Glimpses of the Early Muslim Women

Introduction


“Those scholars who study the role of women in Islam will notice that throughout the different periods of history, women were actively engaged in every field of endeavour, be it politics, government, or learning. Women were NOT confined, as some have assumed, to mothering and household occupations”
[Salah al-Din al-Munajjid]

Nafisa bint al-Hasan (d. 208/824) taught hadith to Imam ash-Shafi' (rahimahullah)

Ibn Hajar mentioned 12 women who were musnida (transmitters of collection of traditions). He studied with 53 women.

Ibn Asakir al-Dimashqi (499-571) took hadith from 1,300 male shaykh and 80-odd female shaykha.

“As far back as the third/ninth century, al-Jihaz described these active women by saying, 'The kings and nobility had bondswomen who undertook all kinds of daily responsibilities joining the workforce or staff of the diwans. There were women who attended to the affairs of the people, such as Khalisah, the maid of al-Khayzuran; and Utbah, the maid of Titah, daughter of Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah; and Sukkar and Turkiyah, the maids of Umm Jafar. Furthermore, women appeared in public stylishly dressed and nobody decried that or reproached it'“
[Amr ibn Bahr al-Jihaz, Rasail]

Busra bint Uzwan (radiAllahu anhu) was the sister of Utbah bin Uzwan al-Mazini, the famous companion, the governor of Basra (in Iraq). According to the author, Busra hired Abu Huraira (radiAllahu anhu) and he was her employee during the time of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). Later she married him, after Marwan succeeded him [as administrator] over Madinah.
[Al Isaba fi Tamyiz al Sahaba, by Ibn Hajar al Asqalani]



Women Farmers


Sahl ibn Sa'd (radiAllahu anhu), a companion of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) mentioned a woman who had her own farm. She used to cultivate beets and barley to feed the companions of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) with it after Friday prayer.

The daughter of Abu Bakr, Asma' (radiAllahu anhum), mentioned that when she was married to Zubair, they did not have wealth. The Prophet gave them some land about two miles away from their home. She used to farm and transport the produce herself.

Asma' bint Abu Bakr reported, "One day I was coming back with date stones on my head. Then I met the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) with some people from Madinah. He asked me to ride with him on his camel's back."

It was apparent that farming was independently done by women. Moreover, they transported farm produce. If they had modern trucks, trains, ships and planes, Asma' and other women would have used them rather than carrying the goods on their heads.



Women Traders


Quite a few women companions of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) were engaged in trading. Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)'s first wife, is the most famous example. Other women such as Khaula, Lakhmia, Thaqafia, and Bint Makhramah traded perfumes.

Ibn Sa'd records, 'women would buy perfume from Asma bint Mahsama, [and] when the bottles were filled, she would write down the amount owed'
[Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd, Vol 8 p 220]

A companion named Quila said to the Prophet, "I am a woman who buys and sells things." Then she asked several questions about buying and selling.

Clearly, business was a legitimate activity of the women companions of the Prophet.

The wife of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud met her expenses by manufacturing and selling handicrafts.

These able ladies may be compared to modern women who craft computer chips and other high technology equipment and appliances, or to women bioengineers who design artificial limbs, hearts and respirators.

Saudah, the Prophet's wife, was an expert in tanning skins. She sold her tanned goods to trading caravans and local men throughout Madinah.



Women Surgeons


Rufaidah Aslamiyyah was an expert in medicine and surgery. She used to tend to the sick and wounded in the battlefields. According to Ibn Sa'd, her tent was equipped with equipment for surgery and first aid. When Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (radiAllahu anhu) was injured in the Battle of the Trenches, the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) transferred him to her tent for medical care.

Other women experts in medicine and surgery were Umm Muta', Umm Kabashah, Hamnah bint Jahsh, Mu'adhah, Laila, Umaimah, Umm Zaid, Umm 'Atiyyah, and Umm Sulaim (radiAllahu anhuma)

Rubayyi' bint Mu'awwaidh ibn 'Afra was a great companion of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). She tended to the wounded and sick and supplied water to the thirsty soldiers in many battles. With other women, she transported the wounded and the dead in the war.


If the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) and his companions were defending Islam today, those women warriors would be carrying machine guns, manning submarines, and manufacturing arms.

