91. Be brave and start from now! (cont.)

He was asked, "Who should I honour the most?" The Prophet replied, "Your mother, then your mother, then your mother and then your father." (al-Bukhari and Muslim) He similarly advised husbands to look after their wives, and went on to criticise those who anger or hurt their wives. Read the words the Prophet said on his last pilgrimage in front of a hundred thousand pilgrims, amongst them white, black, old, young, rich and poor. He called out to them all and said, "You must treat your womenfolk well! You must treat your womenfolk well!" (Muslim and al-Tirmidhi) One day, a group of women came to the wives of the Prophet complaining about their husbands. When the Prophet heard of this, he stood amongst the people and said, 'A group of women have approached the wives of Muhammad complaining about their husbands. These husbands are not the best of your people.' (Abu Dawud, Sahih) He also said, "The best of you is the one who is best to his family, and I am the best of you to my family." (al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, Sahih) As a matter of fact, the religion of Islam has given so much respect to women that wars were initiated, flesh was sliced and heads struck off over a single one of them: The Jews used to live side by side with the Muslims in Madinah. They hated the fact that Allah had revealed the order of hijab and that thereafter the Muslim women were covered. They tried to plant the seeds of corruption, and attempted to unveil the Muslim women, but failed. With women One day, a Muslim woman went to a marketplace owned by the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa'. She was a chaste and modest woman. She visited a jeweller amongst them. The Jews saw her and disliked the fact that she was chaste and covered. They wanted to have a glimpse at her, molest her or flirt with her, as they would do before Islam honoured women. They wanted her to uncover her face and take off her hijaab, but she refused. The jeweller therefore took an end of her garment and attached it to the end of her khimar, while she was unaware. When she stood up, her garment was raised, revealing her body parts. The Jews began to laugh. The Muslim woman cried out, wishing they had killed her rather than uncovering her body. A Muslim man saw this happen, so he brandished his sword and attacked the jeweller, killing him. In turn, the Jews attacked the Muslim and killed him. When the Prophet came to know about this, and the fact that the Jews had violated their pledge with him, and molested a woman, he surrounded the Jews until they all surrendered and conceded to his judgement. When the Prophet decided to punish them in revenge for the honour of a chaste Muslim woman being violated, one of the devil's helpers stood up − those who have no concern for the honour of Muslim women and only care about satisfying their stomachs and private parts. This leader of the hypocrites, 'Abdullah bin Ubay bin Salul, stood up and said, "O Muhammad! Please, treat my allies with kindness!" He said this because they had been allied to him during the days of pre-Islamic ignorance. The Prophet turned away from him and refused to concede, for how could he forgive a people who wished to spread corruption amongst the Believers?! With women The hypocrite said again, "O Muhammad, treat them with kindness!" But the Prophet , turned away from him, again, in favour of defending the honour of the chaste Muslim woman. The hypocrite then became angry. He placed his hand in the pocket of the Prophet's shirt and pulled him saying, "Be kind to my allies! Be kind to my allies!" The Prophet became angry. He turned around and shouted at him, "Let go of me!" But the hypocrite refused and began to beg the Prophet to prevent their execution. The Prophet turned to him and said, "They are yours, then", and decided not to execute them. However, he did expel them from their dwellings in Madinah. Yes, a chaste Muslim woman deserves no less! Khawlah bint Tha'labah – may Allah be pleased with her – was from the righteous companions of the Prophet . Her husband, Aws bin al-Samit, was an old man who would often become angry very quickly. One day he came back from a meeting and spoke to her regarding an issue. She responded inappropriately and they quarrelled. The man became angry and said, "You are like my mother's back!" and left the house enraged. To utter this phrase during the pre-Islamic era of ignorance was considered a divorce. This was not the case in Islam, but Khawlah did not know the Islamic ruling concerning the issue. Aws came back to his house to find his wife avoiding him and keeping him at a distance.