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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books An Introduction To The Rights And Duties Of Women In Islam The Noble Zahra (‘a): The Epitome of Women • What was your motive for writing the book Banu-ye Nimunah-ye Islam (The Model Woman of Islam)? Reply: My second work was the book Banu-ye Nimunah-ye Islam which I wrote in the year AH 1349 (approximately AD 1970).

For a long time I was thinking that we must provide the Islamic society with an ideal family as a paragon with which men and women can learn lessons for all areas of life. The best family that could be considered for this aim was the family of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (‘a) and Zahra (‘a). This is because, among men, after the Prophet (S), Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) and among women, noble Fatimah (‘a) are the best of people and the great personages of Islam.

Because they were Infallible, these two worthy personalities completely observed all their religious duties and lived by virtuous Islamic values. Thus, they can be considered models for families in marriage, social relations, and internal family relationships including spousecraft , raising children, household management, etc. Hence, I thought to inspect and examine this family and introduce it as a paragon.

In order to chronicle the family life of these two personages, two methods were available: One was investigation of their inherent virtues. Amir al-Mu’minin (‘a) and noble Zahra (‘a) each possessed intrinsic virtues due to their infallibility and investigating these was, in itself, an extensive affair. The second method was illustration of the family and to some extent social behavior of these luminaries.

This was my main purpose; even so, I also more or less engaged in the first focus though my intent for this was also to elucidate the practical program and behavior of these two great personalities. At first I believed that our Islamic sources were very rich and profuse regarding the life of noble Zahra (‘a). However, during my research I realized that, in fact, we have very few references because the lifespan of Hadhrat [^1] Zahra (‘a) and especially her married life was very short.

In addition, due to her main responsibilities, a large portion of the life of this guiding light was played out at home and people are less notified of what goes on within the homes of others. Therefore, we do not have thorough information regarding the details of Hadhrat Zahra’s (‘a) behavior.