From: Mohja Kahf 
Subject: Muslim women in history (fwd)

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	Um al Muqtadir-billah.  She directed state affairs due to the 
incapacity of her son, the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir-billah, in the 
early fourth century A.H.  In a public square in Baghdad, she set up a 
tribunal for the purpose of settling people's petitions and lawsuits one 
day a week.  She placed one of her female courtiers as judge.  People 
were scandalized and no one came to her on the first day.  On the second 
day, the woman courtier brought the famous judge Abul Hassan so the 
public would know that there was scholarly approval.  Many wronged people 
benefited from this increased access to justice, so people soon overcame 
their resistance to this idea.

     Some fourteen years later, military officers fomented resentment at 
the female influence in the state, and staged a coup.  After a failed 
attempt, they killed Muqtadir in a second coup in 320 A.H.  His mother, 
who became ill from shock, was imprisoned.  The new caliph, Al-Qahir, 
demanded all her wealth and brutally tortured her.  He then tried to 
force her to dissolve all her awqaf (trusts) and appoint his agent to 
sell them.  She retorted, "I established these awqaf in the name of 
charity and in the name of closeness to Makkah and Madinah, for the weak 
and the poor, and I will not authorize their dissolution and sale."  
Qahir thn dissolved and sold them anyway (without the formality of her 
approval).  In 321, Um al-Muqtadir's condition worsened due to the 
torture.  A prominent townsman who had been her son's supporter cared for 
her at his own mother's home.  She died that year and was buried in the 
cemetary she had founded on Al-Rusafa (a bank of the Tigris River).

Source:  Umar Kahhala, A'lam al Nisa.  

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  A while back Sadida asked who were the women who took the Pledge of 
Aqabah.  This was a historic occasion when leaders of Yathrib/Madinah 
came to the Prophet (ppbuhh) in Makkah, where he and his followers were 
being persecuted, and pledged allegiance to him. They sent one small 
party first, then the larger party which is the better known; both 
pledges took place under cover of darkness (i believe), without 
cognizance of the Makkan chieftans.   Both the 
First and Second Pledges of Aqabah have political as well as spiritual 
implications.  That is, those who pledged were not only declaring their 
faith in Islam, but promising political support and, if necessary, 
military protection, to the Prophet.   Here is the relevant passage from the 
compendium on the Companions by Ibn Hajar al Aqalani, Al Isaba fi Tamyiz al
Sahaba.


   Naseeba (often called Nusaiba) bint Ka'b bin 'Amr al Ansariya al 
Najjariya Um Amara, who is as well-known by her kunya Um Amara as she is 
by her name.

Ibn Ishaq mentions, narrations from multiple sources, that in the 
Second Pledge of Aqabah there were from the Madinan tribe of Bani Khazraj 
sixty-two men and two women, and the narrators claim that the women 
pledged...  
 
[Note here the incredulity of the historian Ibn Ishaq and his reluctance, 
writing as he was in a period well after the time of the early Muslims, 
to believe that the women really participated!  Despite the verification 
of this fact by more than one narrator!  In the historian's 
time, women were already pushed out of most forms of public political 
participation.]

  ... claim that the women pledged the Prophet peace and prayers be upon 
him and his, and he did not used to shake hands with women; rather, he 
used to put them to the question, and if they agreed, he said, "You may 
go."  The two women were from the family of Bani Mazin bin al-Najjar,  
Naseeba and her sister, both the daughters of Ka'b.  Naseeba had her 
husband, Zaid bin 'Asim, there with her, and her son by him, Habib, the 
one who was later killed by Musailama  [a claimant to prophethood 
after the death of Muhammad].  She also had Abdullah, who later narrated 
a hadith about wudu.

[the following is an abridgement]

  When she heard the news that Musailama had killed her son Habib, she 
swore an oath to God that she would kill Musailama or die trying, and she 
participated in combat in the battle of Yamamah (waged against 
Musailama).  She sustained twelve wounds in that battle and her hand was 
lopped off.  [Musailama was killed in the battle.]

