Voices of Islam (149 page)

NOTES

This chapter first appeared as a chapter in Aliah Schleifer,
Motherhood in Islam
(Louisville, Kentucky: Islamic Texts Society and Fons Vitae, 1996). It is reproduced here with minor modifications by permission of the publisher.

1. Muhammad Siddiq Khan,
   Husn al-uswa bi-ma thabita min Allah wa Rasulihi fi al-niswa
   (Beirut: Mu’assasa ar-Risala, 1976), 236.
   

2. ‘Ala’ al-Din ibn Husam al-Din al-Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘umal fi sunan al-aqwal
   (Hyderabad, India: Da’irat al-Ma‘arif al-‘Uthmaniyya, 1364/1945), vol. 16, 463 (hadith number 45,453).
   

3. Sahih al-Bukhari
   (Chicago, Illinois: Kazi Publications, 1979), vol. 8, 2; Khan,
   Husn al-uswa,
   235; see Ismail Abdul Razack and Abdul Jawad al-Banna,
   Women and Family in the Sunnah of the Prophet
   (Arabic text included), International Centre for Population Studies and Research, Al-Azhar University (Cairo: Dar al-Kutub, n.d.), 32, for another narration of this hadith.
   

4. Abu al-Hasan Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj,
   Sahih Muslim bi-sharh al-Nawawi
   

   (Cairo, 1924), vol. 16, 102.
   

5. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari,
   Jami‘ al-Bayan ‘an ta’wil ay al-Qur’an
   

   (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, 3rd printing, 1388/1968), vol. 1, 390.
   

6. ‘Imad ad-Din Abi’l-Fida’ Isma‘il Ibn Kathir,
   Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘azim
   

   (Cairo: Dar al-Qutub al-‘Arabiyya, n.d.), vol. 1, 119.
   

7. Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘ li-ahkam al-Qur’an
   (Cairo: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi li-al-Taba’ wa al-Nashr, 1387/1967), vol. 2, 13.
   

8. Tabari,
   Jami‘ al-Bayan,
   vol. 1, 390; Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 2, 13.
   

9. Ibn Kathir,
   Tafsir,
   vol. 1, 120.
   

10. Ibid.
    

11. Qurtubi,
    al-Jami‘,
    vol. 5, 183.
    

    104
    Voices of Life: Family, Home, and Society
    

12. Hindi,
    Kanz al-‘ulum,
    vol. 16, 464 (hadith no. 45,460).
    

13. Sahih Muslim,
    vol. 2, 73.
    

14. Khan,
    Husn al-uswa,
    236. 15. Ibid., 514.
    

16. Ibid., 237.

17. Hindi,
Kanz al-‘ulum,
vol. 16, 470 (hadith no. 45,500). 18. Ibid., 472 (hadith no. 45,504).

19. Ibid., 462 (hadith no. 45,442).

1. Tabari,
   Jami‘ al-Bayan,
   vol. 2, 342.
   

2. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 3, 36.
   

3. Ibn Kathir,
   Tafsir,
   vol. 1, 251.
   

4. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 3, 37.
   

5. Sahih Muslim,
   vol. 17, 55–56.
   

6. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 7, 132.
   

7. Ibn Kathir,
   Tafsir,
   vol. 2, 187–188.
   

8. Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘umal,
   vol. 16, 577 (hadith no. 45,929).
   

9. Sahih Muslim,
   vol. 7, 89.
   

10. Tabari,
    Jami‘ al-Bayan,
    vol. 15, 63.
    

30. Ibid., 64.

31. Ibid., 65.

1. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 10, 238; see also, Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al- Nawawi,
   Riyad al-Salihin
   (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.), 108 (hadith no. 338).
   

2. Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘ulum,
   vol. 16, 480 (hadith no. 45,546).
   

3. Sahih Muslim bi-sharh al-Nawawi,
   vol. 13, 141.
   

4. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 10, 241–242. 36. Ibid., 243.
   

1. Ibid.
   

2. Ibid.; see also Khan,
   Husn al-uswa
   80, 114–115.
   

3. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 10, 243–244.
   

4. Tabari,
   Jami‘ al-Bayan,
   vol. 15, 65.
   

5. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 10, 238. 42. Ibid., 239.
   

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid., 244.

45. Ibid., 245.

1. Tabari,
   Jami‘ al-Bayan,
   vol. 12, 58.
   

2. Ibn Kathir,
   Tafsir,
   vol. 3, 35.
   

3. Ibid.
   

4. Sahih Muslim,
   vol. 16, 109. 50. Ibid., 108–109.
   

1. Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘ulum,
   vol. 16, 478 (hadith no. 45,537).
   

2. Nawawi,
   Riyad al-Salihin,
   vol. 7, 45 (hadith no. 337).
   

3. Ibid., 108 (hadith no. 340).
   

4. Qurtubi,
   al-Jami‘,
   vol. 10, 244–245.
   

   Respect for the Mother in Islam
   105
   

5. Sahih Muslim,
   vol. 7, 45.
   

6. Ibid.
   

7. Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘ulum,
   vol. 16, 468 (hadith no. 45,487).
   

