The Women

بسم ٱلله ٱلرحمن ٱلرحيم ألنسوة

The Women

By: Triple A (أحمد عبد ٱلأول)

In Atlanta, Georgia – in the United States – Baitul Salaam exists due in part for some of the same reasons stated below (after the verses from Al Qur'aan). Baitul Salaam is a shelter for homeless females – in particular Muslim females – but it is more than simply a homeless shelter. Baitul Salaam is a network - http://www.baitulsalaam.net – that also provides counseling and assistance on a wide range of issues particular to females and I encourage all, males and females, Muslim and non-Muslim to visit their website for further information on this worthwhile jihaad (struggle). I also encourage all to not only visit the website but to find it in your hearts to support Baitul Salaam, they need your support, and your help is urgently needed to keep it alive. Please support them, your tax-exempt donations are critically needed, give as much as you can but also do it on a regular basis. Bills must be paid, lights, heat, air conditioning, food, bedding, clothing, etc., and it is not just for the women, often these women have children with them that must also be provided for. If the Muslims only in the Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas were to donate to Baitul Salaam on a regular basis their bills would always be paid and on time, but I am making this call to all persons, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, no matter who or where you are to help.

Our Imaams and others who occupy leadership and authoritative positions in this Ummaat should be encouraging support for Baitul Salaam in their khutbah's, taaliym’s, and general conversations. They are in unique positions to raise the awareness of the general populace to the plight of these females. Their silence and / or apathy in part allow this suffering to continue therefore; they are a part of the problem and not the solution.

Al Qur’aan

يسالونك ما ذا ينفقن قل مآ انفقتم من خير فللوالدين و الاقربين و اليتامى و المساكين و ابن السبيل و ما تفعلوا من خير فان الله به عليم

They ask you what they shall spend,

say that which you spend for good to parents and kindred and orphans and the needy and the traveler,

and what good you do verily Allaah is aware 2:215

الرجال قوامون على النسآء بما فضل الله بعضهم على بعض و بمآ انفقوا من اموالهم

The men guardians over the women by what granted Allaah some of them over some and by what have spent of their wealth (means) 4:34

I must apologize for the delay of this topic, The Women. I had said it was coming soon but it did not come, soon. The delay was entirely my own, I was looking for a starting point, a middle commentary, and an ending. However, there were too many distractions for a normal beginning, middle, and ending model.

A number of disturbing articles in the media caught my attention, articles that dealt with the mistreatment of Muslim females at the hands of Muslim males. Sadly enough the mistreatment was not always at the hands of strangers. Too often, the mistreatment was from the hands of Muslim males who were acquaintances and / or relatives of the females. These same males were supposed to be protectors of females and not just Muslim females.

It broke my heart to read articles of females punished because of the deviant actions of males against them. One female after having been gang raped and punished by the government – because it was her fault – her male family members beat her, a honor beating. Another female – a teenager – was hanged by the government. Punished and killed as if they were the cause of the sickness in those animals. It broke my heart to read articles of females who suffered violence at the hands of male family members for supposedly not wearing an article of clothing, and at least one instance of a teenage female allegedly killed by her father. Is that Al Islaam; is that from Allaah, from Al Rahmaan? The Day of Judgment truly will be a day of anguish!

The Women

Part of the problem I had with starting to write on the subject of women is that I see many of the problems they face are due to the same reasons there are so many problems within the Islaamic Ummaat. The cause of the problems are not gender specific, the Islaamic Ummaat is not male, nor is it female, it is both and we must face these problems together, we must be united in our struggle to perfect how we live this diyn. It is not the responsibility of the men to have knowledge, to be strong, be modest, to positively progress from stage to stage, it is all of ours duty to do these, male and female alike.

How can we call ourselves Muslim men when we are the cause of much of the violence against our women, and even if we do not physically strike a blow against any of them we condone what is happening to them? We are not supposed to stand on the sidelines and do nothing; we have a responsibility – commanded by Allaah – to do what is correct.

كنتم خير امة اخرجت للناس تأمرو بالمعروف و تنهون عن المنكر و تؤمنون بالله

You are the best community raised for Humankind commanding to the right and forbidding from the wrong and believing in Allaah 3:110

I have seen Muslim males who are aware of the wrongdoings of some Muslim males act as if they were unaware, and some of these same wrongdoers are even allowed to deliver khutbah’s. Some of these males do not properly provide support for their own children after they are divorced from the mother/s. They remarry and continue as if everything is fine - and it apparently is - because we act as if it is. The rest of us may not be able to force these wrongdoers to change their ways, support their children – financially, emotionally, and morally – but at the very least they should receive a cold shoulder from us. It should not be a hostile environment but it should not be a warm one either. Moreover, deliver a khutbah; that absolutely should not be allowed to happen.

The Muslim females also have a responsibility, and it basically is the same as that for us males. Why would you marry such a male as described above? You know who they are, or at least you should before marrying them. You should have inquired as to the character of the male, his history with women, and anyone he may have been married to previously.

The responsibility of Muslim females does not end there, not by any means. Muslim females are responsible to be knowledgeable, and to learn all they can about Al Islaam. They should also study and learn to read – and understand – Al Qur’aan in Arabic. Too many females in this Ummaat are ignorant of the word of Allaah, they do the same as too many of the males and rely upon interpretations and thus allow themselves to be misinformed. Husbands and wives should be helpmates of each other, supporting each other, protecting each other. Our females are just as responsible as we are to discern truth from conjecture, and if they are not actively pursuing that end then they are being negligent.

I have read a number of books authored by females addressing problems that females face in our Ummaat and unfortunately the ones I have read thus far primarily focus on a feminine perspective. I will concede there are issues unique to females however; I feel their solutions must be addressed towards the real causes, the root of the problems, and one root is the lack of understanding of Allaah’s word in Al Qur’aan. I cannot stress strongly enough the necessity for learning to read and understand Al Qur’aan in Arabic. To properly do this I believe it necessary to discard all previous held beliefs and "read to understand", as if one were totally ignorant of Al Islaam, to start as if the pages of your mind are blank and ask Allaah to fill those pages from his knowledge. The other root cause – and it does go hand in hand with the first – is our refusing to follow what Allaah tells us to do or not do, as if Allaah does not know best. Who is more qualified to guide us than the very one who will judge us?

I recently had a conversation with one of my sons (he is not a Submitter (Muslim)) and I told him that whatever he might hear and / or see negatively about Al Islaam – but more specifically about the actions of some Muslims – via the media or any other source, all stem from outside of what is actually in Al Qur’aan. All – and I repeat all – the negative actions we see displayed by some Muslims comes from following something other than Allaah’s words in Al Qur’aan. I emphasize this because I believe it is not a more feminist perspective that is necessary but a perspective of truth, and one of the attributes Allaah has is Al Haqq – The Truth / or The Reality. Our Ummaat is in crisis and the only remedy is Allaah’s pure word! Nothing in Al Qur’aan can be taken lightly, or for granted, every word is important – or they would not be there – and they are there, for us.

و اعتصموا بالله هو مولاكم فنعم المولى و نعم النصير

and hold tight to Allaah he is your protector, blessed the protector and blessed the helper 22:78