JUMA THOUGHTS [credit the Salafi Feminist]: idealizing the Sahaba beyond reality

How quick Muslims are to judge one another: and those judgements are often made on a skewered-assumption, the overidealized-beyond-reality state of the original companions and Sahaba. 
I've heard alot of sad tales of late, of Muslim girls put down in Islam because of mistakes that they made or are making and of a faux-ummah or Masjid telling them they are lost from Islam or are disbelievers ect... So many get scared and give up hope that Allah loves them because they are screw-ups and we all know, Muslims can't be screw-ups---- can they?

This subject was shortly and sweetly summed up by one of the sisters I have on my blog roll http://thesalafifeminist.blogspot.com/ [and who is probably more practicing than I can hope to be and is one of those girls who has never been publically seen as a screw-up lol so it makes the words even sweeter coing form her mouth] and I hope isnhaallah it will lead to a post or a rant on her blog but if not, I stole it entirely off of something private and hope that's ok but I think it is important to be said and re-said [so take it away Anonymouse]:

Many Muslims like to idealize the stories of the Sahabah, especially the female Companions, and use them to impose an unrealistic definition of Muslim womanhood on the Ummah: an ideal that turns Muslimahs into paragons of piety, virtue, and docile submission, akin to Madonna on a pedestal.

What we forget are the stories of the Sahabiyaat who were *not* innocent, sheltered beings, but rather women... with dark pasts and hidden secrets. 

Hind bint Utbah was a villainess before the Conquest of Makkah; al-Ghaamidiyyah was a married woman who had an affair, became pregnant from it, and publicly confessed her sin to RasulAllah himself, so that she could be purified of her sin. Her repentance was so great that it would have been sufficient for 70 of the people of Madinah.

Before we go about preaching a false image of what a Muslim woman *should* be, let us honor the #ForgottenHeroines of Islamic history... those who proved that Muslim women need be only one thing: sincere, true believers in their Lord.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Salam Alaykum

It's so refreshing to see a post like this. I think sisterhood should be about supporting and reminding eachother by inspiring one another to seek out Allah's pleasure.
Pixie said…
Noor OlderGirl Hijabi: Wa alaykom e salaam, I know! I loved the unique mind of the sister who wrote this. You should definately check out her blog.
Smile Sadaqa said…
Assalamu alaikum, it certainly gives us a sense of hope that all is not lost even for the most wretched of sinners like me. Though in truth I know there is hope only if I repent. And I must repent, but my sins are too addictive. I leave them for a while and then return, sometimes more steadfastly and less shamefully than before. So we must strike a balance. There is hope, but first we have responsibilities. I am addressing this to myself first and foremost.