guests to eat and he let his wife serve them a gesture of welcome and hospitality . He received them with a salutation of peace, and immediately placed before them a sumptuous meal of roasted calf. The strangers were embarrassed . They were angles and did not eat. The angels gave Sara glad tidings of Ishaq. She could hardly believe the news. The news seemed to her too good to be true. She came froward, clamoured, struck her forehead with her hands, indicative of her amusement and incredulity as ''a barren old woman.'' Allah the Almighty says,
[There came our Messenger to
Ibrahim with glad tidings. They
said, '' peace ! '' He answered,
'' peace ! '' and hastened to
entertain them with a roasted calf.
But when he saw their hands not
reaching towards the ( meal ), he
felt same mistrust of them, and
conceived a fear of them. They
said : '' Fear not : We have been
send against the people of Lut . '
And his wife was standing ( there ),
and she laughed : But We gave her
glad tidings of Isaac, and after
him, of Jacob. She said : " Alas
from me! Shall I bear a child,
seeing I am an old woman, and
my husband here is an old man ?
That would indeed be a wonderful
thing ! '' They said : '' Dost thou
wonder at Allah’s decree ? The
grace of Allah and His blessings
on you, O ye people of the house !
For He is indeed Worthy of all
praise, Full of all Glory ! ]
( hud : 70 – 73 )
Hajar
She was an Egyptian slave girl who was given to Sara, Ibrahim’s wife as a present. Because Sara was barren, She preferred to give Ibrahim that girl in marriage so that she might bless him with a child. As years passed, Hajar gave birth to a son. Sara grew jealous and furious. She thought that she became inferior and that Hajar boasted over her. Therefore, she started to blame her husband by saying, '' You disliked me after she had become pregnant ! '' He replied, '' She is just your slave girl and you can do whatever you want.'' ( Qouted from the bible.)
However, Sara kept patient until Hajar gave birth to a boy. At that time, she became jealous. She swore not to live with that slave girl together .
Accordingly, Ibrahim took Hajar and the baby and went southward. They arrived at Makka, a barren town, where the relics of Allah’s Sacred House were still there. This was the first House in which Allah was worshipped. There were just a few nomad people who would stay wherever they found water or pasture .
Ibrahim left his wife and his son there with a small amount of food and water. Then, he turned around and walked away. His wife hurried after him saying : '' Where are you going, Ibrahim, leaving us in this barren desert ? ''
Ibrahim did not answer her and went on walking . She repeated what she said but he remained silent . Eventually, she realized that he did not do this of his own accord. She asked him, '' Did Allah command you to do so ?'' Ibrahim replied, 'Yes.'' She, at once, said, '' We are not going to be lost since Allah, who has commanded you is with us.''
Ibrahim walked until he was hidden from them by a mountain. There he raised his hand skyward and started praying to Allah,
O Our Lord! I have made some [
of my offspring to dwell in a
valley without cultivation, by the
sacred House; in order, O our
Lord! That they may establish
regular prayer: so fill the hearts
of some among men with love
towards them, and feed them with
fruits; so that they may give
thanks. ]
( Ibrahim : 37 )
Ibrahim left his wife and his son in the desert and went home to go on calling people to Allah. Hajar nursed her son, Ismahil and felt thirsy . The sun was scorching hot and invited thirst. After a period of time, all what she had of water was finished. The mother’s milk was dry, and both mother and son were thirst. Moreover, the food was finished and the situation seemed very difficult and critical .
Ismahil began to cry out of thirst, so his mother left him to search for water. She walked hurriedly until she reached a hill called '' Safa '' She climbed the hill and put her hands on her forehead to protect her eyes from the sun, narrowing her eyes she looked for a well, a man, a caravan or anything else. However, there was nothing to be seen.
She came down from Safa hurriedly until she reached the valley where she kept searching . Then she came upon a hill called '' Marwa '' She climbed it and looked around to see if anybody was in view . Unfortunately, there was nobody at her sight. She returned to her baby who was about to die out of thirst. She had nothing to do but to return again to the Safa Hill. From there, she hurried to Marwa Hill .
All her endeavors were of no avail. She went to and fro between the two hills seven times. For this reason, pilgrims walked between Safa and Marwa seven time, commemorating the memory of Hajar and the Prophet Ismahil .
Hajar returned after the seventh time tired and exhausted to find the water gushing from beneath Islam ' i ' s feet. Water overflowed and the life of the mother and child were saved . The mother and child were saved . The mother cupped her hand and filled it with water as she gave thanks to Allah .
