Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 14
! ! 14 to th e w oman in the sight of God Almighty. As God Almighty is the Creator of both , He is not exclusively connected with eithe r. I n His sight, the two are equal. Thus , the message He has sent is not only for men , but also for women. However, due to Muslim people’s lack of education and their ignorance of the Shariah , vulgarity and lack of spirituality have spread to such an extent, that they [Muslims] have grown distant from Islam. Ignorance and lack of faith are especially prevalent among women. Many women who come to us for b ai ‘ at [ pled ge of allegiance and initiation] cannot even recite the Kalima Shahada [declaration of Islamic faith] which states: ا C ْﺷ َﻬ ُﺪ ا C ْن ﻵ ﱠ ِا ﻟ K َﻪ ِا ﻻ ﱠ Mُ َو ْﺣ َﺪ ٗە َﻻ P Qَ 1 Eْ َﻚ ﻟ C ٗہ َو ا C ْﺷ َﻬ ُﺪ ا C ن ﱠ ُﻣ َﺤ ﻤ ﱠ ًﺪ ا َﻋ Vْ ُﺪ ٗە َو َر ُﺳ ﻮ ﻟ W ٗہ I bear witness that there is no God but Allah , the One , without any partner. A nd I bear witness that Muha mmad sa is His Servant and Hi s Messenger. How succinct is this tenet and what blessings has God Almighty sent down to encapsulate the whole of the Shariah in this phrase. Women memorize many useless poems and are familiar with many tales and stories. However, it has been observed, that when they are asked to recite the declaration of faith , they are unable to do so. Thus , ignorance has spiked among women. However , remember well that the commandments sent down by God Almighty apply equally to both men and women. Just as it is essential for men to act upon them, it is equally crucial for women to do so. Service of W omen to Islam After reflecting up on the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa , we see that religio us knowledge has been conveyed to us by men in the same way that it has by women. When we read in the Hadith [saying of the Holy Prophet sa ] , that Ha z rat Abu Bakr ra , Haz rat ‘Umar ra , Haz rat ‘Uthman ra , Haz rat ‘Ali ra , Hazrat Abu Hurairah ra and others, have related an account of the Holy Prophet sa , then by the same token, we also read that Haz rat A’isha h ra , Haz rat Hafsa ra , Haz rat Umme Salma ra also narrated what the Holy Prophet sa explaine d.