A Female Gives Thanks to

Islam

By Dr. Muhammad bin Mahmoud as-Sayyid

3
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Foreword of the Author

I have written this foreword after I finished writing the book in full. I feel
overjoyed deep within my heart. This joy stems from my Lord Who helps
and guides those whose dreams, projects, concerns, knowledge, and
culture build within themselves a sense of responsibility to benefit people,
make them happy, and acquaint them with the beauty, splendor, and
genius of their universal religion of Islam.

Yes, for seven years, I have been familiarizing myself with what is
imposed and practiced upon the Western woman (my sister from Eve).
They first stripped her of her religion and her family, and then managed to
strip her of everything. Today, this Western reality of the Western woman
has turned into a model with various forms for the Arab woman.

Meanwhile,

I have been looking forward, wishing, and dreaming of producing a book

whose lines will carry the language of love, dialogue, ease, depth, and
realistic comparison.

This is so that the world can see the splendor of Islam with its beauty
and universality in its love for women, which gives them their rights and
freedoms to preserve them from anything harmful.

And this is also so that every woman in the world can know that she will
not find empowerment, freedom, integrated equality, tranquility,
knowledge, learning along with care, and the preservation of her rights
except in this universal religion of Islam, with whose rise in the world
came the rise of a happy, smiling, and strong female who used to be
4
something insignificant in all other civilizations and distorted religions.

Then came her universal religion of Islam, which made her declare it to
the whole world with all freedom and confidence: I am not an object for
buying and selling; rather, I am, in Islam, half of the world. I enjoy my
rights and perform my duties just like men, both in religious and worldly
affairs. Even in the Hereafter, I will find punishment or reward just like
men. Moreover, the best among men in terms of manners and honor are
those who are best to their women, whether they are their daughters,
wives, or mothers.

This female has occupied a great place in the large arena of Islam. She
has rather become an area for competition by men in serving her, caring
for her, and making her happy, so that the man will find bliss in this world
and in the Hereafter.

Yes, I will not hide from you that I entered the reality of the West and its
garden of rights, with the mentality of a tolerant person who loves every
aspect of perfection that aims at making every woman in the world happy,
especially since I carry the spirit of my universal Islam.

I entered calmly, looking carefully at this Western reality and its

relationship with the women living therein.

I entered this reality with a smile, as if I was entering a garden which

they told me was the most beautiful ever in the world, and which
contained all kinds of pleasures and flowers of all different colors and
odors, with birds and butterflies flying around.

Yes, I was dazzled by the appearance of this garden, as I explored its

perfect system of organization and follow-up, seeing the rights of animals
therein and the rights of plants, flowers, and birds.
5
Every sign in this garden reminds you of these rights.

At the start of my entry, everything amazed me, and frankly, I took

pictures of everything I saw on camera with great pleasure.

I approached the owner of this garden and looked carefully into all his
behaviors, to find out that he was exerting every effort to make his garden
continue to look that way in terms of the rights of animals and plants.

However, I also found out that he, with all professionalism and
criminality, is wrongful to every female in his garden, even in the simplest
of rights, namely the salary inequality between females and other male
workers who do the same work.

And he uses this female in everything. What matters is that she becomes
the biggest source of revenue, even if her body is the object of business,
and even if the job is prostitution and vice.

He even killed some of them with all injustice and silence, and stripped
some others of everything, including the right to get married and have
children.

At this point, I looked at the garden again, with no amazement!

I saw every flower as if it were a thorn that was brought to beautify the
garden, and every butterfly was a venomous snake that changed its color
according to its prey in this garden of vice. As for the bird, it sang the
scene of injustice, brutality, and the practice of all forms of vice in this
place.

The only victim there was the female (our sister from Eve).
 Unfortunately, this is the reality of the West when we see it closely and
6
get to know how women live there.

Thereupon, we concluded that our sister from Eve in the West (the
Western woman) needs immense support to live her life with dignity.

Hence, this book is a gift which I put in the hands of every Muslim girl
who is confident, distinguished, outstanding, and aspiring, so that she will
play a role in supporting her sister from Eve in the West. By Allah, the
Western woman needs you as an ambassador of women.

Accordingly, I expect you to present the universal model of the life of

woman in Islam, with all confidence, love, and pride.

Moreover, I expect you to declare to the world that you represent the
universal daughter of Islam.

By Allah, I do not feel that this book is mine!

Rather, it is "A Project of Pride".

I hope this book will be the best gift given to a daughter by her father or
mother.

And I hope this book will be a gift a brother gives to his sister, a husband
gives to his wife, and a girl gives to her friend.

Thus, we will have ambassadors of proud Muslim girls in every family

who cherish their Muslim identity and seek to promote it among other
girls.

Please accept my gift!

Penned by

Dr. Muhammad bin Mahmoud as-Sayyid

7
The female before Islam
Let us travel together to a historical period which can be best described
as the phase of a female before Islam. In this journey, we will not have any
goal but knowing the condition of females in these ages.

We will realize a truth as clear as the sun: that woman, over the course
of history and the successive nations and civilizations, lacked identity,
competence, and freedom, and she would mostly live in suffering - except
during the eras of Allah's prophets and messengers.

The woman in China:

The woman in the Chinese civilization was a property to be bought and
sold and was deprived of her material and moral rights. They used to
regard her birth as an evil omen and would deny her all social and financial
rights. To them, she was an incompetent person who could not decide
anything of her affairs and deserved no education.

When she got married, she would move to the house of her husband
and take his name.

And she would be given an appellation that denoted submission.

That is she would live in total submission to her husband; and if he died,
she was obliged not to marry after him. She was even required to burn
herself as a sign of honor to him.

In the old Chinese books, a woman was referred to as "the painful

water", which sweeps all happiness and spoils society.

In 1937, China had over three million bondmaids.

 She would be prevented from marrying after her husband, and she
8
would continue as a servant in the house and did not have the right to
anything but this service, in return for nothing.

The woman in India:

The woman in India was in no better condition than her sister in China.

Their scriptures even regard the woman as less than a man from the
beginning of creation. We read the following in the Manu mythologies:
"When He created women, He imposed on them the love for bed, seats,
ornaments, filthy desires, anger, lack of honor, and misconduct. Women
are as filthy as the untruth itself. This is an unchanging rule." {The book
"Al-Mar’ah Fi At-Tarīkh Wa Ash-Sharī‘ah" by Sa‘d al-Hamadāni}.

From this we see clearly that woman's beliefs are a symbol of

allurement and evil, and a source of impurity.

What an unjust and unjustifiable view!

This sordid view was even given religious importance until it became a
creed upon which people were raised.

Surprisingly and paradoxically, Indians, who regarded women as a

source of vices, also put them in their temples and transformed these
temples into hubs for prostitution and dance, as in the Temple of Tamil
Nadu.

A group of women would dance and sing in front of idols, and they were
used thereafter for the enjoyment of the clergymen.

Even Buddha's view of women was no different, for he considered them

as a source of danger to his mission.
9
A woman was a semi slave to her husband, to the extent that if he died,
she would be obliged to belong to one of his male relatives.

They even said: She must die on the day her husband dies and be
burned alive with him in the same crematorium.

This unjust habit continued until the 17th century when it was
abolished.

{Al-Mar’ah Bayn Al-Fiqh Wa Al-Qanūn, by Mustafa al-Sibā‘i.}

The woman among the Persians:

Women in the Mazdakite ages were a rightful possession for everyone.
When a house had a surplus of females, they would be taken by another
man. Thus, children came to be unaware of who their real fathers were.

Even if a man sentenced a woman to death, she would have to obey his
command, for she was a mere bondwoman to him.

And when a woman experienced a menstrual or post-partum period, she

would have to leave the house and stay in a small tent outside the town,
and it was not permissible to communicate with her. They even thought
that they would become impure by touching her.

The woman among the Romans:

At first, the family values were their honor, and they held the mother in
high regard. Yet, as they went deep into the Western civilization,
everything was lost, on top of which was the woman. The Roman law used
to regard the female as one of the causes of ineligibility, and she had no
legal character.
 The Romans knew a kind of marriage called "marriage by dominance", in
10
which a woman would go into her husband's authority and her ties with
her family would be cut off. The husband was so dominant that any case
involving his wife would be referred to him, and he would pass the
judgment he saw appropriate, even if this was the death sentence. And if
the husband died, she would move to the guardianship of his sons,
brothers, or uncles.

"It appears from this that the woman in the Roman civilization was
ineligible and without any legal character."

The woman among the Greeks:

Although Greece was one of the most civilized ancient nations, the
woman to them was a model that represented the source of people's
disasters and pains, so much that they called her "an evil from the work of
Satan". She was deemed mindless and unworthy of education.

Aristotle said: "Nature has not provided [the] woman with any
significant mental aptitude."

Aristotle also said: "Three people have no decision in their own affairs:
the slave who has no will; the child who has a deficient will; and the
woman who has a will but lacks the ability."

Plato, the founder of the school of thought, said: "Women are at the
level of children and servants. Men are higher in rank than women."

The Greek law stripped women of their civil rights and placed them
under the absolute authority of men, to the extent that they became part
of their possessions, to be bought and sold, and they had no right to
inheritance.
11
This was a quick and simple review of the old civilizations and how they
wronged and humiliated women over the course of a cruel and merciless
time, away from the heavenly religions.

The woman among the Jews:

The Jews consider the woman to be a source of curse and believe she
allured Adam into the commission of sin.

The Jewish Shariah strips the woman of most of her civil rights in all
different phases of her life.

It even allows an insolvent father to sell his daughter as a slave girl,

according to the Book of Exodus.

"And if a man sells his daughter as a slave girl, she shall not go out as the
male slaves do."

In other words, she will not be set free and will remain a slave for the
rest of her life!

She was even like a slave girl in the house of her father.

When she gets married, the dowry is paid to her father or brother as a
purchase price. Then, her husband becomes her absolute master. This is
because the contract, in their law, is "a contract of mastery", not of
marriage.

A woman among the Jews is inherited as part of inheritance. If her

husband dies, she goes to his inheritor who can sell her or prevent her
from getting married.
 Once the husband dies, his widow immediately becomes the wife of his
12
brother or his half-brother from the father's side, especially if she did not
have children from that husband.

She is not consulted over any of these things, which come to pass
whether she accepts or not. And she does not become lawful for any other
man unless he disavows her.

Furthermore, she has no share whatsoever in inheritance.

Then afterwards, a deceased person's daughter was inherited, if he did

not have sons, on condition that she would get married to a man from his
kindred.

"When she menstruates, she is regarded as impure, and her husband

would not touch her, even by his finger, or give or take anything from her,
and would not eat with her on the same table or sleep with her on the
same bed. And if she falls ill, he may not serve her, even without touching
her."

{A Group of Jewish Laws and Habits, by Rabbi Jaz Fried}.

The woman in Christianity:

The woman in distorted Christianity is in no better condition than the
Jewish woman.

They regarded her as the origin of sin and the source of evil because she
was the cause of all corruption as well as Adam's exit from Paradise.

Gynophobia crept into Christianity.

Cristo said: "Woman is an unavoidable evil, a natural allurement, an

inevitable disaster, a danger in the house, a ruinous temptation, and a
painted evil."
13
The church banned divorce, even if the woman was living in the worst
condition. They may only be separated physically.

Theologians would even ask: Does the woman's body have a soul? Is it
proper for her to worship Allah as men do?

O Allah, females had suffered a lot before Islam!

The woman among pre-Islam Arabs:

Pre-Islam Arabs used to hate daughters, and when a man was given the
news of having a baby girl, his face would blacken, and he would feel
gloomy and extremely sad.

What was the fate of this female, the newborn?

The Qur'an describes this wrongful fate that was devoid of any emotion
or mercy, to the extent that the Qur'an labels it as a terrible judgment.

Allah Almighty says: {When one of them is given the good news of a
female baby, his face darkens while suppressing his anguish. He hides
away from people because of the bad news he was given. Should he
keep her in disgrace, or bury her in the dust? How terrible is their
judgment!} [Surat an-Nahl: 58-59]

A newborn girl would have one of two fates:

1. A life of humiliation.

2. Being buried alive.

When a man had a baby girl, they would say to him: "May Allah
safeguard you from her shame and provide you with her sustenance!" Out
 14
of fear from disgrace. And if she was left to live, she would lead a life of
humiliation and contempt. Even in food, she was not shown mercy.

The Qur'an describes the reality of females among the Arabs, so that the
whole world can see the mercy that came to all women with this universal
religion of Islam.

Allah Almighty says: {they also say: "what is in the bellies of these
livestock is exclusively for our males and forbidden to our females, but if
it is stillborn, they all will have share in it." he will punish them for what
they attribute. He is all-wise, all-knowing.} [surat al-an‘ām: 139]

Ibn ‘Abbās said: "They used to forbid milk for their females, and their
males would drink it."

When an ewe gave birth to a male lamb, it would be slaughtered and be

eaten by men only.

But if the lamb was female, it would be left and not slaughtered.

And if it was stillborn, it would be eaten by men and women.

How strange! She would only eat from a dead animal, and even then she
would not eat alone!

Asmā’ bint Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

"I saw Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl standing with his back against the
Ka‘bah and saying: 'O people of Quraysh, by Allah, none amongst you is on
the religion of Ibrāhīm except me.' He used to preserve the lives of little
girls. If somebody wanted to kill his daughter, he would say to him: 'Do not
kill her; I will feed her on your behalf.' So, he would take her, and when
she grew up, he would say to her father: 'Now if you want her, I will give
15
her to you, and if you wish, I will feed her on your behalf.'" [Narrated by
Al-Bukhāri]

How females would get married in jāhiliyyah (pre-Islam period of

ignorance):

Pre-Islam Arabs had four types of marriage:

1. Marriage like what we know today:

A man goes to another man to propose to his daughter and pays her
dowry and then marries her.

2. Istibdā‘ marriage:

A man would say to his wife: When your menstrual period has ended, go
to so-and-so and have sexual intercourse with him. The husband would
then refrain from any sexual intercourse with her until it appeared she got
pregnant from that man. He would do so in pursuit of children, without
any regard for this oppressed female.

3. The third type of marriage:

A group of men, less than ten, would enter the place of a woman and
would all have sexual intercourse with her. Then, if she got pregnant and
gave birth, she would send for those men, who would all show up, and
none of them could refuse to come. Then, she would choose one of them
to be the father of the newborn, and he would not refuse, even if he was
not his real father.

What a horrible practice, in which they would rape her one after
another!
 They could only engage in such a practice because they saw her as
16
nothing!

4. The fourth type:

Sexual intercourse with prostitutes. Banners were erected over their

doors as a defining sign.

Men would enter into a prostitute's place, and she would not reject
anyone who wanted to copulate with her. If she got pregnant and gave
birth, lineage experts would be summoned to determine the baby's father.

In these terrible forms of marriage in pre-Islam Arabia, we can see the

lowliness in morals, concepts, and values; as if it were an animalistic life,
with females being its only victim.
17
Then came the universal Islam
Yes, the great and superb religion of Islam came to save the female from
the brutal practices in the past civilizations. Indeed, women did not have any
material or moral significance in this world, until Islam came and made them
queens and gave them their rights just as it gave men their rights. Islam
brought various rights and duties for men and women, depending on the
beauty in the composition of both the male and female, which produces an
effective integration between men and women.

So, Islam came with rights to boost integration between men and women,
not identicalness, which is promoted today in international conferences in the
name of gender equality.

Now, pose this clear question to them:

In which things do you call for equality between men and women? In terms
of their creation and composition or in their rights and duties?

This question points out the contradiction lived by those who raise the
slogans of absolute equality, for the traits of creation and composition are the
basis of the rights and duties. So, what kind of equality is this which does not
take into consideration the distinction and differences in the creation,
abilities, and needs between men and women.

Failure to take this into consideration contradicts justice. Hence came the
justice and mercy of Islam, which ordained on men and women rights and
duties that suit their nature of their creation, physique, and disposition.

Islam guarantees equality between men and women in what relates to

human aspects and assigns them equal rights and duties while taking into
consideration the individual differences between them.
 Therefore, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
18
"Women are the partners of men." [Narrated by Abu Dāwūd; classified by Al-
Albāni as Hasan/Good]

How strange! The West today tries to propagate that they are the origin of
rights, thereby seeking to lead us to their vice which is hidden under the
slogan of equality. They do not know, however, that for more than 1400
years, Islam has given every Muslim girl her freedom and rights within a
balanced system designed for the happiness of the Muslim society.

There is complementarity in roles that generates love, cooperation, and

giving. Even in the most important matters in Islam, this universal religion
puts men and women on an equal footing in terms of duties, faith, and acts of
worship, like prayer, fasting, Hajj, and Zakah; they are equally accountable.

This elevates the status of the female, who was regarded as lowly
commodity in the past civilizations.

Along with this equality, Islam takes into account the physical and
psychological differences between the both genders.

Listen to this, O female, everywhere you are!

Out of care about the psychological nature of women in menstruation,

Islam cancelled the obligation of prayer for them during this period and
delayed the observance of fasting - all in consideration of their natural
disposition.

Now tell me, or tell the world: Are there other rights and equality as
effective as the equality prescribed by Islam while taking into consideration
the nature of the two genders and their physical and psychological
composition?

Islam is not a civilization built upon desires, pleasures, and free access to
women and violation of their dignity, like the civilization of the miserable
19
West. Rather, it came to treat women as queens and ambassadors of virtue
and values. For example, Islam perpetuated the personality of Mary (peace be
upon her) as a symbol of purity and chastity, unlike the Jews who accused her
of adultery, Allah forbid.

Allah Almighty says: {Also [the example of] Mary, daughter of ‘Imrān
who guarded her chastity, so We breathed into her through Our angel,
and she firmly believed in the words of her Lord and His Scriptures and
was one of the obedient.} [Surat at-Tahrīm: 12]

This great religion also treats men and women equally when it comes to the
right of ownership, freedom of opinion, and freedom of worshiping Allah, the
Exalted.

Islam even allocates for women more rights and less duties, in overall
terms.

Hence, the call for absolute equality between men and women is real
injustice to women and gross neglect of their rights and nature.

How great and amazing you are, O heroine, as you had to live in their lowly
system and go through this suffering until Islam reached you and you could
say to the Western world, along with all its slogans of freedom and equality:

Your equality gives nothing in everything and grants no rights in all rights. It
is only about enjoyment, insult, and engagement in animalistic life. Yet, Islam
came and embraced me and made me the greatest and a valuable created
being.

She should also say to them: Do you want, by your slogan of freedom, that I
give up my femininity and nature and turn back to the age of darkness,
misery, and spiritual loss?
 Let us talk calmly and based on reason and knowledge!
20
Is the revocation of all differences between men and women scientifically
and practically acceptable?

Science has proven that woman differs from man in everything, like
appearance, character, the proteins in the body, and women's physical
functions, such as pregnancy and suckling, as well as the differences in
psychological nature and physique. No sane person would support revocation
of all these differences and legislation of laws without regard for the nature of
people's composition.

Let us hear the voices of rational people from within the Western
civilization.

In his book "Man, the Unknown", Alexis Carrel said:

"The differences existing between man and woman do not come from the
particular form of the sexual organs. In reality woman differs profoundly from
man in terms of the chemical substance secreted in the uterus inside her
body. Every one of the cells of her body bears the mark of her sex."

Then, he criticized those who advocate equality between men and women
without considering the congenital differences between them. He said:

"Ignorance of these fundamental facts has led promoters of feminism to

believe that both sexes should have the same education, the same powers,
and the same responsibilities. In reality, woman differs profoundly from
man... Biological laws are unchangeable. Women should develop their
aptitudes in accordance with their own nature, without trying to imitate the
males. Their part in the progress of civilization is higher than that of men."

On her part, the president of the French Association for Women said:

"The call for a complete equality between man and woman leads them to
the point of loss, as neither of the two parties obtain their rights."
21
And I say: The man may get what he wants from the woman, and she goes
back to the ages of darkness and humiliation.

A French magazine conducted a survey in which 2.5 million French girls,

from all ages and social and cultural levels, were asked about their opinions
regarding marriage to Arabs.

90% replied in the affirmative, for the following reasons:

. I got bored of equality with men.

. I got bored of the state of tension day and night.

. I got bored of work in factories and running to catch the metro.

Bakr Abu Zayd, an intellectual, said:

"These deviant calls are launched in the name of liberating women through
two theories: freedom of women and equality between man and woman.

These two Western theories are intellectually and religiously void. They are
aimed at tempting the believing women away from their religion and
spreading immorality among them."

Why does the West, where the female is in loss, want to convince us that
they support women, whereas we are the most nation on earth that adopts a
system that gives women their freedom and rights and cares for them in all
age phases?

As for the wrong individual practices, the universal and just religion of Islam
has nothing to do with them.

