Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 15
! ! 15 Therefore, the system of narrations of the Holy Prophet sa not only comes from men, but also from women. If half of the faith has reached us from men , then the other half has come to us from women. F rom among those who are renowned scholars today , if they are students to the male companions ra of the Holy Prophet sa , then so too are they students of the female companions ra. The portion of the knowledge of Shariah related to men has been learned from men, while the portion related to women, has been learned from women. If both men and women had not been involved in this matter, the religion would have remained incomplete. One realizes by studying the early years of Islam , that just as men played their part in spread ing the religion, so too did women participate in this effort. Similarly, just as men learned Islam, so did women. Furthermore, there have been many famous and knowledgeable women in the history of Islam. For example, o ne woman, by the name of Rabia Basri ra , would speak only in Qur’ān ic verse and would answer questions by reciting from the Holy Qur’ān. She received revelations, visions , and dreams from God Almighty. Likewise , t here have been many other women , who have attained nearness to God Almighty and have conversed with God. Nowadays , if you ask a woman about such happenings , she will reply , “I am ignorant. What would I know of such things?” Thus , they equate ignorance with womanhood , even though that is not the case. The Holy Prophet sa said, ‘ If anyone wishes to learn my religion, then learn half [ of it] from A’isha h ra. ’ The women of that former age were not a different breed; they were exactly like the women of today. Today, women can be just like them and can carry out the same task as they did, h owever, [their] shortcoming is that they fail to act. If they are prepared to act , then God Almighty will help them by open ing the ir path for them. In the Holy Qur’ān , God Almighty has repeatedly stated, “Whoever attains to righteousness, Allah Almighty Himself opens up a way [for that person]. ” When women act according to this verse , how could a path to wards progress not be revealed to them? How could they not be useful and a source of blessings for themselves and for the world?