Women

A woman in the 21st century is faced with pursuing a career, education, and also being a wife, a mother, and a daughter. And in the midst of all these activities, it is easy to lose sight of the most important aspect that governs our life, as Muslims, Islam.

Islam allows a woman to have a career, husband, children, and whatever else she wants as long as it falls within the domain of Islam! The domain of Islam includes the woman's right and responsibility to have an education, and participation in the daily affairs of the nation; she can be a teacher, a scientist, a business woman in the office or market place, an administrator, or a doctor; and take care for her family obligations. Of course there are rules of conduct that apply to both women and men in these public activities, such as the dress code.

Islam is more than a mere set of rituals; it is a complete ideology that deals with every aspect of our life. It addresses human beings without any consideration of color, race, or sex, or the time period we are living in.

As believer's in Allah (swt) and the Day of Judgment, we know that Islam is the final Message sent to all humanity, and because it is from our Creator it is the only ideology that takes care of the affairs of the people in a correct manner. Consequently, delivering the Message of Islam (dawah) to all humanity is an obligation (fard) for both men and women. There are many ayats and hadiths which are related to the importance of dawah, for example:

Who is better in speech than the one Who calls to Allah, works righteousness, and says

" I am from those Who are Muslims"

[Quran 41: 33]


I am well aware of what my slave expects from me, I am with him if he mentions me, if he mentions me to himself, I mention (him or her) to myself, and if he mentions me among an audience then I mention (him or her) among better audience. [Hadith Qudsi]


Thus one of the most important aspect of a Muslim woman's identity comes from carrying the Islamic dawah. She can do dawah to her husband, children, family and the general public.
In today's life the absence of the application of Islam makes it very difficult to fulfill all our responsibilities as Muslims. As woman living in a non-Islamic environment we are kept busy looking for short term solutions to our problems dealing with our duties in and out of the home, without even realizing that our responsibility encompasses the condition of the whole Ummah.



The Believers, men and women, are protectors of each other, enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong, establishing regular prayer, paying zakat and obeying Allah and His messenger. On them will Allah pour his mercy, for Allah is exalted in power, wise.

[Quran 9 : 71]


The most important thing to remember when discussing the identity of the Muslim woman, is that Islam did not come to confine the activities of women, but instead to liberate them.
This is as much the case today as it was 1400 years ago, as you can see from two of the many example of Muslim women: A very well known example is Aisha (ra), who taught both men and woman Quran, tafseer, and transmitted many hadiths from the Prophet (PBUH). Another great example is of Nusaybah bint Ka'b who participated in the battle of Uhud, where she not only brought water to the wounded, but took an active part in the fighting, and on that day she wounded twelve of the enemy severely; when the Muslims pulled back and exposed the prophet, she stood in his defense

[Seerah Ibn Hisham].


Inshallah, for us to be successful in this life and the Hereafter, Muslim women need to know that we do play a key role in securing the Islamic way of life today.