OCTOBER 4
Ideal Women
The Prophet once remarked that the best woman of the Jewish people was Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the best woman of his people, Khadija, the daughter of Khuwailid.
More light is thrown on the superiority of these two women by the following two statements of the Prophet:
Aisha says that the only other wife of the Prophet that she ever felt envious of was Khadija, even though she was not a contemporary of hers. “Whenever the Prophet sacrificed a goat,” Aisha says, “he would tell me to send some meat to Khadija’s friends. One day I got annoyed. ‘Oh no, not Khadija again,’ I exclaimed. ‘Her love has been imbibed into my heart,’ the Prophet said.”
Aisha says that the Prophet would not leave home without praising Khadija. One day he mentioned Khadija and I got annoyed. ‘She was just an old woman,’ I said. ‘God has given you better than her instead.’ This angered the Prophet, who said: ‘God knows, he has given me no better than her. She believed when others disbelieved. She had faith in me when others denied me. She gave me financial support when others left me in the cold. And God gave me children by her, which He has not given me by my other wives.
The special historical status that Mary and Khadija enjoy is due to the fact that they both gave themselves entirely up to God; they both attached their own will to that of the Almighty.
When the Judaic era was drawing to a close, a woman was required who would be fit to be the mother of a miraculous prophet of the nature of Jesus, may peace be upon him. God had ordained that the final prophet of the Jewish people should be born without a father. For this purpose, a woman was needed whose innocence and chastity were beyond question. The virgin Mary lived up to this standard. By living a life of extraordinary chastity, she showed herself fit to be selected as the mother of Jesus.
The circumstances of the final prophet, Muhammad, may peace be upon him, were such that he needed a woman who would put her life and her property entirely in his hands, and would never complain about anything. God selected Khadija for this work because of her superlative qualities. She gave up everything—her life, her property, her leisure and her comfort—for the sake of the Holy Prophet. She suffered tremendous affliction, but never complained. These qualities made her worthy in God’s sight to be the companion of His final prophet.
In every day and age, women and men are needed who will devote themselves to the mission of Islam; people who are willing to involve themselves in the scheme that God seeks to implement in the world. Such people are like a small cogwheel, which revolves only according to the motion of a bigger cogwheel, in this case the will of God. This is undoubtedly a trying task; but it is also one that carries a vast reward.
To perform this task is, in the words of the Quran, “to help God” (Quran, 22:40). There can be no doubt about the excellence and superiority of those whom God deigns to make His helpers.
