There
is no objection in the Revealed Law to Allah having awliyāʾ[1] who are women, for
the conditions for being a walī in Islam are known, and they are
mentioned in the Noble Qurʾān: “Yes, the awliyāʾ of Allah will feel
no fear and know no sorrow: those who believe and have taqwā…” [Yūnus
10:62] Faith and taqwā are required of both men and women and the door
of striving therein is open to everyone, men and women.
“Their
Lord responds to them: 'I will not let the deeds of any doer amongst you go to
waste, male or female – you are both the same in that respect.’” [Āl
ʿImrān 3:195]
And in
the Qurʾān we find several mentions of awliyāʾ who are women, wonders (karāmāt)
happening to them that support their standing in faith and are evidence of how
far they have travelled on the path to be being awliyāʾ. One of the most
prominent of these is Maryam the daughter of ʿImrān, who protected her chastity[2] and whom the angels spoke to: “When the
angels said, 'Maryam, Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him. His name is
al-Masīḥ, the son of Maryam, of high esteem in this world and the Next World,
and one of those brought near.” [Āl ʿImrān 3:45]
And
when she had given birth to the Messiah, peace be upon him, her people said, “Sister
of Hārūn, your father was not an evil man nor was your mother an unchaste
woman, so she pointed towards him…” [Maryam 19:28-29] And thus he spoke to
them as a baby, which was a karāmah for her and absolved her of any
evil. This same Maryam would have her substance come to her in the masjid: “Every
time Zakariyyah visted her in the miḥrāb, he found food with her…” [Āl
ʿImrān 3:37]
And there is Āsiyah,
the wife of Firʿawn, and Allah mentions her in the Qurʾān as an example: “Allah
has made an example of those who believe: the wife of Firʿawn when she said, ‘My
Lord, build a house in Paradise for me in Your presence. Rescue me from Firʿawn
and his deeds and rescue me from these wrongdoing people.’” [at-Ṭalāq
66:10]
And in our Islamic
history there are many women who achieved the rank of walī, and they
include Sayyidah Nafīsah, may Allah be pleased with her, who was a scholar who
acted upon her knowledge. Her reputation as both a scholar and a walī is
well-known. There is also Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawiyah, may Allah be pleased with her,
who would fast in the day and stand in prayer at night, and who stripped her
worship of being for the sake of entering Paradise or being spared the Fire.
She is the one who said, in meaning, ‘O Allah, if I am worshipping You out of a
desire to enter Paradise then prevent me from it. If I am worshipping You out
of fear of the Fire then put me in it. But if I am worshipping you for who You
are, then do not deny me the blessings of seeing You, O Most Merciful of those
who show mercy.’
[Translated from Fatāwā al-Imām
ʿAbdul Ḥalīm Maḥmūd (Cairo: Dār al-Maʿārif, 1979, 5th edition), v.2, p.182-3]
Also by the imam:
Beautiful ma sha Allah. More on Muslim women please!
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