Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 3
Chapter 1: The Role of Ahmadi Muslim Mothers 3 become a heavenly sign and heaven has become manifest in their appearance. ” 1. 2 THE IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN RAISING CHILDREN Why is the vital task of the Tarbiyat of children entrusted to women? What makes them so important in this role? First of all, this task has been entrusted to women by Allah Almighty. The Holy Qur ’ an says that Allah has created everything with a specific form and function (20:51), and women have been given the form required to bear children and the function of raising them. The importance of this function was clearly established by the Holy Prophet (saw) in the answer he gave to a female Companion (ra) who asked whether the fulfilling of the duties of raising children and taking care of homes by women could ever be equivalent to the service of Islam which men performed when they went to do Jihad or Hajj? The Holy Prophet ’ s (saw) answer was: “ O woman, understand and tell those women who you are representing that a woman who takes care of her husband ’ s household in the best manner during his absence and raises his children with good morals will earn the same reward as men who perform other good deeds and Jihad? ” 1. 3 Hence, raising children to become righteous Ahmadi Muslims allows a mother to earn the pleasure of Allah for herself as well as for her children. Secondly, Hazrat Khalifatul-Masih II (ra) explained that Allah Almighty has bestowed a special aptitude for this task on mothers because they have the capacity to resist Satan. Huzoor (ra) said: