To the Glories of Motherhood and Homemaking

I don't know how to thank you enough...

You were physically tired and exhausted, internally angry and frustrated. Still you did not take any day off. You continued to mind the the house with grace and patience. You were not given a choice, full time home-making sort of happened after marriage and you picked up the entire load. No one else shared the responsibilities with you, there was no help offered, not even occasionally. You sustained yourself on prayers alone. You did not take out the time to rest and recuperate. You set yourself high: you educated your kids, prayed with your kids, kept everything clean, you did all the shopping, you organized all the parties, you did all the handyman's work too. You adrenaline burnt out and stress took over.

InshaAllah when your children grow up, they will be immensely sensitive to your

endeavours. They will devout themselves to you for giving them birth, being there for them at home and running errands for them. Hopefully some day, you will feel proud in being a busy wife when you see your kids' achievements, especially when you see them excel in the Deen. You deserve the glory of your children's success. You prepared them for it. Marriage was tedious and demanding but through it, you produced children who inshaAllah will make the world a better place.

This article highlights the life of four  relentless home-makers who changed the world through their children. I am dedicating the stories of the Mothers of Hafsah ibn Sireen, Rabi'a arRaii' Imaam Malik and Imaam Shafai', first to my mom, and second to all wives and mothers who are surviving abuse and neglect at home. I pray that these stories can become an inspiration out of your confusion and pain. Give power to the powerless. Fill the empty spirit. Heal the wounds, free you from fear and restore you to true health. Strengthen you to face the future with faith and positive reliance upon Allah aameen. 

I salute you! 

Mother of Imaam Mohammad Ibn Sireen

Saffiyyah was a freed slave of Abu Bakr (r.a) and his student. Very few scholars had the privilege to learn from Abu Bakr (r.a) because he lived for a very short period of time (only two years as a khaleef) and naturally he was too occupied with governing the Muslim state to teach anyone formally. After Abu Bakr (r.a) passed away, Saffiyyah became a student of Aisha (r.a). She earned so much prominence and respect as a scholar in Madina that her funeral was attended by all the wives of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) who were alive at that time (3), and all the living the veterans of Badr (18) and her janazah was led by Ubbay ibn Ka'ab (r.a).

Saffiyah was a relentless home-maker and mother of four kids. She made her daughter Hafsah, presumably her first-born, memorize the Qur'an at the age of 9. Thereafter she taught Hafsah Qira'aat (different modes of recitation) by the age of 12. Soon she became a scholar of Qur'an and Hadith. Later Hafsah schooled her three brothers Muhammad ibn Sireen, Yahya and Anas in the sciences of Qur'an and Hadith, which she learned from Saffiyah. Hafsah also taught most of the Taba'een (generation after the sahaba ra). Almost every Taba'ee, who lived in Iraq, learned at least one narration from Hafsah. She had a musallah (prayer place) in her house where she spent 30 years worshipping Allah. She would only take a break to teach her students and to eat and drink.

One of her students, Abdul Kareem ibn al Mua'awiyah said, "Hafsah would read half of the Qur'an every night in Qiyaam al Layl. During Ramadan she would finish the entire Qur'an every night in Qiyaam al Layl." 
She used to fast every day except for the 2 Ei'dain and the days of Tashreeq. Her son Hudail would carry firewood to her house, warm her through the fire and learn the Qur'an and Hadith from her.

Ilyaas ibn Muaawiyah said, "I have not met anyone more knowledgeable than Hafsah." 
He was asked, what about Hasan al Basri (Syed alTabi'een - the Chief or Master of Tab'een in Islamic understanding) or her brother Mohammad ibn Sireen. He admitted, "Neither of them were as knowledgeable as her." 
Hishaam ibn Hassaan said, "If you put the minds of Hasan al Basri and Mohammad ibn Sireen together, they would equal the mind of Hafsah in her intelligence, her aqaal, her qiyaas and the way she was able to put things together."

Mother of Rabi’a arRa’ii

In 51 A.H arRabi'a ibn Ziyaad alHarthi, the great general and conqueror led armies to Khurasaan and Azerbaijan. Rabi’a was so pleased upon the conquest of Azerbaijan that he offered 2 raka’ah in Salah to give thanks to Allah, then he freed his right-hand man and soldier, Farooq. He also gave Farooq 30,000 dinaar (gold coins) to start a new life outside of the military. 
Farooq was really thrilled. He travelled to Basra then Madina where he decided to get married. He proposed and settled down. A week after he heard the Khaleefah calling to arms against the Byzantine Empire. He quickly got his armour ready but felt really depressed at the thought of leaving behind his first true love. She encouraged him to respond to the higher call and fulfil his vocation. He glanced at his wife one last time with a sinking heart, she bid him farewell with a supporting smile.

It so happened that Farooq never came back home. He continued one military expedition after another for 16 years. Such a long service was unprecedented at the time, he was an exception.

When circumstances allowed, he finally returned home. At the door he was greeted by young man who attacked him with a sword. Farooq wrestled the boy around his house for a while until noise and commotion reached all corners of Medina. Scholars like Imam Malik and Imaam Layth ibn Sa’ad rushed to stop the two assailants from killing each other. A woman finally emerged from inside one of the rooms in the house; she could not believe her fortune. She told Farooq the young man was her son. The two men put down their weapons and embraced each other for the first time as father and son.

