Great Women in Islam
We have elected today to address the issue of women in Islam to try to highlight and draw a clear contrast between what is correct and what is incorrect, what is the proper methodology and what the improper methodology is. Allah did make at taqwa as a criterion for the merit and for the advancement of the person. Allah in the Qur’an إن أكرمكم عند الله أتقاكم (hujurat #13) and in this verse, Allah established for us that the one most favored to Allah is the one who has the most Godfearingness. Also the Prophet did establish that in his hadith when he said that which means that those who are most worthy of me are those who are God-fearing. Whoverever they were, no matter who they are. So the criteria are clear in Islam. The basis for merit and excellence is clears the religion. It is explicitly stated in the Qur’an and in the hadith of the Prophet, and it is explicitly stated in the sayings of the honorable scholars of Islam. So if you review the Islamic history you would find people who have been favored by the high status. And the highest of status. After the Prophets you find that our Master Abu Bakr as Siddiq is the best of the people and after him our master Umar then after him our master Uthman, and then Aliyy Ibnu Abi Talib. Also in the Islamic history you would find that the Prophet taught us of a classification of the status of certain women and in degree of merit the Prophet told us that the best of the women at large is Maryam the daughter of ^Imran, and after her, Fatimah, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, and after Fatimah, Khadijah, Bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the Prophet, and after Khadijah, Aasia, the daughter Muzaahim, the wife of Pharoah, and after her, Aisha, may Allah raise her rank, the wife of the Prophet. Those in that order have the highest of the status of the women.
Maryam the daughter of Imran was known for her saturation in God-fearingness and let me pause here and explain that god fearingness is that the person would be obedient to Allah. If a person performs the obedience and refrains from the sins. The Prophet had dedicated her to serve the Holy Mosque in Jerusalem. She was patient with the different hardships. She was submissive to the orders of Allah. She believed in the revelations and she was among the humble and pious women. Allah praised her in the Qur’an in Surat at-Tahrim Verse #12: This is a picture of the best of the women in this world, Maryam, the daughter of ^Imran, the mother of Prophet ^Isa. This is a picture of a greatly god-fearing woman, a woman who adhered to the rules of the religion. She was raised under the care of a prophet. She endured great hardships. She was accused with adultery, and she was patient and her adherence to the religion earned her such a high status.
Fatimah, the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, again was extremely patient. She endured the hardships of this life. She was detached from the worldly interests. She was aware and knowledgeable about the defects of this world. She was a very hard working woman within the quarters of her husband. She used to cook to make the dough to clean the house and it was reported that she used to bake when she was pregnant and that gave her a lot of hardship. She did ask the Prophet to send her someone for assistance, and the Prophet told her that he would not do that while poor people sleep on empty stomachs and instead the Prophet taught her to say, Subhan Allah 33 times, and al hamdu lillah 33 times, and to say Allahu akbar 34 times.
Lady Aisha, she praised Fatimah. She praised the fact that she was extremely truthful. She was an extremely truthful lady. Also Lady Aisha narrated that at the time of the death of the Prophet, the Prophet whispered to Fatimah, and so she cried, and then the Prophet whispered again to Fatimah, and then she laughed. Aisha asked Fatimah to tell her what was going on, and she would not. However, after the Prophet passed away, Aisha approached her again, and asked her, and she revealed that the first time the Prophet whispered to her he told him that Jibril came to him with the Qur’an twice this year, and this indicates that he is going to die, and so she cried for that. Then the Prophet whispered to her again, and told her you will be the first among my family to die after me, and so she was delighted over that. And six months later she did pass away. Again, Fatimah who is the Lady of the Women of Paradise, she earned a great status for adhering to the principles of the religion, for being a pious woman, for being a woman who understood the revelation that was sent to the Prophet, for applying the rules of the religion in sincerity to Allah, and for taking a great pride in being a Muslim.
Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwalid, the wife of the Prophet, she was the first woman to believe in the message of the Prophet. She supported him and backed him at a time when others belied the Prophet. She healed his disappointments, she took a lot of hardships and she was the example of the great women who supported the Prophet. Also it was known about Khadijah that she was a trade’s woman, she was in business, and before the Prophet married her, he did go out to trade on her behalf. It was reported that once Lady Aisha commented to the Prophet, because the Prophet used to mention Khadijah repeatedly. Aisha said, Why do you keep mentioning Khadijah, and Allah gave you someone who is better than her. That angered the Prophet, and he said, By Allah, Allah did not give me a better person than Khadijah. She believed in me when other people belied me and she healed my disappointments when I needed that and she backed me and supported me while others blocked their support from me. This is Khadijah, the daughter of Khuwaylid. Again she earned a very high status as a result of her adherence to eh religion and her support of the Prophet.