Afterwards, life began to thrive in this area. Caravans began to settle around the water which overflowed from Zamzam .
At that time, a caravan was passing westward towards Syria. When they noticed some flocks of birds flying over Makka, they realized that there must be water .
Instantly they went to Hajar and asked her permission to live beside her . Many peoply were attacted by that new well of water and the place began to be inhabited by people .
Umm Musa
There was a tyrant Pharaoh in Egypt. He and his clique were intoxicated with pride of race and pride of material civilization, and grievously oppressed the Israelites. He saw an odious dream. He invited the soothsayers to interpret his dream. They told him that one of Israel’s sons would dethrone the pharaoh of Egypt .
Pharaoh in fear decreed that all male sons born to his Israelite subjects should be killed, and the femals kept alive for the pleasure of the Egyptians .
After pharaoh carried out his new policy he found out that to kill all male sons of Israelites might lead to the annihilation of Israelites as a whole .
As a result he might lose the output of those who worked for him, those who he enslaved, and their women whom he exploited. Therefore, he issued a command that all males should be slaughtered every other year .
Musa was born in the year in which males were to be slain. Musa’s mother was afraid he would be slain. The Egyptian midwives had orders to kill male babies of Israelites. Musa was saved from them, and his mother nursed the infant at her breast herself.
But when the danger of discovery was imminent, she put him into a chest or basket, and floated him on the river Nile. Allah the Almighty said,
So we sent this inspiration to the [
mother of Moses: '' Suckle ( thy
child ), but when thou hast fear
about him, cast him into the river,
but fear not nor grieve: For We
shall restore him to thee, and We
shall make him one of Our
Messenger. ]
( Al-Qasas : 7 )
No sooner was the Divine revelation completed than Musa’s mother obeyed this sacred and wise call. Her motherly heart was filled with pain as she threw her son into the river Nile. However, she knew that Allah was much more merciful to her baby than she was .
Barely did she cast Musa into the Nile than she felt that she had cast her heart as well. Here heart became broken and consumed by grief. Allah the Almighty said,
And the heart of the mother of [
Moses became void: She was
going almost to disclose his
( case ), had we not strengthened
her heart with faith ), so that she
might remain a ( firm ) believer. ]
( Al-Qasa : 10 )
The mother’s heart felt the gaping void at parting from her son; but her faith in Allah’s providence kept her from betraying herself. All what she did was to ask her daughter, Musa’s sister to pursue calmly the chest.
Amazingly, the waves delivered the chest to pharaoh’s palace. When the ladies of pharaoh’s wife saw the chest, they carried it to her. Musa was a darling to look at, and pharaoh had apparently no son, but only a daughter. Pharaoh’s wife loved the baby as Allah willed. Allah the almighty said,
The wife of pharaoh said, '' Here [
is ) a joy of the eye, for me and
for me and for thee: Slay him not.
If may be that he will be of use a
us, or we may adopt him as a
son. ' And they perceived not
( what they were doing ) ! ]
( Al-Qasa : 9 )
This was the plan of providence: that the wicked might cast a net round themselves by fostering the man who was to bring them to naught and be the instrument of their punishment, or ( looking at it from the other side ) that Musa Might learn all the wisdom of the Egyptians in order to expose all that was hollow and wicked in it.
Allah the Almighty said,
[ Then, the people of pharaoh
picked him up ) from the river: ( It
was intended ) that ( Moses ) should
be to them an adversary and a
cause of sorrow: for Pharaoh and
Haman and ( all ) their hosts were
men of sin.]
( Al-Qasa : 8 )
In all life providence so orders things, that Evil is defeated by its own weapons. Not only is it defeated, but it actually, though unwittingly, advances the cause of Good !
No sooner did pharaoh respond to his wife than he saw her face became radiant with joy. Pharaoh brought him nurse but he refused. Many nurses were brought in and Musa still rejected each one of them. Pharaoh’s wife began to weep because of Musa’s cries. She did not know what she could do .
All of sudden, Musa’s sister went calmly and softly and heard the entire story she went to pharaoh’s guards and said,
[ Shall I point out to you the
people of a house that will nourish
and bring him up for you and take
care of him ]
( Al-Qasas : 12 )
In this way, Musa was restored to his mother Musa got the benefit of his mother’s milk as well as the prestige and the opportunities of being brought up in the royal family. In addition, There was the comfort of his mother. Allah Almighty said,
Thus did We restore him to his [
mother, that her eye might be
comforted, that she might not
grieve, and that she might know
that the promise of Allah is true :
[but most of them do not know.
