TEHRAN – The importance of a woman in the family and her fundamental role in raising the children, and creating a calm atmosphere for the family members is obvious and crystal clear for anyone.

The family is a fundamental body in society and the most suitable place to meet human beings' material and spiritual needs.

A child learns the first and most basic life lessons in the family. S/he is taught dedication, love, customs, cultural and religious ceremonies, a sense of duty, and responsibilities in the family. The family environment is effective in forming the personality of the children. Providing personal and social health is impossible without considering the family's role.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei in one of his speeches on February 3, 2021, considered family as a place for moving toward perfection. “The family is a warm, blessed center in which the strongest foundations of a person’s upbringing are laid. It is in the heart of the family that the first, most important foundations of a person’s spiritual and intellectual upbringing are established. The home is the best place for the comfort of the body and the soul. It is the best center for relieving the fatigue of one’s body and soul. It is the truest environment of intimacy. No intimacy can be imagined or exists in any environment as much as it does in the family between the mother, the children, the father, and the spouses.”

The first condition of having a healthy and dynamic society is maintaining the stability of the family, which also depends on the constructive role of women in the family.

Women as one of the main pillars of the family play an important role in the growth and flourishing of the talent of the family members and building a healthy society.

One of the most important, constructive, and valuable roles that a woman can play is being a mother and a wife, which is very valuable in religious teachings.

In addition to the roles of women in the family as a mother and a wife, a woman can have a role as a sister and a daughter, as well.

In Islamic societies, the woman is the center unit of family formation and management, and she has a great role in her family; she is the wife, who is responsible for all marriage demands. She is the mother who takes care of the children.

God Almighty in Holy Quran, surah Al-A’raf, verse 189, calls women an important element in creating comfort for men.

“He is the One Who created you from a single soul, then from it made its spouse so he may find comfort in her. After he had been united with her, she carried a light burden that developed gradually. When it grew heavy, they prayed to Allah, their Lord, ‘If you grant us good offspring, we will certainly be grateful.’”

In positioning men and women as individuals and as servants of God, the Quran explicitly denies any inherent supremacy of one gender over the other. In Quranic chapter An-Nisa, verse 1, God said, “O people! Fear your Lord who created you from a single soul, and created from it is a mate, and dispersed from both of them many men and women.”

Islam places great emphasis on the position and importance of woman because she plays an important role in strengthening and growing the family in various dimensions such as moral, educational, etc.

In this regard, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution said, “There are outstanding and unambiguous Islamic teachings and sources regarding women and family and it is necessary to make them available to everybody in the form of usable theories… From an Islamic point of view, family is an essential pillar of society. It is not possible to achieve progress in society in the absence of families. Healthy and dynamic families cannot be formed and preserved in the absence of pious and understanding women.” (January 4, 2012)

The Muslim woman has a prominent position in Islam. In addition, the mother in the Muslim family has a significant role as a leader, who is capable of managing the family in different crises and supporting family members in all aspects such as faith, intellectual endeavors, psychological, social, and health.

Considering the main role of a woman and the significant influence she can have in society and family, a context must be created so that the family and its main pillar, i.e. woman, maintain her real position in society. Achieving this goal requires the implementation of support programs for women, both in the field of family and in the field of community-oriented activities.

“Women are a source of tranquility at home. They are a source of tranquility for men and children including girls and boys. If women themselves do not enjoy psychological tranquility, they cannot share their tranquility with their families. A woman who is humiliated, insulted, and pressured because of her job cannot be the lady of the house. She cannot be the manager of the family. This is while women are, in fact, managers of the family. This is the main issue. This is one of the main issues which has not received enough attention in our living environments - whether in the past or in the present time. This issue should receive enough attention.” (April 19, 2014)