Sunday, November 15, 2009

Shaykh Muhammad Al Imaam: Islam's Concern with Teaching Women their Religion

Shaykh Muhammad Al Imaam: Islam's Concern with Teaching Women their Religion

Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem!

Indeed, it has been narrated by a number of companions that the Messenger of Allah said "seeking knowledge is compulsory upon every muslim." Male and females are both included in the term "muslim." The Exalted said:

"O you who believe, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire." [At Tahrim:6]

The commentators of the Qur'an have explained it (the intent of the verse) to mean "teach and educate them." The Prophet said "teach your children the prayer at age 7. Spank them at age 10 (if they don't pray) and separate the two genders from the same bed." Narrated by Abu Dawud from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr. The word "children" includes both male and females.

Also found in both sahih Al Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abu Musa Al Ashari, the Prophet sallahu alayhi wa salaam said "Any man that has a slave girl and teaches her, and does well at educating her, teaches her discipline and does well at this, then liberates and marries her then for him is two rewards." So contemplate O muslim woman on how the Prophet sallahu alayhi wa salaam urged with the educating of the slave girl, so how about the freed woman?!

Allah says: "And remeber what is recited in your houses of the verses of Allah and wisdom." [Al Ahzab:34] (The verse is addressing the wives of the Prophet)

The Sunnah here is what's intended by wisdom. Ahmad, Al Haakim, and An Nisaa'i (in Al Kubraa) narrated from the hadith of Ash Shifaa bint Abdullah in which she said "the Messenger of Allah entered upon us while I was with Hafsa, so he said to me: Will you not teach her ruqya an namlah, just like you taught her how to write?" Thus it becomes crystal clear from these evidences that it's compulsory upon the guardians of muslim girls to educate them. This is obligatory (in the religion). Likewise it's mandatory upon the sisters to learn what is necessary from the affairs of the religion. And from these affairs:

1: Learning At Tawhid and it is to direct all acts of worship to Allah alone from fear, repentence, sacrificing, vowing, supplication, seeking help, love, and exaltation.

2: Learning the prayer and that which is related to it from fasting, and other than it from what is obligatory upon each woman.

3: Teaching them dignified manners: Decency, modesty, chasity, and to do all actions with the awareness that Allah is ever watchful. This is what is found from benefit in the hadith "And separate the two genders from the same bed."

4:Teaching them that which is related to the rights of the husband and close relatives.

The issue that fathers and guardians need to know is that they are in need of teaching their daughters and wives all of that which they require from the affairs of good and the warning against evil. So look at the big difference, indeed the women of jaahiliyyah were blindly ignorant. So when Islam came it opened the way for them towards education of the religion of Allah.

Indeed, the hadith of the Messenger of Allah were conveyed by more than 300 women from the companions, aside from their statements in tafseer and fiqh. With regards to (the science of) hadith, from the women there are those who narrated thousands of hadith. From them those who narrated hundreds of hadith, and from them those who narrated less than a hundred hadith. So this education and it's compulsion (that which has already been clarified) upon the fathers and guardians, if it is not established then they (the guardians) have brought themselves close to destruction. Because they're instrumental in ruining the religion of Allah, and are a cause for the women to be subjected to every evil.

Verily Allah granted the muslim women success, thus they competed with one another in seeking beneficial knowledge. Aisha said: "The women of the ansar.... shyness did not hinder them from seeking understanding of the religion." Narrated by both Al Bukhari and Muslim. Um Darda said: "I searched for worship in everything (I did) and I found it in the sittings of the scholars."

Taken from muaamaraatul kubraa alaal maratil muslimah
Translated by Najeeb Al Angelesi

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