Women's Societal Role

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Safiyya bint Abdul Muttalib, Allah be pleased with her, was the aunt of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the sister of Hamzah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, the beloved uncle of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. She took part in the battle of Uhud and witnessed the martyrdom of Hamzah at the battle and bore it with great patience. When the Muslims were defeated and some of them began to flee from the battle, she would smite their faces with her spear and excite them to go back and fight.

In the war of the Khandaq (Trench), the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, had collected all the Muslim women in a fortress and had deputed Hassan bin Thabit, Allah be pleased with him, to look after them. The Jews, who were always on the look-out for such opportunities, to do mischief, surrounded the place and sent one of them to find out if there were any men with the women. Safiyya happened to see a Jew passed by and began circling the fortress. She said to Hassan:

"There is a Jew coming to spy on us. You go out and kill him."

Hassan, who was very good at poetry of the Arabs, said, "By Allah, you know by Allah I am unable to do that."

Safiyyah got hold of a tent peg and went outside the fortress and gave a blow on the head of the Jew that killed him on the spot. She came back and said to Hassan:

"The man is dead. I have not removed the clothes and arms from his body for reasons of modesty. Now you go and remove everything from his body. Also bring his head after severing it from the body."

Hassan was too weak-hearted to do even that. So Safiyyah herself went out again and brought his head, and threw it over the wall amidst the Jews. When the Jews saw this, they said:

"We were wondering how Muhammad could keep the womenfolk alone in this fort. Surely, there are men inside to guard the women."

Khansa' bint ‘Amr bin ash-Sharid as-Sulamiyya, Allah be pleased with her. She came with her tribe to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, to accept Islam. She was a famous poet whose Diwān (collected poetry) has already been translated into French. She encouraged her four sons to fight in the Battle of Qadisiyya in the time of the Khilafah of ‘Umar, Allah be pleased with him, and all her four sons were martyred.

It takes emotional strength to do what these great women of Islam did. But all women have this strength. That's what Allah blessed us with--He created us to be emotionally superior (while Allah bless man with more physical strength). Imagine if we don't have this emotional strength--how could we bear the pains of bearing children? This emotional strength just need to come out in a positive way. We should use our emotional strength to further the cause of Islam, not to cry if your husband forgets to send flowers on your wedding anniversary or get all emotional when your husband forgets to buy milk on the way home from work (for example).

Imagine what would happen if Safiyya went hysterical when the only man who was supposed to protect them didn't have the courage to kill the enemy. Imagine what would happen if Safiyya didn't kill the Jewish spy or didn't think of cutting the head of the Jew and throwing it over to his friends. We should wonder if Islam would even exist today if all the women and children in the fortress were massacred. Allah knows best. All these incidents and many others in the lives of many great women in Islam happened for us to derive lessons from.

One cannot underestimate the intelligence and the contributions of women in Islam. Women of the past have charted the road for us. Women of today need to follow in their footsteps. We don't need to go very far, don't need to fight in the battlefields--raise your children properly, educate them and feed them good wholesome halal food. Be an educated mother. If only women could just focus on raising and educating their children properly, they can change the world in no time.

Unfortunately, these days some ladies can hardly able to do domestic work and some find cooking and cleaning to be demeaning--they don't get high education or marry some big shot to cook and clean. Women have to be stronger than this. There are women who want to think like men and so they work like men. They even wear suits and ties like men. (It is being indoctrinated in some schools for girls--girls wearing uniform consisting pants and ties like boys). We are not men and we cannot ever be men, although some women are forced to be the man (breadwinner) and the woman because the man is not there to provide for them. Either way, something have to go. Mothers don't have time to cook and clean, let alone teach their children. Who then is going to defend Islam when we have most people who don't know? Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

May Allah guide us. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam