Hindrances on the Path - Some Advice to Women

Nobody plans to damage their household or their standing before Allah. The damage is done by small things, repeated, that never seem serious enough at the time to stop. Abdul Malik Al-Qasim has collected those small things and set them out where they can be seen.

His approach is quiet rather than accusatory. He gathers narrations and accounts illustrating how a healthy Muslim society conducts itself, and lets the contrast do the work.

What He Names

• Neglecting the rights of neighbours
• Lying in matters of marriage, and delaying marriage without cause
• Exposing one's own secrets, and exposing the family's
• Not observing the veil, and not wearing proper hijab
• Interfering in the affairs of others
• Failing to overlook each other's shortcomings
• Evil talk — backbiting, gossip, and the conversation that fills an afternoon
• Neglecting children, and failing to raise them well
• Poor treatment of parents, and neglecting their rights
• Keeping evil companions
• Discouraging a husband rather than supporting him
• Displaying beauty where it should not be displayed
• Failing to enjoin good and forbid evil

Why These Are Called Hindrances

Because each one is an obstacle placed on a road the person is otherwise walking. A woman may pray, fast, cover and give charity — and spend three hours a week in conversation that consumes the reward of all of it. The major obligations are not the problem. The traffic around them is.

The author addresses this to women particularly, and is candid that these are failings women fall into often and rarely examine. The list, however, indicts anyone who reads it honestly.

Who It Is For

Muslim women taking their own conduct seriously. Sisters' halaqahs, where each item is enough for a session. Anyone whose worship is in order and whose relationships are not. It is short, plain and best read slowly.

Related Reading

• Seeds of Righteousness — the same subject from the positive direction
• Kindness to Parents — the rights of parents, treated on their own
• Road to Good Friendship — choosing companions, and what they do to a person