	She also participated in combat at the Battle of Uhud (much 
earlier), and was party to the Pledge of Ridwan as well.

  There is a lot more about her but I will leave it here for now!


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	1. Busra bint Safwan bin Nawfal al Qurashiya al Asdiya.  She was 
the neice of Waraqa bin Nawfal (the man whom Khadija consulted about 
Muhammad's prophethood after the earlyiest revelation).  Ibn al Athir 
says her mother was Salima bint Umayah al Silmiya.  Busra was the wife of 
Al Mughirah bin Abi al As, and she had a daughter Aisha with him.  Then 
Marwan b. al Hakam married her and according to one (dubious) source, she 
had a son Abd al Malik with him.  Other's say the mother of Marwan's son 
Abd al Malik was the daughter of "Muawiya brother of Mughira."  Busra 
narrated [hadith] from the Prophet, peace and prayers be upon him and 
his, and Marwan b. al Hakam  narrated on her authority as did Urwa b. al 
Zubair, Sa'eed b. al Musayyib, and other prominent persons of the 
generation following the Companions.*  Al Shafii says Busra was an early 
Muslim and made the Hijrah.  Mus'ab says she was one of the women who 
took the Pledge.  Amr b. Shuaib said, She was my maternal aunt; she 
narrates a hadith about [what happens to wudu in the case of] touching 
one's member, and she was a hairdresser who used to coiff the women in 
Makkah.

	[Commentary:  ok, this may be dry, folks, but we can still learn 
from it.  Note the care taken by the chroniclers to establish not only 
paternity of children, but correct maternal line as well. Note the serial 
marriages, which were common among the women as well as men of the time, as 
you will notice after having read many of these entries.  Note the 
characteristics 
which the chroniclers attempt to determine about the companions: at what 
stage of the development of the community did they enter the faith?  did 
they enter early enough to make Hijrah, a central dating mechanism?  Note 
how the women's descendents report on them, and take pride in having a 
woman narrator in their ancestry (despite the arab cultural emphasis on 
the male line).  And of course, note that although she comes from a noble 
family, she was a hairdresser, contrary to assertions that some people 
might make that only low-status women worked.]

	2. Busra bint Uzwan.  Abu Hurairah worked for her and they later 
married.  She was the sister of Utbah bin Uzwan al-Mazini, the famous 
companion, the governor of Basra (in Iraq).  The story of Abu Huraira is 
true according to this author; she hired him and he was her employee 
during the time of the Prophet, and she married him later, after Marwan 
succeeded him [as administrator] over Madinah.

	[I wonder what kind of business she had and what she hired Abu 
Huraira to do.]

* A Companion is anyone who was adult and Muslim during the lifetime of 
the Prophet ppbuhh.  The generation following them was called the 
Followers, Al-Tabi'un.

Source:  Al Isaba fi Tamyiz al Sahaba, by Ibn Hajar al Asqalani, ca. 1500 
C.E.

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Assalamu Alaikunna

On Mon, 13 Nov 1995, Sadida Ahmed wrote:

> Chapter x1x THE LIFE OF OMAR BY SHIBLI NUMANI
>       HIS FAMILY
> 
> 
> After his arrival in Madina, Omar married an Ansarite woman, Jamila.He 
>divorced her for some unknown reason. 

	Check this out -- my research will complement your research, 
Sadida!  (the following is from Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Al Isaba fi 
Tamyiz al Sahaba).  
	 Jamila bint Thabit bin Abi al-Aflah, sister of Asim, 
wife of Umar b. al Khattab, was also called Um Asim.  Her name used to be 
'Assiya 
(means "intractable") and the Prophet changed it to Jamila (means 
"beautiful").  After she embraced Islam, she went to Umar 
and said "I hate my name, give me a name."  He said, "You are beautiful 
(jamila)."  She got angry and kept going through names and couldnt find 
any but her mother's name.  So she went to the Prophet(pbuh) and said O 
messenger of Allah, I hate my name.  He said, "You are beautiful 
(jamila)."  She got angry again, and said "That's what Umar said!"  
[gee, the marriage seems to be in trouble already at this point].  The 
Prophet said, "Dont you know that Allah is on Umar's tongue and [in his] 
heart?"  [I'm still trying to figure out why she got angry.]
   She married Umar in the year 7 A.H..  After Umar divorced her she 
married Yazid bin 
Harithah, with whom she had a son, Abdulrahman.  Ibn Sa'd mentions her 
among the women who took the Bay'ah (Pledge) to the Prophet ppbuh, in his 
Tabaqat.  Ibn Sa'd mentions on the authority of Jabir that Umar said to 
the Prophet [seeming to indicate remorse] "O Messenger of Allah, I gave 
Jamila a hard blow because she asked of me what I cannot do."  
	That cryptic remark is a clue to what caused their divorce.

