WOMEN IN EVERY FIELD
Once, Umm Salmah was combing her hair when she heard the sermon starting in the mosque. The Prophet began with the words, “O people ...” On hearing this, she told the woman, combing her hair, to braid it just as it was. The woman asked her why she was in such a hurry. Umm Salmah replied, “Are we not counted among ‘people’?” And so saying, she promptly braided her hair, went to the corner of the house nearest the mosque, and listened to the sermon.
In all, Umm Salmah related 378 traditions and used to lay down laws. Ibn Qayyim writes that if her decrees were to be compiled, they would take up a whole book.
Of all the Prophet’s wives, ‘Aisha was the most intelligent. About 2210 traditions of the Prophet were related by her, and these were passed on by about one hundred of the Prophet’s Companions and their close associates. Among her pupils were such eminent scholars as ‘Urwah ibn Zubayr, Sa‘id ibn Mussayyib, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amir, Masruq ibn Ajda,’ ‘Ikrimah and ‘Alqama. A jurist of high calibre, she used to explain the wisdom and background of each tradition that she described. To take a straightforward example, she explained that the prescribed bath on a Friday was not just a matter of ritual, as had been maintained by Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri and ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, but was meant as practical advice for people who had to travel from far-off places to say their Friday prayers in the Prophet’s mosque. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 877- 879). While travelling, they perspired and became dust-covered: the Prophet had told them to bathe before attending prayers. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 902; Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 847)
When the Prophet was preparing to set off for the Khaybar expedition, some women of the Banu Ghifar tribe approached him and said, “O Prophet of God, we want to accompany you on this journey so that we may tend the injured and help Muslims in every possible way.” The Prophet replied, “May God bless you. You are welcome to come.” (Ibn Sa‘d, Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 8, p. 292)
Umm ‘Atiyah, a Madinan woman, said she had been present on seven expeditions: “I treated the sick, attended to their wounds, and took care of their belongings during their journeys. I also prepared food for them.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith No. 20792)
During the battle with the Jews in Madina, the Muslim women and children gathered on the roof of a fort with Hassan ibn Thabit as their guard. Safia, the daughter of Abdul Muttalib, who was also present on the roof, describes how she saw a passing Jew taking a round of the fort: “At that time the Banu Qurayza (a Jewish tribe) were doing battle with the Muslims, which is why the road between us and the Prophet was cut off, and there was no one to defend us from the Jews. Being on the battlefront, the Prophet and his Companions could not assist us. Meanwhile, the Jew approached the fort, and I said, ‘O Hassan, look! This Jew who is walking all around our fort is a danger to us because he might go and inform the Jews of the insecure position we are in. The Prophet and his Companions are in the thick of battle, so you must go down and kill him.’ But Hassan replied, ‘By God, you know I am not fit for such a task.’”
“At this, she tied a cloth round her waist, picked up a stick, went down to the outside of the fort, and beat the man to death. “This done, I came back inside the fort and asked Hassan ibn Thabit to bring the things the Jew had on him, as I, a woman, did not want to touch him.” Hassan ibn Thabit replied, ‘Daughter of Abdul Muttalib, I do not need his possessions.’’(Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, Vol. 4, pp. 108-109)