Because you are great, your Islam has assigned you a mission.
 As you take a look at people and see the condition of women before Islam
22
and in all civilizations,

you will not believe what happens to women in the spring of Islam, which
empowers them and assigns them the same religious obligations as ordained
upon their partners, men.

No discourse in history indicates equality like the discourse of the Qur'an,

which addresses males and females concerning religious obligations. What
does this mean?

{O mankind} and {O you who believe} refer to men and women.

Moreover, the first command was addressed to Adam and Eve together:
{We said: "O Adam, dwell in Paradise, you and your wife."} [Surat al-
Baqarah: 35]

And listen to this divine promise to males and females: {I will never waste
the deeds of any doer among you, male or female; you are the same in
reward.} [Surat Āl ‘Imrān: 195]

I ask you by Allah to tell me whether there is a comprehensive equality like

this:

{Muslim men and women, believing men and women, obedient men
and women...} [Surat al-Ahzāb: 35]

Moreover, women are accountable to Allah Almighty in an independent and

separate way from men, as indicated by their pledge of allegiance to the
Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).

{O Prophet, when the believing women come to you, pledging to you

that they will not associate anything with Allah, that they will not steal,
that they will not commit fornication, that they will not kill their
children, that they will not falsely attribute [illegitimate] children to their
23
husbands between their arms and their legs, that they will not disobey
you in what is right, then accept their pledge and ask Allah to forgive
them. Indeed, Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [Surat al-
Mumtahanah: 12]

Now let me tell you, and tell the world, that as Islam made men and women
equal in the religious obligations, it also treated them equally in punishments:

. The punishment for theft.

. The punishment for slander.

. The oath of condemnation.

. The punishment for adultery.

Our Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was truthful
when he said: "Women are the partners of men."

Equality in heaven:

One of the greatest pillars of faith, upon which the Muslim religion rests, is
belief in the Hereafter.

This is the creed of every Muslim man and woman, which they regard as the
utmost desired triumph. To Muslim men and women, the Hereafter is not
comparable to the life of this world in any aspect.

Rather, the whole worldly life was created for the sake of the Hereafter and
its reward or punishment, and to seek Paradise and to keep away from
Hellfire.

To every dear female, I say:

 Your universal Islam did empower and care for you and make you highly
24
valued in this world.

It also made your status in the Hereafter, in terms of Allah's reward and
punishment and entering Paradise, just like the status of men.

It is as if the memories of Adam and Eve would return to their home and
gardens anew.

How great this religion is which made men and women equal in all religious
obligations and accountability in the Hereafter. This indicates that women, in
the universal Islam, are half the world.

Allah Almighty says: {Their Lord responded to them: "I will never waste
the deeds of any doer among you, male or female; you are the same in
reward."} [Surat Āl ‘Imrān: 195]

Allah Almighty also says: {Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male
or female, and is a believer, it is they who will enter Paradise, and they
will not be wronged even as much as the speck on a date stone.} [Surat
an-Nisā': 124]

And He says: {Allah has promised the believers, both men and women,
gardens under which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and splendid
dwellings in the Gardens of Eternity, and Allah’s pleasure, which is the
greatest of all; that is the supreme triumph.} [Surat at-Tawbah: 72]

Greater still is that your Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him) was commanded to ask forgiveness for you and your
partner, man.

Allah Almighty says: {Then know [O Prophet] that none has the right to
be worshiped except Allah and seek forgiveness for your sins and for the
25
[the sins of] the believing men and women, for Allah knows your
movements and your places of rest.} [Surat Muhammad: 19]

Some women went even farther and became higher in status in the
Hereafter. Those are the best women among humankind:

Asiya, Mariyam, Khadījah, and the young girl Fātimah.

They are the noblest women among all people and their rank in the
Hereafter will be greater than that of many men.

Think about the great status of your mother Khadījah, O granddaughter of

Khadījah!

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: Jibrīl (Gabriel)
came to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and said:
"O Muhammad, this is Khadījah coming to you with a dish having meat
soup. When she reaches you, greet her on behalf of her Lord and on my
behalf, and give her the glad tidings of having a house of Qasab in
Paradise wherein there will be no noise or fatigue." [Narrated by Al-
Bukhāri and Muslim]

This is the status of your mother on the ground of Paradise!

In light of this honor in Paradise, could anyone on earth argue that Islam
does not give women their rights as it gives men!

The Muslim woman will be summoned from the eight gates of Paradise if
she obeys Allah's commands and observes His laws.

A pause for reflection!

One of the clearest indications that Islam empowers women and treats
them as great and strong human beings is that they will be held accountable
for their actions on the Day of Judgment and receive their due reward or
26
punishment.

This points to the fact that they are accountable persons who are
responsible for their decisions, thinking, and will, and they shall render to
account for all these. And in their freedom of worshiping Allah, they are not
tied even to their husbands.

The decision is theirs, and so is the worship, and with them lies the
responsibility for winning Paradise.

Their prayer, Zakah, and other acts of worship are their personal
responsibility for which they will be held accountable alone.

This is the female in Islam, and this is her universal status on earth and in
heaven.

It behooves her to give thanks to Islam.

27
A female who grows with loving care
We may perceive Islam's care about women in general.

Indeed, this care proceeds with all phases of the female's growth,
though she would not receive any meaningful attention in the old
civilizations; rather, she lived in humiliation.

All the concepts of education and care which Islam commanded parents
to adopt pertain to males and females alike.

There are even special instructions for caring about women and treating
them gently.
 28
The female as a daughter
Since her birth, there are glad tidings from heaven about the advent of
this blessed precious female, which encourage parents to look after this
newborn and care about her.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Whoever has three daughters whom he educates, provides for, and
shows mercy to, Paradise becomes due to him." A man among the
people said: "And two, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "And two."
[Narrated by Ahmad; classified by Al-Abāni as Sahīh (Authentic)]

And here is the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him),
who declared to everyone that his daughter Fātimah was part of him, and
whoever angered her did actually anger him. And as if he was teaching all
people how they should receive their daughters when they come to them;
he would do the following with Fātimah:

. He would stand up to receive her.

. He would kiss her between the eyes.

. He would hold her by his hand.

. He would make her sit in his place.

29
The female as a wife
Before reading the following lines, I wish we could remember the meaning
of "the female as a wife" in the previous civilizations.

Islam, for its part, made the wife the queen of the household, preserved in
her dignity, feelings, and status.

The Qur'an promotes sublime manners in dealing with this dear wife.

Allah Almighty says: {Treat them kindly.} [Surat an-Nisā': 19]

Ibn Kathīr said: "That is: speak to them nicely and deal with them in a good
manner."

Moreover, the Qur'an exhorts reason and emotions in marriage and

explains that a husband should treat his wife in the way she is required to
treat him.

Allah Almighty says: {Women have rights similar to the rights over them
in a reasonable manner.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 228]

Commenting on this verse, Ibn ‘Abbās, the interpreter of the Qur'an, said:
"By Allah, I adorn myself for my wife as I would like her to adorn herself for
me."

And here is our universal Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) telling the whole world about the criterion of excellence. You are the
best... when?

He (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best among
you are the best to their wives, and I am the best among you to my
wives." [Narrated by at-Tirmidhi]
 The preceding Hadīth points out the measure of excellence, which our
30
Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) linked to the manner
of treating one's wife.

Not only that! But our Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) began by himself and set the best example for all humanity, when he
said: "And I am the best among you to my wives."

He was amiable and always smiling, and he would treat his wives in a funny
and gentle manner that bespoke all love.

‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās asked the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) this question:

O Messenger of Allah, who is the dearest among people to you?

And there came his response from his heart, mind, and tongue:

"The dearest among people to me is ‘Ā'ishah, my wife."

Where are these civilizations that used to see woman as the painful water,
who should be burned after her husband's death?

In his last days, Muhammad, the universal Prophet (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him), reminded humanity about the care for women.

"Treat women kindly, for they are like captives in your hands; they do not
owe you anything but support from them."

His beloved wife ‘Ā'ishah reported this Hadīth in which he said:

"Indeed, among the believers with the most complete faith are those
who are the best in conduct and the most kind to their wives." [Narrated
by Ahmad]

Islam made the wife a queen. Thank you, my Islam!

31
The female as a mother
This great female, who was a dear daughter and a high-placed wife, has
now become a mother, who enjoys a very high status in Islam.

Islam constantly reminds children of what their dear and cherished

mother has presented to them.

Allah Almighty says: {His mother bore him in weakness upon

weakness.} [Surat Luqmān: 14]

And our Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
determined priorities in love, care, attention, companionship, and
friendship.

Someone came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah!

"Who among people is most deserving of my good companionship?"

He said: "Your mother". He said: ''Then who?" He said: "Your mother."
He said: "Then who?" He said: "Your mother." He said: "Then who?" He
said: "Your father." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]

What a great honor for a great person!

But let me present to you the most important aspects of this greatness.

To enter Paradise on the Day of Judgment is what every Muslim man

and woman compete for!

Allah Almighty placed Paradise at the feet of the mother!

Advising a young man to be kind to his mother, the Prophet (may Allah’s
peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Stick to her feet, for Paradise lies
there."
 I can hardly believe ... How amazing!
32
This is the same female who used to live in humiliation in most old
civilizations.

She was humiliated as a child, a daughter, a wife, and a mother.

However, she is now a queen in the great religion of Islam.

It behooves every female to give thanks to her Islam!

33
My Islam fosters my education
Before reading these lines, O great female, kindly remember how your
status used to be in the civilizations before Islam.

As if you were only created for the sake of others.

As for your great Islam, it did not only save you from their humiliation
and oppression and their neglect of your humanity,

but it also raised your status in every sense of the word and provided
you with all things, on top of which is your education.

The verses on learning in the Qur'an address both man and woman.

Allah Almighty says: {Allah will raise in ranks those who believed from
among you and those who are given knowledge.} [Surat al-Mujādalah:
11]

As faith pertains to man and woman, so does education.

Before Islam, women could not even find a particular indication of their
right to education as they found it in their universal Islam, since its first
days in this world.

This is Asmā’ bint Yazīd asking the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him) for special learning for women.

She said: "O Messenger of Allah, men exclusively benefit by your

teachings; so devote to us a day on which we may come to you so that you
may teach us of what Allah has taught you." The Prophet (may Allah’s
peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Gather on such-and-such days."

He set a day and met with them every week, teaching them.
 I told you: None put women at such a high status like Islam.
34
This is even for those who are too lazy to seek knowledge.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) enjoined all
women to go out and attend the sermons of the two Eids, including the
mature girls, the menstruating women, and the virgins staying in
seclusion.

One of them said: "O Messenger of Allah, one of us may not have an
outer garment."

Listen to what the Messenger of learning, knowledge, and mercy said to

her: "Let her sister lend her an outer garment." [Narrated by Muslim]

Women in the Prophet's days properly understood the true meaning of

learning and knew that education concerned men and women alike.

While Umm Salamah's slave girl was combing her hair, she heard the
Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) say: "O
people!"

Umm Salamah said to her maid: "Step back." Thereupon, the maid said:
"He called for men!" Not women. Umm Salamah replied: "I am one of
people, and the Messenger said: 'O people!'" [Narrated by Muslim]

Umm Salamah rectified this notion for her maid and for every Muslim
girl.

And this is Fātimah bint Qays relating that when she heard the Prophet's
caller proclaiming "Prayer will be held in congregation", she went out to
the mosque and offered the prayer with the Prophet (may Allah’s peace
and blessings be upon him) in the rows of women.
35
This shows that this was a general concept among all women, and they
were the first to be concerned with the principle of knowledge and
guidance.

How strange! Is this the female who was buried alive before Islam, and if
she lived, she would lead a life of humiliation? Look at her in the era of
Islam and see how this religion enables her to seek knowledge.

And here is the best example of the freedom of women's education, and
even encouraging them to seek it.

Enter the Prophet's house and stand before your mother ‘Ā’ishah, the
Prophet's wife, and receive knowledge from her.

This girl was the most frequent reporter of the Prophet's Hadīths, an
advantage that could only be acquired through ongoing education.

Abu Mūsa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Never was a
matter unclear to us and we asked ‘Ā’ishah about it, except that we would
find some knowledge concerning it with her."

And this is ‘Urwah ibn az-Zubayr, the son of her sister Asmā’, saying to
our mother ‘Ā’ishah:

"O mother, I am not surprised by your fiqh, for I say: She is the Prophet's
wife, and the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was the most knowledgeable
among people. And I am not surprised by your knowledge of poetry and
historical events, for I say: She is the daughter of Abu Bakr, who was the
most knowledgeable among people. What surprises me, however, is your
knowledge of medicine. How is that? Where did it come from?"
Thereupon, ‘Ā’ishah patted his shoulders and said: "The Messenger of
Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) would get sick in the
last days of his life, and Arab delegations would come to him from all
36
directions, and they would give him medical prescriptions; so, I would
treat by them."

This is an example of the kind of biographies for women in Islam, who

enjoyed such a high level of knowledge.

And this is the daughter of the great scholar Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib. She
got married to a young man from the students of her father. After some
days of their marriage, he wanted to go out, with his sheet of papers, to
learn from Ibn al-Musayyib. Thereupon, she told him: "Sit down; I will
teach you the knowledge of Sa‘īd."

The daughter memorized all the knowledge of her father, the erudite
scholar!

It behooves every female today who attained a high level of knowledge

to love her Islam more and more. This is quite normal, for she proudly
belongs to the Ummah of {Read}.

{Read by the name of your Lord, Who created, created man from a
clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous, Who taught by
the pen, taught man what he did not know.} [Surat al-‘Alaq: 1-5]
37
My Islam and how it empowered me at
work
As I write these lines,

an idea is crossing my mind, which makes me feel totally helpless to

present an adequate apology for my failure, and the failure of the whole
world, to give due thanks to Islam, which put my mother, daughter, and
sister in a high position, provided them with well-established, enduring,
and effective rights, and devoted matchless attention to them.

This is a religion that enables women to seek knowledge and education

so that they can be elevated.

Yes, elevation with no limits!

She learns until she attains such a lofty position everywhere that none
can reach her.

In addition to the opportunity of learning, this great religion also

provides her with the opportunity of work.

All in the West are well aware that Islam is a religion of knowledge and
work and that it enables its followers, men and women, to seek
knowledge and work. Moreover, Islam protects women and lays down
regulations over where they can learn and where they can work?

The Islamic model of women education is empowering women, rather

than giving the followers of the lustful civilization an opportunity to seek
access to this great female, for they want, by means of all their shiny
slogans, to bring her back to the servitude and frivolity of the previous
civilizations.
 Let me elaborate a little on this topic.
38
The Muslim values of women's work are far superior to their
counterparts in the West. We do not say this in a reactive way, as we
speak from a position of strength, based on the fact that we possess the
universal solution enabling our women to learn and work while
maintaining their strength, uprightness, and great respect.

The maternal aunt of Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with her)
wanted to go out to some palm trees of hers to pick up their fruits. The
Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) gave her
permission, saying: "Go and collect the harvest from your trees, for
perhaps you will give some in charity or do a good deed with it."

And a woman would come to the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him) with a garment she had woven by her hand to give
it to him as a gift; and he would accept it with all pleasure and
appreciation of her handiwork.

And this is the first female physician in Islam,

"Rufaydah al-Ansāriyyah".

When Sa‘d ibn Mu‘ādh was wounded, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace
and blessings be upon him) said: Take him to the tent of Rufaydah (the
medical clinic) in the mosque. Physician Rufaydah (may Allah be pleased
with her) would treat the wounded.

Ibn ‘Abdīn said: "A father may prompt his daughter to learn a profession
so that she can support herself, if needed."

The splendor of Islam is that it does not force women to work:

39
A million kisses to this great religion which takes psychological and
moral aspects into consideration in refraining from treating women
unjustly.

This is not only by avoiding to arbitrarily prevent her from work, but also
by protecting her from forced work.

"The problem in the West is that they force women to work, or else they
will starve."

Rather, a woman should be able to make the proper decision (whether

to work or not).

I certainly mean the kind of work that is compliant with the values of
Islam, and which achieves prosperity for her.
 40
The Muslim woman and more than one
option
Allah Almighty made for the Muslim female a special kingdom in her
house. He commanded her to make this house the most beautiful, stable,
and happy kingdom and to devote most of her attention to it, as she plays
a leading role in establishing a happy family and a new generation that
builds a great society thanks to this great mother.

And in order for a Muslim woman not to be forced to work and leave
her own kingdom, Islam obliges man to spend on his wife, who plays a
great role in the stability of the family.

This is a great honor that a woman is given money and is being

supported in return for the role she plays in her home and kingdom. Thus,
she is not forced to work, though Islam permits her to do so. There is a
difference between working on her own accord and being forced to work
against her will.

How amazing is Islam's consideration of the female's well-being!

You have the choice between staying at home and undertaking your
great role, while being supported by someone else, and going to work, yet
you go willingly, without coercion due to a lack of money.

When the Muslim female decides to work:

She will find that Islam, which enabled her to get educated, also
provides her with the opportunity to work.

And in order for work not to be a loss for her in some familial,
psychological, educational, spiritual, and moral aspects, there is a system
laid down by her universal Islam. In its proper and wise steps, this system
41
has a far-sighted vision and deep sense, and it is lofty in terms of
production, safety, and faith. It brings all happiness and prosperity for
every female.

Given this system and its regulations related to woman's work, every
manager in any organization or institution will know that this woman, who
applied to one of their jobs, has a family and a guardian that looks after
her, loves her, fears for her, and is ready to sacrifice his life to protect her.

"This is unlike the Western woman whose family is ruined and she lives
alone. Everyone lies in wait for her and tries to reach her for their desire,
and she is not protected by anyone."

The regulations for the Muslim woman's work:

1. She should get her guardian's permission to work.

Islamically, the permission to work here means the rational and wise
guardian who is familiar with the reality and well aware of the challenges
related to work.

But if her guardian is different from this, and he prevents her from work
out of prejudice and oppression, then his permission does not count.
Moreover, he cannot force her to engage in work she does not want.

2. Her work should not distract her from her house, husband, and
children, for these are her foremost responsibility and the cause of her
bliss in this life and the Hereafter.

3. Her work should be consistent with her nature, womanhood, and

physical and mental characteristics.
 Here Islam stands up to all those who want to put her in such types of
42
work that contradict her womanhood, like cleaning the streets, digging the
roads, mining, and carrying heavy items.

4. She should go out as a good representative of her values in terms of

modesty and good appearance in such a way that none can identify her
shape or get attracted by her body. Indeed, she is a great female in which
only her husband can be her partner on the journey in life, whom she
chooses.

How amazing! Islam empowers women in everything, but it loves and

protects them from everything.

Women even get equal pay like men for similar work, which denotes
their high status and the justice of this great religion.

As the old saying puts it: Things are known by their opposites.

We need to look into a different model of women's work that is far away
from the teachings of the universal Islam, and to know the story of the
work of Western women, so that we can be grateful for this great religion,
Islam.

Why did the Western woman go out to work?

She went out to work, because her guardian, be he a father or a

husband, is not required to spend on her. So, daughters and wives are
obliged to work to support themselves.

You should not be surprised then if you find an 18-year-old girl paying
rent to her father for the room she lives in or going out to look for some
place to live in, even if she has to offer her body for sale. What a dreadful
society!
43
The wife is also required to take part in the house expenses just like the
husband, even for food and drink.

How poor the Western woman is! "She does not have Islam to
guarantee her maintenance." Rather, there is no room for family in the
West. Everyone is looking for his/her own freedom and pleasure.

Hence, the poor Western woman is fervently working to secure her

livelihood, which would not be provided by her husband or father.

And as she went out, she would find a society that mercifully took her
situation into consideration and made her work while preserving her
dignity. While proclaiming equality between men and women day and
night and on every occasion, this poor woman is not given equal pay like
men for similar work, especially since the man in that society is not
required to spend on her in the first place!

Rather, they give her slightly more than half of the pay received by men.
That's so unfair!

Unmarried American women receive only 65% of men's salary, and

married women receive 56% of the pay received by men (These are the
drunkards who are not required to spend on their wives whatsoever).
 44
In Islam, work is not a problem; but
where to work?
In France, women went out to the arena of work after the French
Revolution (1204 H - 1789 AD), 273 years before the collapse of feudalism
under which feudalists would own the land and those on it.

At the start of the formation of capitalism and the major wheel of

industry, millions of farmers and villagers emigrated, fleeing the feudal
system which used to inflict severe harm upon them. They ran away to
major cities.

Thereupon, they were quickly caught by the new factories looking for
labor. They did not know that they had thus fallen into the greed of
capitalism under which they would only get a little money in return for
long hours of work.

This little amount of money did not meet the family's needs.

Under these conditions, women and children in the countryside were

obliged to go to cities in search for livelihood by any means and at any
cost, just to live. As such, the factories received them.

They were given less than a quarter of men's pay, just because they
were women. However, their disdain of women did not stop at payment.
They exploited their needs for establishing a specific plan of vice for these
poor females.

The plan of vice:

The founders of the immoral plan of vice misused the following

conditions:
45
. Deprivation and poverty that befell women as they lived in cities
without having any caretaker.

. Millions of male workers were living without wives.

. Women became a burden upon their husbands, and daughters a

burden upon their fathers, and everyone was obliged to engage in any
work just to spend on themselves.

This provided a great opportunity for the brokers of prostitution and

vice to establish a business that solely relied upon women's bodies.

A French member of parliament said:

"The profession of prostitution was no longer a personal job; rather, it

became a broad business and an organized profession due to the great
profits earned by its agents."

How painful is the mere thought that the Western woman in the past
did not go out to work willingly and freely, but she was obliged and forced
to do so, as her husband would not spend on her, and her son would not
care about her! So, she went out to make ends meet. This was after the
capitalist system did something that has destroyed the West to this day;
and that's ruining the family and spreading the notion of individual
freedom, which has caused woman to be lost among them, and none can
protect her from their crimes.

Anne, the famous writer, said:

"It is better and less harmful for our girls to work as domestic servants
than to work in laboratories, where they get soiled with dirt that
eliminates the beauty of their lives forever.
 So, why do we not seek to help girls engage in such work that accords
46
with their natural disposition and maintains their honor."

They led and forced the Western woman to engage in any kind of work.
And in order for her to unhesitatingly accept any work, they ruined her
religion, and then her family. So, she became submissive to them, and
they could employ her in anything they wished.

As a consequence, pornographic firms became among the largest

businesses that employed millions of women around the globe and
generated billions in revenues.

The star of these movies is the man, and the victim, who is sick to death,
is the woman.

Let us go back to work. The US Department of Labor emphasized that

most women in the West work in low-paying jobs, and 97% of high
positions are occupied by men. The study suggested that:

. 89% of servants and cleaners are women.

. 93% of secretaries are women.

. 93% of receptionists are women.

. 74% of waitstaff at restaurants are women.

Not only that, there are terrible statistics about what working women
suffer, as violence against women at work costs companies and
institutions hundreds of millions, which are paid to these women due to
the violence they suffer.

Then, no one can sell women's work to us today, because ours is the
religion of knowledge and work for males and females.
47
Therefore, we should all take pride in the regulations of the universal
religion of Islam concerning women's work.

Indeed, it is the truth as clear as the sun that Islam promotes women's
freedom to work or stay at home.

If they stay at home, they get their financial rights; and if they go out to
work, there are regulations in place to protect them and guard their
freedom, chastity, and dignity.

"Where can a woman work, and how?" This is the philosophy of Islam in
relation to work.

The Western woman only suffered bitterly from all these crimes,
injustices, and insults when she lost her religion and decision as to "Where
should I work, and how?"

O Allah, preserve the Muslim woman and save the Western one!
 48
You have a job; however, do not forget
your job.
The UN report on the economic value of women's employment, in 1985,
says: If the world's women were to receive payment for the household
chores, this would amount to half of the national income of every country.
If wives were to go on a strike from household chores, chaos would spread
in the world, children would fill the streets, and infants would lie hungry in
their beds. If such a strike took place, the world would appraise the great
value of women's work at home.

If a woman received payment for the household chores she performs,

her wage would reach more than $145,000 a year. Some women
contribute 25%-45% of the national revenue by their household chores.

Edelman Financial Services:

In the state of Virginia, it conducted a study of mothers' work at home

(upbringing - financial management - psychotherapy for the family -
cooking - care) and attempted to measure this by financial numbers on
paper. It found that a mother deserves an annual salary of $508,000.

If the study were conducted on the Arab mother, the amount would be
far higher.

Financial Analyst Edelman said:

"A mother works at home for almost 24 hours nonstop, in what is

equivalent to the wages of 17 important jobs."

Here we need to deeply think about boosting the status of housewife

mothers and paying attention to their leading role in society as a whole.
49
One of the key principles in Islam is to pay attention to the housewife
mother and care about her and the role she plays.

Therefore, it guarantees her maintenance in return for the services she

offers, and her husband is also required to serve her.

Hence, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"The best among you are the best to their wives, and I am the best among
you to my wives."

One of the major errors in the field of employment worldwide is to

exclusively define work as "such efforts for which one receives payment".
This excludes every woman who works to maintain the stability of her
family and raise her children. This is so unfair!

Thus, when a great housewife mother, who makes the main focus of her
work in this life producing a new generation, is asked: Do you have a job?
She says: No, I am a housewife.

This is based on the general definition of work. Because she is not paid
for this great work, her work is not called work.

The work of the housewife mother is the greatest job for any country
and any society. Indeed, she is the manager of an academy for taking care
of the new generation and maintaining the stability of the family.

It is stated in a number of Western reports, such as reports by the

committees of health, education, and social care, which study the
conditions of workers, including American women:
 50
"The clear truth is that care for children should be regarded as work in
every sense of the word because this is a hard task with a more serious
impact on the broader society than any other paid job.

We will attain this realization when we start taking care of those women
who devote themselves to maternity and homemaking and pay them
wages in return for their efforts, considering their work at home as a
valuable contribution to the national income."

How wonderful it is that everything Islam already guarantees for you

with all love, they are now calling for it.

Auguste Comte said:

A woman's life should be her home, and she should not be assigned with
men's work, for this cuts her off from her main job and spoils her natural
talents. Men should spend on women, without expecting material work
from them, so that they can be devoted to their social job, namely having
children and raising them.

How great the universal Islam is!

Islam elevates the status of woman while she is a housewife mother and
while she is an employee in an institution doing such work that is suitable
for her nature and value.

Eleven million in the USA work at home on a full-time basis and earn
more money than those who go out to work.

The American Journal of Psychiatry reported that 42% of working

women experience sexual assault.

And that 90% of the sexually assaulted women are mentally affected.
51
Studies suggest that 6% of working women quit work due to sexual
harassment.

A new study shows that 21% of French women, 58% of Dutch women,
74% of British women, and 27% of Spanish women suffer immoral
harassments in workplaces.

Surprisingly, even UN female staff are not safe from such molestations -
those who advocate the conferences on women's rights! A survey was
conducted on the UN female secretaries, covering 575 women, on the
sexual blackmailing they face at work.

Fifty percent said they were personally subjected to such sexual

molestations and assaults.

So, we here affirm that the stance of Islam regarding women's work is
not about whether they should or should not work, but where should they
work, and how?

Read these words by Ibn al-Qayyim, which the whole world needs today:

"Undoubtedly, enabling women to mingle with men is the root of all

afflictions and one of the greatest causes of the prevalence of public
punishments. It is also one of the causes leading to the corruption of
public and individual affairs, the frequency of immoralities and adultery,
and the occurrence of widespread deaths and the related plagues.

If the rulers were to know the corruption this causes to worldly affairs
and people, let alone the religion, they would be so firm in preventing it."
[At-Turuq Al-Hukmiyyah - Ibn al-Qayyim]
 52
Freedom Story 1
The Western woman
Before we go into this story, I would like to reveal to you that the thing
about which I keep thinking and feel most concerned about is the
condition of the female in the West (your sister from Eve).

She has become the person in the world who most needs support,
rights, protection, and salvation from the lustful Western civilization,
which has made women a puppet for every vice, with men being the only
winner.

Let us embark now on the story of her freedom and the steps of that
liberation:

The first step: Renounce your religion... and enjoy your freedom.

This call in Europe was the first step towards the alleged freedom -
abandonment of religion, so that the Western woman could obtain her
rights. The call was forthright and clear.

If she did not renounce her religion, she would not obtain her rights.

So, the concept of liberating the woman in the West means liberating
her first from religion... Why?

This is because they know that a happy, just, and balanced social life in
which people can decide their own affairs according to their values and
conscience can only be established by religion.

And in fact, none can take advantage of a woman if religion directs her
manners, morals, worship, relationships, and chastity.
53
It is no secret that the Western woman (your sister) believed this slogan
about the abandonment of religion, so that they could take her rights and
freedom.

The second step: The slogans of freedom and the abandonment of

family life:

After the renunciation of religion, the West raised the slogans of

women's freedom in the following manner:

. Absolute freedom:

This was a call to the Western woman to totally get rid of all restrictions
imposed by religion.

Thereafter, they raised another slogan.

. The freedom of will:

This is the woman's ability and authority to take decisions, and the love
of her will. Then, another slogan followed.

. The freedom of the mind's judgment:

This is the freedom subject to the will of the mind. Whatever our minds
wish, we do.

Then came their most important slogan.

. The individual freedom:

This means giving precedence to the rights of individuals and making the
Western laws for the sake of individuals, not the family.
 This kind of freedom is aimed at ruining the family system after they
54
already managed to ruin the religion in the heart and conduct of the
Western woman.

Consequently, we can say: After the step of the renunciation of religion

in the West, there was still a huge obstacle preventing them from reaching
the woman easily, namely the family, which protects her from everything.

So, the term of "individual freedom" was intended to formulate certain

laws and slogans under which a girl can dispense with her family, and her
family can dispense with her.

The slogan of individual freedom was the first gate through which the
West managed to break the family fabric.

The West views the family as the biggest hindrance to progress and
prosperity, and they even say that openly: "The family must be uprooted,
even if this leads to revolt against the religion."

The feminist movement in the West was founded on the following idea:

"Society is built upon individuals, not the family."

At that point, the woman lost the wall of protection: religion and family.

Baldi, a famous Western scholar, said: "Islam is the only religion among
all religions that created, by virtue of its sublime teachings, many
obstacles preventing people from inclining toward lewdness and
immorality. A sufficient source of pride for it is that it venerated and
extolled lineage, which encourages men to get married and keep away
from adultery.

"With just and high-level reasoning, Islam solved most social problems,
which still concern lawmakers in the West."
55
However,

the female in this society renounced her religion and family and became
alone, waiting for her freedom.

Freedom for the Western woman rests on three key elements:

1. First: You and man are equal (equality):

After she renounced her religion and family, they brought her freedom
on the plate of equality between her and man in everything.

The aim was to make women do all the work men do, regardless of their
natural disposition. What matters is that women should be wherever men
are. They did not even care about women's educational role with their
children, and the fact that they went further away from their families.

So, the Western woman understood freedom in an inverse way, and as a

consequence, she abandoned her values and morals and distorted the
nature of her private life as a mother, which destroyed the family fabric
altogether.

Furthermore, the Western society believed its own lie that women have
become just like men. Thus, they are shown no mercy and can only be
seen as equals. They should work hard and do anything men can do,
relentlessly.

Alas! If only they focused on treating women justly, without the so-
called equality that has no limit in forcing the Western woman to
overburden herself until she loses everything.

Second: Have your own money:

 This means: Go out and look for any job that enables you to dispense
56
with man, be he a husband, a father, or a brother. Thus, they made her
sole purpose to be working competitively and becoming self-sufficient, as
if the family has no goal but money.

This step was not meant as a punishment for the husband.

Indeed, work is a right for a woman. However, she can work while her
husband works, and they live in love, harmony, and integration within a
coherent family with common goals. How great that is!

Yet, their plan in this area (financial independence) was aimed at

something totally different. They wanted to lay the groundwork for a very
deep concept.

As they established equality between men and women, and called for
financial independence for women, then what is the need for this man to
be your husband today, while you are without religion or family? Why
would you let a man prevent you from a freedom that has a thousand
men?

As a result of this concept, the Western woman became an equal to

man, so she left him as a man who loves her and views her as his
companion on the journey of life, the mother of his children, and his
beloved wife. They even made her "the self-sufficient rival".

Under these conditions, a woman is obliged to work even if she does not
prefer to, for she is now an equal to man, who would not show her
compassion at all and would accept that she engage in any work to earn a
living.

And she is prepared to lose everything to keep her job. This deprives her
of a quiet and stable life.
57
The husband treats her as an equal and rebukes her if she does not work
and share the family expenses with him.

She also lost the feeling of security, compassion, comfort, and cordiality.
And the greatest loss she incurred is the loss of "her happiness as a
female".

Now, she has lost her religion, her family and her husband.

Yes, they (the mafia of liberating women so as to take advantage of

them) realized that they would not be able to exploit woman with all ease
and without any oversight except by renouncing the following:

Religion: It deters her from vice.

Family: An entity that cares about her and defends, protects, and loves
her.

Husband: Provides care, compassion, desire, and protection.

Next is the third and most important element and goal, for which they
ruined religion and family and made woman equal to her husband. It is for
this third element that they made her in pressing need of money, so that
she would be willing to do anything to earn it. This third element makes it
possible to derive benefit from the woman and tamper with her in all
fields, without the deterrence of religion, the care of family, or the
protection of husband.

3. Third: Unrestricted mingling:

This element is very very strange.

It is utterly different from the first and second elements.

 If we accept the condition of women in the West in which husbands are
58
not required to spend on their wives, where there is equality between
men and women, and where women are financially independent, then we
should expect undesirable consequences.

Are these two elements not enough for the Western woman to find her
freedom and rights?

I ask you by Allah to explain to me: What is the need for the third
element, the unrestricted mingling? What does this have to do with
equality and financial independence?

The truth:

Yes, the truth which every female should know is that what was planned
for the Western woman went far beyond the issue of equality and
financial independence.

Indeed, these two elements, along with some slogans, managed to

achieve

(Renunciation of religion - destruction of family - making the wife equal

to the husband).

However, this would not achieve their major goal, namely free and easy
access to women.

There came the element of unrestricted mingling to be the alternative

that compensates women for what they lack and miss in their lives.

Their narrative and theories came to affirm:

"A woman's freedom makes her fall into intimate relationships with
whomever she wills, without the sacred bond of marriage."
59
This carnal mafia, which sets snares for females in the West, holds the
belief that

"Marriage is the most horrible social institution!"

They even predict their social future by acting upon their wishes about a
reality which they dream to live in; this is

"a reality in which marriage no longer exists!"

Their concept of freedom is based on these three elements:

"An aggressive, rebellious, and lonely woman who accepts from

dominant traditions what she likes and rejects what she does not like,
even if it were a religion."

Any smart and conscious female, who reads this reality, would say: If I
consent to this, I will lose everything!!

Her status is in the view of society to her. She will lose all her rights in
social life and, along with that, her brilliance, vitality, and inner happiness.

She will be encircled by illnesses, on top of which is depression and

anxiety. There will be no winner but this man to whom she submits herself
intimately, who takes the dearest thing she possesses. She is the only
loser.

For the esteemed female, the criminal Western civilization is aware that
she will suffer more than that, mentally and physically, and will be
humiliated, encircled by serious illnesses, and will be subject to aggression
and permissiveness. Moreover, she will not find any conscience to awaken
her, for she renounced her religion, and has no family to protect her, as
her family was ruined.
 They even know that she will get pregnant several times from different
60
men and will need abortions, and she may die slowly.

Nonetheless, do you expect them to change their ways out of mercy

toward this female to whom they allegedly seek to bring freedom?

The Western civilization only possesses power, no conscience.

To make this poor female trust their call, they did not tell her that she
will get sick and oppressed and will lose everything.

Yet, the principle of force and the mafia of vice became evident after
she became totally alone, with no father, brother, husband, or relative to
support her with all love.

They enacted laws for her, to be adopted by the global system.

In order for these laws to be:

the last bullet hitting the humanity of the Western society.

More specifically, it is the last bullet hitting the rights and freedom of
the poor Western women.

Here I present to you these laws and directives. Have a look at them to
find out the reality of the humanity of the Western society and its crime
against women.
61
The laws of the international
conferences on women (the last bullet)
are below:
1. Calling for the freedom of illegal sexual relations and considering this one
of the fundamental rights of women.

2. Spreading the notion of 'gender', as a substitute for the term 'sex', with
the aim of revoking the concept of male and female, as if they are saying: We
are all of the same kind, not different. So, there is nothing wrong with same-
sex marriages. Thus, they acknowledge all forms of homosexuality.

3. Disseminating new updated contraceptives and calling for the prevention

of early pregnancies.

4. Acknowledging the rights of fornicators.

5. Formal acknowledgement of homosexuality.

6. Making the girl or woman socially vulnerable by ruining her family.

7. Promoting co-education.

8. Calling for women's work in mixed-sex environments.

9. Making condoms easily accessible and distributing them among males on

a large scale and at low prices.

10. Combating discrimination against people infected with AIDS.

11. Calling for abortion to be regarded as one of the rights of a woman and
enabling her to get this right easily.

12. Calling for the establishment of abortion hospitals.

 Freedom of devouring
62
After these permissive criminal laws, whose only victim is the Western
woman, and after this story about the freedom of the Western woman, here
are the statistics that speak about how this victim, who was in the lap of her
family and religion, was devoured. After she lost everything, you can hear
nothing but the cries of her reality and the sound of her loneliness and
sadness. The statistics would shock anyone with the least amount of
humanity, as one sees the effects of the alleged liberation of the Western
woman.

When the French writer Françoise Sagan was asked about

her mockery of the movement of women's liberation, she said:

"Based on my review of the experiences of the vast majority of women, I

can say that the movement of women's liberation is, but a big lie fabricated by
man to deceive the woman thereby."

The wife of the president of one of the countries supporting freedom said:

"A woman is no longer significant in the midst of false freedom that ruined
her entity and character and made her subject to horrible exploitation by
those with deviant passions."

A Western writer said:

"The feminist movement in the West produced a self-contradictory idea,

considering women to be free when they serve their bosses, but slaves when
they serve their husbands."

What follows are the statistics about the freedom of devouring the Western
woman after everything was taken from her and she was left alone with all
her grievances. The numbers show that she died as a female with dignity,
freedom, and humanity.
63
The statistics of the story of the
freedom of devouring the Western
woman
When everything is lost, freedom turns into statistics of painful
servitude.

The Institute of Women in Madrid released its annual report on the

conditions of freedoms worldwide.

. In 1980, there were more than 1.5 million cases of abortion, 30% of
which were for girls not older than 20.

. In 1982, 80% of the women who got married 15 years earlier were now
divorced.

. In 1984, 8 million women lived alone without any help from outside.

. In 1995, there were 82,000 rape crimes, 80% of which took place
within the circle of friends. The police said the numbers were far higher.

. In 1997, the organizations of women's rights found that one woman

was raped every 6 seconds.

. In 1997, an American magazine, the Times reported: Six million women

in the USA suffer from physical and mental abuse because of those they
live with.

. Four thousand women are killed every year at the hands of those they
live with.
 . The police personnel in the USA spend 33% of their time answering
64
phone calls involving violence against women.

. 40%-50% of women killed in the USA are murdered by their intimate

partners.

. Over 3 million women in the USA suffer sexual assaults.

. Women in the UK are horribly beaten to death by their husbands,

which led the government to establish shelters for such women who go
through such beatings that may end up losing their lives.

Today there are over 150 such shelters, as the percentage of women
who suffer from beatings has reached 38%.

. In his book "The American Woman", Eric John mentioned that there
are about 20 million people in the USA suffering from mental and
neurological illnesses.

. Sweden is the most liberal nation in the world, which is so free that it
approves of homosexuality. Twenty-five percent of the population suffers
from mental and neurological illnesses, and 30% of the medical spending
goes to the treatment of mental and neurological illnesses. Suicide rates
are soaring dreadfully.

. In 1991, four women were killed every day by men.

. A Hungarian professor enumerated the number of abortion cases

worldwide (in which babies are killed and torn apart while in their
mothers' wombs). He said there are 30 million abortion cases annually,
and that abortion rates in some countries are now higher than birth rates.

. In the USA alone, abortion kills more than a million babies annually.
The same number of innocent children are also killed in the UK.
65
. 42 million babies were killed by abortion in the USA from 1937 to 2002.

. Over 65 million people in the USA are infected with sexually

transmitted diseases.

. 78 women are raped per hour in the USA.

. A study conducted by the US Department of Defense found that 78% of

women in the army suffer sexual harassment by other personnel.

. A report by the US government Centers for Disease Control found that

a man has an intimate relationship with an average number of seven
women!

. Furthermore, 29% of men had sexual intercourse with more than 15

women over the course of their lives. The percentage is 42% in the UK,
38% in Italy, and 36% in France.

. International data show that nearly 500 thousand women work in the
prostitution industry in Europe.

. In 1995, the revenues of prostitution companies and their media

outlets reached a total of $2.5 billion, with women being the only victim
and men the only winner.

. Rosy, an actress in pornographic movies, said:

Most movies are shot in special places, and the crew is dominantly male.

The producers of pornographic movies rely upon the approach of

physical violence against girls with whom sex is practiced, including
beating, choking, slapping, pulling the hair, kicking, and spitting.
 She added: The places where movies are shot are so unclean, dirty, and
66
foul-smelling, and they contain blood, needles, wine, and hashish, and we
are forced to consume drugs and alcohol. A girl may be subject to sexual
intercourse with four men or more. Some faint and some may even die.

