The word usrah (i.e. family) linguistically means ‘a group of people’ (rahṭ), i.e. individuals – the people closest to you.
In Islamic terminology, usrah means that cell that includes fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, daughters, sons and the sons of sons.
The Family is the Foundational Pillar of Society:
If the individual is the foundational brick in the building of society, the family is the living cell in its essence.
The individual is a part of the family and draws his primary characteristics from it. The Exalted One has said, “…descendants one of the other…” [Āl ʿImrān 3:34] He is imprinted with its imprint and influenced by its upbringing and nurturing.
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {There is no child except that it is born upon the natural disposition (al-fiṭrah). Its parents then make him a Jew, Christian or Magian, just as an animal produces an entire animal. Have you ever noticed one that is mutilated (jadʿāʾ)?} This has been related by Muslim (in the Book of Predestination in the chapter on the meaning of every child being born upon the natural disposition…, no.2658) on the authority of Abū Hurayrah.
The fiṭrah is the state that has been prepared for good, and it is the original human disposition. ‘…just as an animal produces an entire animal…’ means that it is just as an animal gives to birth to offspring that has all of its limbs and organs and nothing is missing.
Jadʿāʾ means that an ear has been cut off. In other words, mutilation and imperfection occur after birth, due to the influence of the environment that surrounds a person, as well as others. Man’s state is the same; his uprightness or deviation is subject to the environment that he grows up and develops in.
Based on the aforementioned, we say: The individual is a part of the family and the family is a part of the society, and a foundational pillar therein. If the family is sound, the individual is sound, and if the individual is sound, the family is sound, and the society is sound.
This is why Islam goes to great lengths to protect the family, why it devotes so much concern to it and why the family takes up a large share of the rulings found in the Qurʾān and in the Sunnah.
The Ways in which Islam Shows Concern for the Family:
The ways in which Islam shows concern for the family are manifest in the legislations and rulings that it has formulated in order to organise the family and regulate its affairs. These include, and are not limited to, to the following:
A. The command to marriage:
This is so that the pillars of the family can be established, because there is no family without marriage. Any sexual relationship between a man and a woman that is not based on the foundations of marriage is adultery and fornication.
Allah the Exalted says, “And do not go near fornication. It is an indecent act, an evil way.” [al-Isrāʾ 17:32]
He, Mighty and Majestic, also says, “…in marriage, not in fornication or taking them as lovers.” [al-Māʾidah 5:5]
B. The legislation of the rights and duties of both the husband and wife:
Islam has placed the following duties upon the husband towards the wife:
1. The bridal gift (mahr); the Exalted One has said, “And give them their mahr as an outright gift.” [an-Nisāʾ 4:4]
2. Maintenance (nafaqah); the Exalted One has said, “It is the duty of the fathers to feed and clothe them with correctness and courtesy.” [al-Baqarah 2:233]
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {And you have to feed and clothe them with correctness and courtesy.} This has been related by Muslim (in the Book of Ḥajj, the chapter on the Prophet’s pilgrimage, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, no. 1218) as part of a longer ḥadīth.
3. Living together correctly and courteously; Allah the Exalted has said, “Live together with them correctly and courteously.” [an-Nisāʾ 4:19]
Likewise, the wife is obligated to carry out the following with regards to the husband:
1. Obedience in that which is not disobedience to Allah. The Exalted One has said, “Men have charge (qawāmah) of women.” [an-Nisāʾ 4:34]
Qawāmah means leadership and the right to be obeyed.
2. That no one enters his house without his permission and consent; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {It is your right over them that no one whom you dislike enters your house.}
Imam an-Nawawī, may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him, said, ‘They cannot allow anyone you dislike to enter your houses and sit in your homes.’
3. That they preserve his dignity, maintain his honour and protect his wealth; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {Shall I tell you the best that a man gathers for himself? A righteous wife; when he looks at her, it pleases him, when he commands her, she obeys him, and when he is absent, she protects his honour and his wealth.} This has been related by Abū Dāwūd (in the Book of Zakāt in the chapter on the rights of wealth, no. 1664).
C. The legislation of the rights of children and parents:
Islam has placed the following obligations upon parents with regards to their children:
1. Maintenance; Allah the Exalted has said, “If they are suckling for you, give them their wages.” [at-Ṭalāq 66:6] Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has obligated a wage for the one suckling for the sake of the child’s maintenance.
2. Good upbringing and teaching them how to worship and have good character; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has said, {Teach your children to have three qualities: love for their Prophet, love for his household and the recitation of the Qurʾān.} This has been related by ad-Daylamī (See al-Jāmiʿ as-Saghīr by as-Suyūṭī).
And he, peace and blessings be upon him, said, {Each one of you is a shepherd and responsible for his flock. A ruler over his people is a shepherd and responsible for his flock. A man is a shepherd over the people of his household and he is responsible for them. A woman is a shepherdess over her husband’s house and his children and she is responsible for them. A slave is a shepherd over his master’s wealth and he is responsible for it. Each once of you is a shepherd and each one of you is responsible for his flock.}
(This has been narrated by al-Bukhāri in the Book of the Friday Prayer, in the chapter on the Friday Prayer in towns and cities, no.853, and by Muslim in the Book of Governance in the chapter on the virtue of a just ruler, no.1829, as well as others.)
Likewise, Islam has placed the following obligations upon children:
1. Obedience to parents in that which is not disobedience to Allah the Exalted, and to show them kindness:
Allah the Exalted has said, “Your Lord has decreed that you should worship none but Him, and that you should show kindness to your parents.” [al-Isrāʾ 17:23]
The Exalted one has also said, “Keep company with them correctly and courteously in this world.” [Luqmān 31:15]
2. Maintenance of the parents if they are poor and the child is wealthy; the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, {From the purest of that which a man eats is what comes from his own earnings, and his child is from his earnings.} He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, also said, {You and your wealth belong to your father. Your children are from the purest of your earnings, so eat from the earnings of your children.} (Abū Dāwūd in the Book of Houses and Renting in the chapter on a man who eats from the wealth of his father, no.3528 and 3530, at-Tirmidhī in the Chapters of Rulings, in the chapter on what has reached us regarding a father eating from his son’s wealth, no.1358)
And there are many other rulings connected to the organisation of family life and the regulation of its affairs, and from these rulings and legislations the extent to which Islam is concerned with the family and protecting it is made clear.
[Translated from Al-Fiqh al-Manhajī ʿalā Madhhab al-Imam ash-Shāfiʿī, (Damascus: Dār Al-Qalam, 1433/2012) v.2, p.16-20]
Related Posts:
Birr Al-Wālidayn and the Rights of Children
Introducing Shāfiʿī Fiqh (part 1)
Introducing Shāfiʿī Fiqh (part 2)
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