Mothers - The Architects Of Society

We are living in an era wherein motherhood is disdained, where the term "Muslim women" conjures up images of exhausted mothers chained to the stove, pregnant women washing dishes and veiled women, whose only chore is to do house work with endless repetition. Motherhood, is projected to be a losing battle against dependence, dependents, dirt, and crime. This is the view of most non-Muslims and so called liberal faasiq Muslims.

In Islam, motherhood is a sacred and sacrosanct vocation;

"Paradise lies under the feet of your mother" - are the glowing terms with which Nabi sallallaahu alaihi wasallam described a mother's status.

Motherhood is not a thankless mundane activity, rather it is a spiritual journey, wherein every bit of sacrifice will be acknowledged and rewarded.

The Holy Qur'an states:

"If any do deeds of righteousness, be it male or female - and have faith, they will enter Paradise and not the least injustice will be done to them."

Mothers are the silent architects of society. They are the indispensable builders of society, who lay the foundation of confidence, faith, and moral values in our youth. Women are bestowed with a distinct psychological chemistry that is needed for motherhood and the healthy development of a family.

Motherhood is certainly not a compassion that can be extracted and bottled, for commercial gain through day care centers and nurseries. Woe to mothers who believe that day care centres and nurseries could replace motherhood, and sacrifice that so that they can place their energies for the pursuit of cash to pay for things unnecessary in the first place.

When motherhood is removed from the social equation of societies, it results in catastrophic consequences. Thirty-eight percent of children now live without a biological father. 6.6 million children live with divorced single parents, mostly mothers whose ex-husbands tend to fade away from their children. Twenty percent of children in the United States ages 6-12 have not had a 10-minute conversation with a parent in a month. Their conversation is with TV, which acts as their mother, father, baby-sitter, and teacher. By the time they are teenagers, children have seen an estimated 18,000 violent murders on TV. This is family life in USA. "Something is wrong with the entire American family," writes Martin Marry, professor at the University of Chicago in the Los Angles Times. "One has the weird sense that America is a country with many children but without adults."

The Holy Prophet SAW advised women in the following terms:

"TAKE CARE OF YOUR HOME - FOR THAT IS YOUR JIHAD" (Musnad Ahmad)

Jihad is the epitome of Islamic life. By declaring motherhood as Jihad, Nabi SAW conferred the highest possible status to women in an Islamic society. Motherhood is the natural role and home of women. To deny them their natural role is to oppress them. At a time when Islam is faced with hostile media coverage particularly where the status of women is concerned, it may be quite surprising to learn that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. It may be even more ironic to discover that the majority of reverts to Islam are WOMEN! Why do so many women who have been born and bred in the "Free World" reject their "liberty" and "independence" to embrace a religion that supposedly oppresses them?

May Allah protect us from flirting with a morally bankrupt and corrupt civilisation.

May he protect and preserve our family structures and grant our mothers the best of rewards. Ameen.