The first woman to enter Paradise
Once the beloved daughter of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Fatima, asked her father, “O my beloved father, which woman will enter Paradise first?” The Messenger of God ﷺ replied, “In such and such a place lives a woman who will enter Paradise first.” Fatima was very interested in her and she asked, “Will this woman enter Paradise even before me?” “Yes, even before you. If you want, meet her and find out why she has been so honoured.”
Fatima was very interested in this woman and one day she decided to visit her. She found this woman’s house. Fatima approached the door and knocked. An old woman’s voice was heard from behind the door, “Who is this?” she asked. Fatima explained who she was. “May my soul be sacrificed on your path, O daughter of the Messenger of God ﷺ, I really wanted to meet you, but since I do not go out, I was not able to visit you. It is the mercy of God ﷻ that you came to me. Forgive me, but unfortunately, I cannot open the door for you without my husband’s permission. Please come tomorrow, I will ask my husband’s permission and open the door for you.” Fatima left.
The next day she came with her son Hasan. But the woman, having learned that Fatima was not alone, said, “Forgive me, but I asked my husband’s permission only for you. If you want, you can enter, but I cannot let your son in. Or wait until tomorrow, I will ask my husband’s permission and tomorrow you can come in together.” Fatima could not go to this woman on the second day.
On the third day, Fatima came with her second son Husayn and faced the same thing. She had to leave the place where this woman lived. And only on the fourth day did the woman let everyone in, since she had asked her husband’s permission for everyone.
Fatima was very surprised that she was met by a young and very beautiful woman, “When I spoke to you, the voice of a very old woman was always heard behind the door.” “Yes, this was so that my voice could not seduce strange men; I held a pebble in my cheek while talking. And now I have taken them out.” Fatima was moved to tears. Now she understood the reason why this woman would be the first to enter Paradise. “O daughter of the Messenger of God ﷺ! Am I fulfilling my responsibilities to my husband as I should? I am afraid that I will have to answer for this before God ﷻ. Fatima conveyed to her the words of the Messenger ﷺ: “The Prophet ﷺ said that you are the first woman to enter Paradise. No woman will be able to do even one of the things that you do.” After talking with her for a while, Fatima left.
After reading this story, many women may think: “Of course, it was easy to be submissive to their husbands then, because it was the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and husbands were merciful and fair to their wives.” There are many similar stories about wives being submissive to their husbands but nothing has changed today.
We are quick to blame our husbands for our disobedience. We are afraid of being humiliated, believing that he does not deserve to be asked for permission or to be informed about family problems and given the opportunity to make decisions. We find thousands of reasons for this: he earns little, his faith is weak or he is soft-hearted, etc.
But this is not a reason to be disobedient to one’s husband. It is not for us to decide what he owes, what his duties are to his wife. Everything is already written in the Koran. And no one can escape the justice of the Almighty. No matter what the husband is like, in any case, he will be called to account for his wife. Therefore, we must now, while we have a chance to ease the punishment for our husbands on the Day of Judgment, do everything in our power to achieve this.
No wife will be at a loss because of her obedience to her husband. Remember, there are many single women who dream of being married (at least the second, third or fourth) and being faithful wives. May God ﷻ grant the God-fearing women Paradise and raise them in rank!
