Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari Abdul-Razacq
Question: How can a single woman attempt to achieve the level of reward as a married woman who mothers children? The mother receives paradise by going through the pains of labor and raising her children properly. She has the added reward of receiving good deeds after she dies through the righteous acts of her children. What can a single woman who will not receive this barakah [(piritual blessing) do to improve her afterlife (get the same amount/more reward in her life)?
Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah descend on the Prophet Muhammad, his family, his companions, and their followers.
Dear Sister,
Assalamu alaikum,
Thank you for your question. I pray you are in good health and strong faith.
Your question is very important.
I want to clarify this matter for you. You should not view yourself in competition with women who are married and have children.
Motherhood is not an automatic ticket to Paradise. If a woman has a husband and children, yet does not fulfill her responsibility to them, and is ungrateful to Allah for these blessings, she very well may be jeopardizing the great reward promised to mothers in so many Prophetic traditions.
Allah Most High would not decree that a woman remain single or childless and then decrease her reward in comparison to mothers.
Hazrat Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, did not have children. Instead, she raised an Ummah and was a teacher of teachers.
The path to Paradise is in being content with Allah’s decree and making the best of your portion in life. There is so much you can do that a woman with children simply cannot dream of. So make the most of your free time!
May Allah reward you,
Zaynab Ansari Abdul-Razacq
July 25, 2010/Sha’ban 13, 1431
Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Zaynab Ansari Abdul-Razacq is a wife and mother residing in the southeastern United States. She graduated from Abu Nour University’s precollege program in 2000 and has remained active in teaching and studying sacred knowledge through SunniPath and SeekersGuidance. She holds undergraduate degrees in history and Middle Eastern Studies and is a certified public speaker.