Specialist physicians are in place to deal with any emergency. They

certainly do not intervene to protect the girl, but to give her some
anesthetic drug so that she can complete the movie. Rosy further said:
Some girls cry and beg, refusing to continue, but all those around are
bereft of humanity and do not know but one thing:

"Woman was created so that sex can be practiced with her in all horrible
forms."

Most men practice sex with us while they are under the influence of
drugs and wine. Some girls try to flee, but they are forcibly held and
dragged toward the pornographic cameras. No one hears their cries.

ِA pause!

As I write these lines and live this story that embodies the brutality of
the Western world toward women, tears flow from my eyes in sadness
over this girl who was stripped of everything and needs our support,
especially since we carry the universal Islam which helps and empowers
women and makes them proudly free. I will not hide from you that while I
write this story on the freedom of the Western woman and review its
results and statistics, I only remember one thing: the condition of women
in the old civilizations and how they were treated as nothing, until Islam
emerged.

Believe me, their condition today is more terrible, slavish, and tragic.
67
Do you remember this girl as she was among rabid men doing whatever
they wanted to her, as if she was created for nothing but this? Do you
remember her family and how they ruined it and drove her out to be
easily available to them in the name of individual freedom, the freedom of
thought, the freedom of will, and the absolute freedom? While she is
among those criminals, she cannot find a father to protect her, a brother
to defend her with all love, a relative to feel jealous about her, or a
husband to offer her a happy and stable life.

Or do you remember her religion which she sacrificed in the name of

freedom and rights, until she became captive to the most horrible forms
of vice? She lost her religion that would make her free, proud, strong,
great, and happy.

. Sandra Norak, a victim of the prostitution mafia, said:

An older man deceived me by sweet talk and led me to prostitution

companies, which forced me to provide sexual pleasure to more than 400
men over the course of 4 weeks. In other words, I sold my body to a
hundred men every week.

This means I should be a victim to 14 drunken men every day.

Where is the alleged equality? Where is the false freedom? Where are
women's rights? Rather, I say to the Western world: Just where is
humanity, what is the minimum degree of being human?

. Elina, a 23-year-old girl,

trusted a colleague of hers, who persuaded her to go to Germany and

work in public services. However, she found herself in a sex mafia, which
forced her to unconditionally provide all sex services to every customer,
 68
especially since Germany is one of the European nations that provide good
protection to such companies that obtain official authorization for
prostitution hubs. Elina said: I used to sleep in one room with three
women. The room had only one bed, which we would use in turns, as if we
were the poorest persons on earth.

She added: All I saw in Germany during my stay there was a fuel station,
located in a forlorn area on a highway. They would only allow us to get out
and go to this station to buy sandwiches and cigarettes, under tight
guarding to prevent us from escaping - slavery!

. I wish we could help her

The Western system wronged this female who was born to be great, and
Islam came to make her free, not to be enslaved by anyone.

. The Western woman came to be displayed in show windows for

anyone who wants to buy her to make profits with her body or hire her for
a few days. Indeed, they enslaved this poor woman in the name of
freedom.

. There emerged in the USA and Europe many restaurants that serve
food on the bodies of nude women, as reported in the New York Times,
April 4, 2007. The same magazine also mentioned that there are car
washing centers that employ nude women in order to attract customers.

. What is the price of the body of a European woman?

This phrase was the title of a German TV show that discussed the
reasons behind the continuity of the sex trade in Europe, which allegedly
protects women's rights.

. Sadly, the West now has something like a bourse for trade in the
bodies of minor girls.
69
. The French Minister of Justice

This minister did not marry, but she engaged in illegal relationships from
which she had a baby girl from an unknown father, in 2009.

In 2012, she sued the famous French businessman Dominique

Desseigne, the descendant of a wealthy family, and the owner of a chain
of some of the best and finest hotels and restaurants in Champs-Élysées.

She claimed he was the father of her daughter and asked for a DNA test
to prove that. But he said he would not perform the test, because the
woman had been engaged in an intimate relationship with eight men,
including a famous TV journalist, a prime minister in Spain, and a brother
of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy!

If this is the minister of justice in the nation of fashion, human rights,

and women's rights, then we should say farewell to the rights of women in
the West!

Do you expect France, in a reality like this, to pay attention to the

protection of the rights of French women?

. The French government: Waiting for a girl to reach the age of 18 to

rebel against her family and obtain her freedom, and even her sexual
freedom, is a long time to wait!

Therefore, the minister of state for equality between man and woman
declared that the legal age for practicing sex by consent is 15, not 18.

This is sordid and dirty lewdness that only thinks about one thing - free
access to the female - without any mercy or humanity toward this weak
being.
 When they know that a 17-year-old Arab girl got married, they make a
70
big fuss over it and shout a thousand slogans about women's rights. But if
a girl engages in illegal sexual intercourse with a number of men, this is
freedom!

Astonishingly, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that he was

so concerned about the freedom of Arab women ... No comment!

"O Allah, help us support the Western woman!"

71
This program... and the downfall
"You are not the Father" is the title of a famous TV show in the USA. In the
show, a woman invites a number of men with whom she engaged in sexual
intercourse to take DNA tests, so that she can identify the father of her child.
One of the strangest cases was for a woman, called Rosalinda, who admitted
to having sex with more than 18 men, whom she invited to the show. They all
took the DNA test to know who was the father of her 11-year-old son. The
audience, the show's host, and the mother and her child anxiously waited for
the fixed date. As the results of the tests were released,

there was a surprise that caused the boy to sob in a heap of tears. The tests
showed that none of the 18 men was his father, which meant that his mother
had illegal sexual intercourse with others besides the 18 men.

We do not know whether to feel sad over the child or the reality and
scandal of his mother, Rosalinda, or the idea of this TV show, which indicates
that this case is only an example of millions of other cases that represent the
reality of the Western woman.

The show also featured husbands who brought their wives in front of the
audience to make sure they were their children's real fathers. The results
were negative as well, proving their wives' unfaithfulness. The show was aired
on the US channel NBC for 20 years, recording 3.500 episodes. Each episode
presented at least three cases.

Such TV shows clearly reveal to us the extent of insult directed at the US

women. They fear, therefore, that Western women might search for a
different model with which they rest assured and feel their humanity.

It is for this reason that they desperately try, and by every means possible,
to ruin the model of the Muslim woman and the Muslim family.
 72
The Western woman speaks
The West devised every skillful way to use the Western woman in shameful
and humiliating acts that could only rival the forms of old slavery.

As a result, exploitation of women's bodies in different kinds of lewdness

has turned into an industry that generates $12B to the US economy every
year, with the Western woman suffering all forms of distress and sadness in
the prime of her life.

When she grows old, she finds herself alone, after men and everybody have
abandoned her. She spends the remaining part of her life alone, with no
companion but the dog or some friends at the old-age home, if she can afford
to stay there.

The Muslim woman, on the other hand, continues to be surrounded by all

love and care from her husband, sons and daughters, grandchildren, relatives,
and friends.

Now, listen to them as they speak to you.

. Mary, a French writer,

in her book "The Last Harems", said:

My dear sisters, do not envy us, the European women, or follow our
example. You do not know the cost we paid in slavery to buy our alleged
freedom. Let me tell you: To the house, to the house. Be lawful wives and stay
as mothers. Be women in everything.

Allah has given you a lot of feminine gentleness. So, do not wish to wrestle
with men or try hard to compete with them.

And she beautifully said: Stand behind your husband while you are his lady.
73
. A TV director and producer, who embraced Islam and changed her name
to Āminah

I warn Muslim women of the advocates of liberality, and I know well what
this phrase means. I want Muslim women to know that Western women are
not liberated as they mistakenly think, for they are captive to the Western
system. Indeed, a woman's real freedom is that which Islam has given to her.

. Arton, a famous writer

She said in the Eastern Mail newspaper:

Would that our countries were like the Muslim countries, where there is
modesty, chastity, and purity. A servant there among Muslims enjoys the
kindest living and treatment, just like the children of the household. Honors
are not violated.

. Brigitte Bardot, the famous actress

I was one day a symbol of liberality and corruption; rather, I was immersed
in corruption up to my neck. When I watch one of my previous movies today, I
spit on myself and turn it off immediately. I was so vile.

She went on to say:

One finds utmost happiness in marriage.

When I see a family and their children, I ask myself:

Why am I deprived of this blessing?

. The wife of an Italian ambassador to one of the Muslim countries

They claim that the Muslim woman is in slavery. This is something I would
like to dismiss as untrue.
 The novelists in Europe do not try to search for the truth.
74
I met Muslim women in reality, and were it not for that, I would have
believed what is written about them.

I am not exaggerating if I say:

The Muslim woman is freer than the European woman.

The Muslim woman is the only one who cares about her family life.

. Danielle Crittenden, an American writer.

In her book "What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us", she said:

The new generation of mothers below the age of 40 have fallen victim to
the Western feminist movement.

This movement drove women out of their homes, delayed their marriage,
and reduced their role in upbringing and homemaking.

As a result, women's ties to the aspects related to their psychological and

mental nature, like maternity and the love for forming a family, were cut off.

The writer called for women to go back home and get married early.

She described the outcome of the Western feminist movement as

anxiety - confusion - disturbance.

She added:

This led every girl in the West to ask two important questions:

First: Is going out to the arena of work more important than caring for
children?

Second: Why does my boyfriend not want to marry me as I want to marry

him?
75
The story of freedom 2
After we lived the steps of the first story of freedom for the Western
woman and saw how they managed to make her lose her religion and then
her family until she became alone, having none to defend or protect her;
and how they stripped her of every internal scruple that would enable her
to defend her rights; and thereupon, she was devoured in the sea of vice
and lost everything.

you find them today rushing toward a new arena through which they
can target a new female, wishing to take advantage of her by every
possible means to make her the next victim.

This female is you, O you hero!

Yes, you, the valued daughter of Islam, the granddaughter of the

conscious Khadījah and the young knowledgeable ‘Ā’ishah.

They want to make you the star of the second story of their alleged
freedom. Do you agree to that?

They realize that your universal Islam has made you proud, free, and
happy. So, they pursue every means and slogan of allurement to drag you
to their slavery in order to first take advantage of you and then prevent
you from being a role model

for every other female in the world. They want to make you lose
everything in the name of freedom. To this end, they would deal with you
in the same way that enabled them to exploit the Western woman.

In their story with the Western woman, if you remember, they went
through stages: renunciation of religion - destruction of family - individual
freedom - equality - mingling - and ultimately taking advantage of the
76
Western woman.

They will follow these same steps with you.

But your religion and values are well-established and deeply rooted.
They patiently try every possible means of persuasion to reach the same
outcome: free access to the Muslim woman.

They will not say to you: Renounce your religion!

They cannot say to you forthright "renounce your religion and get your
freedom" as they said to the Western woman.

Their best way for the renunciation of religion is to distort the religion.
To this end, they distort its rulings, symbols, and role models, and
highlight suspicions that shake the certitude in your heart. Furthermore,
they create new symbols that superficialize the religion in the name of
centrism and under the slogan that "Religion is easy; do not make it
complex".

This is a true statement, but it is only used to exploit the Muslim

woman. One of the phrases they commonly say is "Religion is kidnapped".
So this kidnapped religion will not liberate anyone but woman - so that
they can take advantage of her.

This liberation, along with all its methods, means one thing:

Renounce your religion and obtain your happiness.

If this proves futile, they resort to the weapon of suspicions.

We will have a particular pause on the approach of suspicions!

77
They will not speak directly to you about individual freedom and about
ruining the family.

They are well aware of the family and social cohesion surrounding the
Muslim girl.

Hence, they cannot achieve their goal straightforwardly.

But they will use a number of slogans to reach the same goal:

You are free - who is the guardian - I do not want guardianship from
anyone - I can travel alone.

If you have accepted these slogans today, know that you are walking
toward the same snares whereby they devoured the Western woman and
made her the most miserable female beneath the feet of men.

They will keep trying until they obtain the freedom of exploiting you.

They will broaden for you the slogan of equality, while you are unaware,
so as to make you equal to man, just because he is man, and prompt you
to enter into this struggle in one capacity: you are oppressed.

Certainly, they will not say to you that Islam has wronged you. However,
they will make use of certain examples and exceptional cases in society to
reinforce their slogan of equality.

If you go with them to this stage, they will then employ the idea of
"financial independence" through any kind of work! Just be stronger than
man, even if he is your husband, father, brother, or the like. Just be a rival!
 They know that her Islam enabled her to work and distinguish herself.
78
But they do not want such work for which Islam has set certain regulations
that prevent them from taking advantage of her easily.

Thereafter, and in the name of work and financial self-sufficiency,

certain carefully picked jobs will be created so that girls looking for money
will come and work without any regulations that take into account their
peculiar traits as females.

At this point, they manage to achieve their deep goal, namely mingling
between men and women, which is the most effective means for making
use of women in the name of freedom.

After that, we can only list the numbers and stories about Muslim
women being devoured in the name of the alleged freedom.

Yet, I am sure that the great Muslim female will declare to the whole
world: All this life would be meaningless if I renounced my religion, values,
family, and chastity.

And you will be the heroic Muslim female and the representative of
Muslim women, who will lend support to the Western woman, her sister
from Eve.

I am certain that you are stronger than them, for they possess nothing
but desires and misconceptions.

You, on the other hand, are superb, strong, and free. With your
universal religion, you possess unyielding certitude.
79
Misconceptions about women
Frankly, O dear sister, I do not like to get into any of the misconceptions
raised these days.

They are aimed at Islam, the Qur'an, the Islamic rulings, women, and so
on.

Why?

Our religion is divine, upright, and strong. It came to perfect our noble
manners. But we will try to generally discuss some of these
misconceptions.

Thus, we will expose the desperate bankruptcy of those who raise such
flimsy misconceptions.

What are the misconceptions for?

The reference of rights for the Muslim woman is based on a divine

religion that was not and will never be distorted, and hence these rights
are constant and lasting, and they are applicable to both men and women,
regardless of their color and race and are free from any demeaning
treatment. Moreover, they are not subject to personal inclinations with
regard to women.

This is the religion that brought every female out of the darkness of
slavery and humiliation and into the light of freedom, care, and
empowerment.

In this world, she is not a slave to anyone but Allah Almighty.

 So, they cannot easily persuade her to abandon this religion, as they
80
persuaded the Western woman in return for obtaining freedom.

Faced with an upright religion, they have no way but to raise

misconceptions in order to shake her constant values that empower her
and turn them into challenges that hinder her freedom.

All this happens by a number of approaches.

How is a misconception made?

One of the most dangerous aspects of the deviant thinking with regard
to women is the approach of "taking texts out of context and distorting
their real meaning".

When a certain phrase is taken out of context, it gets separated from the
original text and can be used as a marketing slogan for any misconception.
Meanwhile, we, with all confidence, laugh at their desperate attempts,
and laugh a thousand times at their superficial thinking in relation to the
universality of the teachings and rulings of Islam.

Misconceptions that throw mines on the path of the great female

We will present to you some of these misconceptions and deal with

them with awareness, and to be at the forefront of defending every
female whose certitude and love for the universal Islam is targeted by the
enemies who seek to exploit her and turn her into a captive in their hands.
81
First: Misconceptions on the Qur’anic
verses
How miserable they are as they try their utmost to prove that the
Qur’an elevates man higher than woman.

Here is a question:

If you have found out that the Qur'an favors you more than women, is
this not something pleasant to you? Why are you complaining?

Is this all because of your love for woman? Or is it because you cannot
use her while the Qur'an beautifully exists in all aspects of her life?

Following this stage of misconception, you will say to the Muslim

woman as you said to the Western one: Renounce your religion, whose
Qur'an favors man over you, and, consequently, you will not obtain your
freedom.

Then, the third and fourth stages will come, until you lose your religion
and values.

But here, and with all calmness and pleasure, we will turn every
misconception into a point of strength in certitude, thinking, and
awareness.

I always hope that we focus on their tedious approach of taking a text

out of the context only to use it as a slogan, which they will turn into a
bridge leading them to the queen of purity, the great female whom Islam
encompasses in all care, attention, and empowerment.
 82
1. Misconception about the Qur'anic verse: {And
the male is not like the female}
I have a feeling...

that those who raise this misconception do not know anything about the
Qur'an or its context, language, and events.

They seem to care about nothing but the word "woman - female".

Therefore, they look for any verse mentioning women or females.

As a result, they form their misconceptions based on their defective

understanding.

And they exhibit the same understanding in every misconception they

raise.

Hence, they understood that this verse underestimates females.

Sometimes I say to myself, "Their minds cannot be that superficial",

which leads me to think that they probably know that this verse has
nothing to do with discrimination between males and females.

However, they seem to say: We will raise this misconception anyway;

we will lose nothing. Perhaps some women, who are not well-acquainted
with the Qur'an or its interpretation, will fall into the trap of this
misconception.

I would like to remind you that we are not discussing these

misconceptions to prove their opposites and that the Qur'an is innocent of
them. No! Indeed, we are the followers of an upright religion that no
falsehood comes to it from the front or from behind.

We only seek to expose those people's way of thinking and also expose
any future approach that raises misconceptions out of context.
83
As a consequence, every girl will be able to generally respond to any
misconception, if she is certain that her religion is the greatest and most
established one.

Let us live the story and then go back to the subject of misconception.

With regard to this verse {And the male is not like the female} [Surat Āl
‘Imrān: 36], which they say favors the male over the female, let me
remind you of their frequent approach of taking a verse out of context and
separating it from its story.

This verse occurs within the story of Āl ‘Imrān.

{[Remember] when the wife of ‘Imrān said: "My Lord, I dedicate to You
what is in my womb, so accept it from me, for You are the All-Hearing,
the All-Knowing."} [Surat Āl ‘Imrān: 35]

The story speaks about the mother of Mary, as she invoked Allah
Almighty while she was pregnant, saying: O Lord, I vow this pregnancy in
my womb for You and vow that this baby will be a servant in the Aqsa
Mosque, from which he will not go out.

Given that this service is arduous, she wished that her baby would be
male so as to be able to perform the hard task in the House of Allah.

As she gave birth, she found out it was a female baby.

Thereupon, she invoked Allah Almighty again.

She said: O Lord, it is a female baby. So, how can I fulfill my vow in the
proper way? I wanted him to be a servant in Your House, and it would be
hard for a female to undertake this enduring service.
 This is quite a normal context in the story.
84
Did it cross the mind of anyone of us now that the male is favored over
the female?

On the contrary, we see great mercy and care for the female,
consideration of her nature, and refraining from burdening her with things
beyond her capacity.

Moreover, I would like to tell you that there are two readings of these
words: {And Allah knew best what she had given birth to.}

1. The reading of Abu Bakr and Ibn ‘Āmir:

{When she gave birth, she said: “My Lord, I have given birth to a female
child, and Allah knew best what I had given birth to, and the male is not
like the female. I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge with You for her
and her offspring from Satan, the accursed."}

This reading in Arabic denotes that these words were said by the mother
of Mary.

Thus, Mary's mother said: O Lord, You know best what I have given birth
to; however, this female is not good for service in Your Mosque, for she
will experience fatigue, menstruation, and the like, particularly since this
service is enduring day and night.

2. The reading by a majority of the reciters is:

{And Allah knew best what she had given birth to.}

This means that it is Allah Almighty Who said these words.

85
In other words, He knows that the female to whom she gave birth is not
like the male she was hoping for; rather, she will be greater than this
desired male - {And Her Lord graciously accepted her.}

Mary, this female baby, would be a sign for humankind, and would be
more distinguished and meritorious than millions of males. Allah would
make her the mother of one of the Messengers of firm resolve and a
symbol of purity and chastity and would provide her with sustenance
without limit. Not only would she serve the Mosque, but her son would
serve the entire humanity.

This fine female, Mary (peace be upon her) will be the best of all women
in Paradise.

Now, what does this story have to do with the issue of favoring males
over females!

The verse speaks about an unknown male and a famous female, Mary,
the mother of ‘Īsa (Jesus).

This verse should be cited as the best indication of the great status of
females and how Allah Almighty honors them.

{Also [the example of] Mary, daughter of ‘Imrān who guarded her
chastity, so We breathed into her through Our angel [Gabriel], and she
firmly believed in the words of her Lord and His Scriptures and was one
of the obedient.} [Surat at-Tahrīm: 12]
 86
2. Misconception about the Qur'anic verse: {To
Allah they ascribe daughters – glory be to Him –
but for themselves they choose what they desire
[sons]}
In their laughable misconception, they say that Allah Almighty mocks
those who ascribe sons to themselves and daughters to Him.

They cite this as an evidence that Allah Almighty sees daughters as

inferior to sons - far exalted is Allah above what they say!

I first say to them: Why did you take the verse out of its context, history,
and environment?

Why is this deviance take a text out of its context?

This verse occurs in Surat an-Nahl, a Makkan Surah. The verses revealed
during the Makkan period, aimed at rectifying people's creeds through
dialogue, debate, reasoning, and addressing such arguments that were
regarded as deeply rooted according to their beliefs.