If the modern ambulance systems had been in existence, the women would have been giving cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and transporting the sick to the nearest hospital.

Those Muslim women would have been trained in nursing and medical schools to take care of wounded soldiers. These women companions of the Prophet would have been in the forefront of designing Star Wars technology to defend Muslims.



Women in Politics and Women Scholars


The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) consulted with his wife, Umm Salamah (radiAllahu anha) when he negotiated the treaty of Hudaibiyah. Many companions were angry at the weak terms of the treaty. It was Umm Salamah whose counsel helped ease the situation.

Fatima bin Qais was a very able and intelligent scholar. When Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu) died, the nomination committee consulted Qais on the selection of the next Caliph.

Ibn Qayyim said, 130 male and female companions of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) had their legal decisons recorded, which formulated a treatise.
[Ilam al Muwaqqiin Vol 1 p 9-11]

Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu) appointed Shifa bint 'Abdullah ibn Shams (radiAllahu anha) as the administrator of the Market of Madinah which was one of the largest markets in those days.

According to 'Allama ibn 'Abd al-Barr, Shifa bint 'Abdullah was a very intelligent and scholarly woman. Umar often took the initiative of asking her opinion to other people.

Women not only gave their opinion on various problems but also criticized state matters and participated in the evaluation and reckoning of a ruler's actions.

It is commonly believed that freedom of speech originated recently in the West. This is no more than myth. Islam introduced equal rights and freedom of expression for women fourteen hundred years ago. The incident about mahr (dowry) in the Caliphate of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu) is well known.
When he decided to fix the dowry money, a woman protested that he had no right to decide about it:

Umar forbade the people from paying excessive dowries and addressed them in a meeting gathered, saying: "Don't fix the dowries for women over forty ounces. If ever that is exceeded I shall deposit the excess amount in the public treasury".
As he descended from the pulpit, a flat-nosed lady stood up from among the women audience, and said: "It is not within your right". Umar (radiAllahu anhu) asked: "Why should this not be of my right?" she replied: "Because Allah has proclaimed: 'even if you had given one of them (wives) a whole treasure for dowry take not the least bit back. Would you take it by false claim and a manifest sin'". [surah an-Nisa, 4: 20].
When he heard this, Umar (radiAllahu anhu) said: "The woman is right and the man (Umar) is wrong. It seems that all people have deeper insight and wisdom than Umar".
Then he returned to the pulpit and declared: "O people, I had restricted the giving of more than four hundred dirhams in dowry. Whosoever of you wishes to give in dowry as much as he likes and finds satisfaction in so doing may do so".

Women’s concern for copying religious and scientific books as well as poetical anthologies grew as time went by. Their undertakings combined scholarship and beauty.

Mention is to be made here of Fatimah (d 966/1558), the daughter of Abd al-Qadir, better known as Bint Quraymazan. She was a scholar in her own right, and the principal of the Adiliyah khanqah in Aleppo. She copied, by her own hand, a great number of books.

Another woman was Sayyidah (d 647/1249), the daughter of Abd al-Ghani al-Abdariyah of Granada, Spain, who knew the Qur'an by heart and was well known for her philanthropic work and for ransoming prisoners. She copied, by her own hand, the whole of Imam al-Ghazzali's 'Ihya ulum al-din' (The Revival of Religious Sciences).

Al-Rida, the daughter of al-Fath, was a well known writer in Baghdad. She was prolific writer and copier, and copied the diwan of Ibn al-hajjaj, a copy of which the historian al-Safadi saw.

Another well known woman in Baghdad was Shuhdah bint al-Ubri. Nicknamed, 'the glory of womanhood', she was a muhaddithah, a compiler of the hadith, who knew by heart the traditions of the prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). She was also called musnidat al-Iraq, the Iraqi authority. She penned beautifully calligraphy in the fashion of Fatimah int al-Aqra. There was none like her at the time. When she died in 574/1178, the Caliph himself presided over her funeral.



Women Jurists


There are many female jurists in early Islamic history. In jurisprudence, 'Aisha bint abu Bakr (radiAllahu anha) had few equals and Umm Salam also gave many legal rulings.

