orangeThe following is a translation of amazing advice given by Shaykh Muhammad Mukhtaar Ash-Shanqeetee to Muslim Women.

Shaykh Mukhtaar is a scholar and has a seat in the Prophet [saw]'s Masjid and regularly teaches there and also resides in Madinatul Munawwarah.

At the present moment he is going through the Muwatta of Imaam Maalik in the Masjid of the Prophet [saws]; he is known for his righteousness and knowledge. May Allah [swt] reward him for his works and increase him in knowledge and righteousness. Ameen. 

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O Women of the Believers!

Certainly Allah has given you your adab [good manners and etiquettes] and has made excellent your adab.  He raised you [rabbaakunna] and has made beautiful your tarbiyyah [upbringing].

Certainly Allah, the Most High, has promised the righteous women [muhsinaat] from amongst you a Great Reward and those who worship Him, since He does not allow any action [done for Him] to go to waste - be it done by a male or a female.

It is upon your hands that the great [men/women to be i.e. children] receive their upbringing [tarbiyyah]. Therefore, I advise you to have fear [taqwaa] of Allah; [since taqwaa] is the means by which to receive tawfeeq [guidance] for all good in the deen [religion], the dunya [the world] and in the aakhirah [hereafter].

I advise you to have taqwa [fear] from that which Allah has forbidden and that  each one of you should modify and transform all her affairs and all her endeavours to be far away from fitan [trials and tribulations] and mihan [tests].

For the main asset [ra’s ul maal] in this world is deen, so do not present yourselves to that which Allah has forbidden and each one of you should modify yourself to be true to Allah [saadiqatan ma’ Allah] in the upbringing [tarbiyyah] of boys and girls. Certainly in the righteousness of the mother is rectification for all.

For you [as an example] from the righteous predecessors, are the wives of the Prophet [saws], [who are] a beautiful example [qudwatan hasanah] - [since they are] chaste exemplary models [namaadhij at-taahirah].

I advise you to read the lives of the predecessors, the lives of the righteous and pure women. Those women who ordered the world to obey Allah, the Exalted and High [jalla wa a’laa] and [were the means] of bringing forth men who were saadiqeen [truthful] in their obedience and love for Allah, the Exalted and High [jalla wa a’laa].

Certainly, the righteousness and rectitude of the mother is the rectitude of the Ummah. Therefore we found many scholars who practiced [what they knew] and men who were true [saadiqeen] and righteous - their means towards righteousness being their mothers! To the point that the mother of Sufyaan ath-Thawri said her famous statement:

“O my Son! Seek knowledge and I will, with my spinning wheel, provide enough for you [to live on].”

So therefore, O Muslim Sister! Anticipate [the reward] from Allah [when] bringing up the great [men/women to be i.e. children] upon the obedience of Allah and the love of Allah.

I advise you to be good to your husbands and that each one of you - within her capability – be a helper for her husband towards the love and pleasure of Allah.

Many a righteous and pure woman [taahiraat] was the means for the righteousness and rectitude of her husband, and many a righteous and pure woman Allah used as a means to make hearts firm upon guidance!

Didn’t the Prophet [saws] go to the Mother of the Believers, Khadijah [rah], retreating [to her], frightened and alarmed? He said to her:

ifear“I fear that something my happen to me.” [1]


So who strengthened him after Allah? Who was the one who said those pure words to him? Certainly it was her, the righteous woman, who had cognizance [knowledge] of her Lord [Rabb] and feared Allah with regards to her husband, so she said to him her true words:

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“Never! By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you.” [2]

[Further] I caution you from evil role models and evil examples, by which the Ummah has been afflicted and tested [buliyat] during these times.

Allah! Allah! [*trans: this is an expression in Arabic which means fear Allah] that you should prefer [anyone] above those righteous and pure [examples] and substitute their pure lives and their illuminating positions [muwaqifihinna nadhirah] with the lives of abased and immoral women [naajinaat ad-daai’raat].

Allah! Allah! That the abundance of those who call to that which is prohibited by Allah affect you. Wear your Jilbaab [outer garment worn in the presence of those who are not mahram] and guard your modesty [hayaa’] and fear Allah during your day and your night.

And know that your beauty is in your hijaab by which you cover, and in the heart that is within your two sides [i.e. in your being]. Beauty is not the beauty of the soorah [form/face], [the beauty is] the beauty of the heart - which is the place upon which the Rahmaan looks and upon which He bestows His blessings [rahmah and salawaat].

In a Saheeh Hadeeth from the Prophet [saws], he said:

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"Truly, Allah does not look at your outward forms and wealth, but rather at your hearts and your works." [3]

We are in so much need of examples who are pure, good and righteous, who remind [us] of the righteous women [of before] and who renew for us honourable influence and effect [ma’aathir al kareemah], [i.e.] the lives of the righteous women who have passed before.

I ask Allah, the Adheem [Great], the Lord of the A’rsh al Kareem [Noble Throne] to rectify conditions and make the end result beautiful [yuhsinul a’aqibatu wal ma’aal].

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[1] Saheeh Bukhari

[2] Saheeh Bukhari

[3] Saheeh Muslim