The disbelievers of Quraysh believed that Allah Almighty had daughters,

and He revealed verses during this period to correct this belief, negating
that He has a child in the first place, whether male or female.

{Say: "He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He has not
begotten and has not been begotten. and there is none comparable to
Him."}

He conversed with them (while He is their Lord) regarding one of their

beliefs - that Allah Almighty had daughters - through a discourse based on
argument and persuasion and rooted in their beliefs and their minds
which were affected by this creed, clarifying its weakness and
contradiction. He even invited them to use their minds.
87
Allah seemed to say to them: If your minds dictate to you that Allah has
daughters, while you know that I am the Creator of the heavens and the
earth, and you call upon Me at times of distress -

{Say: "Who rescues you from the darkness of the land and sea? You
invoke Him humbly and privately: 'If only He rescues us from this, we will
certainly be among those who are grateful."} [Surat al-An‘ām: 63].

and the reality in which you live shows that you are a society that hates
females and buries them alive, and if they live, they lead a life of
humiliation and worthlessness.

then why do you ascribe to Allah the females whom you hate, Whom
you claim to be your Lord and Creator, whereas you ascribe the males
whom you love to yourselves? This division is unfair; where are your
minds?!

So, the verse is intended to show their feeble thinking and debate with
them in accordance with their creed and social reality in relation to the
female, whom Allah Almighty has created as He has created the male.

Imagine! As this debate and calm conversation in the Qur'an goes on in

an attempt to guide those disbelievers and rectify their beliefs, someone
intervenes in the dialogue and, without knowledge, says: What is the
occasion of this verse?

This verse indicates belittlement of women!

Here we say to him: No! You are only making people laugh at you.

Take the trouble of searching for the whole context, the occasion, and
the interpretation of this verse.
 Do not separate the verse from its occasion and theme in order to
88
highlight the slogan of your misconception.

3. Misconception about the Qur'anic words:

{Although men have a higher degree over them}
First: I would like to remind you of their approach of selecting a verse or
a phrase and presenting it out of context.

I would also like to remind you of your certitude that your upright and
perfect religion makes you entirely content with any status Allah Almighty
puts you in, regardless of any status the advocates of freedom claim to
grant to you.

This verse was revealed in relation to the rulings on divorce. It briefly

portrays the relationship between man and woman and outlines the
responsibility of each one of them.

Here is the verse: {Women have rights similar to the rights over them
in a reasonable manner, although men have a higher degree over them.}
[Surat al-Baqarah: 228]

O God! Look at their reprehensible approach of taking a verse out of

context to suit their desired slogan.

They did not mention: {Women have rights similar to the rights over
them in a reasonable manner.}

They only took: {Although men have a higher degree over them.}

I did tell you: They only target the locations where 'woman' is
mentioned and use them as a slogan for their misconception.

Hence, every Muslim girl who does not take the understanding of the
Qur'an and the Prophet's Hadīths as an individual responsibility will be
89
deceived by any misconception, although if she reads the interpretation of
this verse, she will grasp the entire context with all calmness and
confidence.

I will cite here a statement by Ibn ‘Abbās, the Prophet's cousin and the
Qur'an's interpreter. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be
upon him) supplicated Allah Almighty twice to give him wisdom.

What did he say about this verse? What did he understand from it?
Listen, O daughter of Islam!

Ibn ‘Abbās said: "Indeed, I like to get adorned for my wife as I like her to
get adorned for me. Allah Almighty says: {Women have rights similar to
the rights over them in a reasonable manner.}"

What an elevated understanding, manners, and care even in the area of

beautification, let alone attention, justice, mercy, and kind treatment!

{Although men have a higher degree over them.}

In relation to this verse, Ibn ‘Abbās said: "I do not like to seek all of my
rights over her, for Allah Almighty says: {Although men have a higher
degree over them.}"

In other words, he would not ask for all his rights from his wife or
require perfection.

By these words, Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) urged men
to treat their wives gently and tolerantly.

Al-Qurtubi said: The most appropriate among the views interpreting this
verse is Ibn ‘Abbās's statement that the degree mentioned here refers to a
 90
man's pardon of his wife with regard to some of her duties and fulfilling
her rights.

After mentioning Ibn ‘Abbās's statement, Ibn ‘Atiyyah said:

"This is a good and remarkable opinion."

It appears from the foregoing that this degree comes in the woman's
favor. Indeed, it is a duty upon the man and an honor for the woman.

As the misconception relates to a verse of the Qur'an, we referred to the

most knowledgeable person about this Book on earth, namely Ibn ‘Abbās,
and he gave us this answer, which made us wonder and laugh a thousand
times at this misconception.

How could those who raise misconceptions regarding the Qur'an obtain
such an understanding while they know nothing about it!

They seem to target such a girl that does not know anything about the
Qur'an!

Finally, I reiterate to you:

If the interpretation of the verse was different from this, and Allah
Almighty gave man preference over woman or gave woman preference
over man in a certain role,

it would behoove us to be content with the Shariah of our Creator and

Lord, the Most Compassionate, and the Most Merciful, and be certain
without a shadow of a doubt that it was good for us, for He is the One
Who created us from nothing and knows what is best for us and our
happiness.

{Does He not know His Own creation, when He is the Most Subtle, the
All-Aware?} [Surat al-Mulk: 14]
91
4. Misconception about the Qur'anic words: {The
share of a male is equal to that of two females}
Yet again, we see the same approach, the same ignorance, and the same
superficialization.

Look at how they took the words out of context and separated them
from the subsequent part, hiding with all ignorance the great truth about
inheritance in this noble religion.

Let me say a few words before exposing the shallow-mindedness of

these people who I am sure do not know anything about Islam.

First:

Before addressing the verse on inheritance, let us go back in memory to

the condition of women before Islam and in all civilizations and distorted
religions - the Jews, the Christians, and the Arabs of jāhiliyyah (the pre-
Islamic period of ignorance) - and see how these communities dealt with
the issue of inheritance.

You already know that a woman was not entitled to inheritance; rather,
she herself was regarded as a property to be inherited, sold, or married
after the death of her husband, and her money would be taken from her,
or she might be buried alive with her deceased husband.

Second:

In inheritance, Allah Almighty transfers ownership of property to both

the male and female, without any endeavor or effort on their part.

The male should not complain that his right is little compared to his
duties and what he spends on himself and his wife and children. Nor
should he ask that the female not be given anything because no spending
92
is required of her whatsoever.

And the female should not complain, saying: "The share of the male is
sometimes double my share."

The Creator, the Disposer of affairs and the All-Wise Lord, has
determined a role for males and a role for females, so that they can
complement each other.

Thus, every party should see where Allah Almighty has put him or her
and be content with all certainty that Allah's division is purely and entirely
good for both males and females.

Third:

If you review the recommendations by the international conferences on

women, you will find that they are concerned about nothing but the male-
female equality in inheritance, and they view inequality in this respect as
discrimination against women.

O God! Look who is talking!

It is they who stripped the Western woman of everything and gave her
nothing. And those who shout and act as a mouthpiece repeating the
recommendations of these conferences, by all means, without taking the
trouble of obtaining the minimum understanding of the reality of
inheritance in Islam, do not possess but only one consumed method,

namely making a misconception. They never look for the truth, even
though they are completely ignorant of the rulings of the universal Islam.

If one of them studied the science of inheritance, he would be ashamed

of this misconception.
93
Therefore,

let us learn the criteria upon which the Islamic science of inheritance
rests,

and whether these criteria are only related to being male or female.

The criteria upon which the Islamic science of inheritance rests are as
following:

1. The first criterion: The degree of kinship

The degree of kinship is one of the criteria adopted in the Islamic science
of inheritance, regardless of whether the relative is male or female. The
closer you are, the greater your share will be.

And the more distant a person is, the less his or her share in inheritance
will be, irrespective of whether the inheritor is male or female.

Example:

Someone dies and leaves behind a full sister (female) and ten half-
brothers from the father's side. The female will take half of the
inheritance, and the other half will go to his half-brothers.

In this case, the female takes more than the male, because she is closer
in kinship.

2. The second criterion: The status of the inheriting generation in the

sequence of generations

Generations that are in the early stage of their life and are getting
prepared for bearing its burdens usually take greater shares of inheritance
 94
than those who are in the later stage of their life - regardless of being male
or female.

Example:

Someone dies and leaves behind two daughters: a father and a mother.
Each daughter will take a third of the inheritance, and the mother and the
father will take one sixth, each.

You find here that the generation at the beginning of their life (the two
daughters) took more than the generation at the latter part of their life
(the mother and the father).

3. The third criterion: The financial responsibility Islam imposed on some

inheritors:

This is the only criterion that takes into consideration the financial
disparity between male and female. This disparity is not based on the type
of sex, but on the person's financial responsibility.

A man is required by the Shariah to pay the dowry and support his
family, meeting the financial needs of his wife and children. So, it is fair to
give him, in some cases of inheritance, a greater share than that of the
woman, which helps him in the discharge of his duties.

The woman, on the other hand, takes her share in inheritance and is
subject to no financial responsibility whatsoever in Islam.

Having reviewed these criteria upon which the Islamic science of

inheritance is based, we say:

Those who raised the misconception of {The share of a male is equal to

that of two females} should have completed the verse to see the truths of
95
justice, balance, and mercy in this financial system of the Islamic science of
inheritance!

Here are the details:

1. There are only four cases in which the female takes half the share of
the male, which means {The share of a male is equal to that of two
females.} Only in four cases, the male takes double the share of the
female.

2. There are 11 cases of inheritance in which the female takes exactly

the same share as the male.

3. There are more than 10 cases in which the female inherits more than
the male.

4. There are cases of inheritance in which the female inherits, whereas

the male does not.

You can see now how the approach of taking words out of context to
use them as a title and a slogan for a certain misconception is so weak and
shaky if faced by a female who understands her religion properly and is
well-equipped with knowledge, and who seeks balance between
knowledge and work so as to reach the happy and complete certainty
about her religion, which no falsehood can reach from the front or from
behind, because it is a revelation from the Almighty and Most-Merciful
Lord.

Islam and the universal just rights in inheritance

French Sociologist Gustave Le Bon, the author of the book "The Arab
Civilization", said:
 "The principles of inheritance stipulated by the Qur'an are profoundly
96
just and fair. Islam affords wives such rights that we do not find in the
French and British laws."

He went on to say: The dominant system outside the Muslim world gives
a person the right to divide his inheritance in accordance with his
inclination and desire, under the pretext of safeguarding the wealth from
going to another family. This is unjust to girls!

Annie Besant, the British writer and author of more than 300 books,
said:

One of the world's biggest mistakes is the lack of recognition for Prophet
Muhammad's theories in relation to women.

She added: "The teachings of Prophet Muhammad do not stop at the

limit of generalities, for he laid down a law for women's inheritance. This
law is more just and freer than the English Christian law in terms of the
independence given to women. Islam enacted an ideal law for women."

This journey with you, on which we addressed this misconception, has

only increased us in certitude, firmness, and love for our great universal
Islam.

Let me turn this misconception into dialogue material for you to be able
to become a representative of women who defend their rights, freedoms,
and religion with all knowledge, confidence, and ease. Here is the dialogue
for you.

A dialogue between a girl and her father

Dear father, I fully understand that Allah Almighty does not prescribe
anything except for a wise reason and a good interest, and He is not
97
questioned about what He does, for He is the Lord, the Creator, and the
Lawgiver.

Dear daughter, let me first tell you that it is great to ask about anything
crossing your mind, especially if it pertains to your religion, with this
wonderful and confident spirit and this nice introduction of yours, O the
dearest of all girls!

First, O dear daughter, I would like to describe to you some aspects of

the women's condition in terms of inheritance prior to Islam.

Please, Dad!

O daughter, women before Islam were among properties inherited from

one person to another.

An inheritor would say: I inherited her as I inherited his property.

He would deprive her of everything to force her to ransom herself with

her money, or he would give her in marriage to whomever he willed and
take her dowry for himself, or he would keep her at his house until she
died and then he would inherit all her money.

The confident girl: To that extent, O dad, the female's condition in terms
of inheritance was dismal before Islam! Was this only among the Arabs
before Islam?

The father: No, it did exist among non-Arabs too.

Among the Jews, a woman would not inherit if she had brothers.

As for the Christians, they would deny women the right to ownership.
 Then, Islam came to establish justice among people on the basis of
98
rights and duties. Let me ask you a question, my daughter!

The daughter: Please, Dad!

The father: Allah Almighty says: {The share of a male is equal to that of
two females.}

What do you understand from this noble verse? Does it denote

belittlement of women and their rights?

The confident girl: Dad, about which differences do you want me to

speak about: the inward or the outward, the material or the moral? There
are too many to be counted.

The father: Bravo, my daughter. These are differences of integration, not

of rivalry and conflict.

The divine legislation took into account these constitutional differences

between males and females even in worship, such as the peculiar
conditions of women (menstruation - postpartum period).

Considering this, Islam temporarily relieves her of one of the pillars of

Islam: prayer.

And it defers another pillar for her, namely fasting.

The Western society, on the other hand, forces, uses, and formulates
the female as it wishes, and it may even take from her the dearest thing
she possesses.

Therefore, what we see of deviant practices that go beyond the

appropriate limit for the feminine nature are but a moral frivolity.

So, dear daughter:

99
"The immeasurable great differences between male and female cannot
be encompassed by practical life."

The daughter: May Allah bless you, Dad. This enjoyable conversation
with you has helped me organize my ideas, and I cannot wait to learn
about the connotation of this verse: {The share of a male is equal to that
of two females.}

The father: Now, let us address the verse you have asked about.

First: You should know, my sweet daughter, that when words are taken
out of the general context in which they occur, we become unable to
understand their correct meaning.

Likewise, when we take certain verses out of the context and separate
them from the related verses that contribute to the intended meaning, we
come up with narrow and wrong rulings.

So, my dear daughter, let us read the verse: {Allah instructs you
concerning [the inheritance of] your children: the share of a male is equal
to that of two females.}

Does this verse generally apply to all cases of inheritance, or it only

constitutes part of the inheritance rulings?

The daughter: What made me ask, Dad, is my feeling that it is general.

The father: It behooves every Muslim to learn the rulings of their

universal Islam and to ask the scholars about anything confusing or
unclear to them. This is because those who raise misconceptions always
adopt the approach of taking a word out of a certain verse or Hadīth and
using it as a slogan for their misconception. Let us take an example
100
regarding the issue you have asked about in inheritance.

The daughter: Please, Dad. I am eagerly willing to hear and understand

this reassuring idea.

The father: Inheritance rests upon three pillars, which I will present in
the form of questions.

The first question: If you have money and you meet two persons, one of
whom is about to depart from life and the other is still at the start of his
life journey, to whom would you give the money?

The daughter: I would certainly give it to the one at the start of his life
journey, for the other would soon depart from life. At that point, money
would be of little benefit to him.

The father: Hence, this is the first pillar upon which inheritance rests in
Islam. The younger the inheriting generation is, the greater their share will
be compared to that of the older generation - this is often regardless of
being male or female. Therefore, the daughter takes more than the father,
even though she is a female.

The daughter: What a good piece of information, Dad! What is the

second pillar?

The father: I will present it in the form of a question.

The second question: If you have money and want to travel with it
without return, and you have relatives, some of whom are very close and
some are distant, to whom would you give more of your money?

The daughter: My natural disposition would certainly prompt me to give

more to those closely related to me.
101
The father: The Shariah took this into account in inheritance. The closer
a relative is, the greater his or her share in inheritance will be, regardless
of being male or female.

So, if someone dies and leaves behind a full sister (female) and a
hundred half-brothers from the father's side (males),

the full sister will take half of the inheritance, and the other half will be
divided among all the half-brothers.

The daughter: How great and just our Lord is, Dad! Please, tell me right
away about the third pillar.

The father: The third question: There are two persons. One of them is
charged with more financial duty (spending on his wife, even if she is rich,
and on his parents; he is also required to pay the dowry to his wife and
provide for his family, including good healthcare and housing), and the
other person is not subject to these financial duties. To whom would you
give more of your money?

The daughter: Of course, Dad, I would give more to the person charged
with the most financial duties to help him with the spending; I would even
double the amount to him.

Now, now I understand, Dad!

The phrase {The share of a male is equal to that of two females} applies
to a case like that, not in general terms.

Thank you, Dad, for this great input!

The father: I have not finished it yet, my daughter.

 After this part, Allah Almighty says: {If there are...}
102
If only we do not rush to judgment before considering what is said after
{If there are...}

Inheritance differs from one case to another, and it is absolutely not

based on discrimination between male and female, but on Shar‘i rules that
guarantee the rights of everyone. There are numerous cases of
inheritance:

. Four cases in which the female's share is half of that of the male - {The
share of a male is equal to that of two females.}

. Eleven cases in which the female's share is the same as the male's
share.

. More than 10 cases in which the female inherits more than the male.

. There are cases in which the female inherits, whereas the male does
not.

The daughter: How great our Islam is, Dad! I love it!

The father: My daughter, the West does not make women ask for their
real rights, but they make them ask for flimsy rights on which they focus.

Daughter, a staunchly secular French woman stated that they do not

have laws that give women equal pay with men in similar jobs. They even
deprived women of their own name and attributed them to their
husbands.

The daughter: I would like to kiss you on the forehead, Dad, for this
great, calm, and convincing dialogue!
103
You did not only clarify this question to me, but you also taught me how
to deal with similar questions that I may come across.

And I promise you, Dad, that I will share our conversation with all my
friends.

5. Misconception around the Qur'anic words:

{Men are in charge of women}
O my Lord, they use the same approach and the same style again!

How ridiculous they are as they employ misconceptions about this upright
religion from Allah, the All-Wise Lord, in the same absurd and boring manner.

Let me cite the verse they mentioned:

{Men are in charge of women}!

You may say:

Is {Men are in charge of women} a complete verse?

No, it is a part which they took out of a long verse.

Why?

Let me remind you of something I have mentioned to you earlier.

They search for every verse in which a female, man, or woman is

mentioned, and then they take it out of context and turn it into a slogan for
their misconception.

Allah Almighty says: {Men are in charge of women, as Allah has made
some of them excel the others, and because they spend of their wealth.
Therefore the righteous women are obedient and protect what Allah has
entrusted them with in [their husband’s] absence. As for those women
on whose part you fear rebellion, [first] admonish them, [next] forsake
104
them in bed, and [last] hit them [gently]. Then if they obey you, do not
take further action against them. Indeed, Allah is Most High, All-Great.}
[Surat an-Nisā': 34]

Look at how long this verse is; yet they only took the first three words of it.

It is their laughable style of taking words out of their context!

It would be the minimum of justice, fairness, respect of your minds, and

consideration for the Qur'anic context to cite this portion:

{Men are in charge of women, as Allah has made some of them excel the
others, and because they spend of their wealth.}

This context of the verse alone would make you consider the reason behind
this guardianship and conclude that it is restricted, not absolute. As a result,
you would also search for another misconception.

How guardianship is interpreted by the enemies of the woman and Islam

Since the story of freedom began in the West with the successive steps of
abolishing the religion, then abolishing the family, then the husband on the
grounds that woman should be financially independent and become an equal
to her husband; at which point she would become alone, and they could
exploit her.

they depicted guardianship as man's authority and control over woman.

They even deemed that it runs counter to woman's freedom and a kind of
enslavement.

O Allah! They forgot, or pretended to have forgotten, that Islam came with
freedom, not enslavement, and they forgot, or pretended to have forgotten,
the condition of the female before Islam in all previous civilizations, and how
105
this religion liberated her from such slavery that would consider women as
worthless property.

Today the advocates of new slavery, in the name of freedom, want to bring
the woman back to a special kind of servitude in which they become her
masters.

They say: There is no place for guardianship at a time when women

restored their social status, received the same education as men, obtained
the highest certificates, and gained vast experience in life.

What is so laughable is that it is they who interpreted guardianship in our

religion and our Qur'an, in a way contrary to all existing interpretations, and
based all their views upon this understanding. They are like a person who tells
a lie and then believes his own lie and builds all his concepts and judgments
upon it.

If you ask them:

What is your proof that guardianship is a form of women's enslavement?

Their bankrupt thinking manifests the wrong attitude of some men in the
practice of guardianship, in a way far removed from the relevant Islamic
objectives and notions.

Here we say: It is extremely unreasonable and unfair to judge an upright

and wise religion by the practice of some of its followers who utterly violate
its fundamental teachings and rulings.

If only they were somewhat measured, and interpreted guardianship based

on Islam's interpretation of it from the Qur'an itself, and also in accordance
with the requirements of the approaches of scientific, linguistic, and
methodical research -
 106
not research that is rooted in frantic desires and inclinations for assaulting
Islam and exploiting its well-preserved daughter.

