Maryam Amir – Women’s Roles

Our Ummah has gone through a lot of different times in which we've

seen women's voices in different ways. Knowing that we've had those

differences is helpful for a 19 year old girl who's been told

since she was 13 that she cannot memorize the Quran because the

Imam will not teach woman, and he's the only imam of the masjid

for that 19 year old girl, for the 40 year old woman, who have told

me that when they stopped reciting Quran was when they hit puberty,

and the only person in their Masjid who could teach was the

Imam, and he said, I'm not comfortable teaching woman.

And they were so impacted by that that they started feeling more and

more distant from Islam, and they've told me that now that

they've been hearing women recite the Quran again in their 40s, for

the first time, they're opening the Quran again.

That's a generational reality that's having children, that's

going to 60 and 70 and 80, and maybe having grandchildren and not

opening the Quran or never reciting it out loud in your

private space because you don't know that. As a woman, the Quran

is for you.

And in the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala talks about how women were

present, and he recorded women making specific statements for a

reason,

like, for example, when Allah subhanho wa Taala talks about the

daughters of the Shaykh Kabir, who are the answer to the DUA of Musa

alayhi salam, as he's asking for Allah to send him something,

they come and they meet him, and then she, one of them, goes back

to her father, and she says, What?

Hire him. Scholars of tafsir mentioned Allah didn't have to say

that line. That line is not necessary to understand the story.

Why did Allah spend on time to say it so that women know that they

were included in financial matters.

When the Queen of Sheba is asked about what to do, when she's

asking for advice from her advisors, what to do about

Suleiman, are they his salaams letter? She talks about what muduk

do when they come into the to the to the to the new land, and they

ruin the land. And then there's an ayah right after she speaks, and

it says,

and it could be as if she's saying, and that's what they do.

But scholars of tafsir say that is Allah subhanahu wa affirming her

intelligence by saying, yes, that is what they do. That is exactly

and this woman is depicted as a righteous ruler, that is exactly

what they do.

Allah subhanho wa Taala has recorded the voices of women in

the Quran

for a reason.

Whenever you as a woman may feel like you're not sure of your

status with Allah, or you're confused, or you disagree, and

that's okay. It's okay to disagree,

but when you're questioning that part of yourself as a woman, I've

been asked by a Muslim woman sincerely asking with tears in

their eyes, did Allah create women to be like somewhere between an

animal and a man. Is that our level with Allah? And if that's

what Allah wants, that's fine. That's I accept that, because

that's what was penance Allah wants. But is that

it when we have an eight year old asking that question, and then she

becomes a 28 year old who has internalized that, and then she

potentially raises children with that internalization. Where does

our entire Ummah go? We often talk about the next generation in

Islam, for the next generation, if women are feeling disenfranchised

in this generation,

who are the great grandchildren? Who are they tracing it back to

to save the future of our Ummah, we need to support women right

now,

because whether or not she or you are ever going to be mothers,

because hanala Allah has willed each and every one of us to have a

different role for a reason,

he says, Subhan Hua Taala this verse I end every time with

because I want you to remember he

has chosen you. And

Imam Al Tabari mentions he's chosen you for a quality that he

sees inside of you, even if you don't see it yourself. He created

you to be a woman of this ummah in a time where a woman are

struggling with being woman, in a time where we're being attacked by

every ideology, at a time where everyone else is welcoming you

unto their understanding,

he's invited you to fight.

Now

and right now and honestly forever. Maybe absolutely no one

will know our names,

but

Allah subhanahu wa doesn't forget

and the angels who roamed the earth looking for the people who

come together in his name,

coming together and surrounding you with tranquility and taking

your names up to Allah, don't forget,

and one day we are going to be those women in history.

So the question isn't whether or not your voice matters, and the

question certainly isn't whether or not we are equal to men.

The question is, what are we going to do to make the future

generations of Islam, of Muslims look and say the woman of the past

change the course of history because of their strength in their

belief, and Allah

and you all are deserving of being one of those people sabbatical

from all behind the commission on that, either stuff like.