The True Islamic Personality of the Muslim Woman

The Ideal Muslimah: the true Islamic personality of the Muslim woman as defined in the Qur'an and Sunnah
The Ideal Muslimah
is proud of the great position that Islam has given her among humanity.
She performs her duties knowing that her role is clearly defined and
that her rights are still, even today, greater than any other ideology
has provided. She is a woman of moral excellence, true to her nature,
not confused by alien and morally bankrupt ideas. She preserves her
self-respect and dignity through her piety in obedience to Allah (swt)
and His Messenger (saw). She is the role model that every true believer hopes to emulate.

CHAPTER 1: THE MUSLIM WOMAN AND HER RABB


She Observes Nafil Fasts

The true Muslim woman also observes nafil fasts at times other than Ramadan, if it is not too difficult for her to do so. So she fasts the day of `Arafat, and `Ashura', and the ninth day of Muharram, because fasting on these days and others is one of the righteous deeds that may expiate sins, as the Prophet (PBUH) told us: Abu Qutadah (RAA) said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was asked about fasting on the day of `Arafat, and he said: `It is an expiation for the sins of the previous year and the current year.'"65 Ibn `Abbas (RAA) said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) fasted the day of `Ashura', and commanded others to fast on this day too.66 Abu Qutadah (RAA) said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was asked about fasting on the day of `Ashura', and he said: "It is an expiation for the sins of the previous year."67

Ibn `Abbas said:
"The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: `If I am still alive next year, I will fast on the ninth day (of Muharram).'"68

Fasting six days of Shawwal is also encouraged, as the Prophet (PBUH) said:
"Whoever fasted Ramadan then followed it with six days of Shawwal, it will be as if he fasted for a lifetime."69

It is also recommended to fast for three days of each month, concerning which Abu Hurayrah (RAA) said:
"My dearest friend (i.e., the Prophet (PBUH)) advised me to do three things: to fast for three days of each month, to pray two rak`ahs of duha prayer, and never to sleep until I pray witr."70

Abu'l-Darda' (RAA) said:
"My beloved friend (PBUH) advised me to do three things that I shall never
give up as long as I live: to fast three days of each month, to pray duha, and not to sleep until I have prayed witr."71

`Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As (RAA) said:
"The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: `Fasting for three days of each month is like fasting for an entire lifetime.'"72 Some reports describe these three days as being the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth of each month, which are called al-ayyam al-bid (the white days); other reports state that the Prophet (PBUH) used to fast on three unspecified days of each month.
Mu`adhah al-`Adawiyyah said: "I asked `A'ishah (May Allah be pleased with her), `Did the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) used to fast three days in each month?' She said, `Yes.' I asked her, `In which part of the month did he used to fast?' She said, `He did not mind in which part of the month he would fast.'"73

Footnotes:

1. Bab Yaziffun. See Ibn Hijr, Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih Bukhari, published by Dar al-Ma'rifah, vol. 6, p. 396.
   
2. See Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, 1/147.
   
3. See Imam al-Baghawi, Sharh al-Sunnah, 2/176 (Kitab al-salah, bab fadl al-salawat al-khams); published by al-Maktab al-Islami.
   
4. See Kitab
   al-salah, bab fadl al-salawat al-khams.
   
5. See
   Sahih Muslim bi sharh al-Nawawi, Kitab al-masajid, bab fadl al-salah
   al-maktubah fi jama'ah, 5/170, published by the Head Office of Academic
   Research, Ifta and Da'wah, Saudi Arabia.
   
6. Kitab al-taharah, bab fadl al-wudu' wa'l-salah 'aqabahu.
   
7. Fath al-Bari, 1/482, bab fi kam tualli al-mar'ah fi'l-t hiyab.
   
8. (Bukhari and Muslim) See Sharh al-Sunnah, 2/195, Kitab al-salah, bab ta'jil salat al-fajr.
   
9. (Bukhari and Muslim) See Sharh al-Sunnah, 3/410, Kitab al-salah, bab takhfif fi amrin yahdath.
   
10. Abu Dawud, 1/221, Kitab al-salah, bab ma ja'a fi khuruj al-nisa' ila al-masjid; Ahmad, 2/76; it is hasan li ghayrihi.
    
11. Fat
    al-Bari, 2/351, Kitab al-adhan, bab isti'dhan al-mar'ah zawjaha
    bi'l-khuruj ila'l-masjid; Sahih Muslim, 4/161, Kitab al-salah, bab
    khuruj al-nisa' ila'l-masajid.
    
