A Heartfelt Message to the Muslim Woman

As we all know, Islam has taken great care in detailing all of the necessary guidelines that the Muslim woman needs in order to live a life pleasing to her Creator. A whole chapter of Allah’s book has been given the name “The Women,” which is chapter 4 of the Noble Qur’an.

This message is actually a small reminder, as the guidelines regarding women are clear, but there are some important issues that many Muslim women (and Dominica is no exception) need to be reminded of as it relates to their character and more specifically, her chastity.

In today’s world, we see women in many countries fighting for abortion rights and these appeals will no doubt be heard or read about by our Muslim sisters. No doubt, the influence of the non-Muslim society upon us is always present and therefore the need to reach out to our sisters is especially urgent.

Islamically, a girl becomes a woman at the point where she has her first menstrual cycle. At that stage, she is an adult. Being an adult biologically however, does not mean that she is an adult intellectually. We should therefore recognize as a community based on the Truth, that sexual desire exists in the woman as it exists in the man. In addition to this our young women must be reminded of avoiding the traps of Shaytaan that could lead them to compromise their chastity which is often the beginning of the end of modesty and good character.

Our sisters should be reminded that Allah has honored us with Islam. Allah has told us in His Qur’an

It is necessary to reflect on this verse so that every Muslim man and woman can preserve the honourable status given to us with Islam. We should apply all of the practical and spiritual guidelines given to us in order to avoid becoming like the disbelieving people in their lowly and depraved habits.

The innate and natural instinct to procreate and the drive and desire that accompanies that leaves the Muslim woman in a very vulnerable state. Islam does not ask of us to deny our sexual urges, or to turn to a life of perpetual celibacy as an alternative. Instead, the Guide, Allah has given us a solution that is practical as well as in keeping with the natural way of “the Fitrah.”

One option is for the woman to fast. This practical guideline can be found in that beautiful hadeeth of the Messenger ﷺ

Although the statement in the hadeeth was directed towards a group of young men, the term “shabaab” can also include young women.

Another prescription which the Qur’an gives us is to lower the gaze, or guarding our eyesight from things that will arouse desire as is mentioned in the Qur’an. Allah says:

This ayah is often ignored by many of our sisters who think that this is something only a man has to do. Many fathers are ignorant of the fact that the woman can also become attracted to a man by gazing at him. This misunderstanding in turn has led to many evils such as women losing desire for their husbands and the grave misunderstanding that women do not have sexual desires which have led to many social ills based on the denial of this reality.

My message to the Muslim woman is that she should fulfill her duties to Allah by worshipping and obeying Him and to work on perfecting her character. The Muslim woman has an important role to play in every society by helping to raise generations of righteous offspring as well as being callers to the deen and examples to other women in their society. She should be mindful of the duties to her husband and children, giving priority to their rights over others. She should guard her chastity and her tongue as the tongue is the instrument for the destruction of many and women are especially prone to speaking from emotion and hurting themselves and others.

She must be careful in choosing her friends, being close to other Muslim women and in particular, the righteous and knowledgeable ones from among the believing women. She should be wary of taking disbelieving women as friends as they cannot benefit her in the affairs of her deen which she is in dire need of. If she can be useful to the general society, she could choose a profession that does not compromise her character and which can be beneficial to the Muslim communities without harmfully depriving her family of her presence.

May Allah guide us and our sisters in Eemaan to that which is correct.