( Al-Qasas : 13 )
Maryam
She is Maryam bint Imran, the daughter of the priest Imran and his wife Hanna, who when pregnant with Maram, vowed to dedicate the child she bore to the service of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and at her birth accordingly named her Maryam, meaning “servant of her Lord. ” Allah the Almighty said,
[ Behold ! Wife of ' Imran said : “O
my Lord! I do dedicate into thee
what is in my womb for thy
special service: So accept this of
me: for thou hearest and knowest
all things.” When she was
delivered, she said: “O my Lord
Behold! I am delivered of a female
child! ” And Allah knew best what
she brought forth “And is not the
male like the female. I have
named her Mary, and I commend
her and her offspring to they
protection from Satan the
Rejected. ” ]
( Al-Imran: 35-36 )
The mother of Maryam expected a male child. Was she disappointed that it was a female child ? No, for she had Faith, and she knew that Allah’s Fate was better than any wishes of hers. Maryam was no ordinary girl: only Allah knew what it was that her mother brought forth .
Maryam grew under Allah’s special protection. Her sustenance, under which we may include both her physical needs and her spiritual food, came from Allah, and her growth was indeed a 'goodly growth”. Some aprocryphal Christian writings say that she was brought up in the Temple to the age of twelve like a dove, and that she was fed by angels.
The purest of womankind, she was a great-faithed one, and miraculously conceived the Prophet Isa ( pbuh ). Allah the Almighty said,
[ Behold the angels said: “ O
Mary! Allah hath chosen thee and
purified thee chosen thee above
the women of all nations. ]
( Al-Imran : 42 )
Mary the mother of Jesus was unique, in that she gave birth to a son by a special miracle, without the intervention of the customary physical means. This of course does not mean that she was more than human, any more than that her son was more than human.
Being chosen as the purest of womankind, she was told that she would beget a child without wedlock. Maryam was still a virgin . No human had touched her, nor was she married or engaged. Therefore she was stunned and wonered saying,
[ She said : How shall I have a son,
seeing that no man has touched
me, and I am not unchaste ? ” ]
( Maryam : 20 )
She at once heard the Divine reply,
[ He said : “ So ( it will be ) : Thy
Lord saith, That is easy for Me :
and ( We wish ) to appoint him as a
Sign unto men and a mercy from
Us ” : It is a matter ( So ) decreed. ]
Allah had destined her to be the mother of the Prophet Isa ( Jesus Christ ) in a miraculous way.
Allah’s creation is not dependent on time, or instruments or means, or any conditions whatsoever. Existence waits on His Will, or plan, or Intention. The moment He wills a thing it becomes His Word or command, and the thing forthwith comes into existence.
Allah created Adam without a father and mother. There was no man or woman before Adam . Hawwa’ was created after Adam and she was created from a male without a female parties .
Both Maryam and her son, Isa were unfortunately later taken as objects of worship by some sects of Christians because of the strangeness of Isa’s birth without a father, though as commentators point out, by such reasoning the Propher Adam ( pbuh ) might better deserve to be worshipped, since he had neither father nor mother .
The amazement of the people knew no bounds. In any case they were ready to think the worst of her, as she had disappeared from her kin for some time . But now she came, shamelessly parading a babe in her arms! How she had disgraced the house of Aaron, the fountain of priesthood! The people then reminded her of her high lineage and the unexceptionable morals of her father and mother . How, they said, she had fallen, and disgraced the name of her progenitors!
What could Maryam do ? How could she explain ? Would they, in their censorious mood, accept her explanation ? All she could do was to point to the child, who, she knew, was no ordinary child . And the child came to her resue . By a miracle he spoke, defended his mother, and preached to an unbelieving audience . Allah the Almighty said,
[ At Length she brought the ( babe )
to her people, carrying him ( in
her arms ), they said: “ O Mary!
Truly a strange thing Has thou
brought! “ O sister of Aaron! Thy
father was not a man of evil nor
thy mother a woman unchaste! ”
But she pointed to the babe. They
said : ' How can we talk to one
who is a child in the cradle ? ” He
said : “ I am indeed a servant of
Allah : He lath given me
Revelation and made me a
Prophet : And He hath made me
Blessed where so ever I be, and
hath enjoined on me prayer and
Zakat as long as I live ;
“ He hath made me ) kind to my
mother, and not over bearing or
unblest ; “ So peace is on me the
day I was born, the day that I die,
and the day that I shall be raised
up to life ( again ) ! ”
( Maryam : 27 : 33 )
= To be continued =
تحرير : حورية الدعوة ✍
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