Being Women

The idea of women as evil has a historical pattern. Let us today remind ourselves how before the birth of our beloved Prophet (SAW), we women were slaves, but He(SAW) taught us we were free. We were an object, but He(SAW) swore it was illegal. Back then we were taught you that the purpose of our lives was to be on display, to attract and be beautiful for men. There was a complete belief that a woman’s body was created to market their cars.

Then it was none other than our beloved Prophet (saw), who preached boldly on the importance of women; celebrating their unique contributions to family and society and condemning the ill-treatment of women. It was Him (SAW) who transformed the whole scenario by bringing into presence that a woman’s body, their soul was created for something higher.

To me, being a woman is one of the great honors Allah has bestowed us with, but at current times we see how we women have made a faulty assumption by accepting man as a standard, thus a woman can never be a full human being until she becomes just like him.

When a man cut his hair short, she wanted to cut her hair short. When a man joined the army, she wanted to join the army. She wanted these things for no other reason than because the “standard” is them.

What she doesn’t recognize is that Allah dignifies both men and women in their distinctiveness–not in their sameness. When we accept men as the standard, suddenly anything uniquely feminine becomes by definition inferior. Being sensitive is an insult, becoming a full-time mother—a degradation.

As soon as we accepted that everything a man has and does is better, all that followed was just a knee-jerk reaction: if men have it—we want it too. Somewhere along the line we’ve accepted the notion that having a position of worldly leadership is some indication of one’s position with Allah.

A Muslim woman does not need to degrade herself in this way. She has Allah as a standard. She has Allah to give her value; she doesn’t need a man for her existence.

As Muslim women, we have been liberated from this silent bondage. We don’t need society’s standard of beauty or fashion, to define our worth. We don’t need to become just like men to be honored, and we don’t need to wait for a prince to save or complete us. Our worth, our honor, our salvation, and our completion lie not in the slave. But in freeing oneself from all the worldly desires, definitions and faulty assumptions.

So I am honored, but it is not by my relationship to men. My value as a woman is not measured by the size of my waist or the number of men who like me. My worth as a human being is measured on a higher scale: a scale of righteousness and piety. And my purpose in life—despite

what the fashion magazines says—is something more noble than just looking good for men.

And so, Allah tells me to cover myself, to hide my beauty and to tell the world that I’m not here to please men with my body; I’m here to please Allah. Allah elevates the dignity of a woman’s body by commanding that it be respected and covered, shown only to the deserving—only to the

man I marry.

On the other hand, only a woman can be a daughter(definition of strength), a sister(definition of love) and a mother, who Allah has given a special privilege to. The Prophet(SAW) taught us that heaven lies at the feet of mothers. But no matter what a man does he can never be a mother. When asked, “Who is most deserving of our kind treatment?” the Prophet(SAW) replied, “Your mother” three times before saying “your father” only once.

If I be given a choice between worldly leadership and heaven at my feet—I choose heaven.

I being a woman would like to bring forth the concept of being distinct. Respect the dignity Allah has blessed you with, and stop competing men in worldly affairs. We both men and women have same purpose of existence (to worship Allah), thus indulging yourself into the worldly desires.