Our Women: The Essence of the Ummah

...the woman is the focal point of our conflict with our opponents, and the outcome of either victory or defeat will come through her...

By Abu Qatadah

“...It is not a coincidence that the Qur’an tells us in ‘al-Qasas’ about the conflict between Musa and Fir’awn (Moses and Pharaoh), and the Qur’an’s focus on this conflict is the verse: {“And We wished to do a favor to those who were oppressed in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them the inheritors.”} [al-Qasas; 5] So, this transferal of power began with a woman, as Allah Said: {“And We inspired to the mother of Musa: "Suckle him. But, when you fear for him, cast him into the river and do not fear or grieve...””} [al-Qasas; 7]

So, the woman is the focal point of our conflict with our opponents, and the outcome of either victory or defeat will come through her. These are not words for a speech or poetry. Rather, it is the reality that we must all pay attention to.

So, you see today the best of this Ummah – where are its men? They are either in prisons, kicked out of their countries, or occupied with this struggle. So, who will protect the family and raise the children and see to the daily affairs of life? It is none other than the woman. And thanks to Allah, the Islamic Da’wah has won the battle until now when it comes to the woman despite the presence of some shortcomings in her being violated, corrupted, and turned into a source of corruption.

The conflict has begun in that the situation of the woman in our Ummah is not purely Islamic, as many social restrictions placed around the woman contradict the Shari’ah of Allah. For example, preventing her from education, preventing her from her right of ownership, looking down on her, and the spread of jahili practices against her – this reality gave a chance for the modern liberal jahiliyyah to gain acceptance with some of these poor women. With the help of their filthy devils, their goal is to transform the woman into a product to be displayed. Because of this, those of us involved in this da’wah have to free ourselves from these two forms of jahiliyyah – the first jahiliyyah and the second jahiliyyah; the corrupt jahiliyyah of the people and the jahiliyyah of liberalism. The correct path is with Islam, which is to respect the woman and appreciate her and to protect her rights to education and work that is within the guidelines of the Shari’ah, in addition to her rights of ownership, inheritance, etc.

And from the things we must struggle against in order to tighten the way for Satan to spread his message are high dowries in marriage, and to raise the excellent Islamic slogan of “The lesser your dowry is, the more your blessings will be,” as the presence of unmarried men and women who are at the age where they should be married is a hidden evil that can destroy every good. So, lowering dowries will end this, without a doubt. Also, we should break the shackles of this evil jahiliyyah such as the requirement of equal social status between spouses. This is a baseless condition, as Zaynab bint Jahsh – who was from Quraysh – married Zayd bin Harithah, who was a slave...and I have seen those who prefer that their daughters remain unmarried than to marry her to a Muslim who is not from the same country or tribe, and such people are described in the Shari’ah as oppressive caretakers, and their position as caretakers is nullified due to their inappropriate actions and foolishness. 

The woman is the essence of our Ummah, and any shortcoming from her is a true defeat. Therefore, we have to take care of this aspect and to give it its proper attention. We see failure coming from some men who are on this path. However, until now, we have not seen failure from our sisters. Rather, we have only seen patience, resolve, faith, and true determination. Our sisters and mothers in Palestine are miracles of Allah in all of this, and some of them are unequaled by hundreds of Mujahid men in their struggle, patience, and resolve. Likewise, we saw in the Gulf countries awareness among the women that was much stronger than what was with the men, and purity of heart in supporting the Mujahidin that we did not see from the men. So, all praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. As for the West, the wives of the non-Arab brothers have Islam, faith, and awareness that we rarely see with the men. As for the wives of the Arab immigrants, they are generally much better and purer than their husbands. I heard many complaints from the Muslim women about the weakness of their husbands in regards to their religious practice, and this criticism proves the high status that our sisters hold and that they are better than the men, by the favor of Allah.

The attention that Satan and his soldiers give to the religious woman in her Hijab shows us the importance of this conflict. Therefore, it isn’t strange that France – with all of its problems – would turn its attention to fighting the Hijab and legislating laws to ban it, and to have many European countries imitate it in this devilish move. Likewise, if you follow what goes on in many conferences and the attention and effort given to destroy the family structure and the woman, you will come to realize that the woman is a fortress that is quite significant. So, this battle is one that we cannot ignore.

We have to teach our women, because education is what will protect her from failure. The ignorant woman is an enemy to herself, her husband, her household, and her society. And we have to defend her rights, and it is upon the propagators and scholars and religious people to distinguish true Islam from jahili social customs, because baseless social customs are the weapon that the modern jahiliyyah uses in its battle against the woman.

Why do we hear today of misyar marriages? I am not discussing the ruling on it here. Rather, I am discussing it as an unfamiliar social phenomenon, because the norm is that marriages are announced and known to all. The reason it now exists is because of the social deviation that is manifested in high dowries and the existence of the baseless condition of equal social status between the man and woman. So, the youth are turned off from marriage and remain unmarried, and the natural result is this sick, twisted form of marriage. This twisted form of marriage is what takes place when the woman is conscious of her Lord. However, if she is like other women, the result will be that she falls into a great offense, without a doubt...

We have the utmost love, respect, and appreciation for our believing mothers, sisters, daughters. And for our patient wives, we have all the love, prayers, and gratitude. Were it not for them, we would be nothing, and there would be no future for our children...”