ATTRIBUTES OF MEN AND WOMEN

The characteristics of true believers, both men and women, are depicted in the Quran in the following words:

Men and women who have surrendered,

believing men and believing women,

obedient men and obedient women,

truthful men and truthful women,

enduring men and enduring women,

humble men and humble women,

men and women who give in charity,

men who fast and women who fast,

men and women who guard their chastity,

men and women who remember God in abundance: 

For them, God has prepared forgiveness and a great reward. (33:35)

These, then, are the essential attributes that both men and women must cultivate if they are to endear themselves to God and become His favoured servants. These are explained below.

Submission to God: Islam

The initial step to be taken is to embrace Islam, which means that one should willingly obey God, leading one’s life within the bounds of God’s commandments.

Faith: Iman

Iman or faith begins from the realization of God. Discovering God as one’s Creator causes a person to treat Him as an object of worship and to mould one’s thinking on God-centred lines. The hue of faith colours every facet of one’s lifestyle. Then one controls one’s desires for the sake of God. The consciousness of one’s servitude to God makes one remember God constantly, on all occasions, and at all times. Faith becomes the basis for one’s way of living.

Sincere Obedience to God: Qunut

Qunut, or sincere obedience to God, entails the adoption of the path of piety as shown by God and His prophet. It means total concentration of the heart and mind on the will of the Almighty God.

Truthfulness: Sidq

Sidq or truthfulness means living an honest, straightforward life in the sense of saying plainly what one is going to do and then actually doing as one has said. In other words, it means leading a life of principle.

Patience: Sabr

Sabr or patience is a quality that enables one never to deviate from religious teachings, even when faced with difficulties and persecution. It is the quality one needs to follow the path of Truth, surmounting all obstacles placed there by the self or Satan. It is the virtue that will keep one from abandoning the divine path and succumbing to worldly temptations.

Apprehension, Fear: Khushu’

‘Khushu’ meaning apprehension or fear, is a powerful emotion that engenders humility and submission. One comes to this state by realizing God’s greatness and absolute power, which starkly contrasts with man’s total powerlessness or helplessness. The fear of God completely engulfs the believer, making him bow before his Maker. In consequence, he becomes accountable to God and is kind

 and humble towards other human beings.

Alms-Giving, Charity: Sadaqah

Sadaqah or alms-giving, charity is the duty of giving others the right to share in one’s wealth. It makes one aware that if one’s own needs require the expenditure of money for one's satisfaction, so also do the needs of others. One is never then oblivious to the needs of others.

Fasting: Sawm

Sawm or fasting must be practised for the sake of God. By fasting, man contrasts his helplessness with God’s omnipotence and thanks God for the food and drink He has bestowed upon him.

The Preservation of Chastity

The preservation of chastity is essential as it keeps one pure and guards against shameful behaviour. The sense of shame which God has given man acts as a natural deterrent against permissiveness.

Remembrance of God

Remembrance of God is one of the most important virtues. It means the frequent remembrance of God. It is not enough to have discovered the Creator and Sustainer of humanity: truly virtuous men and women must never forget God. One who has indeed found God will always have Him in his thoughts and His name on his lips.

The 66th chapter of the Quran, entitled ‘Prohibition,’ mentions three more qualities of believing women: penitence, devoutness, and obedience.

Repentance: Tawbah

Tawbah or repentance means feeling penitent about committing a sin and then turning away from sinfulness. This is an exceptional attribute of believing men and women. In this world of trial, one does make mistakes from time to time—dominated as one is by the self—but the effect of one’s wrongdoing will not be irreversible if one at once turns to God and repents one’s misdeeds. This repentance acknowledges God’s greatness as compared to man’s insignificance. Those who are genuinely repentant find the greatest favour in God’s eyes.

Worship: ‘Ibadah

Ibadah or worship is the act performed to acknowledge supernatural exaltedness. It is familiarly known as worship, and its object should be none other than the Almighty God. Believing men and women worship God and God alone.

Itinerancy: Travelling for God’s Cause

Itinerancy, or travelling for God’s cause, is an important part of Islamic teachings. The virtues of undertaking journeys for God’s cause are best explained in the hadith recorded by Abu Dawud: ‘According to Abu Umamah, a certain individual once asked the Prophet’s permission to become a dervish. The Prophet replied that the dervishism of his ‘Ummah (community) meant struggling in the path of God.’  (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith No. 2486)

Travelling for the cause of God includes, according to Imam Raghib Asfahani, taking such action for His sake as necessitated moving about from one place to another. Examples of such travel are covering long distances to acquire a knowledge of religion, emigrating for the sake of religion; visiting scenes of natural beauty or places of historical interest which have some lesson for humanity; especially undertaking journeys to convey God’s message to His creatures.

When taken together, these qualities, separately enumerated above, constitute an ideal for men and both sexes. These qualities form the basis of Islam and are the true means of salvation in the world.