How can certitude be built with regard to a misconception like this?

First: I would like to remind you that matters in our wise religion follow a
full context so as to give their comprehensive connotation.

They cannot be judged by one or two words taken out of context. Allah, the
All-Wise Creator, prescribes for each of them certain duties and rights in
accordance with their nature and innate disposition, so that they can
complete each other.

Second: The meaning of guardianship:

Ibn Manzhūr said: Guardianship (qiwāmah) is derived from "qiyām", which

means preserving, reforming.

Qawām also means justice and moderateness. Allah Almighty says: {...but
are moderate between them.}

Al-Jawhari said: The 'qayyim' of some people is the one who manages their
affairs.

The qayyim of a woman is her husband, because he takes charge of her

affairs and needs.

When a man performs qiwāmah for his wife, he guards her and takes care
of her affairs.

So, a man is 'qā’im' over his wife and children in all their affairs. The
superlative form "qawwām" stresses the duty of care.

Third: The wisdom behind assigning 'qiwāmah' to men and not women, and
whether it is bound by certain conditions.
107
With all calmness, we will live through the following lines and see how Islam
honored this great female and blessed her with this 'qiwāmah'.

And we will see how Islam honored man by entrusting 'qiwāmah' to him
and enabling him to obtain immense rewards by virtue of this responsibility of
care and service - "The best amongst you are the best to their wives."

A family is a grouping of two persons of opposite sexes

It is reasonable and necessary that any gathering should have a leader, for
the sake of balance. The family's leader takes care of its members and
supervises the implementation of its decisions. Indeed, the principles of each
Shūra and democracy are not in conflict with the existence of a leader that
takes decisions for the interest of all.

This 'qayyim' may be a man or a woman.

Wife: She is responsible for the upbringing and care of her children. She is
the queen of her house and a great mother and cherished wife therein. She is
entitled to triple kindness.

Husband: He works and seeks sustenance and helps his wife with her tasks,
homemaking, and the management of tough decisions.

Here lies qiwāmah, which means:

Justice, service, care, and spending on one's wife and children and the
entire household. It is like a duty that should be discharged.

So, qiwāmah is a duty upon the man and an honor for his wife, and it is also
a cause of happiness for him in this life and in the Hereafter, if he fulfills it
properly.
 Allah Almighty is the Creator of male and female, and He knows that man
108
has such traits that qualify him for carrying the responsibility of qiwāmah to
serve his wife and family.

These traits include the following:

1. {As Allah has made some of them excel the others}

First: What a remarkable and wonderful choice of words!

Allah did not say: As Allah has made men excel women. But he said: {As
Allah has made some of them excel the others.}

In other words, there are traits in which women excel men,

and other traits in which men excel women.

Moreover, what women excel at may be a shortcoming in men, and what

men excel at may be a shortcoming in women.

Second: Let us talk with all impartiality about the nature of people

Integration, cooperation, mutual support, building, optimism, love, mercy,

need, and apology are all beautiful things, and they mostly happen among
different people, thus achieving complementarity between them, not
uniformity.

This is not a difference of superiority but is intended to make one in need

for the other and not to dispense with him or her, for each one is the other
half in this life.

No sane person would disagree with the fact that man and woman are not
the same in physical and moral aspects, and also in their way of thinking.

Most theories in the world say that a man is not like a woman.

The difference between man and woman is big, but it is, as we have said, a
difference intended for integration in their life.
109
Examples include the body, endurance, confrontation, protection, taking
the right decision quickly, bearing the responsibility for hard decisions,
enduring hard work in pursuit of livelihood, emotion.

Management experts say: "The president is a man."

This manifests clearly despite the glossy appearance of women at

conferences and some distinguished jobs they may have.

There are nearly 196 nations in the world, 16 of which are ruled by women:
that's 8.3%.

Many women wish to find the following in their husbands:

Strength, courage, protection, responsibility, care, attention, and love. If a

woman misses such things in her life partner, she will feel deprived and will
not wish to be in a relationship with a man who is weak in everything.

Nonetheless, Allah Almighty did not make this the only condition of
guardianship, for it needs a practical test!

It is the test of giving to the queen he is coupled with. If he fails this test, he
becomes unworthy of guardianship.

2. {And because they spend of their wealth}

The global law says that he who spends takes charge.

If a husband fails to spend on his wife, his guardianship ends over her, and if
his guardianship ends, she has the right to dissolve the marriage contract,
given the absence of the Shar‘i objective of this union.

This is the view of Mālik and Ash-Shāfi‘i (dissolving the marriage contract
when the husband fails to spend on his wife and provide for her clothing):
 110
"This duty of spending is the duty of the one who excels the other {As Allah
has made some of them excel the others}, which obliges him to provide care,
be responsible, and spend without stinginess."

The Qur'an uses the words: men and women, not males and females,

because a male could be a child, who cannot be a guardian over a sane

woman.

Let me tell you something that will make you completely sure that
guardianship is for your benefit and your happiness, O sister!

If a woman is rich and her husband's income is low, he is still obligated to

spend on his wife, without taking a penny from her money, unless she permits
it.

So, guardianship is a financial, moral, and educational commitment from

the man toward his wife and children.

This leads us to the truth that guardianship is not a form of honor for the
man or an opportunity for him to flex his muscles.

3. Guardianship is a duty and a responsibility:

Guardianship in Islam is for kind men. It is a duty, not an honor. It's a

burden, not gain. And it's a responsibility and leadership, not tyranny and
oppression.

As evidence of this, guardianship is not authority. When a dispute arises

between a married couple, particularly due to recalcitrance on the wife's part,
Allah Almighty commands the man to advise her and keep away from her. Yet,
He does not command him to use guardianship as authority, because it is not
authority or a sword in the man's hand with which he can decide whatever he
wishes.
111
Guardianship is a burden on the man, as it obliges him to make every effort
and endure every hardship to take care of his family and provide for all its
members.

Guardianship is about providing care, security, and happiness for the family.

After visiting some Arab capitals,

Christine, a French lawyer, said:

"After seven weeks visiting Arab capitals, I am now back to Paris. So, what
did I find?

I found a man who goes to work in the morning, tiring himself and working
hard, and in the evening he comes back to his wife with bread, love, emotion,
and care for her and her children.

As for the female, she works to raise a new generation and care for her
beloved husband.

In our country, on the other hand, the woman struggled in pursuit of

equality; and what did she finally get?

Her husband calls her every day and tells her to rise and go to earn her
living - until the woman forgets her femininity and the man forgets his life
partner."

O you, the great and proud female in her universal Islam:

Carry in your heart your natural disposition, certitude, and status, for which
Allah Almighty has created you, and your everyday life.

And be sure that:

 1. The relationship between man and woman is one of integration, not
112
uniformity. Each has distinct and different traits, and this boosts the
complementarity between them and makes each one in need of the other;
thus, their happiness becomes complete.

2. The Western woman's call to cancel guardianship is justifiable, as

translated by her miserable reality. She works and drudges and spends on
herself without man having any responsibility. This is a clear injustice.

3. O daughter of Islam, guardianship is not a social or educational issue, or

something related to custom, tradition, or international law; rather, it is a
divine legislation from the One Who created men and women, which
accurately takes into consideration the peculiarities of their nature and
composition and the interest of the family and its members, apart from any
authority.

Hence, we should say:

{Does He not know His Own creation, when He is the Most Subtle, the
All-Aware?}

[Surat al-Mulk: 14-15]

113
Second: Misconceptions around the
Prophet's Hadīths
You now know their way of raising misconceptions around the noble
Qur'an.

They also try to raise misconceptions around the Prophet's Hadīths in

the same poor laughable way.

Whenever they come across a Hadīth mentioning woman or man, they

take from it only what they want and make it a slogan for their
misconception, without proper understanding of the Hadīth or its occasion
and linguistic and Shar‘i connotation, and also without differentiating
between authentic and weak Hadīths.

What matters to them is to shake the certitude in the Muslim girl's

heart.

We will take only one example of such misconceptions.

The misconception that women are (deficient in

mind and religion)
Almost all men and women memorize this phrase: A woman is deficient
in mind and religion.

As usual, we put every word or phrase in the context in which it occurs

or its occasion, so that we can understand the right meaning of this word,
phrase, or verse.

The Hadīth:
 Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The
114
Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) went
out to the place of prayer on the day of Eid al-Ad'ha or Eid al-Fitr, and he
came across some women and said: "Give charity, you women folk, for I
have been shown that you will be the majority of the inhabitants of
Hellfire." They asked: "For what reason, O Messenger of Allah?" He
replied: "You are greatly given to abuse, and you are ungrateful to your
husbands. I have not seen anyone deficient in mind and religion more able
to lead a cautious wise man astray than some of you."

They said: "What is the deficiency in our religion and mind, O

Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Is it not true that the testimony of a
woman is half the testimony of a man?" They said: 'Yes!' He said: "This is
the deficiency in her mind. Is it not true that when she menstruates, she
does not pray or fast?" They said: 'Yes!' He said: "This is the deficiency in
her religion." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]

In the version by Muslim, the narrator described the woman who posed
the question as wise: "A prudent woman among them said".

First: The Hadīth is authentic, being narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim.

Second: Before addressing this Hadīth, we affirm the following:

Let us suppose that the Hadīth did not clarify the reason, and none could
explain the purpose to you. You should still declare your firm unshakable
certitude that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be
upon him) would not utter any word that constitutes injustice to females.

Similarly, if Allah Almighty informed us that a woman's mind is less

efficient than a man's mind, or vice versa, and that testimony can be given
by women only or by men only, we should in all cases say: We hear and
we obey.
115
He is the Creator, and He knows which duties suit His creation.

This is one of the noblest acts of worship - the worship of certitude and
submission regarding any status Allah Almighty decides for us.

The owner of a car tends to read its catalog to get the right information
regarding it, because it has been released by the car's manufacturer who
knows it best. And to Allah belongs the most exalted example.

Third: Let us analyze the Hadīth in detail:

The occasion: It happened at the prayer place of Eid. After the Prophet
(may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) delivered the sermon to his
Companions, he went to the prayer place of women, as an honor for them
and indicating their important status.

It was like an announcement to every one of the attendees that women

enjoy great status.

Among the women were the knowledgeable ‘Ā’ishah and the oft-fasting
and oft-praying Fātimah. The Prophet's wives were Allah's selection for
him, and they are the mothers of the believers.

We agree that when we love someone, the greatest thing we can offer
him is a piece of advice that brings him happiness in this world and in the
Hereafter and warns him of certain sins which he may unknowingly
commit on a frequent basis.

An example is the Prophet's statement to Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal: "Control

your tongue."

He informed him that the tongue leads many people to Hellfire.

Therefore, the one who said, "I advise you to be kind to women" and who
 116
said "the best among you are the best to their wives, and I am the best
among you to my wives" is also the one who stood before those women to
tell them, with all love, to give charity, for charity brings happiness in this
world and beyond, and it redresses any probable shortcoming from the
woman.

Then, with all love, he said: "I have seen that you will be the majority of
the inhabitants of Hellfire."

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) here tells
about something of the unseen which Allah Almighty revealed to him,
namely that women will be the majority of the dwellers of Hellfire. He did
not judge anyone. There is a difference between conveying information
and judging.

Allah Almighty knows the number of the dwellers of Hellfire and

Paradise, and He is the All-Knowing, All-Aware.

This number - that men or women are the majority of the inhabitants of
Hellfire - is not about comparison between men and women and who are
more excellent; rather, it is related to faith and closeness to Allah Almighty
or disbelief and remoteness from Him; and that males and females are
equal in terms of rights and duties as well as the reward and punishment
in the Hereafter.

{Their Lord responded to them: "I will never waste the deeds of any
doer among you, male or female; you are the same in reward."} [Surat Āl
‘Imrān: 195]

By Allah, the Prophet's reporting of this information to women was like

a gift on the day of Eid, which aimed to make them aware of future things
related to the Hereafter and prompt them to shun Hellfire and seek
eternity in Paradise, which is the goal of every living person. This favor was
117
realized by the woman who posed such a good question to the Prophet
(may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) that the Companion
reporting the Hadīth described her as a wise woman.

What is the meaning of Jazlh: that is, with reason and opinion?

Ibn Duraid says : Generosity is intellect and dignity.

The woman did not care about the issue of number, for the natural
possibility is that the dwellers of Hellfire will be as following:

- half of them men, and half women.

- the majority of them men, and the rest women.

- the majority of them women, and the rest men.

The same possibilities apply to the dwellers of Paradise.

So, that wise woman focused her attention on the Prophet's reporting of
the reality of these possibilities,

and that the possibility that women will outnumber men in Hellfire was
now a reality, not a mere possibility.

Hence, the heroic female did not ask why, by way of disapproval, for this
truth revealed by the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) was one of the three possibilities.

Also, it was probably the reality of society that its female members
outnumbered its male ones.

Consequently, this truth did not come as a great surprise to them. Even
today, some statistics suggest that women outnumber men worldwide,
 118
which makes the information told in the Hadīth plausible, because women
are greater in number.

Thus, women will be the majority of the inhabitants of Paradise.

This is good news for every female.

In a Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
said: "Every one of them will have two wives, the marrow of the bones
of whose legs will be seen through the flesh due to excessive beauty.
They will neither have differences nor hatred amongst themselves. Their
hearts will be (like) one heart, and they will be glorifying Allah in the
morning and in the evening." [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]

Based on this, women will outnumber men.

The question of this wise woman focused on what concerned her most:

What is the cause of entering Hellfire? In other words, what is the thing
that most leads them to Hellfire? As for the number, it was not the point
of discussion. Hence, she said: For what reason, O Messenger of Allah?

With all love, he answered her question, so that she could avoid the
mentioned causes and thus be happy by entering Paradise.

He said: "You are greatly given to abuse, and you are ungrateful to your
husbands."

It is as if the merciful Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon

him) was saying to them, with all love: You may be unaware of the
significance of giving up these two traits with regard to your religion. If
you abandon them, then rejoice entering Paradise.
119
I ask you by Allah, is this conversation between the Prophet (may Allah’s
peace and blessings be upon him) and those women not a dialogue of
mercy for every female?

This meaning was repeated a lot in clarifying to men and women the
thing that most leads people to Paradise.

Addressing both men and women, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him) said: "The thing that most leads people to Paradise
is good morals."

In another Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) told Mu‘ādh that he loved him, saying: O Mu‘ādh, I love you.

He also said to him: "Take hold of this", pointing to his tongue.

Does this mean that Mu‘ādh would use his tongue in things displeasing
to Allah?

Certainly not.

But, out of his love for Mu‘ādh, he informed him about the thing that
may lead a person to Hellfire the most, namely the tongue, so that he
could be cautious and choose the nicest words for his speech, though
Mu‘ādh was the person about whom the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and
blessings be upon him) said: He is the most knowledgeable about the
lawful and unlawful in the Ummah of Muhammad. Nonetheless, he gave
him advice - because he loved him.

A sincere lover fears for his loved one from the most pernicious
manners.
 120
Let us complete the Prophet's dialogue with the women on the day of
Eid.

He said to them: "I have not seen anyone deficient in mind and religion
more able to lead a cautious wise man astray than some of you." Here I
pause!

If you ask experts of language and eloquence about the name of this
style,

they will tell you that it is a style of wonder at women's capability in

spite of their preoccupation with the upbringing of children and other
chores and the change in their state of mind due to menstruation and the
like, and the fact that emotion overpowers reason in them. This
undoubtedly does not detract from their keenness. By contrast, men are
naturally driven more by reason than by emotions. Nonetheless, women
are most capable of affecting the minds of cautious wise men.

So, the Prophet's speech signified praise, admiration, and recognition of

women's charisma with which they can affect cautious men, let alone
incautious ones.

Some girl said: As I heard this statement from my Prophet, I smiled in joy
and wished that all girls in this world would smile with me.

Here we ask about a woman whom Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri described as

wise: Can she be deficient in her mind and religion?

A wise woman amongst them stood up and said: "What is the deficiency
in our religion and mind, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Is it not true
that the testimony of a woman is half the testimony of a man?" They said:
'Yes!' He said: "This is the deficiency in her mind. Is it not true that when
121
she menstruates, she does not pray or fast?" They said: 'Yes!' He said:
"This is the deficiency in her religion."

First: Anyone who hears this Hadīth would probably think it denotes
belittlement of women. This may also be due to the frequent use of the
phrase "deficient in their mind and religion" in situations of women's
shortcomings or during heated conversations between husbands and
wives, and so on.

Second: Let us address "deficient in their mind"

Nothing in the Hadīth denotes that women's thinking faculties are less
than those of men. This generally applies to all the texts of the Qur'an and
the Sunnah.

The deficiency in mind does not lie in the thinking faculties, but in the
factors affecting thinking and reason, the nature of dealing with these
factors, and also the state of mind, experience, information, and the
nature of interests.

Many women are not interested in financial issues, crimes, or bearing

witness to criminal incidents.

Hence, the mind here does not mean intelligence and discernment, as
we are in total agreement that there are women smarter than men.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned
the deficiency in woman's mind as opposed to man's firmness, as if he
meant by deficiency here a shortage in firmness and accuracy, for the
word 'mind' is also used to mean firmness, which is a common term in the
Arabic language.
 Mind and firmness are used interchangeably, meaning careful and good
122
reasoning.

Now we go back to the Hadīth.

First: Let us pause with the narrator of this Hadīth, Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri.
Did he understand right away that the Prophet's speech meant deficiency
in mental faculties, as understood by many people today?

Second, after the Prophet's statement, Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri said: A wise
woman stood up.

How deep your understanding was, O Companion of the Prophet! He did

not take it as a deficiency in mental faculties; otherwise, he would not
have said "a wise woman".

Rather, he understood that this deficiency refers to something in

women's nature and the way they think and react in situations of giving
testimony only, not in general.

If deficiency was intended to mean a shortfall in mental faculties, why

then would the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
express his wonder at women's smartness in affecting decisive men?

Al-‘Ayni said: "Is this not dispraise of them? I said: No! Rather, it was said
by way of wonder at their ability to do such and such to a decisive man."

Indeed, Mariyam, Khadījah, Āsiya, and Fātimah are more perfect than
lots of men until the Day of Judgment. Also, the Prophet's wives are the
mothers of the believers, and most of them heard what the Messenger
(may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said on the day of Eid.

If the intended meaning was deficiency in intelligence, or some basic

mental faculties, how then would Allah Almighty treat them equally in
123
terms of the religious obligations and acts of worship and the resultant
reward or punishment?

If the Hadīth was taken to mean deficiency in women, it would then be

unfair to treat men and women equally in religious obligations and in the
reward and punishment in the Hereafter.

Let us hear how the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon
him) explained the deficiency in mind.

He said: "Is it not true that the testimony of a woman is half the
testimony of a man?" They said: 'Yes!' He said: "This is the deficiency in
her mind." I would like to tell you here that the best interpretation of a
Hadīth comes from the Hadīth itself.

Hence, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
explained the deficiency in mind and clarified that it applies to only one
case - only one!

That's testimony!

Only in the case of this testimony does it apply.

In all other aspects of life, she is intellectually and religiously

accountable, wise, proud, self-confident, and distinguished.

Here the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) made
reference to the verse that reads: {If two men are not available, then one
man and two women from those whom you accept as witnesses – so
that if one of them forgets, the other can remind her.} [Surat al-Baqarah:
282]
 124
Ibn al-Qayyim quoted his teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy
upon both of them) as saying:

"This is for one to remind the other in case she forgets. This applies to
such things in which an upright woman may forget or fail to speak
accurately." In other words, the issue is related to accuracy and avoidance
of forgetfulness.

Let me speak with you realistically!

Is it not true that many men feel apprehensive of entering the court to
give testimony in general?

There are lots of them, even if the testimony in question is quite normal.

Someone told me: I very much fear to give any testimony, even if it is
related to inheritance; even if he is only required to bear witness that his
father has died and left behind such and such children, a wife, and so on.

A quite ordinary and routine testimony!

He said: I entered the court in awe.

The judge said to me: What shahādah (testimony) do you have? In other
words, you are here to bear witness to what?

He said: I told the judge that I have a high school shahādah (certificate)!

The judge laughed a lot, and I said to him: Giving testimony in court can
be intimidating.

What then if the testimony pertains to murder, serious crimes, and

financial rights!

A lot of men would fear to give testimony regarding such issues.

125
Knowing this, Allah Almighty says: {The witnesses should not refuse
when they are summoned.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 282]

This is because many people tend to avoid testimony out of fear of any
error.

Therefore, out of His mercy even toward men, Allah Almighty made the
testimony of only one man unacceptable. He says: {If two men are not
available...}

This does not denote any deficiency in man. Yet, he should be

accompanied by another man, out of mercy to him, so that both can give
an accurate testimony, about which they will feel at ease and by which the
truth will be upheld. By Allah, this requirement is but a kind of mercy
toward man.

Then, what about women with regard to testimony!

A lot of women become extremely fearful and anxious if they have an

appointment for giving testimony, even if it is a testimony after which a
woman will receive her share in her father's or mother's inheritance.

She may even try to secure the company of another woman (like her
paternal or maternal aunt), just to be with her in the court.

The judge may ask her: What is the name of your deceased father?

She may only mention his name while crying over him subconsciously,
and she may forget to mention some of her siblings in a condition like
that.

The situation is worse if the case is related to murder. A woman cannot

bear such a horrific scene and may weep a lot before the judge. She may
 126
forget a lot of things during her talk due to her psychological condition and
emotional nature.

Question: Are all women like that?

No, but most of them are.

Question: Are all men strong enough to bear the scene of blood?

No, but most of them are able to bear it.

Such rulings are based on what is predominant, not on exceptions.

Question:

You may say: Yes, I am now convinced of the reason, namely the
graveness of testimony. But why was "the deficiency of mind" used here?

What a remarkable logical reasoning and what a wonderful question!

The mind is the core around which work, life, and worship revolve.
Without it, a person would not be assigned with anything, even a religion.

Through the mind, one can remember or forget and can be cautious and
accurate.

We, therefore, often say:

This is a person who lets his mind prevail over his emotion.

If he did the opposite and let his emotion overcome his mind,

he would be decreasing the mind's role and increasing that of emotion -

not in an overall way, but in specific situations.

Yes, in certain situations, emotion waxes and reason wanes, and in other
situations the opposite takes place. That's why we describe a person in
extreme anger as having lost his mind.
127
Consider the phrase! We do not say: His mind decreased; rather, we say:
He lost his mind.

In fact, the person's mind is there and fully operational - whether man
or woman - but in a situation like this in which he or she gets affected, his
or her emotion increases and the use of his or her mind is reduced or put
on hold.

** By her very nature, a woman is filled with emotion, without which

she would not be able to bear

pregnancy, giving birth, suckling, and looking after her children with all
love.

All these things need emotion more than the use of the mind.

Don't they?

In suckling and hugging a baby on her chest,

the bigger role is for emotion and the smaller one is for the mind.

If, in such a condition, I said "your emotional skills increased and your
mental skills decreased, this would be quite ordinary.

This is particularly true since I said these words in this specific condition,
not generally speaking.

Likewise, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
mentioned the deficiency in mind with regard to giving testimony only.

If a woman is summoned for testimony in a case of murder or any other

serious crime, she would naturally be frightened and affected by the case,
since she might have lost her most loved person. So, she attends with her
 128
emotion and affections prevailing over the use of mind, though all the
skills of her mind and intelligence are in place; yet, in this situation of
testimony, her emotion increases and overcomes her mind (i.e. the use of
mind decreases).

Here comes Islam to show mercy to her in the situation of testimony, in

which she herself reduces the use of her mind and gives precedence to her
emotion.

This is to avoid any addition to the testimony or omission therefrom,

which would be a sinful and wrongful act. This constitutes concealment of
the right testimony.

{Do not conceal the testimony, for anyone who conceals it has a sinful
heart, and Allah is All-Knowing of what you do.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 283]

{O you who believe, stand firm for Allah by bearing true testimony,
and do not let the hatred of a people lead you away from justice. Be just;
that is closer to righteousness.} [Surat al-Mā’idah: 8]

Allah Almighty shows mercy to such a woman who wants to give

testimony and possesses such an emotion that may lose all reason in the
court. So, He commanded that another woman be with her, reinforcing
her testimony and sharing the responsibility with her.

The Prophet's explanation that in such a condition a woman's use of

mind decreases is, by Allah, praise of her and an excuse for anything that
may happen to her during testimony, like crying, fainting, anxiety, or fear.

It is as if the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was
telling us that this is not the condition of the woman and her mind at all
times and in every situation; do not judge her by the situation of
129
testimony, for this is an exceptional condition in which her emotion
prevails over her mind.

Even in this situation, Allah Almighty, in honor of her and out of fear
about the integrity of her testimony, commanded that another woman
should accompany her in this.

Is this not a form of honor?

Indeed, testimony is a heavy burden to bear. Both men and women try
to avoid it. It is not a right over which people vie with one another.

This is because a witness gives testimony, and the judge passes his
judgment.

We, therefore, say: Fortunate is every woman whose responsibility of

testimony is preserved by Allah Almighty, Who provides her with another
woman to share this responsibility with her, just as He provides man with
a partner in the responsibility of testimony.

{That is more equitable in the sight of Allah, and more upright for
testimony, and more likely to prevent doubts among yourselves.} [Surat
al-Baqarah: 282]

By Allah, this is among the best forms of sublimity and attention and
care about the Muslim female. Islam is considerate of her condition during
testimony and urges us to excuse her because her emotion is so intense
that it overcomes her mind in such a situation.

Verily, this alleviation is a favor that requires gratitude.

This is like the dispensation for a traveler not to fast. This is not deemed
a deficiency, but a favor that entails him to give thanks.
 It is as if I am hearing this very happy girl say:
130
All thanks, my Lord, for my great Islam! I may get very emotional during
testimony and, as a result, the use of my mind may decrease, and I may
get angry, forget, be wrongful due to my anger, or fail to be accurate in all
aspects. Therefore, the Messenger (may Allah’s peace and blessings be
upon him) defended me with an excuse that would silence everyone,
namely that I go through this condition only during testimony.

And my Lord protected me from incurring a sin because of the

responsibility of testimony, and He provided me with another woman to
share the heavy burden of this trust, so that I may attain salvation in this
world and in the Hereafter. Thanks, O Lord, for my universal religion of
Islam!

. I am certain that those who raised this misconception are totally

ignorant of Islam and the rulings of testimony in this universal religion,
which considers woman as the partner of man.

The rulings of testimony in Islam

. In adultery - the testimony of four free Muslim upright men, according

to the majority of scholars.

This means four men are required for testimony.

. In matters witnessed by men, testimony is accepted by at least two

men.

In other words, two men are required for testimony, like in the
prescribed punishments and retributions.

. Marriage, divorcing one's wife, and taking her back

131
In such things, testimony is accepted by at least two men or one man
and two women.

. Financial dealings, gifts, reconciliation, and debts...

In such things, testimony is accepted by at least two men or one man

and two women.

It seems that one of the key pillars of testimony is reinforcement. Islam

reinforces testimony in general.

The testimony of a man is reinforced by another man. Nonetheless, no

one regards this as an insult to man's personality and dignity. If there are
not enough men available for testimony and there is a need for a female
witness, Islam reinforces her testimony by another woman; thus, the
testimony of two women reinforces the man's testimony.

I am not done with the witness who made me mention to you the
rulings of testimony in Islam, and the note that a male witness should be
accompanied by another male witness or two female witnesses.

Do you know that

there are certain issues in which the testimony of men is not accepted!

And only the testimony of women is to be heard!

These are the issues related to women, in which a woman is likely to be

accurate and not forget; here a woman's testimony is accepted alone.

Examples include giving birth, suckling, physical defects under clothes,

and the end of the waiting period.
 132
Tāwūs, Abu Yūsuf, and Imām Ahmad, in a report from him, held the view
that the testimony of one upright woman is sufficient in the matters
mentioned above; in other words, one woman is enough.

If the deficiency in mind was intended to mean deficiency in intelligence

and intellectual faculties, her testimony alone, without another woman or
man, would not be sufficient.

Question: What would a woman lose when her testimony is not

accepted in crimes of murder?

She would lose nothing.

Rather, she wins Islam's honor of her and its considerateness of her
nature.

And who said that your testimony is not accepted in crimes of murder?

There is an opinion saying that your testimony can be accepted in crimes

of murder, but it should be supported by the testimony of another woman
- that's all!

Finally,

do you know that lineage, which is one of the five necessities in Islam,
can be established by the testimony of one woman? Likewise, separation
between husband and wife can be proved by the wet nurse's testimony.

Which one is more important?

To give testimony regarding a small amount of money or serious issues

that would decide people's destiny?
133
Hence, the deficiency is related to some types of testimony, not all,
particularly those issues in which women are not generally interested, like
the cases involving money, killing, or legal retribution.

In such issues, a woman's emotion may take hold of her and her ability
to remember certain things may decrease. Only here we say: The mind has
waned, and the emotion has waxed.

The woman's mind itself does not decrease in such a situation, nor does
the man's mind increase. What increases or decreases is its use, for a man
or a woman, according to the type of testimony.

As evidence of this:

In the testimony in which one woman is enough, do we describe her as

mentally deficient?

Our Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) explained
the deficiency in mind with regard to the testimony that requires two men
or one man and two women. As for the testimony in which she alone
stands as a witness, she speaks accurately and remembers the relevant
details, which shows that her mind is sound and complete, and she is not
emotionally influenced.

O proud daughter of Islam

I am not exaggerating if I say that this Hadīth contains one of the

Prophet's miraculous aspects and is an object of pride for every Muslim
female, who should hold her head high among all people, being proud of
her religion that takes her nature into utmost consideration.

Here are some statements in support of this view:

 134
Shaykh Az-Zendāni, a scholar specialized in the miracles in the Qur'an
and the Sunnah, said:

"Today the secret and wisdom behind this legislation was revealed, as
we knew that man has a center for speech in one of the two lobes of his
brain and another center for memory in the other lobe.

When the speech center operates while giving testimony, this does not
affect the other center of memory.

A woman, on the other hand, has two centers mingled in the lobe, both
working to direct speech and memory.

When a woman speaks, the two centers direct speech, and this affects
the memory part that contains the information needed for testimony. So,
another woman intervenes to reinforce her testimony and protect her
memory from forgetfulness."
135
Third: Let us pause with the meaning
of deficient in religion
What a remarkable Hadīth in which every girl should take pride!

Why?

Before I tell you why, let us first affirm a very clear concept in this
regard.

Deficiency in religion is not permanently attributed to women; rather,

this is linked to the period of menstruation only.

Therefore, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him)
said: "Is it not true that when she menstruates, she does not pray or fast?"
They said: 'Yes!' He said: "This is the deficiency in her religion."

Then, this deficiency only applies to this condition.

Hence, it is utter ignorance to use the phrase "deficient in mind and

religion" on every occasion without the least understanding of this Hadīth.

What is the meaning of deficient in religion?

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: Religion, faith, and
Islam have one meaning in common. Acts of worship are called faith and
religion. Whoever performs more worship, his faith and religion increases,
and whoever performs less worship, his religion decreases.

So, the term is very clear, and the general concept is quite appropriate,
intellectually, religiously, and realistically.

Example:
 Man and woman should each offer 150 prayers a month. Because of her
136
menstrual period - let's say 8 days - a woman will offer only 110 prayers a
month, compared to man's 150 prayers.

Is this not a numerical shortage in worship, whether in prayer or fasting?

This is the notion of deficiency. But it is for the sake of the woman!

Yes, it is for the sake of every Muslim female.

How?

It is a shortfall in the number of prayers and fasting days without any

fault or sin, because she is in menstruation.

What a great advantage for you, O daughter of Islam!

In menstruation, your acts of worship decrease, and you incur no sin. It

is all about submission and obedience. She prays because Allah commands
her to pray, and refrains from praying also as commanded by Allah
Almighty.

Here please take a deep breath along with a smile that relates the story
which makes every female very happy, because they are dear in the sight
of their Lord.

Prayer is the second pillar of Islam.

Fasting is the fourth pillar of Islam.

This is for your sake, for your mental well-being, while you are
menstruating.

This is because you may undergo discomfort, depression, bad moods,

lethargy, fatigue, loss of appetite, tension, nervousness and anger over
trivial things, poor concentration, and headache.
137
And the great religion of Islam came along with its divine legislation
{Does He not know His Own creation, when He is the Most Subtle, the
All-Aware?} [Surat al-Mulk: 14]

For the sake of this great female.

It absolves her of the second pillar of Islam at the time of menstruation,

without requiring her to make up for it.

Moreover, it delays for her the fourth pillar - the fasting during Ramadan
- until she gets back to her normal state after the end of the menstrual
period, and then she makes up for the missed days while being active.

O Allah! It is such great care Islam provides to females! How could the
advocates of this misconception fail to see this deep and lofty meaning?

As I was writing on this topic, I was preparing a fiqh lesson in the

presence of Shaykh Turki al-Mutayri, and he mentioned a statement by
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him).

It is that divorce is not effective if the wife is in the state of

menstruation. Thereupon, I said: Glory be to Allah, the Most Subtle, the
All-Aware.

Hence, this Hadīth should be the greatest source of honor for every
female in Islam. It denotes utmost care to this great female and her
nature, emotion, and tender feelings in some situations in her life, after
which she goes back to her strength and distinct character.

The Hadīth has no word that indicates preference of man over woman
or vice versa.

(Your Islam loves you).

 138
The Western female and the new birth
The Western woman fully realized that the Western civilization is linked
to permissiveness, absolute freedom, and social life devoid of religion and
family, in which lewdness abounds in society.

All these did not bring her any happiness or tranquility. Rather, she
found herself the first loser, with man being the first winner, exploiting
her in all fields.

After this bitter experience for the Western female,

here they are looking for the universal Islam; in order to find tranquility,
happiness, freedom, pride, rights, and the truth.

They found their Islam and have never renounced it.

. An American girl (Latasha)

It was fitting to call this girl the seeker of the beauty of chastity.

She grew up in a Christian family as a very smart girl. She used to

frequent the church and, in light of her strength and intelligence, was
appointed there and put in charge of the youth in the church's activities.

Latasha said: I felt I was living in great anxiety, given the existence of
contradictory things and stories in the Bible.

I was searching for something that could save me from this worrisome
life.

Do you know how she found Islam?

Latasha recounts: I was watching CNN one night, and they were airing a
news report on Iraq.
139
In the background, I saw a woman, the like of whose beauty I had never
seen in my life. She was dressed in black from head to toe, and she was
modest and very simple, which made her look so remarkable to me. I
knew she was Muslim, but I did not know about the Muslim beliefs.

I was captivated by the style of her clothing and wished to be like her.

That was the beginning of my search for Islam.

O Allah! This modest Iraqi girl did not know that her Hijab and clothing
was a good example to others and a wonderful means of Da‘wah, leading
this American girl to embrace Islam.

Latasha went on to say: I found that Islam is totally consistent with what
I was looking for. So, I declared my conversion right away. Let me say this
to you and the whole world:

"Islam entered my heart and soul, along with tranquility and peace,
which I did not use to feel before that."

. Marilyn (a magistrate in British courts, an international lecturer, and a

writer on the comprehensive international law)

She used to work on cases of violence against women and children,

which made her greatly acquainted with the violent and criminal conduct
against women. Observing the family relationships among Muslims in
Britain, she decided to read about Islam.

She said: I felt very comfortable with Prophet Muhammad's life and his
family life and the stories of his wives and Companions.

I realized that this is the very kind of life I am in bad need for. So, I
declared my conversion to Islam right away.
 . Eman Roxy (an Austrian writer)
140
She said: I used to do whatever I wanted (individual freedom).

I earned a lot of money and traveled to many parts of the world.

However, anxiety was haunting me all the time and inner unhappiness
was all around me every night.

Frankly, our civilization is unable to provide us with ease and tranquility.

Do not be deceived by the manifestations of advancement and

civilization that we have in the West. We are like a house that dazzles
onlookers from the outside, whereas in reality it is a spiderweb.

Each time I went to bed, this question would cause unrest to me:

Who am I? What is my job in this life?

One night in the winter, I cried in my bed: O Lord!

O Lord, if You exist, show me the truth.

She continued: Allah led a group of American youths to me, as they

came and rented a section in my house.

I began to observe them closely after they exhibited high morals and
refined behavior. One day at dawn, I saw them making ablution and
praying in congregation.

I did not feel at ease until they finished their prayer, and I asked them
about what they were doing. They explained to me the meaning of
ablution and prayer and some Islamic concepts. This brought a sense of
tranquility to my heart.

I began to move from doubt to certitude, from fear to tranquility, and

from anxiety to relief. I felt something that I cannot describe.
141
I declared my acceptance of Islam with tears of joy. I felt as if I was just
coming out of my mother's womb to my new life.

I went to perform ‘Umrah, and there I began to write my book:

"A Lover Forever - A European Woman Loved Islam"

. Teresa

She said: I do not want to speak.

My joy about Islam is indescribable. If I wrote books and volumes, they

would not describe my feelings and happiness.

I am Muslim, Muslim, Muslim. Tell everyone: I am Muslim and happy

with my Islam. I tell them through all media outlets: Teresa, the Greek girl,
has become Muslim, in her religion, clothing, deeds, and thoughts.

. Mu’minah (a Danish girl)

She said: Nothing of the aspects of my Islamic life gave me greater

happiness than the guardianship of man. I am proud and happy about this
guardianship.

I am a woman, and a man cares about me.

I live with him in tranquility and peace. I cannot believe myself that I am
no longer responsible for my livelihood or for shopping and enduring the
shoppers' harassments or fearing unexpected mishaps at night.

Beside me is a man who protects and defends me.

(I challenge the world with his strength, and we challenge it with our
Islam).
 . Diam's (a French rapper)
142
Diam's said: Rap music was my heart.

Diam rose to great fame and remarkable glory, particularly after the
release of her golden record, of which 800 thousand copies were sold. She
became very rich.

Diamas recounts: Despite my fame and glory, I was living in constant

depression. I would weep non-stop, even like a child, especially at
bedtime. I was afraid.

She continued: I was trying to enjoy my popularity. But I would say to

myself: Is what I have now the real success?

I had everything and anything a girl would dream of, yet I was unhappy.

Here Diamas is speaking to you.

She is speaking about the moment she found Islam.

She relates I was with a group of my female friends, one of whom was
Muslim.

She said: Excuse me, I will go to pray and come back to you all.

I said to her instantly: I want to pray with you. To the amazement of

everyone, I went with her to try the prayer; perhaps, I might find relief
from my depression.

She said about the prayer: I had feelings which I had never felt before.

It was the first time my forehead touched the ground. I had a deep
feeling I had never experienced before that.

I left with my tears replacing my speech. Frankly, those were the most
precious tears. I went to the beach alone and raised my head toward the
143
sky to make Allah a witness over me. With tears flowing down my cheeks, I
said:

My Lord, I want to embrace Islam. So, forgive me my past life, for I did
not know. Bear witness to what I am saying.

My Lord, I am speaking from my heart. I testify that there is no god, but

Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

She said: Only at that point, I felt warmth, truthfulness, security, and
love. I was born anew.

She continued: Islam has brought joy to my heart. Today I know the
purpose behind my existence in life.

And now I wear the Hijab. Do you know why?

It is because I see the Hijab as a divine command.

It made my heart joyful, and that is enough for me. I gave up rap music,
for the culture of anger and resentment no longer has a place in my life.

Today I am very happy, and I am certain that none can steal the
happiness of my heart, because I have faith.

. Denise Horsley (a London-based dance teacher)

Denise, 26, lives in North London.

She said: I grew up as a Christian. Everything in life was available to me:

beauty, pleasure, young age, and dance.

But I had a feeling that was driving me to search for a religion that
protects me, physically and morally.
 144
I collected a lot of books on religion. Yet, it was my readings on Islam
that captivated me. Islam is something that is totally convincing and
reasonable, and it answered all the questions in my mind.

The month of Ramadan came, and I was the young and beautiful dancer.

However, I heard a recitation of the Qur'an. At that moment, I had a

deep feeling of happiness and warmth.

Thereupon, I decided to be a Muslim.

I cannot describe to you the moment I became Muslim.

I became the happiest person in this world.

I am still Denise, yes Denise, the same as she was, but a Muslim,
happier, more tranquil, and freer from people, alcoholic drinking, and the
exploitation of my body for the pleasure of others.

Praise be to Allah. Denise now prays five times a day, with all love.

She said: Today I live more freely by wearing the Hijab.

The hijab is one of the noblest concepts in Islam. It is not about clothing
only; rather, it means being modest in everything. I started wearing more
modest clothes and renounced all forms of nudity that used to harm me.

Today I feel completely protected, thanks to my Hijab.

People now treat me with a new level of respect. They judge me by my

values and deeds, not by my appearance.

This is the best kind of respect that every female should attain.

. Sara Bokker (an American actress)

Sara Bokker is an American actress and world-renowned model.

145
She lived in the State of Florida.

She relates: My life was divided between acting, modeling, rowdy

parties, shopping malls, and the infatuation of brands.

I used to live my day, and my day only. I became captive to my

appearance, not feeling happy except when people looked at me with
admiration for my clothes and looks.

The bikini was the symbol of my freedom, which revealed my charms.

Notwithstanding all this unlimited freedom, I was not happy.

On a mildly cold night of January 2003, while I was on my way home, the
breakdown happened, and I began to cry. I said to myself: What can I do? I
only want to be a good person.

While I was in this condition, an answer came to me, saying: Be Muslim.

