A thought on RasoolAllah's (saws) last words

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll. Sorry I've been neglecting; I had a bit to do to get my new health and fitness blog up and running. So back to our regular chats!

I was speaking with my husband tonight about how our ummah has gone from being at the forefront of health, mathematics, natural sciences, and human rights to the state so many of our brothers and sisters are in right now. (Please, if this is suprising to you, do some research! There is a fun little film produced in the UK with has Sr. Ben Kingsley (if I'm not mistaken) and it highlights just a few of the wondrous advances made by Muslims. However this is the subject for another post; tonight I want to speak about another issue.)

Afghanistan comes to mind when we discuss human rights because of the rule of the Taliban in that country which has historically been very harsh with women. Wallah it breaks my heart to see so many of our brothers and sisters who never understand the beauty of our deen! To never know Allah as Ar-Rahman-ir-Raheem, the merciful, the compassionate. Those who only take what has been placed before them and either don't care to find the truth or simply cannot, given their circumstances (illiteracy being the main one).

I brought up a few cases of mistreatment of our sisters and my husband related to me a hadith I had NEVER heard before now. We've all heard of the last sermon of the Prophet Muhammad saws. 1400 years before Dr. King called for equality, our beloved Prophet told us an Arab isn't better than a non-Arab, that a white isn't better than a black. We are all EQUAL in the sight of Allah. Subhanallah.

No he told me about his actual last words before he died. Any person, upon feeling death imminent, will strive to tell what is most important to them. They will call out for a loved one or ask forgiveness. Of course RasoolAllah (saws) wanted to give advice to us, the future generations, to call attention to those things that are just too important to mess up. So what did he say?

He (saws) said, "Treat your wives JUSTLY and do not neglect your salaat (prayer)."  Subhanallah. We, my sisters, we were one of the last thoughts on his mind. He extorted the brothers to treat us justly. What is just? Everything the Qur'an has told us about the treatment of women and girls, every word from the mouth of our beloved Prophet (saws) explains how justice for women is to be found. We are to be cherished and upheld, we are to be sought after and prized, we are to be protected and cared for, and we are to be equal in our religous duties and in the eyes of man.

Our fate, our treatment at the hands of those who all too often have the power to oppress us, was ranked with not forgoing our prayers to the Creator. What can this say to us now? It says (to me) that Allah swt, in His most infinite wisdom, knows the heart of man and his inclination to rule by force. He, subhana wa ta'ala, knows that some of what the beautiful Prophet said would be lost and He wanted this last thing to be fresh on their minds.

It says to me that we are worthy, a thing of love and respect, and to be treated thusly. It speaks to me of the worry the Prophet Muhammad saws had about what he viewed as 2 of the weaknesses of men.

I can only pray that these words will not be lost to time and that our brothers and sisters who struggle now to get out of the darkness of jahiliyya (ignorance) will seek our their deen, will study and find for themselves exactly what it means to be Muslim. Amin.