A woman is precious

04:40



This is a matter which is so very close to my heart, obviously yes i am a woman so i will care about women's rights but not only that, through personal experiences as well as seeing other women being oppressed i believe this is a matter that needs shouting about. ALWAYS TREAT YOUR WOMEN AS BEST YOU CAN. Whether it be your sister, your mother, your daughter, or your wife. Sometimes people are oppressing others without even realising it and they think they are doing nothing wrong.

The stories i hear about my fellow sisters being oppressed through domestic violence, forced marriage, being pressured into a marriage they do not want, being lured into a marriage which isn't good for them or something they want, honour violence and sisters being at risk of honour killings are all too frequent. It makes me wonder what goes through the men and families minds that are subjecting these women to this. It breaks my heart and upsets me to know that this still goes on. Times have advanced yet this cruel behaviour remains. One of the main reasons this carries on is people keep quiet, i don't mean the victims (because they are too afraid to speak out) but i mean the onlookers, yes those who know the actions taking place are wrong but do nothing at all. Islam quite clearly states that if you see an action which you know is wrong you must act....

 On the authority of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Muslim]

So please do not just sit there and watch someone going through something, do something, take action as it is your duty as a muslim to stand up to injustice. If you know in your heart something isn't right then get up and do something about it. This ridiculous 'keeping quiet mentality' must stop now. It has been embedded into us, speaking up does not mean you are being rude or disrespecting elders, there is a way of doing it, by being humble and calm. As muslims, and even as humans it is our duty to speak up against what is wrong. A fine example is of course our beloved Prophet Muhammed (sallahu allayhi wasalam- peace and blessings be upon him), he stood upto his family and his tribe and all who were in a state of disbelief and going against Allah and his message, had he kept quiet and remained in fear we would not be here today. The Prophet Muhammad (sallahu allayhi wa salam)  was tortured and persecuted by his very own for going against them and what they had spent their lives believing, but he carried on. So why can we not stand up to injustices today to protect our sisters? This is why i say this 'keeping quiet mentality' must stop. This isn't what islam is about. Now please don't get me wrong, i am all for respecting elders, respecting people, and being kind to elders however when it comes to oppressing women and going against Islam i will speak up- always. Speaking up does not mean you are being insolent or disrespectful, it is our duty to explain to others when they are wrong, whether we are younger or older, in a humble way of course.

The Quran and Hadith have given so many examples of the status of a woman. Islam values women to a high degree and rules have been put into place to ensure a woman's honour is always protected, however unfortunately culture interferes and mindsets are effected by this. Here are some reminders, particularly for men- fathers, uncles, husbands, brothers, sons etc of how important women are.


1) Al-Bukhaari (5971) and Muslim (2548) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: “O Messenger of Allaah, who is most deserving of my good company?” 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: “Then your father.” 

2) The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “I urge you to treat women well.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 331; Muslim, 1468. 

3) The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best of you is the one who is best to his wife, and I am the best of you to my wives.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3895; Ibn Maajah, 1977; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi

4) Islam honours women as daughters, and encourages us to raise them well and educate them. Islam states that raising daughters will bring a great reward. For example, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever takes care of two girls until they reach adulthood, he and I will come like this on the Day of Resurrection,” and he held his fingers together. Narrated by Muslim, 2631. 

Now i could go on all day long about the status of women in Islam and the repurcussions of oppressing them. I hope this can act as a reminder to brothers out there. My posts are not usually aimed at brothers but rather for sisters, however today this is aimed at brothers. Follow the example of our Prophet Muhammed (sallahu allayhi wa salam) and be good to your women. Remember oppression comes in many forms, emotional blackmail, deception, misleading, pressure, violence, verbal abuse, being miserly so have a think about how you can be better for the sake of Allah. Also if you know a fellow muslim who is oppressing a woman, speak to him, advise him- we all play a part. If we are aware of something wrong taking place we will be accountable to Allah if we do nothing.

Sisters- if you are being oppressed remember there is always support out there. Some links are attached below of organisations that can support you, never feel you are alone. Help is there so take it before matters get worse.


- this is a helpline which is aimed at victims of honour violence and domestic violence
- aimed at all age groups


- this is a womens charity but also for children who are victims of abuse


- a charity set up to help victims of islamophobia  

To any sisters reading this who need help and do not know where to turn, feel free to contact me and i will be happy to provide support and signpost you to any relevant sources of help.
My duas (prayers) are always with women who are being oppressed. 

 


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9 comments

  1. JazakAllah Sofia for the shout out there and the resources you listed for the help of these women.
    Well,apart from these NGO's what I can do minimum to help any women suffering from this ordeal is to show her some love, some reassurances, monetary help.
    may Allah(SWT) accept it.
    aameen.

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  2. Thanks for this post, sister. There are so many sisters out needing help. The culture of silence is horrifying, if you take action it often means that you insult the honour of a person. Or your family feels insulted when you want to leave a violent marriage. And this wrong understanding of honour is what is really toxic. Maybe you can add to the list associations and organizations from other countries too? As the English blogs have readers worldwide, more sisters could benefit from such a link collection. I am sure you will get a lot of links when you do a 'call for action'.

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  3. Definitely sharing this post with the men in my family. Everyone should read it.

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  4. Nice post! I have a friend here who was pretty much abused by her husband and mother in law and she had called for help to the govt organisation here and then her mother in law kicked her out because of it. At times women have no option but to keep their mouth shut :(

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  5. This is a very relevant issue that needs to be addressed in our Ummah today. But I think this reminder is actually good for sisters as well as brothers. As mothers, we need to bring up our boys to be true followers of the sunnah not the culture. Let them grow up to value and respect their womenfolk and fear Allah (swt) regarding their duties and responsibilities.

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  6. Excellent reminder, I feel like culture has grasped people's minds in such a strong grip that we tend to forget what our beloved Prophet saws has taught us about women- that they are precious indeed.

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  7. Unfortunately this keeping quiet mentality still exists alot. It really needs to change. If only people followed the example of the Prophet (saw) and women would be treated like princesses

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  8. Women are precious and have a high stage in Islam, it's sad most people don't realize that. May Allah guide all the misguided.

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