ISCA - The Islamic Supreme Council of America

Women In Islam

What is the Islamic ruling if every time I become pregnant I give birth to a girl? Do I keep getting pregnant until I have a boy? In raising my girls do I get the same reward as someone who raises boys?
What is the Islamic ruling on some of the cultures that prevent women from learning? Also do women have a role in defending Islam and building the Islamic civilization or must they always stay at home?
Along the same lines, what about the Islamic ruling whereby Allah put men in authority over women, giving men the reward of jihad and of prayer in congregation, both of which He did not give to women?

What is the Islamic ruling if every time I become pregnant I give birth to a girl? Do I keep getting pregnant until I have a boy? In raising my girls do I get the same reward as someone who raises boys?

Girls are a blessing from Allah swt and a means of attaining Paradise. The love of boys and hatred of girls is a custom from the days before Islam, the Days of Ignorance, and are rejected by the Quran. We find on the contrary, that Islam encourages Muslims and believers to seek out the great rewards obtained for those who raise their daughters on love of Allah and love of the Prophet (s). The Prophet (s) said “If a person has a baby girl, teaches her, raises and trains her well, then gives her hand in marriage, Allah gives him a double reward.” [Bukhari and Muslim] The Prophet (s) said, “If a person has a baby girl and never humiliated her and never put her down and never put his son above her, Allah will grant him paradise.” [Abu Dawud and al-Hakim] The Holy Quran encourages the teaching of girls and called for women to be partners in interfaith debates when it says, “If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee, say: ‘Come! let us gather together,- our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: Then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!’" [3: 61] In this verse, Allah mentioned the women in total equality with the men, as participants in a religious debate with unbelievers who refused to accept the faith in the time of the Prophet (s).

What is the Islamic ruling on some of the cultures that prevent women from learning? Also do women have a role in defending Islam and building the Islamic civilization or must they always stay at home?

Women are honored in every step of her life in Islam just as men, and Islam does not differentiate between men and women. Islam speaks to both equally.

Prophet Muhammad (s) was the first to set an example, as builder of the Islamic Nation, when he took his wives with him to participate in campaigns, when he consulted them on important matters of religion. Allah swt honored them with the title, “mothers of the believers.” As mothers do, the wives of the Prophet (s) provided inspiration and guidance to succeeding generations of believers, and were sought out for their knowledge of the Prophetic Sunnah and their understanding of the faith.

Just as it opened the doors of learning and knowledge for men, Islam opened them for women. Moreover, some women attained higher intellectual levels and learning than men in the study of Quran, its memorization, Sunna, hadith sciences, jurisprudence and history of Islamic law. Islamic history reveals many women more knowledgeable in these fields than men, demonstrating the Islamic principle that “seeking knowledge is an obligation on every man and woman,” as stated by the Prophet (s).

At the beginning of Islamic history, we see that large numbers women studied and narrated hadiths and a number of female narrators acquired great renown. Ibn Sa`ad in his Tabaqat, named 700 women who narrated hadith from the Prophet (s). Ibn Hajr in his book Al-isaba fee tammayyiz al-sahaba, mentioned more than 1543 women narrators of hadith and testified to their knowledge and trustworthiness in this field. And many of the preeminent male scholars of Islam expressed great admiration for Islam’s scholarly women, including al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, in his book Tarikh Baghdad, Imam Nawawi in his book Tahdheeb al-asma wal-lughat, and al-Sakhawi in his al-Daw al-lam`a. From the time of the Prophet (s) until today, countless women were beacons of the faith, educating Muslims in every different field of Islamic science. As well, many of the greatest male scholars studied under women, including Imam ash-Shafi`i., founder of one of the main schools of thought, who used to attend the circle of as-Sayyida Nafisa. And Allah knows best.

Along the same lines, what about the Islamic ruling whereby Allah put men in authority over women, giving men the reward of jihad and of prayer in congregation, both of which He did not give to women?

To answer this Muslim men and women must be educated in their religion, in order to understand each other’s roles. If not adequately educated in Islamic shari`ah, one cannot understand the importance of Islam’s societal structure and the individual roles of men and women. When Allah said in Quran, “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women” [4:34] or as is sometimes translated, “Men are in authority over women,” it means that Allah has given man the responsibility to look after women, not that He is honoring men above women. Rather it is men’s duty to look after women’s needs, and as such is a responsibility, not an honor. On the other hand Allah’s saying “And indeed We honored the Children of Adam” [17: 70] includes both men and women in that honor.

Bearing responsibility for the household must be based on understanding between the two parties managed through love and mutual discussion. It does not mean, as some men think, “I am the boss”, oppressing women. On the contrary it is man’s duty, his responsibility to the Creator. He created man to live with woman in peace and harmony,

As to the prayers in congregation, jihad and other issues, we will quote the hadith of the Prophet (s), in which one day, as the Prophet (s) was among his Companions, the daughter of Yazid al-Ansari said, “By Allah I love you more than my father and mother. I am coming on behalf of a large group of ladies behind me as their spokeswoman, in that Allah has sent you to both men and women totally (kafa) and that we believed in you. We as women have been singled out in our homes, carrying your children and doing your housework, and you men have been honored above us with pilgrimage, prayer in congregation, visiting the sick, following the bier of the deceased, and above that performing jihad in the way of Allah. And if any of you went for umra and hajj we must remain at home guarding your wealth and striving to raise your children well. What is our reward in that?” The Prophet (s) looked at his Companions, turning his face to all of them. “Did you hear a better issue than that raised by this woman, regarding her faith?” The Companions said, “O Prophet of Allah (s), we never thought a woman would be guided to such a question.” The Prophet (s) said, “O Asma bint Yazid al-Ansari, know yourself and tell all the women behind you that for all that you have mentioned, if you perform them properly and diligently, you will receive all the reward that the men receive and you will be equal in reward.” The lady left and happiness shown in her face. She went and told her people what the Prophet (s) said, and all entered the fold of Islam.