How to be a Good Muslim Woman - Becoming a good Muslim woman/girl is a wish of every Muslimah who want to practice Islam in her life. Muslim is itself mean “the one submit to (Allah)” and a good Muslimah is woman who submits to Allah SWT and follows the Prophet Muhammad SAWW.

In Principle, the Sharia’a duties are for both men and women alike, and there is no difference between them in terms of duties, except where the Sharia’a texts have listed these differences or where the nature of women is different to men.

Whenever the phrase of "O you who believe" is mentioned, this refers to males and females alike, hence there is no need for the Phrase "O you female believers". The principle in the Arabic language is that whenever the address is to the male, this means that it also includes the female; whereas whenever the address is to the female, this does not include the male as well, but rather confined to the female.

Thus, all the phrases in the Holy Quran such as, "O you who believe...", "O you people....", "And do not kill the soul....", "And who would say something better than he who calls to Allah, performs the good deed...", "And obey Allah, and obey the Messenger and those in authority amongst you...", "And establish prayer and perform Zakat..." and all the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad SAWW reads as, "A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim...", "He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say something good or keep silent.", "Spread the Salam amongst yourselves." All these phrases and commands are equal for men and women; there is no difference in their compulsion for male or female in Islam.

So all the women (Muslimat) are equally answerable to sharia commands to men, except where their nature is different to each other such as Men pay the dowry and the alimony, and they hold the tie of divorce. Men do not have to wait a period of time (Iddat) after death or divorce, while women do. The "Awrah" of the woman is different to that of the man. The testimony of the woman is different to that of a man. The woman would have to stop praying and fasting, while the man would not. A man's share of inheritance is different to that of a woman etc.

But all other command which are not specifying women or men are to be equally follow as fard, mandoob, mubah, makruh and haram. Such as Seeking knowledge about the  Shari'a rules, Enjoining Ma'aruf and forbidding Munkar, bringing the rulers to account, the teaching of the rules of Islam etc.

Thus, to become a Muslim woman is not much different from becoming a good Muslim (man). The same duties which men are to be followed, Muslim women are also bound to follow, except where they’re different in nature or duties.

Last Updated: 21/7/2015