Aasia, the daughter of Muzaahim, she was the wife of Pharoah. She believed in Prophet Musa. Pharoah eventually did order Aasia to leave the belief. That is to blaspheme and quit her state of belief. She refused, and she was tortured greatly. And during the torture, she made duaa to Allah, and she died, and she earned the status of martyrdom. In Surat Tahrim #11, Allah mentioned her as an example, in reference to that she made a supplication to Allah that she would earn Paradise, and that she would be protected from Pharoah and his doings and his unjust doings. Again, another example of a woman who for the sake of adherence to the religion, she did not compromise and she endured a great hardship and she earned martyrdom as a result.
Lady Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, May Allah raise her rank, she was a greatly knowledgeable woman. As a matter of fact, she had the status of a mujtahidah, she earned the status of ijtihad. That is, she was knowledgeable about the matters of the religion. She was qualified in that she knew all the verses of the Qur’an which pertain to rule deduction, she knew all the hadith of the Prophet that pertain to rule deduction, she satisfied all the elements required in a mujtahid among the vast know of the Arabic language and knowing the history of the narrators of the hadith and knowing al am, al khass, and to have a great sharpness and brilliance. She had all these conditions, and she was a mujtahid, she had a school of her own. Aisha was greatly knowledgeable, she was among the most who narrated the hadith of the Prophet, and she had a great knowledge in medicine. It was reported that she had a great knowledge in the area of the Quran and in the area of the Arabic language and in the area of what is obligatory, what is lawful what is unlawful and with the lineage of the Prophet, she was skillful in many areas. As a matter of fact, she had a great degree of brilliance. At the time when the Prophet passed away, she was only 18 years old, and so she achieved that status while she was so young. By the time she was 18 she had achieved this great status. And this is again a sharp clear picture of a woman who had a great degree of god fearingness, who understood the rules of the religion, who implemented in sincerity to Allah, and Lady Aisha earned a great status in Islam.
There are many women who are listed in the Islamic history,
Hafsa the daughter of Umar, the wife of the Prophet, she was known for being a person who prays a lot and she fasted a lot
Safiyyah, the wife of the Prophet she had a great degree of piety. She was pure and she was a person who openly cried out of the fear of Allah
Asma the daughter of Abu Bakr had a great degree of submission and dedication to serve the religion
The wife of Abu Talha, Abu Maysa’, she was known for her courage. She used to use her dagger in battlefields and once on the day of the battle of Hunayd. Abu Talha saw a dagger with her, and he asked her what are you going to do with that, and she said, in case any of the blasphemers come close, I will open his belly. She was a courageous woman. She was a very wise woman as well. Once Abu Talha one of his sons got sick, so when he came in, he asked how he was faring. She said, he is in a good situation, she offered food for him, and she made him rest, and he copulated with her, and the next morning, she posed a question to him. She said, “What do you say about someone who borrows an article which belongs to some people, and when those people came to ask for this article, they did not want to give it back. He said, this is unright. so she told him, Allah took the soul of your son. He died. Meaning that his son, Allah created him, and Allah took his soul. Abu Talha went to the Prophet and the Prophet told him, Allah shall make it up to you by the copulation that you had the night before. And she gave birth, she got pregnant and she had a son.
This is again one of the great women in Islam, displaying the courage. Displaying the wisdom in treating her husband, in looking after the interest of her husband, in adhering to the principles of the religion. She understood that religion clearly. She is the woman who used to gather perspiration of the Prophet in a bottle, and she used to mix it with the perfume. This is to highlight that such great women and great Muslims, they used to see benefits and merits and blessings by the traces of the Prophet.
Again among the names of great women in Islam, Umm Waraqah al Ansariyyah. She used to great the believing immigrating women from Makkah. She earned the status of martyrdom and she was known for her recitation of the Qur’an.
Umm Saliqah al Ansariyyah, she was a hard endeavoring woman. She was an invader; she did attend the battle of Uhd with the Messenger.
Another woman is Khawlah, the daugther of Qays. She was a great pious woman.
Ummu Imaraah also was a woman of great endeavor. She used to fast. She was a hermit like person. She used to attend the wars with the Prophet. She did attend the battle of Uhd with her husband, Zayd the son of ^Asim, and her two sons. One of her two sons, Habib, the son of Zayd, he was taken away by Musaylamih al Kadhdhab, the one who claimed falsely the status of prophet hood. And Musaylamah used to ask him, do you bear witness that Muhammad is the prophet of Allah, and he would immediately say, “Yes.” And he used to say, “Do you bear witness that I am the prophet of Allah?”, and he used to keep on saying NO. And so he killed him. During the caliphate of our Master Abu Bakr, she went out to war. That is herself, she participated. In this particular war, Allah had Musaylamah killed, and she in turn while having tens of wounds.
