For Muslim women in general, it showcases that head scarf or not, Quranic name or not, pigmented skin or not, there is a real danger in existing as Muslim. PHOTO: FLICKR

Islam has and always will be a religion of women

Islam isn't a religion of parted mosques&patriarchal judgment.Without us,you wouldnt have the faith you use against us

Suraiya Ali November 21, 2017
To Muslim women,

Islam is a religion of women. I will speak these words until my heart stops. Islam is a religion of women. Our Prophet (PBUH), who was delivered the revelation, was a man, but his first and truest disciple was his wife. She was a woman of stature, endurance, patience and poise. And to reiterate what has already been said, she was a woman. With female hands was the first iftar made.

We would have no Adam, John, Jesus, Joseph, Idris, Aaron, Moses or Abraham without Eve, Elizabeth, Mary, Rachel, Barkanah, Jochebed, and Amathlaah.

Even in the Prophet’s (PBUH) family, although it was Hazrat Ali (RA) who went down in sajdah (prostration) before the sword of his enemy, and his son Imam Hussain (RA) who was massacred at Karbala, it was Bibi Zainab (RA), the Prophet’s (PBUH) granddaughter, who was tasked to carry the weight of the carnage back to the believers, and subsequently, to the rest of time. It is Bibi Fatima (RA), the Prophet’s (PBUH) daughter, who is said to have come to the aid of the needy and the helpless – in her black chadar do foreignness and aliment reside.

Islam lives in our wombs. The Shahada lives in our wombs. Salat (prayer) lives in our wombs. Sawm (fast) lives in our wombs. Zakat (alms) lives in our wombs. Hajj lives in our wombs.

You have no Islam without women. It is on a woman’s back that Islam finds its alter.

Islam is birthed by women. Islam is kept alive by women. Islam, in its submission and in its excellence, dies if its womankind is not protected.

During the month of Ramazan in the Islamic year 1438, women were not protected. Seventeen-year-old Nabra Hassanen was beaten to death while on her way to Qiyam prayer recently in her North Virginia hometown. Regardless of the fact that her death has not been ruled a direct hate crime, it comes at a time where Muslim women specifically face the brunt of Islamophobia, direct or indirect, both in this country and abroad.

Nabra stood as a pinnacle of what it means to be Muslim, to be a young woman, and to be a black American. She wore a head scarf and Islamic robes, and had chosen such symbols of devotion at a commendably young age. Whether her awful death was an outcome of that choice, we may never know for sure. But she does represent the fact that for veiled Muslim women, their existence is one that is often objectified into being purely a threat, and their lives are endangered at any given moment because of this. For black Muslims, this is only heightened by the racism already rampant in this nation. For Muslim women in general, it showcases that head scarf or not, Quranic name or not, pigmented skin or not, there is a real danger in existing as Muslim.

To Nabra, I want to say that since your passing, I have meditated in your name. It has become my zikr – I remember you. When the strength in my fast wanes, I remember you were not able to complete yours. I find strength in your name. In prayer for strength, I call on many names; Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Hazrat Ali (RA), Imam Hussain (RA), but I do not forget yours. You are a martyr of our times, who went out to pray and was faced with violence. As someone who has felt the physical end of Islamophobia, who has faced boys chasing her in elementary school hallways to pin her in bathroom stalls in order to berate and shame her, who has dealt with physical violence at the hands of other people of colour (POC) on middle school playgrounds and suburban back allies.

As someone who has felt the physical hands of hatred on her, Nabra, I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry we could not protect you. And now, just like Bibi Zainab (RA), Bibi Fatima (RA), and the rest of the Muslim womankind, may you go down in history as being the definition of a devotee. Islamic history has a problem with remembering the women who represent it, but we will not forget you. May you rest in power, sweet child. May you forever rest in power.

To Muslim women – I love you dearly. Regardless of what stage of Islam you operate in, regardless of how Muslim you feel, know that you are valid and that I love you. You also face its largest burden – criticised, objectified, victimised, both within the religion and without. Know that you carry the power that Bibi Zainab (RA) used to rally the believers in tragedy. Know that you carry the virtue of Hazrat Khadija’s (RA) first salat. Know that you carry the utter grace of Bibi Fatima (RA) and her devotion. Islam is not a religion of current parted mosques and patriarchal judgments. It is a religion of women. It belongs to you. It always has and it always will.

To those who do not value us, I will repeat what I started this piece with – Islam is a religion of women. I will speak these words until my heart stops. Islam is a religion of women. On a woman’s breath does submission rest. Without us, you would not have the faith you try to use against us. I promise, you will fail time and time again to do so. Islam belongs to us. This will never change.

This post was originally published on BrownGirlMagazine and republished with permission.
WRITTEN BY:
Suraiya Ali Suraiya Ali is a desi/Persian artist, writer, and novice theologian from Dallas, Texas, currently studying in LA. She truly wishes she could have fought by Hector during the Trojan war and has seen Bajirao Mastani 10+ times.
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (44)

Rohan | 6 years ago | Reply Then why does it have Jehad and burqa
wb | 6 years ago | Reply Do you know what a man can do if the wife disobey's? Do you know a man can give divorce, but a woman cannot give divorce, a woman can only SEEK khula, and not GIVE khula. Do you know that it takes two women to replace one male witness? Do you know that men don't have to wear hijab, but women do? Do you know that women only get less than what a man gets in inheritance?
ab | 6 years ago Do you know these are very elementary things which can be answered by any average Muslim. but the problem is that you don't ask. you only imply.
Patwari | 6 years ago Did you know that sati was abolished only recently. Otherwise, straight to the fire pyre for widows. Did you know if a regular hindu's shadow falls on a Brahmin hindu, the Brahmin can kill him. It's allowed. No questions asked! Did you know a Brahmin Army officer will not eat food cooked by low caste hindu cooks in the army. Did you know that Hindustani Army is segregated by caste system. A lower caste hindu cannot become an officer over higher caste hindus. Did you this Caste System Bharati Army has been defeated 4 times by the Pakistan Army. [not even 1/3 it's size!] Did you there are 3,000 hindu Castes ! And 25,000 sub Castes! This is not counting those who are outside, the achhoots,...Untouchables.
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