Women

Learn Sūrah Al-Barāʾah (At-Tawbah), and teach your women Sūrah Al-Nūr. And have them wear silver for adornment.

Saʿīd b. Manṣūr, Al-Sunan #1003; Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān #2213.

A female slave once entered upon ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb – Allāh be pleased with him – and he recognised her as having been owned by some of the Muhājirūn or the Anṣār, but she was wearing a jilbāb covering her head with it, so he asked her, “Have you been freed?” To which she replied, “No.” So he said, “Then why the jilbāb? Remove it from your head, the jilbāb is only to be worn as a duty by the free women of the believers.” She hesitated and was slow to comply so he raised his stick and hit her on the head with it until she cast [the jilbāb] from her head.

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf ḥadīth 6240. Graded ṣaḥīḥ according to the conditions of Muslim by Al-Albānī in Irwāʾ Al-Ġalīl 6:204.

A man once came to Ibn ʿAbbās and said, “I proposed to a woman and she refused to marry me, then someone else proposed to her and she wanted to marry him; so I became jealous and killed her. Can I repent from this?” [Ibn ʿAbbās] asked, “Is your mother alive?” He replied, “No.” So he said, “Repent (tawbah) to Allāh the mighty and majestic, and worship him as much as you can.” ʿAṭāʾ said, “So I went and asked Ibn ʿAbbās, ‘Why did you ask him if his mother was alive?’ He replied, ‘I do not know of any action that brings one closer to Allāh than dutifulness to the mother.'”

Al-Bukhārī, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad ḥadīth 4. Graded ṣaḥīḥ by Al-Albānī. See Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Chapter on Dutifulness to the Mother; Al-Ṣaḥīḥah 6:711 ḥadīth 2799.

There are three types of men and three types of women. As for the women, then [one] is the chaste, Muslim, gentle, loving and childbearing woman. She helps her family in difficult situations and does not help situations to overcome her family. Rarely will you find such women. Another is a vessel, she does nothing more than bear children. The third type is a shackle, Allāh puts her around the neck of whomever he wills, and when he wills to remove it, he removes it. Men are [also] three kinds. [The first is] a chaste, easy, gentle man who possesses opinion (insight) and is worthy of being consulted; and when a matter befalls him, he follows his insight, and approaches matters as they should be. [The second is] a man who has no opinions of his own, and when a matter befalls him he goes to the one who does have insight and should be consulted, and he adopts his opinion on the matter. The third is a man who is confused, lost and aimless; he neither follows (seeks) guidance, nor obeys any guide.

Al-Bayhaqī, Shuʿab Al-Īmān 10:39 ḥadīth 7131.

A man from his people, from the Anṣār, went out one night to pray ʿIshāʾ with his people [during the Caliphate of ʿUmar], but some jinn abducted him, and he went missing. His wife went to ʿUmar and told him [of her missing husband]. ʿUmar asked his people about him, and they confirmed that he had gone out to pray ʿIshāʾ but had gone missing. [ʿUmar] told the woman to wait for four years. When four years had passed, the woman went back to ʿUmar and informed him [of her case]. He asked her people and they confirmed the case. He told her she could now marry, and she did. But her [first] husband returned and raised a dispute [over the marriage] to ʿUmar b. Al-Khaṭṭāb – Allāh be pleased with him. ʿUmar said, “One of you disappears for ages, his family does not know whether he is alive or not [and then he turns up, making claims]!” The man replied, “O Leader of the Believers, I have an excuse.” He asked, “And what is your excuse?” The man replied, “I went out to pray ʿIshāʾ one night, but some jinn captured me, and I [was held captive] by them for a long time. Then, some Muʾmin – or Muslim (one of the reporters, Saʿīd, was not sure of the exact word used) jinn waged an attack on them, fought them and beat them, and took captives. They took me amongst the captives, but said, ‘We see that you are a Muslim man, and it is not allowed for us to keep you captive.’ So they gave me the choice of staying with them or returning to my family. I chose to return to my family. They set off with me. By night, no one would say anything to me; but by day there would be a stick I would follow.” ʿUmar – Allāh be pleased with him – asked the man, “What was your food when you were amongst them?” He replied, “Difficult [stolen?] food, and what had not had the name of Allāh mentioned over it.” ʿUmar asked, “And what did you drink when you were amongst them?” He replied, “Al-jadaf (a type of drink that does not ferment).” ʿUmar ruled that the man had a choice to either get back the ṣadāq (dowry) he had given [and have his marriage stay nullified], or take back his wife.

Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Sunan Al-Kubrā 7:445,446. Al-Albānī graded its chain of transmission ṣaḥīḥ in Irwā Al-Ghalīl 4:151

I find it amazing how anyone who passed through the urinary tract twice could ever be arrogant and haughty! Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:92.

Al-Dhahabī, Siyar A’lām Al-Nubalā` 4:92.

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 6387.

We only ever used to speak to our husbands like you address your commanders and leaders: [we would supplicate for them when talking to them] “May Allāh keep you right!”, “May Allāh keep you well!” Abū Nu’aym, Ḥilyatu Al-Awliyā` 5:198. After the death of his wife Umm Ṣālih, Imām Aḥmad – Allāh have mercy on them, used to praise her. He once said: In the thirty years she was with me, we never had a single word of disagreement. Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Tārīkh Baghdād 16:626.

Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Tārīkh Baghdād 16:626.

I would rather die and be resurrected, die and be resurrected, and again die and be resurrected than to see the private part of a Muslim’s body or for a Muslim to see mine. Imām Aḥmad, Al-Zuhd p192. 1st ed. 1983. Dār Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmīyah. Beirut, Lebanon. It is reported that ‘Abdullāh b, ‘Umar – Allāh have mercy on him – said: Verily, part of disregarding the trust upon you is to look inside [other people’s] apartments and houses. Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā, Kitāb Al-Wara’ article 71. It is reported that Anas b. Mālik – Allāh be pleased with him – said: If a woman passes in front of you, lower your eyes until she has passed by. Ibid. article 72. It is reported that Al-‘Alā b. Ziyād – Allāh have mercy on him – said: Let not your sight follow the nice looking back of a woman [as she passed], for indeed the look causes the desire in the heart. Ibid. article 77. It is reported on the authority of Al-Wakī’ b. Al-Jarrāḥ: We went out one Eid with Sufyān Al-Thawrī and he said, “The first thing we will do on this day of ours is to lower our gaze.” Ibid. article 66. It is reported that Ḥassān b. Abī Sinān – Allāh have mercy on him – went out one Eid and when he returned home his wife said, “How many beautiful women have you looked at today?” After she kept asking him, he said, “Woe to you! I have looked at nothing but my toe from when I went out to when I returned to you.” Ibid. article 68.

Ibid. article 68.

يَعْلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ ٱلْأَعْيُنِ وَمَا تُخْفِى ٱلصُّدُورُ

Hunād b. Al-Sarī, Al-Zuhd article 1428.

A righteous woman with a man is like a great gold-leafed crown on the head of a king, and a bad woman with a man is like a heavy weight upon an old man. Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 17428.

Ibn Abī Al-Shaybah, Al-Muṣannaf article 17428.

No man can have anything better after faith (īmān) than a woman of righteous character, loving and child-bearing. And no man can have anything worse after unbelief (kufr) than a sharp-tongued woman of bad character. Al-Ḥāfidh Abul-Qāsim Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb article 1528. Also recorded in other sources with a slight variation in wording.

Al-Ḥāfidh Abul-Qāsim Al-Aṣbahānī, Al-Targhīb wa Al-Tarhīb article 1528. Also recorded in other sources with a slight variation in wording.