Yasirah was another woman. She was an immigrant; she immigrated from Makkah to Madinah. She was known for her caliber of mentioning Allah greatly, to say Subhan Allah, and la ilaha illa Allah. And the like
Zaynab ath Thaqafiyyyah, was a highly charitable woman. She used to spend her monies in charity. She used to pray a lot. She used to give away her jewelry in charity.
Ummu Farqa she was knowledgeable and she was a person who adhered to the religion and she was among those who related the hadith of the Prophet. afdalul a^maali as salat bi waqtiha that is, the best of the deeds after the proper belief in Alalh and his messenger is to perform the prayeres when the time sets in
Asma the daughter of Yazid was a person who despised arrogance and despised al fitan. So she stood strongly to block any tribulations and she was humble that stood against arrogance.
Ummu Darda’, this is a name you should remember, she was among the companions of the Prophet, she was highly knowledgeable. Men used to come and sit in her circles. Scholars among the followers of the companions used to attend her circle of knowledge. She was in the countries of ash sham. She was knowledgeable a worshipping person, she was a beautiful woman; she had a great degree of knowledge. A very high intellect. she did narrate a lot of hadith from the route of her husband, Abu Darda’.
Another woman among the great women in Islam is Raabi^ al ^Adawiyyah. She was a highly pious woman. She used to say, al khalaasu bil akhlas which means for one to be safe he needs to be sincere to Allah. That unless one performs in sincerity to Allah, his deeds will not be acceptable because Allah only accepts among the deeds only those done in total sincerity to Allah
Al-khansa’, this is a woman she was a skilled poet. During the era of Ignorance, that is, before embracing Islam, her brother died. His name was Sakhr, so she authored many pieces of poetry in his epitaph, to highlight his merits and to express her sadness and her grief for his death. However, after she embraced Islam, and in the battle of al Qadisiyyah, a famous battle, she had four children, and she had encouraged all her four children to take part in that battle. And the four of her children were killed in that battle. How she responded, she said: Praise be to Allah, who favored them with the state of martyrdom. This is a position of a woman. Such a position would only come out from a woman who has a god fearing heart, a woman who understood the religion, a woman who adhered to the principles of the religion.
Brothers and sisters there are many women in Islam who displayed a very high status and displayed a very high degree of piety. They had great participations. Some of them had great participation in spreading the knowledge, like Aisha, like Ummu Farwa, like Ummu Darda’ and others. As a matter of fact, the great scholar Ibn Asakir, he acquired his knowledge form many scholars, and among the manys scholars he acquired his knowledge from, there were some 80 women scholars that taught him the know. He took knowledge from some 80 women, over and above the male scholars he took knowledge from.
The women at the time of the Prophet they did request from the Prophet to specify them with a lesson on their own, that is separate from the men, and the Prophet answered their request. Again, this is in recognition that women have a great role, a very strategic role in building the Islamic society.
These are only a few names that I elected to highlight to you. To display to you pictures and images of some of the Muslim women and as you see we have come across the woman who was a scholar, and the one who was pure, and the one who had the state of jihad, and the one who had a great degree of intellect, and the humble woman, and the pure one, and the invader, and the one who performed jihad and the one who raised her children to support the religion, and the one who dealt with her husband wisely, and the one who paid charity, and the one who used to cry a lot of out of fearing Allah, the patient women. You have seen the image of the woman who remembered Allah a lot, the women who immigrated for the sake of Allah, the fasting woman, the hermit, the highly pious, the highly wise, the one who settled for what is little, the one who gained the degree of martyrdom, all of these are merits that the Prophet who is the best of the creation had praised and praised highly.
Those merits that those women have acquired throughout history, where do they come from? They came from adhering to the religion of Allah, learning the rules of the religion of Allah, learning what is lawful, what is unlawful, performing the obligations leaving out what is sinful, performing in sincerity to Allah.
So the path is clear. It is not ambiguous. If a woman wants to excel and better herself, and to attain the high degree and status, she needs to have a great degree of piety. And a great degree of piety comes through learning the knowledge of the Religion and applying that knowledge in sincerity to Allah. And so if the woman acquires that degree of piety, can you imagine her area of influence in the community and in the society.
First of all she would be benefitting herself greatly, by earning the status. She would be able to help her husband, she would be able to raise her children and prepare them according to the methodology of the Prophet. She would be able to influence the different members of the society and the community in raising individuals who adhere to the rules that the Prophet conveyed from Allah. And by that, this pious woman would be preparing true and solid generations of Muslims. That would bring victory, prosperity, and would serve the best of the interest of the Muslims.