Islamic History

Muslim Women have always understood their responsibility in raising their children, and they have a brilliant record in producing and influencing great men, and instilling noble values in their hearts. There is no greater proof of that than the fact that intelligent and brilliant women have produced more noble sons than have intelligent and brilliant men, so much so that you can hardly any among the great men of our Ummah (Nation) who have controlled the course of events in History who is not indebted to his Mother.

Al Zubayr ibn al Awwam was indebted for his greatness to his mother Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib, who instilled in him his good qualities and distinguished nature.

Abdullah, al Mundhir and Urwah, the sons of Al Zubayr were the products of the values instilled in them by their mother, Asma bint Abi Bakr, and each of them made their mark in history and attained a high status.

Ali ibn Abi Talid received wisdom, virtue and good character from his distinguished mother Fatimah bint Asad.

Abdullah idb Ja'far, the master of Arab generosity and the most noble of their leaders, lost his father at an early age, but his mother Asma bint Umays took care of him and gave him the virtues and noble characteristics by virtue of which she herself became one of the great women of Islam.

Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan inherited his strength of character and intelligence from his mother, Hind bint Utbah, not from his father Abu Sufyan. When he was a baby, she noticed that he had intelligent and clever features. Someone said to her: "If he lives he will become the leader of his people." She responded, "May he not live if he becomes the leader of his people alone!" Mu'awiyah was unable to instill his cleverness, patience and skills in his own son and heir, Yazid, because the boy's mother was a simple Bedouin woman, whom he married for her beauty and because of the status of her tribe.( Note hadeeth 4 qualities a woman is married for).

History records the names of two great men from Banu Umayyah, the first of whom was know for his strength of character, capability, intelligence, wisdom and decisiveness, and the second of whom took the path of justice, goodness, piety and righteousness.

The first was Abdul Malik ibn Marwan, whose mother was Aishah bint al Mughirah ibn Adi'l As ibn Umayyah, who was the well known for her strength of character, resolution and intelligence. the second was Umar ibn Abdul Aziz the fifth of the Kulafaa al rashidun, whose mother was Umm Asim bint Asim ibn Umar ibn al Khattab, who was most noble in character of the women of her time. Her mother was the righteous worshipper of Allah whom Asim saw was honest and truthful and clearly following the right path, when she refused to ad water to the milk as her mother told her to, because she knew that Allah could see her.

If we turn towards Spain Andalusia, we find the brilliant, ambitious ruler Abdur Rahman al Nasir who, having started life as an orphan, went on to establish an Islamic state in the West, to which the leaders and kings of Europe surrender and to whose institute of learning the scholars and philosophers of all nations came to seek knowledge. This state made a great contribution to world-wide Islamic culture. If we were to examine the secret of this man's greatness, we would find that it lay in the greatness of his mother who knew how to instill in him the dynamic spirit of ambition.

During the Abbasid period there were two great women who plated the seeds of ambition, distinction and ascendancy in their sons. The first was the mother of Ja'far ibn Yahya, who was the wazir of the Khalifah Harun al Rashid. The second was the mother of Imam al Shafi'ee: he never saw his father who died whilst he was still a babe in arms: it was his mother who took care of his education.

There are many such examples of brilliant women in our history, women who instilled in their sons nobility of character and the seeds of greatness, and who stood behind them in everything they achieved of power and status.

Lets not forget how the women who brought these men up their character was also instilled in them by the Mothers.