Points on Reformation of the Muslim Community
Author: Umm Salamah As-Salafiyyah
Ash Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (Rahimahullaah) said, "Reforming a Muslim community could be divided into two categories:
The First Category: Open Reformation
This is what occurs in the malls, masaajd, and other public places. The men most commonly handle this type of reformation because they are the ones who go out of the home.
The Second Category: Private Reformation
This occurs in the houses and the women handle this important reformation. This is because the women's place is in the home, as Allaah has aimed His Speech towards the affair of women when He said,
‘And close yourselves in your houses and do not attract attention to yourselves as was done in the time of ignorance, and establish the prayer, and pay the charity and obey Allaah and His Messenger. Verily, Allaah wishes to rid you of unseemliness, O people of the house (of Muhammad ('alayhis salaam)), and to purify you.’ [Sooratul-Ahzaab 33: 33]
We presume after reading this verse that there is no harm upon us if we say that half or more than half of work in reforming the Muslim community falls on the shoulders of the women, and that is for two reasons:
The First Reason: Women are as numerous as men are, if not more numerous. The progeny of Aadam is mostly women as the prophetic traditions prove. However, this differs from country to country and from time to time. Consequently, it may be the case that women in one country are more than men and maybe the opposite is true in another country. Just as women might have outnumbered men in one period, and the opposite could have been true in another. In any case, the woman has a big role in maintaining the Muslim community.
The Second Reason: The first period of life occurs in the care of women and in that is proof of the importance of what is obligatory on the women in reforming the Muslim community.” [1]
Allaah Says: “The believing men and women are protectors of one another, they enjoin the good and forbid the evil, they establish the prayer and pay the charity, and they obey Allaah and His Messenger. They will be under the mercy of Allaah. Verily, Allaah is Mighty, Wise” [Sooratut-Tawbah 9:71]
Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (Rahimahullaah) said about this verse: “The meaning is that they support each other and lend a hand to each other.”
In order for the woman to realize her importance in reforming the community, it is a necessity for her to have someone who supports and lends her a hand and that someone should be the man. Indeed, the Lord of honor and glory clarified this to us in His Noble Book and in the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) when he brought it to our attention and guided us to some of the rights that the woman has over the man.
Footnotes:
[1] Taken from his book: The Place of Women in Reforming the Muslim Community
Source: Al-Intisaaru li Huqooqee al-Mu’minaat (Supporting the Rights of the Believing Women).
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