Text Box: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم Friday Sermon HAZRAT AMIR’UL MOMENEEN MUHYI-UD-DIN AL KHALIFATULLAH Munir Ahmad Azim 19 March 2010 (03 Rabi’ ul Aakhir 1431 Hijri) (Summary of Friday Sermon) After having greeted everybody with the Salutations of Peace, the Khalifatullah read the Tashahhud, Taouz and Surah Al Fatiha and then he said: وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَاهُم مِّنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًا ۝ Wa laqad karramaaa Banii Aadama wa hamalnaahum fil-barri wal bahri wa razaqnaahum minat-tayyibaati wa fazzal naahum alaa kasiirim-mimman khalaqnaa tafzii-laa. And surely We have honoured the children of Adam, and We carry them in the land and the sea, and We have given them of the good things, and We have made them to excel by an appropriate excellence over most of those whom We have created. (Chapter 17 Verse 71) فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا Fa-aqim wajhaka lid-Diini haniifaa : fitratallaahillatii fataran-naasa alayhaa. (Chapter 30 Verse 31) Then set your face upright for religion in the right state – the nature made by Allah in which He has made men. With these verses of the Holy Quran, I thus continue my Friday Sermon of 19 February 2010 where I talked about the condition of man, how we must educate our youths and give them the best religious teachings. Today I will talk on the importance of women, especially on the known pious ones whom the Holy Quran and Hadiths have mentioned. In all our spiritual achievements, we must acknowledge the efforts of the young girls and women who work with dedication for the propagation of Islam in the world, and here amongst us we have the Siraj Makin. The victory of Islam nowadays is found in the hands of women. In the present era, it is such an era where women will devote themselves more than men in work of Islam. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has said that “Paradise is found under the feet of the mother.” Strictly speaking, heaven is the goal of our life. What do we understand by the sweet word – ‘Paradise’? Paradise, according to the little knowledge we possess, is the belief that therein we shall find happiness, peace of the soul which each one of us seeks to enjoy at all costs and to be freed from the punishment of Hell; to obtain this paradise, there is only one door to knock at. One must seek the door of Islam, opened especially for us. The Islamic law is foremost, further than all international laws about women. There are a lot of verses in the Holy Quran which guide the woman in various fields of her existence. Furthermore the Holy Quran has defined the treatment which were to be given to women, according to the prevailing situations. It is not possible for me today to present all the verses of the Quran, but I shall cite some extracts where the woman is particularly honoured. First of all, a whole chapter has been dedicated to women. It is the fourth chapter “The Women”. There is another chapter entitled “Mary” where Allah talks about the purity, chastity and holiness of virgin Mary, Maryam, the mother of Isa (on him be peace). Man and woman both are humans, two creatures of Allah. Physically and biologically they do not resemble each other. But it is Islam which has precise that man and woman possess same-like souls. Islam has showed all sorts of paths to make this soul approach its Creator. Firstly, you must not humiliate a woman before people, whoever they may be. A woman is a person who possessed dignity, and thus she deserves respect and best treatment. To earn these respect and consideration, she must behave herself well in all circumstances; she must not expose her beauty, and her words must not be uttered in an unpleasant manner to attract attention and she must lead a virtuous life. This is the secret of Islam which aims to give the woman an honourable status. The Holy Quran has honoured the virtuous ladies and has said: فَالصَّالِحَاتُ قَانِتَاتٌ حَافِظَاتٌ لِّلْغَيْبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ اللّهُ Righteous women are obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah has guarded. (Chapter 4 Verse 35) According to this verse, the woman is not only virtuous in the eyes of Allah, but when she is so defined, she obtains divine protection. What more can a woman ask for than obtaining the protection of Allah, if she really possesses this good quality. There are situations whereby a rich woman, in her conjugal relationships, she looks down on other women with arrogance and takes herself to be superior to them because of her riches. Our sisters of the Siraj Makin must take precautions not to fall into these kinds of situations and our sisters must take as their model the first wife of our beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). We can present her as the ideal wife by excellence. Despite her riches and the fact that Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) was very young, and penniless, she chose to marry him for his honesty and sincerity. After their wedding, she gave all her riches and possessions to her husband, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Nowadays, if a rich young girl is to be married to a young man, she and her family can refuse this alliance if his family is not rich or the boy does not have a good job. What they must have looked first in the boy is his love for religion. Thus, take the example of Hazrat Khadija (May Allah be pleased with her) – she did not put any condition before marrying. She was only satisfied that Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) was honest and sincere. When Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) got his first revelation, he was very frightened and he got back home in this state of extreme agitation. It is Khadija who came to him to comfort him and encourage him. She succeeded in removing all fears with gripped Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) that moment and she told him: “Allah will never let you down, for you possess all goodness and do good deeds.” Despite