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"Men are maintainers of women". (4:34).
According to Islamic Law, a
woman cannot be forced to marry against her will. After marriage, she enjoys
similar rights in most affairs. The Holy Quran says:
"And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them..."(2:228).
Now, these verses were revealed to guarantee protection and respect to women, which they had been denied so far. The Holy Prophet (ï·º) repeatedly instructed the believers to be kind to their wives. In a Hadith he said:
"The most perfect believers are the best in conduct and the best of you are those who are best to their wives".
This means that the best criterion for judging a husband's conduct is his treatment of his wife. The
himself demonstrated this by giving equal love, time, and attention to his wives.
As Mothers;
Islam accorded an exalted status to women in the capacity of the mother. The Holy Prophet (ï·º) summed up all the Islamic teachings about the status of mothers by saying:
"Paradise lies under the feet of mothers".
This special status was given to mothers because of their
sufferings and endurance during the pregnancy period and the early upbringing
of the children. The Holy Quran similarly mentions the pains suffered by a mother in
this verse:
"And We have enjoined upon man to be good to his
parents; his mother bears him in weakness upon weakness...." (31:14)
Here the mother has been specially mentioned because of her special the Holy Prophet (ï·º) in an incident thrice insisted on serving one's mother and only the fourth time he told the questioner to serve his father. The Holy Prophet's kind treatment of his foster mother Halima is a wonderful example. He used to call her "my mother".
As Daughters;
The Quran makes it clear that it is God
Almighty's Will and Power to award either sons or daughters and declares: He
bestows (children) male or female according to His will and plan, or He bestows
both males and females........" (42:49-50) It is abundantly clear from the
verse quoted that both sons and daughters are to be taken as Allah's blessing
and therefore both should be treated equally. Similarly, the Quran condemns the
pre-Islamic inhuman practice of (female) infanticide and warns us about its
sure accountability before God on the Day of Judgement:
"When the female infant, buried alive, is questioned for what crime she was killed". {(81:8-9).
The Holy Prophet (ï·º) said:
If anybody has got a female child and does neither bury her alive, nor treats her unjustly, nor prefers his (male) children to her, Allah will admit him into Paradise". (Abu Dawud).
This tradition of the Holy Prophet (ï·º) proves that daughters should be treated justly and kindly in Allah's great rewards. A father must provide for the maintenance of his daughter without the least degree of discrimination and he should take full care of all her physiological, spiritual, and emotional needs.