Others are Safiyyah, Hafsa, Umm Habiba, Juwayriyyah, Maymuna, Fatima, Zahra, Umm Sharik, Umm 'Atya, Asma' bint Abu Bakr, Haila bint Qanif, Khaula bint Tuwait, Umm al-Darda, Atika bint Zaid, Sahalah bint Suhail, Fatima bint Qais, Zaynabah bint Abu Salamah, Umm Ayman, and Umm Yusuf.

A noted medieval Muslim scholar, Imam Badr al-Din Kashani, explained the rationale for appointing a women Qadi (judge): "Where there is ability to give testimony, there is also the ability of qada (ruling)." According to al-Tabari, a woman can be an absolute judge in every matter.

It is reported that Dawud ibn Husayn (radiAllahu anhu), a companion of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), used to take Qur'anic lessons from Umm Sa'd Jamilah bint As'ad Ansariyyah, daughter of As'ad ibn Rabi who fought in the Battle of Badr and achieved martyrdom in the Battle of Uhud. According to ibn Athir, Umm Sa'd had memorized the Qur'an and used to give regular lessons.

Khansa bint 'Amr was a woman of great stature and a poetess of great fame. According to ibn Athir, all poets of fame unanimously agree that no poetess ever equaled Khansa, and the Prophet appreciated her verses.

Su'da, Safiyyah, 'Atikah, Muridiyyah, Qunila Abduriyyah, Umm Ayman, Umm Ziad, and Kabsah bint Rafi were also well known poetesses at the time of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).

'Amra bint 'Abdu'r-Rahman was one of most prominent women of second generation. She was one of those who gave legal opinions in Madinah after the Companions (radiAllahu anhum). Her opinion overrode the views of other authorities.
She was the first authority for three legal issues dealing with the prohibition against digging up graves, the ban on selling unripe fruit, and the effect of crop damage on the sale of agricultural produce. In one case, she reversed the decision of her nephew to cut off the hand of a man who stole some iron rings. Her authority was accepted on matters such as business transactions and punishments (hudud). Imam Malik takes her as a legal precedent for details on the hajj.



Women Warriors


Many examples of women actively participating in war could be found at the time of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).

Umm Hakim (radiAllahu anha), wife of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl participated in the war against the Romans.

When Muslims suffered defeat in the Battle of Uhud, there was some confusion in the Muslim camp. Safiyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib (radiAllahu anha), the aunt of the prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), left Madinah armed with a spear and aroused a sense of shame among those who were returning from the battle. She angrily asked them, "Did you leave the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) behind?"

Asma bint Yazid (radiAllahu ahna) joined the Muslim armies on several occasions. She accompanied the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) on his expedition that led to the fall of Makkah to Islam. She also participated in the great Battle of Al-Yarmuk, against the Byzantines, during the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu). She is reported to have fought and killed nine enemy soldiers, using the pole of her own tent in the battle of Uhud.
[Al Isabah fi Tamyiz al Sahabah Vol 4 p 235]

Umm Umarah Nusaybah bint Ka'b (radiAllahu anha), demonstrated courage and fearlessness in the battle of Uhud.

The Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) himself said: 'To the left and to the right, in whatever direction I turned, I saw Umm Umarah fighting in my defence'

'I reached the battlefield in the service of the fighters in the morning. In the beginning the muslims were dominant and pressing hard on the enemy lines, but later victory deserted them and confusion and disruption spread amongst them. At that time, I went near the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) and in his defence began to use a sword, and shoot arrows until I was injured by the enemy. I saw the mark of a big wound on my shoulder and it was by Ibn Qamiah, may Allah destroy him! When the Muslims, after the defeat, ran away from the Prophet. Ibn Qamiah advanced shouting, 'Tell me - where is Muhammad! If he goes life from this battlefield I have no escape. This is my ruin and death!'. At this, I, Musab and some other comapnions who were guarding the Prophet faced him. It was here when Ibn Qamiah struck me, I also attackeh him many times but the enemy of Allah was wearing 2 sets of armour.'
[Seerat ibn Hisham, Vol 3 p 29; Tabaqat ibn Saad Vol 8 p 301]



'A horserider came forward and attacked me. I defended myself with a shield and made his attack unsuccessful. When he turned back and began to run away, I attacked his horse and cut it's legs, he fell down on his back. The Prophet saw this and called 'Son of Umm Umarah! Go and help your mother!' So he came and with his help I sent the enemy to the jaws of death.