>They had a son 'Asim. After they were divorced,
> 'Asim who was a child, lived with his mother. One day Omar saw his son 
>playing and wanted to take him but Jamila did not want to give the young 
>child to Omar.
> She took the case to Abu Bakr, who was the Caliph at this time. He ruled in
> Jamila's favor and Omar had to return the child to his mother.

	This sounds like an important precedent with strong implications 
for shariah.


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1) The source for the previous posting under this title was Al-Islaba fi 
Asma al-Sahaba by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (ca. 15th century c.e.)

2) I was only going to post two entries per week, but here's one more I 
couldn't resist.  

	Azdah bint al-Harith bin Kaldah.  The people of Maisan (a valley 
of many small towns between Basra and Wasit in Iraq) had collected an 
army against the Muslims.  Mughirah bin Shu'bah took the Muslim army and 
went out to wait for them at Al-Murghab (a river) but the enemy did not 
appear right away.  Azdah, who was with the women back at the Muslim base 
camp, said "Our men are busy in combat with the enemy and I do not feel 
secure that the enemy might not turn back upon us, and we do not have 
anyone here to prevent them.  And I also fear that the enemy may be 
too many for the Muslims and that they may defeat them.  If we go out, we 
can be secure from what we fear, and the pagans will think that we are 
reinforcements coming in aid of the Muslims, and this will break them."  
So she strategized.
	
	The women responded to what she planned.  She made a banner out 
of hear khimar (headscarf) and all the women made banners out of their 
khimars and marched, with her in the lead, calling out poetry for the 
victory of Islam.  
	
	They reached the battlegrounds and the pagans were battling the 
Muslims.  When the pagans saw the banners, they believed the Muslims were 
being reinforced with troops, so they retreated, and the Muslims pursued 
them.  And the Muslims won that region.

Translated and abridged from Umar Kahhala, A'lam al Nisa, vol. 1.


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This weekend's second installment.

 	The Companion* Al-Shifaa bint Abduallah al Qurashiyah al Adawiyah 
was one of the wise women of her time.  Literate in an illiterate age, 
she was skilled in medicine, involved in public administration, and 
had a strong presence in early Muslim history.
 
 	Al-Shifaa embraced Islam before the Hijra, and was one of the 
earliest to migrate from Makkah to Madinah.  She took the Pledge or 
Bay'ah to the Messenger (pbuh), declaring loyalty to him before witnesses 
when it was still a dangerous thing to do.  

	Her real name may have been Laila.  Al Shifaa is a title derived 
from her profession as a medicine woman; it means "healing."  She used to 
conduct preventative treatments against antbite before the advent of 
Islam.  After Hijrah, she approached the Prophet, and said "Oh Messenger 
of Allah, I used to do preventative medicine for antbites during Jahilia, 
and I want to demonstrate it for you."
	
	He said, "Demonstrate it."
	
	Al Shifaa said "So I demonstrated it for him, and he said 
'[continue to] do this, and teach it to Hafsah [a wife of the Prophet].'  
In another version he said "Why dont you teach this one [indicating 
Hafsah] the preventative medicine against antbites, just as you taught 
her how to write?"  She apparently taught Hafsah, and probably others, to 
write, at the personal request of the Prophet.  

	The Messenger (pbuh) used to visit her in her own home so 
frequently that she set aside a mat and a cover, or izar, for his use 
when he took his siesta there.  She kept these momentos until her death 
and passed them on to her children.

