Alhamdoulillaah Rabbil alameen wa salatu wasalam ala Ashraful Mursaleen Imama Rusuul Sayyadina wa Habeebena Muhammad Sallallahu alaehi.wasalam
Wa ala aalihi haqqa qadrihi wamiq da rihil adheem
Wa Radiallahu an Qutbool Maqtoom Abul Abass Sheikh Tijani wa Radiallahu anhu an Maolana sheikh el Islam alhaji Ibrahim Niasse Bn Alh Abdullah Niasse.
It is with great pleasure and gratitude to Allah being in this blessed group showcasing love towards one another by celebrating the birth of one of us, we pray Allah to strengthen and unite us with His love and grant that we all gather together under the blessed Shade of Maolana Rasoulillah Sallallahu alaehi wasalam.
I have been asked to talk about Women in Islam and Sufism
My post will be quite lengthy but I'd implore us all to take our time.to read and possibly re-read again
Salaam Alaekum warahmatullahi wabaraqatuhu
One of the aspects to be discussed is the Islamic principles upon which women can remain in a state of honour. Women are the more important part of humanity. All the great teachers of mankind were indebted to a woman. In almost all the cultures of the world, the woman has been exploited simply because she is the weaker sex in respect of her physique. Physically, she can never be as strong as the male.
This extremely superficial weakness of the woman has caused different cultures and civilisations to exploit the woman which has had tragic results. We find that even a man like Aristotle, who is considered to be the father of philosophy, had nothing rational to say about the woman. He said that woman is the freak of nature, that is, when nature failed to produce the real human being, that is man, the result was woman. The same view was held by Plato, and some medieval and modern thinkers.Among the religions of the world, as far as the records of history are concerned, we find that a woman was regarded as a chattel. The Judaeo-Christian religion, as given in the book of Genesis developed a theory that is an affront to the dignity of women.
In the Bible, we read that Eve came from the rib of Adam. Here, a woman is made subservient to man: an aberration from what is normal.
Further, we find that the English language has enshrined this evil nature of Eve in the language itself: that which belongs to Eve is evil, and devilish. Saint Gerome, Thanasius and so many more, gave the following titles to woman: "The sting of the scorpion"; "the hissing of the serpent"; "the gateway to hell"; "the daughter of iniquity and of the wild beasts" and "the most dangerous".Things did not improve even when the Christian fathers started learning philosophy, which was supposed to broaden one's vision and outlook. St. Augustine , a highly cultured man advised menfolk to avoid talking to the ladies about religion. St. Augustine says: "I would 'not suffer a man to defile the sanctity of his personality through the filth of leading a married life. If however, there is a man who is afraid to sleep alone at night, then he can be permitted to marry".
This is history! The poor woman has been exploited as a slave and a chattel. The Hindu law giver (Manu) says: "A woman should always remain in subjection to a man, as a wife to the husband, as a widow to the son, as a sister to the brother".
Consequently, the greatest form of piety prescribed for the woman, when the husband dies, is to throw herself on the funeral pyre and burn herself. It is indeed a tragic tale recorded in the "Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics."
When the Holy Prophet Muhammad e came to the world, he came to an ignorant community that treated women with contempt. It was an act of virtue to bury their daughters alive because they thought the birth of a daughter was something sinful. A man could marry as many women as he pleased, but the Qur’aan came to restrict polygamy to four women. Stringent conditions of justice virtually made it impossible for a man to realise.
Any action of virtue or vice whether committed by a man or woman has the same status. It is not like the pre-Islamic cultures where woman was regarded as a filthy creature and she could not go to the temples to obtain the blessings from the priest. Those religions are still in existence. While laying down a natural law, Islam also emphasises the fact that the woman is the more important part of humanity. If the woman goes astray or falls into wicked ways, humanity will suffer much more than in the case of man. The unfortunate thing is that both man and women become partners in most evil things. But the Holy Qur’aan emphasises that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
If you wish to reform a social order, begin with the woman from whom every human being comes forth into the world. The child knows the mother first, and gets the first lessons from her. The impressionable age of childhood is spent with the mother who spends most of the time with the child until the child reaches adulthood. If the mother is educated, cultured, pious, possessing moral integrity and wisdom, then the child will get his or her share of all these qualities. The father, in most cases, is always busy as the breadwinner. So, if we wish to reform any society we should begin with the ladies and if anyone wants to deform any society, he should also start with the ladies. Women are the starting point and the last fortress of every culture, every society and every civilisation. Once this fortress is broken down, then no culture, civilisation or society can remain. Thus, Islam has taken the greatest care to protect the woman more than the man, hence the requirements for her to dress modestly and to act gracefully at all times.
Islam wants the woman to be modest, to cultivate innocence and not vulgarity. Remember, one slip in the wrong direction, and it is the woman who suffers and who usually gets caught, not the man. Therefore, who should take greater care? Who should be protected from the voluptuous eyes of the wicked and the rogues that roam the street? Naturally, the woman! If the morality of womanhood is destroyed, then everything is lost.
In science we are told that every action brings about a reaction and every reaction is equal but opposite of an action. There was a reaction to the revolutionary message of Islam on all fronts. Islam gave a healthy outlook, destroyed the wrong notions that were there among other communities, and gave the woman a dignified position. The voice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad he echoed and was captured in Europe at the time of the Renaissance. As we very well know, the Renaissance was brought about through the impact of Muslim scholarship and Muslim culture. In the wake of the Renaissance came the ideas of liberty, fraternity and equality. However, the doctrine of the emancipation of the woman also emerged and sounded the death knell of human civilisation.