That night Farooq and his wife caught up on the missed 16 years. During the

conversation, Farooq curiously inquired about his 30,000 gold coins, which he had entrusted to his wife before leaving for battle. His wife lovingly gestured him not to worry and that he will be pleasantly surprised soon. 
The next morning, Farooq saw his son leading Salah in Masjid anNabwi (s.a.w). Later he saw his son surrounded by grown men whom he taught the Masjid. Obviously Farooq felt really proud. He approached his son and asked what had he had done in the past years? The son introduced himself as Rabi’a arRaii; Rabi’a ibn Abdur Rahman, 16 year old Imaam and Mufti of Madina and teacher of Imaam Malik.

His mother had spent the 30,000 gold coins in sponsoring  his education. She traveled with him to all the ends of Iraq, Syria and Makkah so he could learn from the finest Ulema of the time. At each location she waited sometimes months and years, for him, to graduate. His mother was a relentless home-maker whose sacrifices bequeathed this Ummah the likes of Imaam Malik and Imaam Shafai’.

Mother of Imaam Malik

The father of Imaam Malik was a Taba'ee, student of Ali ibn Abi Talib (r.a). His mother was Aaliyah bint Shareeq alAsdiyah. She was pregnant with Imaam Malik for over 12 months. It was a very unusual and risky pregnancy, Aaliyah used to make duaa for him. Imaam Malik was born in Madina, an Albino with bleached skin and light hair. 
As a boy, Imaam Malik did not want anything to do with ilm, he didn’t care about halaqaat and duroos. He didn’t care about going to the Masjid at all. He wanted to be a singer. He used to waste his time playing with pigeons. Pigeons were the ps4 of that time– engaging and entertaining. His father thought Imama Malik would grow up to be a failure and a fool.  His mother however, would patiently sit him down and talk to him. Eventually she walked him through it and changed his mind. She convinced him to study, that like singing, knowledge would also make him famous but he will enjoy the knowledge and benefit other people with it.

Everyday his mother would wrap an amamah around his head and dress him in the

garment of scholars (thobe), then instruct him to sit with Rabi’a arRaii to learn manners and knowledge from him. When he would come home, she would ask him what he had learned. Subsequently he would narrate ahadith and masail from Rarbi’a arRaii. Eventually he fell in love with his teacher and developed a passion for knowledge. The world would not have had Imaam Malik if his mother did not convince him to take this path. All the history of Imaam dar alHijrah, the fatawa of Malik in Madina and Muwatta Imaam Malik would be lost without the eagerness and enthusiasm which his relentless mother.

Mother of Imaam Shafai’

Imaam Shafai’s name was Muhammad ibn Idrees asShafa'i. He was born an orphan in Gaza in 150 AH, the same year as Imam Abu Hanifa passed away. At the time Gaza was called Gazatu Hashim because the city was the burial site of the Prophet’s (s.a.w) great grandfather. 
Imaam Shafai’s mother was Fatimah bint Abdullah bin Hasan bint al Hasan bint Ali ibn abi Talib. She was a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) through the lineage of Ali (r.a).

When Imaam Shafai’ was around 2 years old, she decided to take him back to Makkah to introduce him to his maternal uncles and to expose him to the knowledge of the Deen. Imaam Shafai’ recalls that his mother travelled alone with him from Gaza to Makkah, something which was very rare for women at the time because of the dangers involved in traversing through the desert. She said to him, “We are poor people and we don't have any money. I am not going to get remarried for you. I am going to put you into ilm and I am hoping Allah will benefit the Ummah through you.”

When he was only 4 years old, Fatimah helped him memorize the Qur’an. When he was a little older, she used to take him to different Halaqat in Makkah. 
She didn't have any money to pay for his tuition so she used to take him early to the Masjid before the class would begin. Imaam Shafai’ would remain at the back and quietly sit behind all the students while the teachers spoke. He felt very insignificant and ignored. The teachers knew that he had not paid tuition so they did not interact with him during the class. 
Imaam Shafai’ would come home upset because of the lack of attention he was getting in class. Fatimah told him to present himself to knowledge. It didn’t matter if the teachers did take any notice of him and made him feel small. His goal was to seek knowledge; therefore he should focus on acquiring knowledge, not his social status and popularity. She advised him to enter the class with adab and not offend anyone with his actions. His good manners will earn him respect.  Imaam Shafai’ said, his mother was the driving source behind his motivation. Whenever he lost courage, his mother pushed him right back up on the pedestal. 

Once he complained to his mother about not having ink 
(they were too poor to afford simple things), 

 Fatimah suggested that he should memorize the lecture notes. So Imaam Shafai’ committed every word out of his teachers’ mouth to memory. He kept repeating the entire lecture word for word to himself in order to memorize it. When the teacher would go for a break, the other students would approach him and question him about his strange mumbling habit. Imaam Shafai’ would recite the entire lecture, verbatim from start to finish. When the teacher discovered his unique talent, they offered to give him extra attention on condition that he would teach the class in their absence. 
Another teacher felt that it was haram to accept any tuition from little Shafai' because of his superior intelligence. Imaam Shafai’ became a TA (teacher’s assistant) at the age of 6. Once when he was teaching Fiqh of Siyaam in the Masjid during Ramadan, someone asked why he was drinking water during the class (he should have been fasting). To this Imam Shafai’ replied, he was not yet baaligh (he had not reached the age of puberty and so fasting was not obligatory for him).

Fatimah was relentless, she would collect bones for Imaam Shafai. She would go to recycling centers where the government disposed its paper and gather drops of ink until she could fill an entire cup for him to use. She would pursue the scholars, show up at the their doorsteps to intercede on her sons’ behalf so they would teach him. He studied the entire Muwatta under Imaam Malik.

Ibn Hajr praised Fatimah saying that she was a scholar in her own right. All the women of her vicinity would come to her with their issues.

 Credit for all the stories: Sh. Omar Suleiman http://ilftexas.org/sh-omar-classes/