Woman in Islamic Shari‘ah
2. The qualities of a believing woman
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God. It is not enough to have made the discovery of
the Creator and Sustainer of mankind: truly
virtuous men and women must remember God at
all times. One who has truly found God will always
have Him in his thoughts and will always have His
name on his lips.
The 66th chapter of the Qur’an, entitled
“Prohibition,” mentions three more qualities of
believing men and women: penitence, devoutness
and obedience.
TAWBAH means feeling penitent about having
committed a sin and then turning away from
sinfulness. This is a very special 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
truly repentant find the greatest favor in God’s eyes.
‘IBADAH (worship). This is the act performed to
acknowledge supernatural exaltedness. It is
