Al-Watan newspaper

FROM the beginning of human life woman has been an important factor that enriched it with love, peace, beauty and tranquillity. Prophet Adam, the first man on earth, could not live without a woman and God created Eve to support him.

According to some historical accounts, when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Paradise, Adam landed in India while Eve found her place in Jeddah. Adam was looking for Eve all over the place and finally found her in Arafat, near Makkah. There is no clear evidence for this narration.

However, it explains the important role of woman in a man’s life. She does most of her work in support of man secretly. Her appearance in the fore is often blocked by the great man for whom she worked day and night for his success.

This often happens because woman loves this man and wanted him to become great, be it a father or husband or son or brother or grandchild. She will not be bothered about her bleeding fingers as long as the result of her hard work is a red rose that brings happiness to everybody.

She will not mind the bite of bees with the hope of getting honey, even if the rose and honey delight someone else. Woman is a soft creature and love of tenderness are her hallmarks. She will be ready to sacrifice her life for man if the latter succeeds in winning her love and confidence.

A woman will be ready to carry the man on her wings to the skies of success without stopping for a moment to take a picture with the rising star, which means she exerts all the efforts for the success of man without any vested interest.

Our history is full of such stories of great women, beginning from Khadija Bint Khuwaylid who has played an important role in the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in addition to dozens of women followers of the Prophet (pbuh) and those who came after them like the mother of Rabeea Bin Farroukh, who became the mufti of Madinah at the age of 20.

We have also heard about the great role of Imam Shafie’s mother in bringing up her son. She told him: “Go and seek knowledge and I will support you for everything else.” Princess Noura Bint Abdulrahman, the sister of King Abdul Aziz, had also extended her relentless support to the founder of Saudi Arabia.

As I always prefer to give contemporary examples, which are more impressive, I would like to highlight here the role played by the mother of an ambitious and successful young Saudi man, Dr. Hani Bin Talal Al-Johani, a well-known neurosurgeon in France. I am happy and proud to say that he is a Saudi doctor who has obtained French fellowship in medicine and is a member of the teaching staff of Qassim University.

Dr. Hani and his medical team perform more than 2,500 operations a year including those of brain and spinal surgery at Colmar Center, ranked the third best center of its kind in France. The mother of this great doctor has played a big role in saving him from a hopeless condition.

She did not leave him to the oblivion and pin great hope on him when he insisted on leaving for the US without any specific goal but to escape from his failure. She was afraid of handing him over to the streets of America as he was an inexperienced young man.

His mother’s tears and prayers later changed the man’s course of life as her prayers surrounded him wherever he went. She had provided him with enough money he required to complete his education. You can imagine the difficulties and sadness his mother faced during his absence. Moreover she had to face blames and abusive statements of other women who considered her son as a hopeless case but she did not give up hope on him.

When he returned to his senses, and walked the path that suits him as a young Muslim man, she continued to support him as if she was holding the bright future of her son in her hands. She also found a suitable wife who helped him in the painstaking struggle. She was like a shining light who glittered the nights while studying at the Faculty of Medicine.

He stumbled several times during his studies as he almost gave up his distant dream and the dream of his mother but his wife gave him every encouragement and pushed him forward. There was another woman — his grandmother — who took care of him during his childhood and early youthful days. She was like the grandmother of the great poet Mutanabbi.

She was not far from the grandmother of Ibn Taymiyyah, who was a prominent Islamic scholar and reformer who used to attribute his knowledge and qualities to his grandma. The same is the case of Dr. Hani Al-Johani’s grandma who was known for her righteousness and piety.

These real life stories indicate that when women love and trust, they make miracles without having any name or fame. Their names are hidden behind the names of great people whom they produced giving their sweat blood. You can compare the women made by men and men made by women throughout human history and civilization to know the significant role of woman and understand her dedication and sacrifices for the man whom she loves and trusts.