Umm Umarah (radiAllahu anha) also participated in the Battle of Khaibar, Hunain and Yamamah where she lost her hand and recieved 12 wounds by swords and arrows.
[Tabaqat ibn Saad Vol 8 p 301-304]

Umm Hakim (radiAllahu anha), wife of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl participated in the war against the Romans. In one battle Ikrimah died. Later she married Khalid ibn Sa'ad. The wedding celebration (Walimah) wasnt even finished when the Romans again attacked. Umm Hakim, who was wearing her bridal garments, took a rod which was holding the tent up, and killed 7 of the enemy that day.
[Al Istiab fi Asma al Ashab; Tadhkirah Umm Hakim]

Umm Harith (radiAllahu anha), showed perserverance in the battle of Hunain. The Muslim army was running away in confusion, but she with some courageous men, remainde firm as a rock.
[Al Istiab fi Asma al Ashab]

Umm Salaim, mother of Anas, went to battle with a dagger.
[Tabaqat ibn Saad Vol 8 p 311]

The wife of Habib Ibn Salamah asked, 'Where will you be tomorrow, (in the battle against the Romans'?' He replied, 'Either in the lines of the enemy (captured) or in paradise'. Upon hearing this she said, 'Wherever you will be, I hope I shall also be there'
[Al Bayan wal Tabyin, Vol 2 p 170]

Safiyah bint 'Abd al-Muttalib (radiAllahu anhu), the aunt of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) was with a group of women who were in a castle during the Battle of the Trenches. The Jews circled the castle and one climbed up. Safiyah, caught him, cut off his head and threw it down to the jews. Seeing this another remarked, 'Muhammad is not so careless as to leave women helpless in a castle. There are certainly strong and brave fighters in the castle'.
[Mustadrak, Hakim, Vol 4 p50-51]



Woman in the Army


As early as the time of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), women took part in battles as nurses (Sarakhsiy IV p 206; Bukhari 56, 67; Ibn Hisham p 688), transporters of the wounded and the dead (Bukhari 56,67; Sarakhsiy IV p 206), cooks (Sarakhsiy, X p 70), water-carriers (Bukhari 56, 68, 64, 22), general servants (Ibn Hisham p 768), and in some emergent cases, even as actual fighters (Ibn Hisham p 573; Burhanuddin al Marghinaniy III, Sarakhsiy III p 207).

In the battle of Qadisiyah (in the year 14 H) women dug graves for the dead.
[History of Tabari p 2317]

In the time of Sarakhsiy (d 483 H) women were employed in camps, even as store guards.
[Sarakhsiy vol 50a].

Although later jurists insist that such female volunteers should be of advanced age (Fatawi Alamgiriyah), we come across cases of youthful and even unmarried girls in the expeditions of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam).
[Ibn Hisham p 768]. Aisha bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhu), the wife of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), was very young when she was present at the battle of Uhud where she and several other lady volunteers supplied water to the wounded.
[sahih al-Bukhari 56, 65, 67]

According to Imam al-Bukhari (56, 65, 67), the wives of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) used to accompany him even after the command about veils.

There is a story of a young girl, in the battle of Khaibar.
[Ibn Hisham p 768].

Bukhari has several chapters on women going on sea-warfare, nursing the wounded, transporting the injured to hospitals, or otherwise rendering service to the soliders
[sahih al-Bukhari 56, 63, 67].

Shayibani also allows young women to volunteer in the military expeditions if their near relatives had no objection: "A free woman may lawfully go on military expeditions along with near relatives, in order to nurse the wounded, but she should not go without the permission of her near relatives, be she of advanced age or young"
[Sarakhsiy III p 206]

The aunt of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), Safiyah, during the battle of the Trenches, killed with her own hands a subject Jew when he was roaming around the wall of a small fortresswhere she was sent for safety.
[History of Tabari pp 1479-1480]

The wife and daughters of the great Khalid ibn al Walid made a name for horsemanship.