Equality of man and woman - a very noble idea - was practiced and preached by the Holy Prophet. But, what does equality mean to western society? It means: "Lady, you are sitting comfortably at home and I have to go to work, look here, we both are equal. Come, get out of this home with me, and don’t be comfortable like a queen". This was and is their philosophy. What equality!
Another aspect of this equality is: if a family allows the young son to remain outside the home up to midnight (men and women are equal), then the girl should also be permitted to stay out late. The parents should not ask her where she has been - this is bad manners according to the western society! Remember, the pre-Islamic civilisation exploited women as a chattels, modem civilisation does the same, but exploits the woman in a more refined manner.
Their philosophers - may God deal with them who led humanity astray - further defined their equality and taught women to behave like men. They also taught a moral code wherein the woman can be exploited as a toy. This is a refined way of murdering the prestige and dignity of a woman - not as a chattel but as a toy.
Read the books of culture in England and let us find out about the women of the Victorian era. All the women all over the world used to wear the full dress, high neck, full sleeves, etc. - that was the fashion. This time the devil really came to Eve. "You are in the prime of your youth, the embodiment of charm, beauty and grace, but you look like a grandma".
The poor innocent girl asked: "My good sir, what should I do?", and he took take pair of scissors, cut the frill, removed the high neck and cut the sleeve. The poor western girl then asked: "Do I look pretty now?" and was told: "Well not like a grandma but still” like a nun; you are still too conservative, be modem! Be progressive!
The poor girl took the scissors again and cut the neckline further, the length up to the knees and the entire sleeves went and a further opening appeared in front of the chest.
Then the girl of the twentieth century girl asked every man she met, "Do I look pretty now? Am I modern?" They replied:
"Not yet!" Exasperated and flabbergasted she went to the dressing room and applied the scissors further and the mini-skirt was born. She asked again and was told: "You look young but not yet the flower of beauty. Be more modem."
The poor girl was confused that soon she would become absolutely naked and asked advice from her mother who said that she must move with the times if she wants a partner in life. And then what happened? A dress was invented consisting of a few strings of material. This is what is happening in America and England .
The high rate of divorce is another problem in Western society. The U.S.A. brought the law of companionate marriage: a man and a woman may live together for a brief period of time considered within the law. They experiment by living together to see if they will be happy together before deciding to marry. The findings were that more than 60% of these marriages ended in divorce within the same year!
Shopkeepers appoint sales girls behind the counter in order to boost the sales, so advertisements come in the figure of naked women. In this modem civilization methods have been refined to exploit the woman despite the fact that she is the most valuable treasure of mankind.
This modem man has only one aim and that is to exploit the woman. Methods have been refined for this job; in spite of the fact that a woman is the most valuable treasure of mankind.
My dear sisters, beware of the ghost of modernism, of vulgarity, obscenity and shameless behaviour. That destroyer of the purity and dignity of womanhood is invading the homes of your country. The bacteria of this plague is here and spreading fast. If you wish to save your dignity and preserve the values of human life, you will have to take a definite stand against all this. I know that Muslim communities are tossing and turning between the evils of modernism and conservatism. I am sure most of you are educated and possess a sense of what is good and what is bad. I therefore appeal to all mothers, daughters and sisters to stand up and wage an all-out war against this devil of destruction which is in your midst and appears with an innocent face but with a dagger concealed. May Almighty
Allah protect us all ameen!
Regarding the issue of a woman working, I would like to add that the Holy Qur’aan and Hadith of the Holy Prophet Muhammad(SAW) make no distinction between man and woman with regard to the pursuit of knowledge. Similarly, there is no distinction in the Holy Qur’aan and Hadith with earning one's livelihood, if the need arises. The woman can also earn and affirm her right to economic independence. Needless to say, the universal principle of the Islamic way of life will have to be maintained and Muslim women would have to go out of their homes with decorum, grace and integrity. After that the Qur’aan says in the 4th Sura, an-Nisaa [The Women], verse 32:
Men have the right of ownership on that which they earn and women have the right of ownership on that which they earn.
Paradise lies at the feet of the mother," what does it mean? Paradise has been made the goal of all endeavours in life. Consequently according to the Hadith, the mother is three times superior to the father; But alas! This blessing was bestowed on us women because of the pain of motherhood, how wasteful will it be if we are not upright?
Paradise will only lie at the feet of that mother who was obedient to Allah through her husband, because that mother's (wife) paradise lies at the feet of her husband(father).
Oh brothers! The future fathers in the house, stand firm in your believe with steadfastness and sincerity that we (wives) will have no reason or excuse not to obey when you command!
Since our paradise lies at your feet, make this possible for us, so that our children's paradise will be sought at our (mothers) feet too.
And as for us sisters in the house, our stubbornness and ego will lead us nowhere if we don't seek Allah in our husbands, that is why we need to chose carefully that man with the fear of Allah and the love of the Prophet Sallallahu alaehi wasalam, I'm sure we all don't want our paradise at the feet of a man full of mischief!
That is why the Prophet Sallallahu alaehi wasalam emphasized that marriage was half of deen.
MAY ALLAH. CHOSE FOR US SPOUSES THAT WILL MAKE OUR JOURNEY TO ALLAH EASY AND HITCH FREE
wa Salam. Alaekum. Warahmatullahi wabaraqatuhu
From your beloved Chief servant and insignificant lady in the house.
Yussuph Toyyibat Titilope
(IOTB LAUTECH)
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