Women, Beware (Golden Words of Allah Ep86)

“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their garments over themselves…” (Al-Ahzab 33:59).

By Abdullahi Yusuf

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All perfect praise is due to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, the Lord of the Worlds. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and Muhammad (pbuh), is His slave and final Messenger.

Allah, the Most High, through His Beloved Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) the Seal of all Prophets, did not leave this Ummah without clear warnings. Among them are stern cautions directed to women regarding acts and lifestyles that can distance them from the ultimate abode prepared for the righteous: Al-Jannah.

These are not cultural restrictions, nor social preferences. They are prophetic warnings. Whoever knowingly persists in such actions places herself under divine displeasure and risks being deprived of Allah’s mercy in this world and on the Day when every soul will stand in absolute need of it.

In a hadith Messenger of Allah (pbuh) foretold of women who would drift from this protection. In an authentic narration reported in Sahih Muslim, he spoke of two categories of the people of Hell he had not seen before: men who would oppress others with whips, and women who would be “clothed yet naked,” walking with an enticing gait, with something resembling the humps of camels on their heads. He (pbuh) said they would neither enter Paradise nor smell its fragrance, though its fragrance can be perceived from a great distance. Scholars explained this to include those who deliberately style or pile their hair high in imitation of arrogance or display, turning modesty into spectacle.

Another grave warning concerns altering the creation of Allah for the sake of beautification. ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (RA) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) cursed the women who tattoo and those who seek tattoos, those who pluck eyebrows and those who have them plucked, and those who file their teeth to create artificial gaps for beauty “altering the creation of Allah.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5931; Sahih Muslim 2125). Beauty in Islam is not forbidden; distortion for vanity is.

Likewise, the Prophet (pbuh)?cursed the woman who artificially lengthens her hair and the one who does it for her (Sahih al-Bukhari). False attachments meant to deceive the eye fall under this stern warning. Islam honors natural beauty; it condemns deception rooted in pride.

Then comes a matter not of fashion, but of character. The Prophet (pbuh) informed that if a husband calls his wife to intimacy and she refuses without valid reason, causing him to sleep displeased, the angels curse her until morning (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). Marriage in Islam is not competition, it is covenant. Neglect without cause erodes that trust.

Even more sobering is the narration of Ibn ‘Abbas (RA) where the Prophet (pbuh) said he was shown Hellfire and saw that many of its inhabitants were women, not because of disbelief in Allah, but because of ingratitude toward their husbands, denying good done to them (Sahih al-Bukhari 5197).

The Messenger (pbuh) also warned regarding perfume worn publicly. Abu Musa (RA) narrated that if a woman applies fragrance and passes by people so that they may smell it, he described her in severe terms (Abu Dawood 4173). And beyond these specific warnings lies a broader principle: tabarruj wanton display. “And do not display yourselves as was the display of the former times of ignorance.” (Al-Ahzab 33:33).

These narrations are not condemnation of women as a whole. They are cautions against behaviors that corrupt the soul and erode modesty. The same Shari‘ah that warns also opens the doors of repentance. Allah is Al-Ghafoor, Al-Raheem. Sins, no matter how public, can be erased by sincere tawbah.

And Allah knows best.

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