Are Women Human?

Believe it or not, this question confused and puzzled Europeans for a long time. In 568 AD a gathering took place in France to research and answer the question.  After the meetings, consultations and discussions they concluded that a woman is a human - created to help man.

Before the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

In Arabia, it was a noble deed to kill young girls or even bury them alive since it was thought they brought shame to the family.

In India, it was believed that women had no right to live after the death of their husbands and so they would be killed on the same day.

In Judaism, when a woman would menstruate they would not eat or drink with her but instead desert her.

After the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ


30 years after that meeting in France, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ  was sent and told the world that women are soul mates of men. In a Hadith he said "The whole world is pleasure, and the best pleasure of the world is the righteous woman.”; and there are many, many more Quranic verses and Hadiths that honour women and rank them very highly in society.

Whoever reads about the way of life during the time of  the Prophet ﷺ finds that the role of the woman in the society at that time, was much bigger than her role in society today. 

A woman at the Prophet's ﷺ time was a wife and a mother, she fought in battles, became a doctor, gave opinions in Islamic law, narrated Hadiths and even advised the Ruler or judges.  Therefore, many of the Prophet's wives ﷺ use to give him advice in the concerns of politics & society.

I wonder, has the role of women today returned to how it was before the era of the Prophet ﷺ?

Till today, there are fathers who force their daughters to get married to a man they don't want. Although a woman came to the Prophet ﷺ, complaining that her father forced her to get married against her will, so he called her father and put the entire decision back to her choice - either she permits what her father had done or cancel the marriage, then she said "I permit what my father has done but this was for the purpose of letting women know that their fathers have nothing to do with this".

Also a common phenomenon in the Arab society is that some men find it embarassing to mention the name of his wife or mother infront of friends -  to a point where as if the name of a woman has become something that is to be 'veiled'! Even though when the Prophet ﷺ

 was asked "Who is of most people beloved to you?" he said "Aisha". He did NOT say something like "my 2nd wife" or "the children's mother" but rather mentioned her by her name.

There is no doubt that Islam has given many rights of man over the woman. In a hadith the Prophet ﷺ said: "If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone other than Allah, I would have commanded women to prostrate to their husbands from the magnitude of his right on her".  However, Islam does not permit  a man to tyrannize his wife or daughter or suppress them or injure/harm them because whether it's the daughter, wife or mother - they have a great position in Islam that must be respected.

Did you know?

- In the US, a woman is hit by her husband every 18 seconds.

- 2 million woman are beaten up in France every year.

- In Britain 77% of husbads beat their wives for no reason

The Prophet 

ﷺ 

described women as '

Qawareer' the plural Arabic for "Glass Vases" to signify their delicateness and need for gentleness 

and one of the scholars said "It's true that women are half of the society but since she's the one that nurtures  the other half then the woman is all the society."

I'm certain that the Islamic Ummah will not rise to as it once was until women are given their stature, honour and respect in the society and only then will mothers raise the likes of Saladin al Ayoub, Umar ibn Abdulaziz and others from unrivaled men




"The man who treats his wife like a Princess is proof that he was raised by a Queen."

From Ahmad al Shugairi's "Thoughts"

University of al Karaouine - جامعة القرويين‎

Long before Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard or any other university ever existed. The University of al Karaouine was founded in 859 located in Fes, Morocco

The al Karaouine institution is considered by the Guinness book the oldest continuously operating academic degree-granting university in the world.

Do you know who the founder is?

Fatima al Fihri, a Muslim woman from Tunis who decided to dedicate her life to building the University and Mosque once her parents had passed away.

Elegance of the Hijab

Some of the Women’s rights activists try to show that the hijab is something that is derived from Islam and that it’s a symbol of oppression arrogance or suppression - what’s really sad is that some of these people are Muslim.

It was common in the West during the early 20^th century for women to wear a veil.

There are passages about the Hijab from the Holy Bible:

Corinthians (Chapter 11): “If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head”

Timothy 2:9 “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes”

In Judaisim a famous ancient Rabbis saying," It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen....a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty."

So this is proof that modesty and hijab isn’t something derived only from Islam but something instinctive.

Mother Teresa

It’s amazing to see some of the Muslim women of the Arabian Gulf who leave their countries going to Europe, US or elsewhere stop dressing modestly and also remove the hijab; at the same time there are Muslim women are who denied from wearing the Hijab – including one Islamic country that denied University admission to women who wear it – yet no one speaks.

So women of the Arabian Gulf or Muslim countries where it is permissible to wear the hijab should be blessed because no one tries to stop you but instead they support you.

My question to all those girls who wear tight revealing clothing or whatever falls under that category and I’m not a scholar so I’m not talking in terms of religion and I can’t judge because Allah (swt) is the only one who does, but my question is if the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was among us today, would you still wear that type of clothing?

Big thanks to all those Muslim women who wear the hijab proudly regardless of the problems they have encountered or still do, and also to those who wear the hijab even when their families, husbands do not support it.

Finally, this post is to my sister Laila, who recently decided to wear the hijab.

From Ahmad Al Shugairi's 'thoughts'.