In the battle of Qadisiyah a band of lady volunteers, armed with thick sticks, rendered valuable service in the actual fighting (op cit pp 2362-2363) and once saved the situation by marching in ranks, giving the impression of the arrival of reinforcements (op cit p 2387). In this battle one tribe alone has seven hundred husbandless (widow or otherwise) women (op cit p 2363), from which the number of the whole female contingent may be approximated.

In the battle of Jamal, Aisha bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anha) commanded the army to oppose the forces of Ali ibn Abu Talib (radiAllahu anhu), the fourth Caliph.

Umm Atiyah (radiAllahu anha) said, 'I participated in 7 battles with the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam). I looked after the things of the fighters, prepared meals for them, provided first aid and attended to the sick'
[Ahmad in Musnad, Vol 5 p 84]

Women companions went to the battle of Uhud to give first aid.
[Fath al Bari, Vol 7 p 286]

Umar (radiAllahu anhu) said, Umm Salit wwould bring big bags of water at the Battle of Uhud.
[Tabaqat ibn Saad, Vol 8 p 175]

Ibn Ishaq writes that women participated with the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) in the Battle of Khaibar.
[Seerat ibn Hisham]

Rufaidah Aslamiyyah (radiAllahu anha) was an expert in medicine and surgery. She used to tend to the sick and wounded in the battlefields. She said, '[I] Helped in dressing the woulds of the injured and also served the helpless who would have died without such help'.
She had a tent (clinic) in the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam)'s Mosque. According to Ibn Sa'd, her tent was equipped with equipment for surgery and first aid. When Sa'ad ibn Muadh was injured in the Battle of Trenches, he was transferred to the clinic so that the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) could visit him easily'.
[Bukhari in al Adam al Mufrad pp 213-214; Tabaqat ibn Saad Vol 8 p 213]

Khansa (radiAllahu anha), during the regime of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu), went to the battle of Qadisia with her four sons. On the eve of the battle she called her sons and said:

"My sons, I have borne you with pain and brought you up with difficulty. I have brought no dishonour to your family and no slur on your tribe. I have brought no indignity to your father's prestige and there is not the farthest suspicion to the sanctity of your mother's character. Now, therefore, listen to me. Remember the great merit of fighting for defending your Faith: remember the Qur'anic injunction of adopting patience in the midst of distress. Tomorrow morning, rise from your bed earlyr hale and heartyr and join the battle with fearless courage. Go into the midst of the thickest of the fight, encounter the boldest enemy and if necessary embrace martyrdom."

The next day, her sons went to the battle and one by one they all fell in the fight. When the news came to their mother, she raised her hands towards heavens and said: "Merciful Allah, I thank Thee for conferring on me the high honour of the mother of martyrs."
[Al Istiab fi Asma al Ashab]
Also see 'The Muslim conduct of state' by Muhammad Hamidullah



Woman Calligraphers

Female calligraphers in later history:

Sit Nasim, one of the favorites (haziyah) at the end of the Abbasid period, played an important role during the caliphate of al-Nasir li-Din Allah (d. 622/125).
The Caliph taught her calligraphy so she was able to write almost as beautifully as he did. When, in his old age, his eyesight weakened and senility overtook him, and he became unable to attend the affairs of the people, he asked her to respond, as she saw fit, to all the written requests addressed to him. She performed that task for a long time.

In the palaces of the caliphs in Spain, al-Nuddar (d 374/984), a favourite of Caliph al-hakam ibn Abd al-Nasir the Ummayd (d 362/972), distinguished herself. She was not only a poet, but also knowledgeable in mathematics, and was involved in all aspects of learning and in calligraphy.

Lubna (d 394/1003), the secretary of al-Muntasir (d 366/976) was a poetess who excelled in grammar, rhetoric, and mathematics. She produced a variety o fine calligraphic works.

Copying of Qur'ans
Women calligraphers practiced this art all over the Islamic world, from Spain to Syria, Iraq, Persia and India. They even competed with each other in the copying of wonderful Qur'ans.

