The Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) is reported to have said:
“Made beloved to me from your world are women and perfume and the coolness
of my eyes is in prayer” (Ahmad and An-Nasa‘i).
What did the Prophet mean when he said he loved women? He didn't say. I'm not going to try to guess what he meant, but something I can surmise from the above statement is that women are special, and they are to be loved. That the Prophet loved women makes him, in my eyes at least, a supporter of women.
That the Prophet Muhammad should have a charitable view of women should not come as a surprise to those who know what the Qur'an says about women. Women are treated in the Qur'an on several occasions as the equal of men. Here are a few examples:
And the believing men and believing women are protectors of each other. They enjoin the right and
forbid the wrong, and they observe regular salah and give akah, and obey God and His Messenger. On them God will have mercy. Truly, Gos is All-mighty, All-Wise (9: 71).
Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall give him [or her] a
good life, and We well give them their reward according to the best of what they did (16:97).
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward (33: 35).
While the above verses show that women are the equals of men in the eyes of God, there are a few things that make women unique in contrast to men. The first two points I learnt from my friend Brother Zahid:
(1) Men are not required to wear hijab.
One of the amazing things about women is that God trusted them with being able to rise above sensual pleasures in their view of the opposite sex. In Islamic tradition, men are only required to cover from the belly button to the knees. Of course, this rule does not intend to advise men to walk around town without a shirt, but it demonstrates the less perverted mind that women possess. Indeed, some women are perverted, but I think this is an extreme minority, and a lot less than the male side. Women on the other hand, are required to cover from head to toe in loose fitting clothes (hijab). This is because mens' straying eyes cannot be trusted.
(2) Men are responsible for more than what women are responsible for. Women are not responsible for men.
Another special thing about women is that God gave them the privilege of being taken care of by men. Men's responsibility for women is known through the following verse in the Holy Qur'an:
And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable;
but men have a degree over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise (2:228).
From the tafseer (exegesis) of ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with him) we learn that the words "a degree over them" means "a degree of responsibility over them." God gave the man a greater degree of responsibility over the woman than that of the woman over the man. In other words, men have got more to answer for than women do or, to put it another way, women have the special rank of having less to answer for than men do.
3) When women are mentioned in the Qur'an they are shown as believers.
The North American Catholic convert to Islam, Jeffrey Lang, observes this point in arguing that women are described in positive ways by God in the Qur'an. When women are mentioned in the Qur'an they are shown as virtuous individuals: the Queen of Sheba, the mother of Moses, the wife of Pharoah, and the mother of Jesus. In contrast, the men mentioned in the Qur'an range from the despicable (e.g. Pharoah, Qarun) to the Noble (e.g. the Prophets).
These are but a few examples of why women are special. Needless to say, there are others. For example, a feature of women that I like is how they are around babies and young children. Women seem to have an ability to communicate that most men don't have.
May women be treated with the respect they deserve. May they be given the care due to them. Aameen.
“Made beloved to me from your world are women and perfume and the coolness
of my eyes is in prayer” (Ahmad and An-Nasa‘i).
What did the Prophet mean when he said he loved women? He didn't say. I'm not going to try to guess what he meant, but something I can surmise from the above statement is that women are special, and they are to be loved. That the Prophet loved women makes him, in my eyes at least, a supporter of women.
That the Prophet Muhammad should have a charitable view of women should not come as a surprise to those who know what the Qur'an says about women. Women are treated in the Qur'an on several occasions as the equal of men. Here are a few examples:
And the believing men and believing women are protectors of each other. They enjoin the right and
forbid the wrong, and they observe regular salah and give akah, and obey God and His Messenger. On them God will have mercy. Truly, Gos is All-mighty, All-Wise (9: 71).
Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, and is a believer, We shall give him [or her] a
good life, and We well give them their reward according to the best of what they did (16:97).
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward (33: 35).
While the above verses show that women are the equals of men in the eyes of God, there are a few things that make women unique in contrast to men. The first two points I learnt from my friend Brother Zahid:
(1) Men are not required to wear hijab.
One of the amazing things about women is that God trusted them with being able to rise above sensual pleasures in their view of the opposite sex. In Islamic tradition, men are only required to cover from the belly button to the knees. Of course, this rule does not intend to advise men to walk around town without a shirt, but it demonstrates the less perverted mind that women possess. Indeed, some women are perverted, but I think this is an extreme minority, and a lot less than the male side. Women on the other hand, are required to cover from head to toe in loose fitting clothes (hijab). This is because mens' straying eyes cannot be trusted.
(2) Men are responsible for more than what women are responsible for. Women are not responsible for men.
Another special thing about women is that God gave them the privilege of being taken care of by men. Men's responsibility for women is known through the following verse in the Holy Qur'an:
And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable;
but men have a degree over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise (2:228).
From the tafseer (exegesis) of ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with him) we learn that the words "a degree over them" means "a degree of responsibility over them." God gave the man a greater degree of responsibility over the woman than that of the woman over the man. In other words, men have got more to answer for than women do or, to put it another way, women have the special rank of having less to answer for than men do.
3) When women are mentioned in the Qur'an they are shown as believers.
The North American Catholic convert to Islam, Jeffrey Lang, observes this point in arguing that women are described in positive ways by God in the Qur'an. When women are mentioned in the Qur'an they are shown as virtuous individuals: the Queen of Sheba, the mother of Moses, the wife of Pharoah, and the mother of Jesus. In contrast, the men mentioned in the Qur'an range from the despicable (e.g. Pharoah, Qarun) to the Noble (e.g. the Prophets).
These are but a few examples of why women are special. Needless to say, there are others. For example, a feature of women that I like is how they are around babies and young children. Women seem to have an ability to communicate that most men don't have.
May women be treated with the respect they deserve. May they be given the care due to them. Aameen.
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