the righteous woman who is a wife and mother fulfils her duties by raising her children and looking after them and by creating a happy atmosphere for the whole family. this makes the children physically, psychologically and culturally healthy in a way that keeps them adherent to the sound creed. such children worship allaah the almighty perfectly and adhere to good morals, sound behaviour and piety and will be firm on the right path.

on the other hand, deviant women are the incubators of all forms of corruption and set a bad example for their children in all aspects of life and at all ages, starting from their childhood. the children of such mothers only acquire corrupt values and bad habits and qualities from them. these mothers leave their children unsupervised with ignorant servants or foreign nursemaids who instil the worst qualities in them. this has a permanent impact that affects the children throughout their life and influences their attitudes, which may lead to their failure at school or work and may cause them to be unable to adapt themselves to society.

the mother’s role in teaching her children, especially her daughters, before they start their formal schooling is very important as the child comes to life knowing nothing. allaah the almighty says (what means): {and allaah has extracted you from the wombs of your mothers not knowing a thing, and he made for you hearing and vision and intellect that perhaps you would be grateful.}[quran 16:78]

mothers are the ones who teach their children how to walk, speak, eat, hold things and play. children also acquire language from their parents and others who accompany them; then, they start recognizing their own names by hearing those who call them. after this stage, children start learning simple reading and writing skills, pronouncing words correctly and memorising the name of allaah the almighty and the principles of religion.

this important role cannot be performed by a busy mother who spends her time outside her home. similarly, the mother who is ignorant about her religion and her duties towards her children is not qualified to perform this role either.

when the child moves to the next stage, the role of the mother regarding her children’s acquisition of knowledge goes hand in hand with that of the school. she helps her children do their homework and creates a conducive atmosphere at home so that they feel safe, secure and loved. this makes the children confident, optimistic and hopeful about the future. moreover, the mother answers her children's questions at this stage where they usually ask about anything that occurs to their minds. according to the soundness of the mother’s answers, the children’s minds and hearts will be filled with the facts of life and they will realize the difference between truth and falsehood; good and evil.

the importance of the mother’s role in this stage lies in her teaching the children their religion, watching how they perform acts of worship and their adherence to the attitude and morals that islam encourages. the mother also makes them acquainted with the teachings of islam that are related to society and social etiquette in every aspect of life. this role is complementary to the religious curricula at school, as the mother monitors her children’s application of islamic etiquette and knowledge.

there are certain matters that girls, in particular, need from their mothers and that depends on the mother’s awareness of such matters and her keenness on telling her girls about them at the suitable time. for instance, mothers should tell their daughters the information that they need to know at the age of puberty and their duties at home so that their daughters would be aware of the rights of the husband and children when they get married.

the above-mentioned duties cannot be fulfilled by a corrupt mother. moreover, the corruption of the mother’s creed leads her to send her children to foreign schools and direct them towards western culture, which affects their personality and makes them feel alienated from their society and religion.

problems afflicting the husband

the corruption of the wife may lead the husband to commit sins, follow the path of satan and keep away from the right path. the wife’s non-adherence to hijaab (islamic covering) and the exposure of her beauty in the presence of men may stir the anger and the jealousy of the husband and may lead to dire consequences.

the wife who does not respect marital life harms the whole family and threatens it with destruction through divorce, or through the husband’s negligence of his family, his searching for another wife, resorting to cafes and places of entertainment or being addicted to smoking, drugs and intoxicants.

the problem of divorce in the west highlights the extent of this phenomenon in countries that, ironically, blame islam for making divorce lawful. the percentage of divorce cases is 60 percent in sweden, 40 percent in the united states of america, 30 percent in germany, 28 percent in the soviet union and 14 percent in finland. this study, which was published by stern magazine in germany, states that two-thirds of the women who want to get a divorce in france work outside their homes. nearly 22 percent of divorce cases in germany are because of infidelity, and 10 percent are because of other sexual causes, while 10 percent are because of addiction.