12. Fatal-Bari, 2/382, kitab al-jumu'ah, bab al-idhn li'l-nisa' bi'l-khuruj ila'l-masajid.
    
13. See
    Fath al-Bari, commentary on Sahih Bukhari, 1/506, Kitab al-salah, bab
    ma ja'a fi'l-qiblah; Sahih Muslim, 5/10, Kitab al-salah, bab tahwil
    al-qiblah min al-quds ila'l-ka'bah.
    
14. Sahih Muslim, 6/162, Kitab al-jumu'ah, Bab tahiyyah al-masjid wa'l-imam yukhtub.
    
15. Sahih Muslim, 6/160, Kitab al-jumu'ah, Bab khutbah al-hajah.
    
16. This
    hadith, narrated by 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, is recorded by Abu 'Awanah,
    Ibn Khazimah and Ibn Hibban in their Sahihs; see also Fath al-Bari,
    2/357, Kitab al-jumu'ah, bab fadl al-ghusl yawm al-jumu'ah.
    
17. See Fath al-Bari, 3/236, 237, Kitab al-jana'iz, bab ma ja'a fi 'adhab al-qabar.
    
18. See Fath al-Bari, 2/529, Kitab al-kusuf, bab al-sadaqah fi'l-kusuf; Sahih Muslim,
    6/212, Kitab al-kusuf, bab ma 'arada 'ala al-Nabi (SAAS) fi salat al-kusuf min al-jannah wa'l-nar.
    
19. See Sahih Muslim, 18/84, Kitab al-fitan wa ashrat al-sa'ah, bab qadiyyah al-jasasah.
    
20. Reported by Ahmad, see silsilah al-Hadith al-sahihah, no. 900, 2/601.
    
21. See
    Fath al-Bari, 2/347, Kitab al-adhan, bab khuruj al-nisa' ila'l-masajid;
    Sahih Muslim, 5/137, Kitab al-masajid, bab waqt al-'isha' wa ta'khiriha.
    
22. Sahih Muslim, 4/159, Kitab al-salah, bab tawiyyah al-sufuf wa iqamatiha.
    
23. See Fath al-Bari, 2/349, Kitab al-adhan, bab intidar al-nas qiyam al-imam al-'alim.
    
24. (Bukhari and Muslim) See Sharh al-Sunnah, 3/273, Kitab al-salah, bab al-tasbih idha nabaha shay' fi'l-salah.
    
25. Al-Mudawwanah, 1/106.
    
26. See Sahih Muslim, 4/161, 162, Kitab al-salah, bab khuruj al-nisa'
    ila'l-masajid.
    
27. Ibid., 4/162, 163.
    
28. Ibid., 4/161
    
29. Fath
    al-Bari, 2/382, Kitab al-jumu'ah, bab al-idhn li'l-nisa' bi'l-khuruj
    ila'l-masajid; Sahih Muslim, 4/161, Kitab al-salah, bab khuruj al-nisa'
    ila'l-masajid.
    
30. Sahih Muslim, 4/161, kitab al-salah, bab khuruj al-nisa' ila'l-masajid.
    
31. Ibid., 4/163
    
32. Ibid., 4/163
    
33. Ibid., 4/163
    
34. Ibid., 6/178, 179, Kitab salat al-'idayn, bab ibahah khuruj al-nisa' fi'l-'idayn ila'l-musalla.
    
35. Ibid., 6/179, Kitab salat al-'idayn, bab ibahah khuruj al-nisa' fi'l-'idayn ila'l-musalla.
    
36. Ibid., 6/180, Kitab salat al-'idayn, bab ibahah khuruj al-nisa' fi'l-'idayn ila'l-musalla.
    
37. Fath al-Bari, 2/469, Kitab al-'idayn, bab idha lam yukun laha jilbab fi'l-'id.
    
38. Fath al-Bari, 2/469, Kitab al-'idayn, bab idha lam yukun laha jilbab fi'l-'id.
    
39. Fath al-Bari, 2/466, Kitab al-'idayn, bab maw'izah al-imam al-nisa'a yawm al-'id; Sahih Muslim, 6/174, Kitab salat al-'idayn.
    
40. Ibn
    Hijr mentioned in Fath al-Bari, 2/468, that she was Asma' bint Yazid
    ibn al-Sakan, who was known as the spokeswoman for the women, and was a
    very confident woman.
    
