As for the woman, she too has been equipped—bodily, psychologically, and intellectually—with qualities of physical suppleness, refinement of feeling, a quick surge of emotion, and a vibrant responsiveness of heart. This constitutes the true aptitude for the noblest and, beyond doubt, the most critical of all tasks: the nurturing and formation of human beings.

Such is Islam’s outlook on the two sexes: an outlook grounded in the-so-called “biological” predispositions that Allah, exalted is He, has placed within each, endowing them with masculine and feminine traits that steer every person to the role for which he or she was created. In His creation lie wonders indeed!

Those who raise the slogan of “women’s liberation,” urging her to enter into men’s fields of work, have misunderstood Allah’s purpose in creating the two sexes and have ignored the innate preparation with which He fashioned woman so that she might undertake her own distinctive functions—duties that no one else performs as well. Through that ignorance and heedlessness they have wrecked households, undermined the very framework of the family, and squandered the children, leaving them homeless and neglected. The most fortunate child in such a situation is the one handed over to an uneducated, foreign housemaid—cold and indifferent—instead of enjoying a mother’s tenderness, upbringing, care, and compassion. The Prophet ﷺ said, kullun muyassarun limā khuliqa lah (everyone is facilitated for that for which he was created) [al-Bukhari 6596; Muslim 2649]. Allah’s help is sought.