as for the arab world, the problem of divorce has reached alarming proportions,  which needs a separate study.

among the prevalent social problems is the woman’s abstention from having children because she does not want to bear the trouble of pregnancy and delivery. this may lead her to have an abortion. a disobedient wife may not fulfill the sexual needs of her husband, which leads him to commit adultery or perversion. this also may affect the husband’s health physically and psychologically and expose him to sexual and psychological diseases.

the corrupt woman may induce her husband to commit financial malpractice in order to obtain money and fulfill her demands by buying her jewelry, expensive clothes and holding parties. 

problems afflicting male relatives and other men

the woman who does not adhere to the teachings of religion regarding hijaab (islamic covering) and avoiding intermixing with men is a great danger for men. hence, islam is keen on keeping men away from women, except in marriage, because this intermixing and the impermissible exposure of adornment cause loss of honor, corruption of souls, destruction of homes and the suffering of families.

it has been noted that in societies where intermixing between the two sexes is allowed, the morals of the youth are tarnished and manly zeal among men is diminished to the extent of developing effeminacy.

women who intermix with men do their best to display their beauty and adornment and insist on attracting their attention and gaining their admiration. this leads to extravagance with the expenses of adornment and cosmetics that, in turn, leads to financial ruin and poverty.

the unlawful display of a woman's beauty leads to the spread of immorality, adultery and the diseases that result from it in the worldly life and it brings severe punishment in the hereafter for violating the commands of the lord of the worlds.

allaah the almighty says (what means):

·        {tell the believing men to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts. that is purer for them. indeed, allaah is acquainted with what they do. and tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. and let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. and turn to allaah in repentance, all of you, o believers, that you might succeed.}[quran 24: 30-31]

·        {o prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. that is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. and ever is allaah forgiving and merciful.}[quran 33: 59]

·        in a hadeeth (narration) on the authority of ‘abdullaah ibn mas‘ood  he said that the prophet,  said that allaah the almighty says: “the look is a poisonous arrow from the arrows of satan. whoever abandons it for fearing me, i will grant him faith whose sweetness he will find in his heart.”

·        in a hadeeth on the authority of abu umaamah  he said that the prophet, , said: “beware of meeting in seclusion with women! by allaah! no man meets a woman in seclusion, but the devil becomes their third.   it is better for a man to touch a pig that is dirtied with clay than to touch with his shoulders the shoulders of a non-mahram woman.”

·        the prophet,  said: “any woman who wears perfume and passes by a group of people so that they would smell her perfume is an adulteress and every eye is liable to commit adultery.” [an-nasaa’i]

guilt for violating the orders of allaah the almighty is not restricted to women alone, as it also includes men. being prey to the corruption of women and the devil’s temptation do not exempt men from punishment in this life or the hereafter after allaah the almighty has warned them.

the effect of such problems on the whole society:

these problems violently shake the pillars of the family and society, and exacerbate or give rise to other problems such as rape, kidnapping of girls, and the rise in the number of illegitimate and homeless children, are all caused by the corruption of women. recently, the phenomenon of unregistered marriage contracts has caused new problems for the family, and conceals the social corruption that results from the deviation of girls and that will affect the future of the coming generations.

there are economic problems that affect society and these were caused by the deviation of the working woman. in addition to her low productivity, she affects her husband’s and children’s productivity and hinders their excellence in work and this has a destructive effect on the national economy.

allaah the almighty says (what means): {o people of the scripture, there has come to you our messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the scripture and overlooking much. there has come to you from allaah a light and a clear book. by which allaah guides those who pursue his pleasure to the ways of peace and brings them out from darknesses into the light, by his permission, and guides them to a straight path.}[quran 5:15-16] allaah the almighty has promised to preserve his book. he says (what means): {indeed, it is we who sent down the quran and indeed, we will be its guardian.}[quran 15:9]

this gives us hope that reform can be achieved by adhering to the book of allaah the almighty and the sunnah (tradition) of the prophet,  and by returning to the virtuous islamic society.