In order to highlight the enormous contributions and sacrifices made by the women around the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). Their roles and sacrifices were just as crucial to the establishment of Allah’s religion in the early days of Islam as were their brothers’ in faith and to them all we owe a great debt, radiallahu ‘anhum ajma’een.Here are just a few examples.
Nusaybah Umm ‘Imarah (radiallahu ‘anhaa):
(At the battle of Uhud) Once Nusaybah realised that the Muslims were being defeated she joined the Prophet with a sword, a bow, and her quiver full of arrows. She began shooting arrows until they were all used up...Umm ‘Imarah was a part of the human barrier which protected the Prophet. Ibn Qami’ah struck her and she struck him, but he was wearing two coats of armor which protected him from her blows. Umm ‘Imarah had the following to say about the Battle of Uhud,
“The people had left the Prophet exposed and only a few, not more than ten, remained and my husband, my sons and I myself were among them. We defended him and the people were moving around in a defeated stated. I did not have a shield with me. The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam saw a man with a shield, so he said, ‘Give your shield to someone who is fighting.’
So the man gave his shield to me and I used it to defend the Prophet.” So Nusaybah continued fighting, treating the wounded and carrying water for them. Her son was wounded and blood began to flow. However, she was totally oblivious to her son’s condition until the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said “Bandage your wounded.
“ Thereupon, she went to her son and wrapped the wound while the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) stood looking at her. After she had bandaged the wound, she said to her son, “Rise and fight the people.”
The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) used to say, “The position of Nusaybah today is better than so and so. I saw here on the Day of Uhud fighting fiercely and she had wrapped her dress around her waist as an obstruction. She had been wounded 13 times...I saw Ibn Qami’ah strike her on her shoulders, and her most serious wound took one year to heal.”(At-Yamamah) Abu Bakr committed her to Khalid Ibn Al-Walid’s charge and she fought bravely at Yamamah. She was wounded in eleven different places and had her hand chopped off. Her son, Habib, was killed.
Sumayyah Bint Khayyat (radiallahu ‘anhaa):
She was persecuted terribly by the polytheists of Makkah although she was an old woman at the time. Despite torture visited upon her by Quraysh she did not renounce Islam. Quraysh used to torture ‘Ammar (her son), Yasir (her husband), and Sumayyah herself on an open plain called Ramdaa’....The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: Patience, O Abul-Yaqdhan; Allah will not punish any member of the family of Yasir by the Fire. Then one day Abu Jahl pierced Sumayyah through the heart and she died. All this took place before the migration (Hijrah) to Madinah....Sumayyah was the first to be killed for the sake of Allah in Islam.
Umm Salamah Hind Bint Abi Umayyah Ibn Al-Mughirah (radiallahu ‘anhaa):
Umm Salamah said that when Abu Salamah decided to set out for Madinah, he saddled his camel for her, mounted her on it with her son, Salamah, then set out leading the camel. When the man of Bani Makhzoum saw him, they got up and said, “So far as you are concerned, you can do what you like, but what about your wife? Do you suppose that we shall let you take her away?” So they snatched the camel’s reins from his hand and took Hind from him.
Abu Salamah’s family, the Bani Abul-Asad, were angry at this and said, “We will not leave our son with her seeing you have torn her from our tribesman.” So they dragged her little boy, Salamah, so forcefully that they dislocated his arm, and took him away...Thus Umm Salamah was separated from both her husband and her son. She used to go out every morning and sit in the valley weeping continuously. When a year had passed, one of her cousins belonging to the Bani Al-Mughirah passed, saw her plight and took pity on her.
He said to his tribesmen “Why don’t you let this woman go? You have separated husband, wife and child.” So they said to her, “You may rejoin your husband if you like.” She saddled her camel, took her son in her arms and set out for Madinah, not a soul with her... ...When she was in Tan’eem (about 10km from Makkah) she met ‘Uthman Ibn Abi Talha, brother of Bani Abdud-Dar, who asked her where she was going and if she were all alone. She told him that except for Allah and her little boy she was entirely alone. He said that she ought not to be left alone and helpless like that.
Then he took hold of her camel’s halter and went along with her...Umm Salamah used to say, “By Allah, I do not know a family in Islam which suffered what the family of Salamah did, nor have I seen a nobler man than ‘Uthman Ibn Talha.” ... ...Abu Salamah fought in the Battle of Badr, in which the Muslims were victorious and in the Battle of Uhud, in which he was severely wounded, eventually dying from his wounds...When Umm Salamah had completed the waiting period for widows of four months and ten days, Abu Bakr (radiallahu ‘anhu) proposed to her. She refused his proposal. Then ‘Umar (radiallahu ‘anhu) proposed and she turned him down too.
When the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) proposed to her, she said, “O Messenger of Allah I have three characteristics. I am a woman who is extremely jealous, and I am afraid that you will see in me something that will anger you and cause Allah to punish me. I am a woman who is already advanced in age, and I am a woman with young children.” The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) replied, “As for the jealousy, I pray Allah to let it go away from you. as for the question of age, I am afflicted with the same problem as you. As for your children, your family is my family.” So she married the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) who gave her a bed stuffed with palm-leaves, a bowl, a dish and a handmill. When the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) came to spend the wedding night with her, he said, “Do not feel that you are unimportant among your people, for if you wish, I will spend seven days (with you) (This “honeymoon” period is usually given to virgin wives) and seven days with the rest of my wives and the divide the time equally after that.” She said, “Make it three.”
Safiyyah Bint Abdul-Muttalib (radiallahu ‘anhaa ):
Safiyyah was the aunt of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam). She and Hamza (radiallahu ‘anhu) were the children of Hala, wife of Abdul-Muttalib...Safiyyah was a great lady, who accepted Islam early and took the oath of allegiance to the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) then Migrated to Madinah. ...She was present at the Battle of Uhud when the Muslim suffered defeat. At one stage in the battle, she stood up with a lance in her hand and said, “Are you trying to defeat the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam?” She waved the lance in the enemies’ faces...
Az-Zubayr (her son) met her and told her that the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had ordered her to go back. She asked, “Why? I have heard that my brother has been mutilated and that has happened for Allah’s sake. He, the Most High, has fully reconciled us to what has happened. I will remain calm and patient if Allah wills.” ...She took part in the Battle of Khandaq (the Trench)...
A Jewish man walked around the fortress when the women were inside. The Jews had broken their treaty with the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and were acting with the enemies of Islam... So Safiyyah said, “O Hassan, this Jew is going around the fortress and the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and his companions are busy, go down and kill him.” Hassan said, “May Allah forgive you, you know that I cannot get involved in this.” So when Safiyyah heard what Hassan had to say, she got up and took a pole. She went down and out of the fortress to the Jew, hit him with the pole and killed him. On her return to the fortress, she said to Hassan, “Go down and strip him of his weapons and clothes. I would strip him but he is a man.”...She also participated in the Battle of Khaybar.
May Allah be pleased with these brave and noble women and bless His Ummah today to have women who follow in their footsteps, ameen.
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