Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
5. Muslim women
~ 115 ~
others that we were given some tracts of land, but
this hardly improved our situation, for, human
nature being what it is, it was all the arid and
unproductive land which fell to our lot. This
niggardly treatment had the effect of making us
want to plunge into the fray to do battle with the
other party, but my mother staunchly adhered to
her policy of patience, often admonishing us to
exercise greater self-control. On such occasions she
would recite to us this line of poetry:
Patience is the price of eternal paradise.
Our family circumstances which, it appeared, could
be improved only by resorting to litigation, were
certainly such us to lead us all into negative
thinking. Litigation meant a number of families all
being drawn into the quarrel, with the inevitable
series of unpleasant confrontations. It could even
mean the loss of valuable lives, for such situations
bring out the most baneful characteristics in all of
us. Had our mother not chosen to adopt the only
attitude which could be considered positive under
the circumstances, we might, at that early formative
stage,
have
fallen
prey
to
unreasoning