Historians mention that in the eastern quarters of Cordova there were one hundred and seventy women copying the Qur'an in the kufi script. They worked day and night by candlelight which illuminated the streets along the three parsings (farsakhs).
One woman who copied Qur'ans was the Cordovan Aisha, the daughter of Ahmad (d 400/1009). She was a good poet and calligrapher, and also a bibliophile who collected a great number of books. She was respected and loved by kings. During the Sanhaji rule in Tunisia, Durrah al-Katibah, the writer, one of the secretaries in the Sanhaji court, acquired great fame. One of her unparalleled works is the Hadinah (The Nursemaid) Qur'an.

In the court of Banu Airi there were several bondsmaids, one of whom was from Byzantium. She was caputured by pirates during the reign of the Sannaji prince al-Mansur, and taken first to Mahdiyah and later to Qayrawan. Al-Mansur bought her and changed her name to Fatimah. She was very intelligent, so al-Mansur entrusted her with the nursing of his son, Badis. This is why she became known as Fatimah al-Hadinah, that is, the nursemaid.
When al-Muiziz ibn Badis consolidated his power, he raised her position, thus raising the prestige of and respect for her fathers nurse and teacher. Fatimah endowed the mosques of Uqabah in Qayrawan with valuable books, rare works, and gilded Qur'ans, some of which still exist in the old library.
Some of the Qur'ans are written with smelted gold in the old kufi scripts. One of the endowed Qur'ans was copied by a certain Durrah. On the last page it is written, 'In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate, Fatimah the Nursemaid, the nursemaid of Abu Manad Badis. I endowed (habastu) this Quran to the Mosque of the City of Qayrawan in the month of Ramadan 410 AH (1019 CE)'.
Then on the other side of the paper it is written, 'This Qur'an was copied, diacritically marked, decorated, gilded, and bound by Ali ibn Ahmad al-Warraq for the honorable Nursemaid. May God protect her, and the hand of Durrah, the calligrapher, may God keep her.'
Fatimah al-Hadinah passed away in 420/1029, but her Qur'an remains with us.



Woman standing for their rights


Abi Yazeer (radiAllahu anhu) reports,
Once Khula bint Thulaba (radiAllahu anha) was going with a group of people including Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu anhu). She had made Umar (radiAllahu anhu) wait for her.

He stayed, and came near her, leaned his head towards her and both his hands on her shoulders, and fulfilled her needs.

When she went away, Umar (radiAllahu anhu) was asked by a person, 'O Amirul Mumineen! The pedestrians of the Quraish have been made to stay for that old woman'.

Umar (radiAllahu anhu) said, 'I am sorry for you. Do you know who she was?' The person replied in the negative.

Umar (radiAllahu anhu) said, 'This is the woman, whose complaint was heard by Allah from high above the seven heavens. This is Khula bint Thulaba. By Allah! Had she not left me for the whole night, I would not leave her, unless I fulfilled her needs'"


Thamama bin Hazn (radiAllahu anhu) narrates,
Once Umar (radiAllahu anhu) was going somewhere on his donkey. A woman came across in the way and said, 'Halt! O Umar!'

He stopped. She scolded him very harshly.

Thereupon, a certain person remarked, 'I have not seen a day like this'.

Umar (radiAllahu anhu) commented, 'What could stop me from listening to her when Allah had listened to her, and sent down the following ayah about her, "Lo! Allah, the Exalted, listened to that woman who had brought to you dispute about her husband"
[Transmitted by Abi Haatim, Al Darmi and Al Baihaqui]

In another narrated incident, Umar (radiAllahu anhu) was corrected by a woman in the audience. Umar forbade the people from paying excessive dowries and addressed them in a meeting gathered, saying: "Don't fix the dowries for women over forty ounces. If ever that is exceeded I shall deposit the excess amount in the public treasury". A woman then rose up and protested that he had no right to decide about it, saying; "The woman is right and the man (Umar) is wrong. It seems that all people have deeper insight and wisdom than Umar".



Summary


During days of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam), women took part in many different jobs, and participated fully into society.

The female companions of the Prophet (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) participated in all these activities WITH his approval.

Women clearly had all their Islamic rights, they married whomever they wished, they worked in the markets, they rode camels and horses, fought in the battles, joined in discussions, and attended lectures along with men. Their jobs included farming, trading, construction, tool making, tanning, bread making, teaching, transporting goods, nursing, health care and defense of the nation.



RadiAllahu anhuma.