they were afflicted with in the pre-Islamic era, and it was Islam that gave them their just rights and much-deserved honour in society which they had been deprived from. In essence, Islam gave women a crown of dignity, honour and respect. It gave them such a rank in society, which was inconceivable before Islam, meaning, something that nobody had even thought of during the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah).

How Sayyiduna Umar al-Farooq رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ caused a river to begin flowing

Shaykh-e-Tareeqat, the Ameer of Ahl al-Sunnah دَامَـتْ بَـرَكَـاتُـهُـمُ الْـعَـالِـيَـهْ mentions the following account in his booklet, ‘Miraculous Wonders of Farooq Al-A’zam رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ’:

After Egypt was conquered, the people of Egypt once said to Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin ‘Aas رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ: “O Leader! We have a tradition in relation to the River Nile, and until we do not fulfil that tradition, the river does not flow.” He asked: “What is it?” They said: “We take a virgin girl from her parents, adorn her with fine clothing and jewellery, and then throw her into the Nile.” Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin ‘Aas رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ said: “This can never be in Islam; Islam abolishes such evil customs.” Thus, that tradition was abandoned and the river water began to decrease, to such an extent that the people had intended to leave that place.

After seeing this, Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin ‘Aas رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ wrote down the whole situation and sent it to the second caliph, Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen, Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ. In response to this letter, Sayyiduna Umar رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ wrote: “You did the correct thing. Indeed, Islam does away with such customs. There is a piece of paper in this letter, place it into the River Nile.”

When Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin ‘Aas رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ received the letter of Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen رَضِىَ اللّٰهُ عَـنْهُ and took out that piece of paper from the letter, on