It was only this thought that filled me with peace, relief, and joy on that
night.

At that point, my journey to search for Islam began. Only a few weeks
later, I found in Islam the perfect and reasonable answers to all my
questions in an amazing manner.

I realized that Islam is not a mere religion, but a complete way of life.

I proclaimed the testimony and became Muslim. I cannot find words to

describe how I felt happiness for the first time in my life.

The following day, I went out in all eagerness to show the whole world
that I became Muslim.
 146
I went to the clothes shop and bought several modest clothes and veils.

Sara continues: "I wore the Hijab of happiness, freedom, and sublimity.
Now I became free and broke the shackles of fashion and human
enslavement that society imposed on us forcibly."

Let me tell you honestly: I felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off my
shoulders.

Finally, I had self-respect and would no longer take people's reactions

and opinions as a basis for my self-worth.

She adds: "Since I was a non-Muslim woman, today I insist that women
should have the right to know the Hijab and its advantages, and Islam and
the happiness they bring to a woman's life, as they did with me.

Yesterday, the bikini was the symbol of my freedom, and I was not
aware that it freed me from my morals, values, and true character.

I would like to tell you this truth: Nothing gave me greater happiness
than my renunciation of the bikini and the Western lifestyle. Now I am
leading the most pleasant life, in peace with my Creator."

. Petra (a Czech girl)

She relates I was born to an atheist family; however, I never liked the
idea of atheism. I felt that this universe must have a creator.

I tried everything and traveled everywhere. Yet, my soul remained

dissatisfied - until I was introduced to a religion called Islam.

I felt this was the very thing I had been looking for. I was passionate
about searching and reading about Islam, extensively.
147
At that point, I declared my conversion to Islam, which meant that I
climbed up a high mountain, and, reaching its summit, I was amazed at the
splendid scene of this great religion. However, this field (Islam) needs
persistent ploughing, and its members need to work hard, particularly to
improve themselves. Petra even stated that there was now an enduring
love between her and Islam.

She adds: With Islam, I lead a life that needs practical self-discipline. For
example, I reach a dead end if I do not have a feeling of accomplishment,
which is brought about by performing prayers on time.

What a great religion of cleanliness and modest clothing!

The Hijab means to me the real liberation which I feel within myself, my
personality, and my privacy. I hope that you realize it with all forms of
love.
 148
When beauty feels shy
Before my words reach you, I would like to tell you that I am not talking
here about something in terms of lawfulness or unlawfulness; but I am
conveying the reality of our time and an example of multiple forms of
beauty in one character. So, let us reach an agreement before spending
the time on reading these words!

If your time, day, and the years of your life go by,

while you are thinking about the appearance of your hair or body; you
are sadly searching for wrinkles around your eyes; you are worried about
people's opinion about your clothing; or you are chiefly concerned about
how to get slim, so that your greatest achievement will be the ability to
wear tight jeans easily.

So, let me tell you that this article, with all its words, are for you!

In 1991, Naomi Wolf, the beautiful writer, thinker, and poetess,

authored her famous book "The Beauty Myth".

In her book, she wanted to awaken the world to this truth:

"At the time the woman was freed from some laws and practices, new
shackles of servitude dangerously emerged for her in the name of beauty."

She further said: The myth of beauty created by the Western system
compels the woman to spend all her life and money trying to achieve such
beauty, and she will not be able to... Why?

Because she asks this question:

Who put these criteria of beauty for us?

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Is it not the media with all its tools (Hollywood, advertising, and
magazines) which promotes products on the woman's body? Accordingly,
this industry devises for us certain criteria for beauty that cannot be
reached because they are illusory and unrealistic. They are based on one
outlook for one goal. These people forgot that beauty is a trait and
condition that differs from one place to another.

What is the purpose behind this?

Wolf explained: The purpose of this is to keep the girl concerned,

restless, and insecure, and more importantly, to keep her away from areas
of special beauty in her society and the environment she lives in.

Wolf, therefore, said: The myth of beauty is a movement of resistance

against freedoms; indeed, life has various ways of beauty and
accomplishments.

Just as the word 'way' has a lot of synonyms, like

"path, route, course, approach, and style",

every way in life is a sphere for achieving a new beauty.

One framework, however, was drawn for the girl, according to Wolf,

within which all her life and beauty was reduced. This framework can be
summarized in words like strikingly beautiful, slim, my makeup, my shoes,
my coffee,

my party, my gift; what do they think about me? How can I look amazing
to them?
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Hence, this narrow social space in which the girl tries to prove her
beauty is bound by one question:

How do I look in the eyes of others?

She added: The girl's life was reduced to this narrow space, which is
devoid of many types of beauty. These include her cherished relationships,
her education, her culture and knowledge, her playing a leading role in
society, and her health, values, and strong character.

Yet, a narrow space was made available to her, where she can practice
only the kind of beauty they wanted.

Now, they tend to starve the body instead of curbing its desires, and the
media outlets and advertisements do not speak about the woman's spirit,
but only her body - everything for the sake of the body.

"Diet, skincare, plastic surgeries, lenses."

Women became hostage to the worldwide fashion and the French

hairstyles.

Wolf continued: Did this marathon of illusory beauty bring happiness to

the woman, or did it increase her misery?

Is it not unjust that we live for only one aspect of beauty, whereas life is
full of beauty of different kinds? When people live for one type of beauty,
they try by every means to reveal this single beauty, even at the expense
of values! And if a person loses part of this beauty, it is as if she has lost
the whole life, because she knows nothing but this specific kind of beauty.

Wolf also said: "Today the girl looks for her status only among women's
bodies for comparison and among men's eyes for admiration. In the
151
generation that preceded us, however, girls used to look for their status in
society."

Now I would like to say this to Naomi Wolf: I will present to you an
example that you would be proud of. More than 1400 years ago, this
example managed to achieve several forms of beauty. It possessed all
beauty in appearance and looks. However, this beauty which captivated
this young girl, Fātimah bint Muhammad, was not an excuse for her to
stop searching for the beauty of real life. Moreover, the beautiful fact that
her father was the Messenger of Allah did not prompt her to stop bearing
her responsibility as a human being and playing her effective role toward
herself and her family and society.

This beautiful girl, Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her), declared to
every girl in the world that the areas of beauty available to them are very
many and numerous. As a matter of fact, girls can move from one beauty
to another according to their capabilities and passion about such beauty -
this is in addition to their physical beauty. As our mother ‘Ā’ishah (may
Allah be pleased with her) said about Fātimah:

She was the one who most resembled the Prophet (may Allah’s peace
and blessings be upon him); she was more beautiful than the moon. As for
the other type of beauty, she was the most similar to the Prophet's
character and manners. She did not attain this beauty because her father
was the Messenger of Allah, but it was her responsibility towards herself
and her religion and life that made her acquire these beautiful traits.

Hence, all the steps of this beautiful girl turned into the birth of a new
beauty - the beauty of her relationship with her father. She resolved and
worked hard to reach this. Whenever she visited her father, he would
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stand up to welcome her and would kiss her between the eyes and hold
her by the hand and make her sit in his place. And whenever her father
visited her, she would stand up, kiss him, and make him sit in her place.
What a beautiful relationship the beautiful Fātimah managed to achieve!

Did Fātimah stop at these achievements of beauty?

Listen to what Imam Adh-Dhahabi said about the story of another

beauty for this beautiful young girl, Fātimah az-Zahrā’.

Fātimah (may Allah be pleased with her) was patient, religious, kind,
modest, content, and thankful to Allah Almighty. What an excellent life
this girl led as she achieved the beauty of patience and perseverance
without renouncing her values, the beauty of religiousness and fear from
Allah while she would often fast in the day and pray in the night, the
beauty of kindness while she had a heart filled with mercy and compassion
toward the members of her society, the beauty of contentment, a
treasure that can only be possessed by one who is self-confident, and the
beauty of gratitude to Allah for every favor He bestowed!

And here is yet another beauty!

It is the beauty of the great loving wife and remarkable mother. Ibn
Kathīr (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: "Fātimah lived with ‘Ali (may
Allah be pleased with both of them) a difficult and poor life, even though
she was the beautiful, young, strong, and confident woman and the
daughter of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be
upon him)." She believed, however, that she was creating a particular kind
of beauty. Her Husband ‘Ali loved her so intensely that he would feel
jealous of the tooth-stick when she put it in her mouth.

Her beauty as the greatest mother manifested in her love and care for
her children: Al-Hasan, Al-Husayn, Muhsin, Umm Kulthūm, and Zaynab.
153
With her husband and children, she turned the house into a spring of
beauty, love, and care. The quern would leave a trace on her hand as she
used it to prepare food, and she would raise her children with a great
sense of responsibility for producing a new generation from her house
that would carry the values of the Hashemite family, which are the
Prophet's values. And she achieved what she wanted, offering the world
some of the greatest children ever. With these achievements of beauty, it
is as if Fātimah had possessed an academy of beauty in numerous fields.

This achievement of beauty by this beautiful young girl was set for the
launch of this journey of beauty.

This was a launch to which any other launch would pale in comparison -

Hollywood, beauty contests, and social media are insignificant! This was
a launch from the heaven, and the prize is more precious than the whole
earth.

The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
"Indeed, this is an angel that never descended to the earth before tonight.
He sought permission from his Lord to greet me with peace and to give me
the glad tidings that Fātimah is the chief of the women of Paradise, and
that Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn are the chiefs of the youths of the people of
Paradise."

I adjure you by Allah, is there any global prize for a girl that can be
compared to this prize that could only be obtained through informed
responsibility from this creative beautiful girl (may Allah be pleased with
her)? In the fourth night of Ramadan, 11 A.H., the beautiful 25-year-old
Fātimah lay sick in her bed, rejoicing at the glad tidings she had received
from her father that she would be the first among his family members to
 154
catch up with him after his death. Some create so successful relationships
that even death turns into a date for loved ones to meet. In her bed, she
was so beautiful like a full moon.

Asmā’ bint ‘Umays stepped in and found this beautiful queen weeping.

Asmā’ asked her: Are you fearful of death, O beautiful Fātimah?

She gave such a response as if addressed to the world with all its slogans
of freedom and rights and to every girl that may be allured into displaying
her charms and hearing words of admiration. Fātimah said: O Asmā’!

"I fear that men may see me after I die."

Good gracious! She seemed to say: O Asmā’, my body, beauty, and

shape are my greatest responsibility. I want to preserve them, even after
my death. Asmā’ said: We will bring you a bier made in Abyssinia and
place a curtain upon it so that nothing underneath will be seen.

Thereupon, Fātimah had a broad smile as she said: "May Allah preserve
your modesty as you preserved mine, O Asmā’!"

The young girl, who will be a beauty queen in Paradise, died after she
told every girl in this world "How beauty can be shy!"
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Thank you, my universal Islam
Thank you, my universal Islam... This phrase is the slogan of every
Muslim girl in the world. She utters it from her heart to express her joy,
high status, and loftiness in the beautiful tree of Islam.

. Thank you, my universal Islam, which highly respects every female and
provides her with her freedom and rights in a way that suits her nature
and achieves her happiness.

. Thank you, my universal Islam, which lies in wait to defend me against

anyone who tries to violate my dignity as a female.

. Thank you, my universal Islam! I realized that you are the only religion
that protects women from the most terrible crimes that are committed
against them.

. Thank you, my universal Islam, for the just punishments you inflict
upon any criminal who tries to tamper with our chastity. These
punishments are the lamps of the happy and secure society.

. Thank you, my sublime Islam, for protecting us from mingling, which is

the most common cause of vice in the Western civilization.

. Thank you, my beautiful Islam, for the Hijab which makes me happy
and proud and suits my nature. I now realize why there is a global
campaign against it; because it is a great means of protection for every
female in the world and it prevents others from taking advantage of her,
as mentioned by The Times newspaper.

Thank you, my wonderful Islam, for you made me a queen in every

sense of the word. I walk along with a mahram (non-marriageable male
 156
relative) who protects me and declares to everyone that I am a queen, the
daughter of a family that loves me and would die to defend me. Yes, thank
you for this blessing of mahram, which boosts my freedom and makes me
confident and fearless.

I feel pity for my sister from Eve who lives in the West. They destroyed
her family altogether and replaced the mahram with a dog that protects
her or a whistle that she keeps in her bag to seek help in case something
happens; or she may have to join a training course in self-defense.

. Thank you, my universal Islam, as I see today how the man-made laws
in the West favor the aggressive man, the rapist, against this poor woman.

I say: Thanks for the flogging and stoning, which ease the suffering of a
sexual assault victim and take revenge for her and also deter every
criminal from approaching any woman.

The flogging or stoning of a rapist is real compassion toward the female

victim and a means of protection for every woman in society. It makes
them feel they are precious and that anyone who hurts them will be duly
punished.

If you want to say "thank you, my Islam" from the bottom of your heart,
listen to this story:

Mary Fernil, a 14-year-old British lady.

A British man, 35, raped her when she was 12. He forced her to sleep
with him. Once his term of imprisonment ended, he was released.

The raped student felt dismayed.

She informed her schoolteacher that she would be late the following
day.
157
On the eve of this day, she said good night to her mother and headed to
her bedroom. She took a large amount of sleeping pills.

In the morning, her mother went to awaken her but could not open the
door.

After a lot of effort, she finally opened the door to find this young girl
dead in her bed, and beside her was a paper on which she left a note
expressing her extreme pain and grief over the release of that criminal
rapist.

O dear poor girl! She lived sadly and died with a deep sense of hurt and
injustice, while she was only 14!

Her father filed a lawsuit at the Dorking court, in the southwest of

London, objecting to the release of the rapist of his daughter.

But do you expect that justice will be done to this child who departed
life so sadly?

The public prosecutor of the court cancelled the public charge against
the rapist due to the lack of evidence after the girl's suicide!

Yes, we should say "thank you, my Islam" countless times for the firm
and just Shariah, which makes us safe and secure everywhere.

. Thank you, my beloved Islam, as I read the book 'Rape' in which the
author, Marie-Odile, repeatedly appeals: "Do not leave the girl alone."

She made this appeal after learning about thousands of stories in which
girls fell victims as a result of going out alone.
 . Yes, thank you, my Islam, for commanding my family to take care of
158
me, keep my company, and be close to me, so that everyone will know
that I am a respected and protected princess.

. Thank you, my Islam, as I read the words of a writer at the Times

newspaper who called on the government to intervene and persuade
women to wear modest clothing, especially like those clothes worn by
female Muslims.

His call followed a wave of sexual assaults on women in the West.

. Thank you, my sublime Islam, as I see today an awareness-raising

campaign by the London police to encourage women to learn martial arts
to be able to defend themselves against ongoing attacks, which increase
by 11% a year.

. Thank you, our universal Islam. We love you so much, and you showed
us the real love by raising our status in this world and in the Hereafter.

You also declared your love for us by protecting our rights.

Yes, thank you, for allowing us to see the terrible statistics regarding the
condition of our sister from Eve in the West, as they took everything from
her and left her alone and vulnerable.
159
Conclusion
This book is for:

1. The Muslim girl who takes pride in her religion

O daughter, we are proud of you and your love for the universal Islam.

With Allah's help, this book will increase your sense of assurance even
more and help you engage in dialogue with other girls with all confidence,
love, and responsibility.

May Allah grant you success, O ambassador of Islam to every girl!

2. The Muslim girl

My daughter, do you see the bad condition in which the Western

woman has ended up?

Dear daughter, you should know that your universal Islam is your real
freedom.

I hope you will discover the beauty of your Islam and its love for you
before you lose everything.

We wait for you to be an ambassador of Muslim women.

3. The non-Muslim girl

O our sister from Eve, we hope this book will reach you, after it is
translated, and tell you how we feel pain and panic as a result of the
dreadful statistics in which you are a victim.

Read about Islam carefully.

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I hope you will reach the truth that Islam is the true and final religion
and the religion that guarantees your security, comfort, and bliss.

"O Allah, open her chest for Your great religion!"

Penned by

Dr. Muhammad bin Mahmoud al-Sayyid

Email: alossrah2012@gmail.com

Tel: 0505129891
161
References
1. The Noble Qur'an.

2. Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr.

3. Tafsīr Al-Qurtubi.

4. Book "Al-‘Udwān ‘Ala al-Mar’ah Fi al-Mu’tamarāt ad-Dawliyyah", by

Dr. Fouad al-Abdul-Karim.

5. Book "Huqūq al-Mar’ah Fi Daw’ as-Sunnah an-Nabawiyyah", by Dr.

Nawal al-Eid.

6. Book "Fatāt ad-Dabāb", by a group of researchers.

7. Book "Wa Bi didihinna Tatamayz al-Muslimāt", by Dr. Muhammad

Rashid al-Uwayd (may Allah have mercy upon him).

8. Book "Innahum Yatafarrajūna ‘Ala Ightisābiha", by Dr. Muhammad

Rashid al-Uwayd (may Allah have mercy upon him).

9. Book "Mudhakkirāt Dhāt Khimār", by Dr. Muhammad Rashid al-

Uwayd (may Allah have mercy upon him).

10. Book "Ru’a Ta’sīliyyah Fi Tarīq al-Hurriyyah", by Shaykh Salih al-

Hussayen (may Allah have mercy upon him).

11. Book "Jadaliyyat al-Hijab", by Dr. Sohaib as-Saqqār.

12. Book "Fada’āt al-Hurriyyah", by Dr. Sultan al-‘Umayri.

13. Book "The Beauty Myth", by Naomi Wolf.

14. Book "Al-Ān Rabbi Lahu Ism", by Hala Salāh ad-Dīn Lulu.
 162
Testimonials
"Reading this book was a real birth for my soul and mind; rather, it was a
win." R.M.

"Believe me. This book made me love my beautiful Hijab and made me
know the greatest truth: development and renovation lie in clinging to my
Hijab, for it is the source of my beauty, development, and distinction." D.F.

"This book is a treasure whose worth can only be recognized by those

who carefully read every phrase written therein." H.A.

"It is a great inspiring book, which is like a shield for every female in her
life." A.H.

"It is a book written in gold letters. It exposed to us all the deceptive

appellations of freedom and false femininity and opened to us knowledge
vistas about how our beloved universal religion honored all females." L.A.

"The book is wonderful with its smooth, simple, interesting, enjoyable,

and deep style. It is perfectly professional and exciting. It adopts a prudent
academic approach that is far removed from reactions and superstitious
stories. The book addresses the mind, the spirit, and natural disposition,
and here lies its power." F.S.
163
Contents:
A Female Gives Thanks to Islam ....................................................................... 1
Foreword of the Author ..................................................................................... 3
The female before Islam .................................................................................... 7
The woman in China: ..................................................................................... 7

The woman in India:....................................................................................... 8

The woman among the Persians: ................................................................... 9
The woman among the Romans: ................................................................... 9
The woman among the Greeks: ................................................................... 10
The woman among the Jews: ...................................................................... 11
The woman in Christianity: .......................................................................... 12

The woman among pre-Islam Arabs: ........................................................... 13

Then came the universal Islam ........................................................................ 17
A female who grows with loving care .............................................................. 27
The female as a daughter................................................................................. 28
The female as a wife ........................................................................................ 29

The female as a mother ................................................................................... 31

My Islam fosters my education ........................................................................ 33
My Islam and how it empowered me at work ................................................. 37
The Muslim woman and more than one option .............................................. 40
In Islam, work is not a problem; but where to work? ...................................... 44
You have a job; however, do not forget your job. ........................................... 48
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Freedom Story 1............................................................................................... 52
The Western woman........................................................................................ 52
The laws of the international conferences on women (the last bullet) are
below: .............................................................................................................. 61
The statistics of the story of the freedom of devouring the Western woman 63
This program... and the downfall ..................................................................... 71
The Western woman speaks ............................................................................ 72
The story of freedom 2 .................................................................................... 75
Misconceptions about women ........................................................................ 79
First: Misconceptions on the Qur’anic verses .................................................. 81
1. Misconception about the Qur'anic verse: {And the male is not like the
female} ......................................................................................................... 82

2. Misconception about the Qur'anic verse: {To Allah they ascribe daughters
– glory be to Him – but for themselves they choose what they desire [sons]}
..................................................................................................................... 86
3. Misconception about the Qur'anic words: {Although men have a higher
degree over them} ....................................................................................... 88

4. Misconception about the Qur'anic words: {The share of a male is equal to

that of two females}..................................................................................... 91
5. Misconception around the Qur'anic words: {Men are in charge of
women} ...................................................................................................... 103
Second: Misconceptions around the Prophet's Hadīths ................................ 113
The misconception that women are (deficient in mind and religion) ....... 113
Third: Let us pause with the meaning of deficient in religion ....................... 135
The Western female and the new birth ......................................................... 138

When beauty feels shy ................................................................................... 148

165
Thank you, my universal Islam ....................................................................... 155
Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 159
References ..................................................................................................... 161
Testimonials ................................................................................................... 162