A Righteous Women is an Example for Her Children
By Shaykh Saalih ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullaah)
The Uprightness of a Woman
A woman first and foremost needs to be righteous herself, so that she can be a good example for her daughters.
How can a woman become upright? Every woman must realize that only through knowledge can she become upright, and here I am referring to religious knowledge that she can learn from books - if that is possible for her - or from the tongues of scholars, regardless of whether those scholars are men or women.
In these times, it has become very easy for women to learn knowledge directly from the mouths of scholars through audio cassettes, for Islamic audio cassettes Alhamdulillah now represent an important means of enlightening and educating society. Hence, a woman needs knowledge to become upright, for there is no such thing as uprightness without knowledge.
Sound Training of Children
A woman should train her children properly, for her children represent the men and women of the future. In the earliest stages of their development, it is the mothers that human beings learn from. If she is a good mother, good in her manners and dealings and good in the way she brings up her children, then those children will take after her and contribute positively to the betterment of society.
Every mother, then, must dedicate herself to training her children, and if she cannot undertake their training on her own, then their father or another guardian – for example, a brother or uncle, if their father is dead – should help her to raise them.
A woman should not yield to difficult circumstances, feeling that she cannot change her situation or her family’s situation for the better. A bad situation needs to be changed and a good situation needs to be improved. When the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to a Nation whose people worshipped idols, severed the ties of relations, and wronged one another, he (ﷺ) did not submit to their situation; in fact, Allah did not permit him to give up and yield to the prevailing conditions. Allah said to him:
فَاصْدَعْ بِمَا تُؤْمَرُ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
Therefore proclaim openly (Allah’s Message – Islamic Monotheism) that which you are commanded, and turn away from Al-Mushrihun (polytheists, idolaters and disbelievers).
(Qur’an – Surah Al Hijr, 15:94)
[Source: Excerpt from The Islamic Awakening, by Shaykh Muhammad Saalih Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, pg. 223 and pg 229. Compiled by his student Abu Anas Ali ibn Husayn Abu Lauz]