the fact that man is the superior sex, but he needs the support and encouragement of his wife for only his wife would be able to understand him, for a wife in the house represents unity for the family and the husband wants that his wife respects and understands him and life together with him in harmony. He wants to see his wife keeping clean their home and when he comes home at night, to find her with peace of mind. Furthermore, the higher in rank in the eyes of Allah is the obedient wife, for the Holy Quran itself qualifies her as virtuous and with an irreproachable conduct, promoting the welfare of her family. We have also the example of Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa (May Allah be pleased with her). She was talented and possessed lots of virtues. She was raised by her father Hazrat Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) in the best conditions. Hazrat Aisha once saw a dream in which she found three moons falling in her arms and when her father learnt about it, he interpreted her dream and said that one day her daughter will become an eminent lady. Hazrat Abu Bakr gave the the necessary attention for the good upbringing of Hazrat Aisha. After the death of his first wife, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was very grieved. Khawlah bint Hakim, the wife of Usman bin Maz’oon came to him with two marriage proposal, one of which was with Hazrat Aisha, a young virgin. After having got the approval of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Hazrat Khawlah went to Hazrat Abu Bakr’s house to bring this marriage proposal from the Prophet (peace be upon him). Both Umm Ruman and Hazrat Abu Bakr were happy with the proposal but there were two things which worried Hazrat Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him). First of all, he had already promised to marry his daughter Aisha to another man (Jubair ibn Mutim) who was non-Muslim. Thus, he set off to the house of Jubair, and Allah made such a situation prevails that the parents of the boy themselves brought the conversion about breaking the engagement because they feared that their son embraces Islam if he marries in the family of Abu Bakr. When this first problem got resolved, Hazrat Abu Bakr greatest worry was that he considered Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) as his brother, even more. Thus, he thought that his daughter was the Prophet’s niece. When he exposed his worry before Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him), the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) then told him that his daughter Aisha is lawful for him for they were not biological brothers, sharing the same blood, the same mother. After having his worries dissolved, Hazrat Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him) was very happy to accept to marry his daughter to the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), and thus, the Nikah was celebrated with a Mohr of 500 dirhams. After their marriage, Hazrat Aisha was an exemplary housewife, not just for household management but an example in all fields for all Muslim women of the world. She accomplished her duty as an ideal wife for her husband and she was an ideal woman for humanity; she also had lots of love and respect for the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him). Once, through jealousy, the hypocrites levelled a great calumny against Hazrat Aisha. Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) got a revelation which removed the dart of blames from the Mother of the faithful Hazrat Aisha Siddiqa and testified to her innocence. These revelations form an integral part of the Holy Quran which will remain alive for always as proof of her chastity and purity for all coming generations, and this is an irrefutable proof that Allah always will remain the Protector of His devoted and pious female servants, who are true to Him and His Prophet. Once, Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him), under divine instructions asked Hazrat Aisha if she preferred the goods of this world or Allah and to live with the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in the next world. Hazrat Aisha, wise as ever replied: “I choose Allah, His Messenger and the Next World.” When the Holy prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) died, Hazrat Aisha was very young, but she devoted herself entirely for Islam and related most of the sacred words of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) – the Hadiths – whereby these words is still being useful today. Hazrat Aisha was the learned person, the scholar (even if she never attended school or got her degree from a university) of Islam and that is why the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) told his followers to learn half of the religion (of Islam) from Hazrat Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her). Hazrat Aisha was very generous in nature and used to do lots of charity. She participated in the battle of Uhud, giving the soldiers water to drink. Hazrat Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her) died in the year 58 after Hijra, and her funeral prayers was read and led by Hazrat Abu Huraira (May Allah be pleased with him). Our sisters must follow the example of these pious ladies; they left their mark in history and they are perfect models to follow. Each woman must follow their example and become a Khadija, and an Aisha (May Allah be pleased with them), Insha-Allah. To end this sermon, it is my prayer that each man learns to respect his wife and they treat these women as Allah has commanded them to do, and in return the ladies must remain pious for Allah and chaste for their husbands. A pious woman is worth all the gold of this world and a good husband represents the solid pole of faith in this world. Each of them must help their partners so that peace reigns in the house and spread in society, all for the pleasure of Allah. May Allah help us so that we may accomplish pour duties in the best ways, and may Allah be happy with us always. Insha-Allah. Ameen.