8. Abu Dawud Sulayman ibn al-Ash‘ath al-Sijistani,
   al-Sunan
   (Cairo: Maktabat al-‘Arab, 1863), vol. 2, 216–217.
   

9. Hindi,
   Kanz al-‘ulum,
   vol. 16, 468 (hadith no. 45,485).
   

6
‌

P
REGNANCY AND
C
HILDBIRTH IN
I
SLAM

•

Aliah Schleifer

From the Islamic point of view, marriage is the desired state of affairs. The Prophet Muhammad said: ‘‘If the slave (of Allah) marries, he has completed half of the religion; so let him fear Allah (through worship and service) with the remaining half.’’
1

Childbirth is considered the natural outcome of marriage. The Muslim woman sees pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, and rearing as spiritual acts. It is her exclusive opportunity to obtain Allah’s blessings and rewards, as the diffi- culty of pregnancy and childbirth is a way that Allah has allotted only to the female sex. On the one hand, she has been endowed with suitable characteris- tics for the task, and on the other, she is to be rewarded for her efforts by her children. Thus, even if she does no more than simply bring them into this world, they are bound, as Muslims, to respect and have concern for her. The following two Qur’anic verses clearly indicate the obligation on the Muslim of reverence to the mother because of her childbearing responsibilities:

We have enjoined on the human being concerning his parents: His mother bears him in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. So give thanks to Me and to your parents. Unto Me is the journey.

(Qur’an 31:14)

We have enjoined on the human being kindness toward his parents. His mother bears him with reluctance, and brings him forth with reluctance. The bearing of him and the weaning of him are thirty months, till, when he attains full strength and reaches forty years of age, he says: ‘‘My Lord, arouse me that I may give thanks for the favor that You have granted me and my parents, and that I may do right unto You. And be gracious to me in the matter of my progeny.’’

(Qur’an 46:15)

The Arabic phrase,
wahnan ‘ala wahnin,
found in Qur’an 31:14, which has been translated as ‘‘weakness upon weakness’’ has a fuller meaning,

108
Voices of Life: Family, Home, and Society

which the commentators have attempted to describe. Tabari says it means weakness upon weakness, and straining upon straining. Qatada says it is effort upon effort, and thus Ibn Kathir comments that the Most High mentions the mother’s rearing of the child and tiring herself, and her hardship staying awake night and day, in order to remind the child of her previous kindness to him. Qurtubi says it refers to the period in which she carried him in preg- nancy, and she increased each day in weakness upon weakness. Muhammad Siddiq Khan summarizes in his statement: ‘‘It is said that pregnancy is
wahn,
the labor pains are
wahn,
and the delivery is
wahn,
and the nursing is
wahn.
’’
2
Then, in reference to
ilayya al-masir
(‘‘unto Me is the journey’’), Ibn Kathir says that the meaning is that Allah will give an abundant reward for giving thanks to your parents.
3
Sufyan Ibn ‘Uyaina adds that he who prays the five prayers has thereby given thanks to Allah, the Most High, and he who makes
du‘a
(a prayer of supplication) for his parents after his prayers has thereby given thanks to them.
4

The Hadith explains the importance of the mother’s task and the great reward she receives:

Anas ibn Malik narrated: Salama, the nurse of [the Prophet Muhammad’s] son Ibrahim, said to the Prophet, ‘‘Oh Messenger of Allah, you brought tidings of all good things to men but not to women.’’ [The Prophet] said, ‘‘Did your women friends put you up to asking me this question?’’ She said, ‘‘Yes, they did.’’ He said, ‘‘Does it not please any one of you that if a woman is pregnant by her husband and he is satisfied with her that she receives the reward of one who fasts and prays for the sake of Allah? When the labor pains come, no one in Heaven or on Earth knows what is concealed in her womb to soothe her. When she delivers, not a mouthful of milk flows from her and not an instance of the child’s suck, but that she receives, for every mouthful and for every suck, the reward of one good deed. And if she is kept awake by her child at night, she receives the reward of one who frees seventy slaves for the sake of Allah.’’
5

Because of the strong bond of affection that accompanies the great effort of the mother, the loss of children is a heavy burden, and if she accepts it as Allah’s will, her reward is Paradise:

The women said to the Prophet Muhammad: ‘‘Oh Messenger of Allah, the men have taken all your time from us, so give us a day with you.’’ So he promised them a day. He preached to them and commanded them and amongst what he told them was: ‘‘There is not one of you that sends forth (in death) three of your children, but that this will protect her from the Fire.’’ One woman asked, ‘‘Oh Messenger of Allah, what about two?’’ He replied, ‘‘And two.’’
6

In another hadith the Prophet said, ‘‘Not one of you will have three children to die and accept it (as the will of Allah), but that she will enter Paradise.’’ Then he added ‘‘Or two.’’
7
In addition, if the mother dies in childbirth, she is equal to the martyr who dies fighting in the cause of Allah.

Pregnancy and Childbirth in Islam
109

‘Ubada ibn al-Samit narrated (in a longer hadith): ‘‘A woman who dies in childbirth together with the baby, becomes a martyr.’’
8

In Qur’an 46:15 above, the accusative noun
karhan
has been translated as ‘‘with reluctance.’’ To further clarify this point, Tabari refers to the state- ments of Mujahid, Hasan (al-Basri), and Qatada that
karhan
means hardship, labor, and trouble. He goes on, in his interpretation of the verse, to say that the age of 40 years is when Allah has given man maturity and competence; the folly of youth has passed and he knows his duties to Allah and what is right in terms of respect to his parents.
9
Thus, Tabari indicates that a human being does not reach the state of full awareness of his mother’s great efforts exerted on his behalf, until he or she has fully experienced the stage of parenthood himself.