Woman Between Islam and Western Society
5. Position of Woman in the Islamic Shari‘ah
~ 335 ~
In addition to this work, she voluntarily stitched
clothes for people in the neighborhood. Although
she did not accept any money for this, her
neighbors would send her grain and other
comestibles in return for her good offices. This work
was by no means easy for her, because it was done
in the days before sewing machines had become
popular, i.e. she did it entirely by hand. She also
managed to keep a buffalo, and in our broad, open
courtyard, she grew vegetables and planted fruit
trees, like papaya and banana, which gave us a
good yield. In those early days of penury, a woman
passerby once remarked, “I see you have kittens to
look after.” We did indeed look like scraggy little
kittens in those days, and if my mother had not
made such extraordinary sacrifices in order to look
after us, our fate might well have been no better
than the little, stray, motherless kittens one sees
wasting away in the streets.
My eyes are witness to my mother’s total
commitment over a prolonged period to our proper
upbringing. But it would really take a whole book
to do justice to her, and I have at my disposal just
these last few pages.