41. Fath al-Bari, 2/466, Kitab al-'idayn, bab maw'izat al-imam al-nisa'a yawn al-'id; Sahih Muslim, 6/171, Kitab salat al-'idayn.
    
42. See Ibn al-Jawzi, Ahkam al-nisa', 186, 204 (Beirut edition); Ibn Qudamah, al-Mughni, 2/202 (Riyadh edition).
    
43. Fath al-Bari, 11/341, Kitab al-riqaq, bab al-tawadu'
    
44. Sahih Muslim, 16/184, Kitab al-birr wa'l-adab wa'l-silah, bab idha ahabba Allahu 'abdan.
    
45. (Bukhari and Muslim) See Sharh
    al-Sunnah 4/45, Kitab al-salat, bab al-ijtihad fi qiyam al-layl.
    
46. See Sahih Muslim, 6/72, 73, Kitab salat al-musafirin, bab fadilat al-'aml al-da'im.
    
47. Ibid., 6/73.
    
48. Ibid., 6/72.
    
49. See Sahih Muslim, 6/70-72, Kitab salah al-musafirin, bab fadilah al-'aml al-da'im.
    
50. Ibid., 5/89, 90, Kitab al-masajid, bab istihbab al-dhikr ba'd al-salah.
    
51. See
    Imam al-Nawawi, Riyadh al-Salihin, p. 621, Kitab al-adhkar, bab fadl
    al-dhikr wa'l-hathth 'alayhi; Sahih Muslim, 5/83-95, Kitab al-masajid,
    bab al-dhikr ba'd al-salat.
    
52. See Sahih Muslim, 5/95, Kitab al-masajid, bab al-dhikr ba'd al-salah.
    
53. See Sahih Muslim, 1/207, Kitab al-iman, bab wujub qital tarik ahad arkan al-Islam.
    
54. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/217, Kitab al-siyam, bab thawab man sama
    Ramadan.
    
55. (Bukhari
    and Muslim), See Riyad al-Salihin, p. 570, Kitab al-fada'il, bab fi amr
    al-sa'im bi hifz lisanihi wa jawarihihi 'an al-mukhalifat.
    
56. Fath al-Bari, 4/116, Kitab al-sawm, bab man lam yada' qawl al-zur wa'l-'aml bihi fi'l-sawm.
    
57. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/221, Kitab al-sawm, bab fadl al-sawm.
    
58. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 4/116, Abwab al-nawafil, bab qiyam shahr Ramadan wa fadluhu.
    
59. Sahih Muslim, 8/70, Kitab al-sawm, bab al-ijtihad fi'l-'ashar al-awakhir min shahr Ramadan.
    
60. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/389, Kitab al-siyam, bab al-ijtihad fi'l-'ashar al-awakhir.
    
61. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/380, Kitab al-siyam, bab ma ja'a fi laylat al-adr.
    
62. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/379,
    Kitab al-siyam, bab ma ja'a fi laylat al-qadr.
    
63. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/251, Kitab al-siyam, bab fadl al-suhur.
    
64. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/253, Kitab al-siyam, bab fadl al-suhur.
    
65. Sahih Muslim, 8/51, Kitab al-siyam, bab istihbab siyam yawm 'Arafat.
    
66. Sahih Muslim, 8/12, Kitab al-siyam, bab sawm yawm 'ashura'.
    
67. Sahih Muslim, 8/51, Kitab al-siyam, bab istihbab siyam yawm 'ashura'.
    
68. Sahih Muslim, 8/13, Kitab al-siyam, bab sawm yawm 'ashura'.
    
69. Sahih Muslim, 8/56, Kitab al-siyam: bab istahbab siyam sittat ayam min shawwal.
    
70. Fath
    al-Bari, 4/226, Kitab al-sawm, bab siyam ayam al-bid; Sahih Muslim,
    5/234, Kitab salat al-musafirin, bab istihbab salat al-duha.
    
71. Sahih Muslim, 5/235, Kitab salat al-musafirin, bab
    istihbab salat al-duha.
    
72. (Bukhari and Muslim), See Sharh al-Sunnah, 6/362, Kitab al-siyam, bab sawm al-dahr.
    
73. Sahih Muslim, 8/48, Kitab al-siyam, bab istihbab siyam thalathat ayyam min kulli shahr.