The Sunday Mail
Sheik Mustafa Chindandari
A woman owns every society and has the full swing of its civil, social, economic, environmental progress and prosperity.
Women are more than half of the world’s population and they nourish the other half, hence their pivotal roles are unmatchable and cannot be trivialised. This is a sublime truth which unfortunately at times men do not ascribe to and as a result, many-a-time they go down.
Those who studied the Chimurenga struggles for liberation are at least aware of Mbuya Nehanda and her enormous spiritual and physical influence that paved way for today’s Zimbabwean sovereignty and Independence.
Those who are Christians can as well appreciate the role of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, as a contributing source of the latter’s abundant divine blessings and spiritual success that is celebrated even up to today.
There are so many examples of societies whose fame can be traced to women. Some say behind every successful man, there is a hard-working woman.
If Islam is a religion that the world can collectively agree has in many ways impacted the global village, then after attributing all the credits for its propagation to the Prophet of Mercy, Muhammad (saww), we are also probed to notice the kind of women that surrounded him and helped him significantly in shaping this Islamic empire.
After the birth of the Prophet of Mercy and whilst in infancy, it did not take much time before he lost his beloved mother, unfortunately as a result much cannot be said about her influence on Muhammad’s (saww) prophet hood.
Many could have also read that the Prophet of Islam had a number of wives as reported by many historians. However it should also be noted that He was a loyal husband who never married any other woman during his first marriage to Lady Khadija (ra).
Lady Khadija was the mother to Sayyeda Fatima, Prophet Muhammad’s (saww) only daughter who survived his demise and through whom the offspring of the Prophet of Mercy are traced.
Khadija was a lady of affluence before and after her marriage to Muhammad (saww) and she was very famous in the entire Arab world.
Unfortunately upon her demise, she had remained with nothing substantial for her children to inherit. She had lost all her wealth in taking care of the early Islamic entity when it was struck with economic sanctions.
Prophet Muhammad (saww) said a lot in praise of Khadija and he would speak much about her, even after her demise, to the point some of his wives would get envious.
To an extent, we can give her the credit of this flourishing Islamic world which we could not also hesitate to give her in all folds had it been not for her daughter — Sayyeda Fatima (sa).
Fatima (sa) was Prophet Muhammad’s (saww) daughter who stood by her father and his religion for her entire life both fearlessly and tirelessly.
There are many Islamic narrations that report of her witty and strong character that resisted all kinds of trials and seditions that could have made Islam suffer a stillbirth.
She was the only lady who enjoyed undisputed respect of Prophet Muhammad (saww). Whenever she entered the courtyard of her father, he would stand up in her respect, kiss her and give her his throne.
Prophet Muhammad (saww) would also refer his companions to Fatima for religious-related enlightenment and explanations. He declared Sayyeda Fatima (sa) the Queen of all Believers in this World and Hereafter.
In a narration from Al-Miswar bin Makhrama in Bukhari and other Sunni Islam texts and many other in Shi’a Islam literature, Prophet Muhammad (saww) was reported to have hinted, “Fatima is a part of me, and he who makes her angry makes me angry too.” Her lifestyle was characterised by patience, wit and bravery and resembles the nature of chastity that was in the Virgin Mary (sa), the piety of Asiya (sa), the obedience of Moses’ mother, and the loyalty of her own mother Khadija (as) to the end.
Should we desire a transformed global society in which crime is less, and harmony and prosperity thrive, then an initiative should be made to encourage our ladies to inherit such qualities.