	The Messenger (pbuh) gave her title to a house in the Hakakin 
area of Madinah.  His value for her company influenced the caliphs.  As 
Caliph, Umar used to defer to her opinion.  Umar's respect for Al 
Shifaa's competence, character, and judgement led him to appoint her as 
an officer, or wali, in the administration of the marketplace.  This 
makes her possibly the first Muslim woman to hold an official position in 
public administration.
		
	Al Shifaa narrates a good number of hadiths.  Many Companions 
narrate hadiths on her authority, including Hafsah.

	With her forceful character, influential counsel, and multiple 
professional skills, Al Shifaa bint Abdullah must have been a major 
figure in early Muslim society, probably a household name.  

* Again, a Companion is anyone who was adult and Muslim during the lifetime 
of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and prayers be upon him and his family.


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Here's another installment on the Muslim Women in History series.

But first, a note on Umar.  There has been some discussion of Umar as 
misogynistic or against women.  Umar (may Allah be pleased withhim) is a 
very valuable Companion of the Prophet for women to know, especially 
those who are committed to a more egalitarian vision of islam than 
currently exists in most of our communities.  It is true that the 
personality of Umar was severe, including a kind of male superiority 
complex over women.  No one is without flaws.  But his severity came from 
a real love of Allah and love of the Prophet and love of the Law, and I 
feel a great connection to that love; I personally also feel a fondness 
to Umar because I know that I can be a kind of aggressive and 
confrontational person often and it's nice to know that some Companions 
were kind of gritty too, but could still pull it together and be good people.

The second reason he is valuable for women is that Umar made many 
contributions to the ways in which Shariah is interpreted, setting many 
precedents that we should know about.  For example, during a famine in 
Madinah he suspended the punishment for stealing.  This means this 
rightly guided Companion, beloved of the Prophet, full of piety and 
severity, dared to suspend a clear law expressed in the Quran.  Why?  I 
believe it is because he understood the *spirit* of the law and wanted it 
enacted in its full spirit, which meant that no one could be punished for 
stealing when hunger afflicted the city.  These and other interpretive 
precedents are important to understand, and indicate the compassionate 
and fair-minded side of the man.

That said, here is an amusing analysis of some of the male Companions by 
a woman who was their contemporary:

  Um Aban bint Utbah.  She journeyed to Syria and witnessed its opening 
to Islam with her brother Abu Hashem and her husband Aban bin Sa'eed.  
She was widowed on the day of the Battle of Ajnadain.  It is said that 
they were together no more than two nights before she was widowed.  
Another version says her husband who was killed was Yazid bin Abu Sufian.

 When she was widowed, Umar proposed to her and she rejected him.  She 
was asked "Why?"  She said "When he enters, he enters sternly and when he 
leaves, he leaves sternly.  He is preoccupied by his Hereafter from his 
worldly affairs, as if he were staring his Lord in the eye."  Another 
version has it "He enters frowning and he leaves frowning.  His doors are 
closed and his giving is little."
 
 Then Zubair bin al-Awwam proposed to her and she rejected him.  She was 
asked "Why?"  She said, "A wife gets nothing from him but chores and work 
to secure his needs.  And he says ~I did this~ and ~I did that~ and ~I am 
this~ and ~I am that~."

 Then Ali proposed to her and she rejected him.  She was asked "Why?" And 
she said, "Women have no luck when they are with him..." [abridgement]

 Then Talhah proposed to her and she said "Marry me, truly."  People 
said, "How is this?"  She said "I truly know his moral character.  When 
he enters, he enters laughing and when he leaves he leaves smiling.  When 
he is asked, he gives.  When I withdraw, he inquires; when I work, he 
thanks; and when I do wrong, he forgives."

 Ali was visiting them in their home and he said [to her husband], "Abu 
Muhammad, may I speak to Um Aban?"  He said, "Speak to her."  Ali said, 
"Assalamu alaiki, oh woman who is dear to herself."  She said "Alaik 
assalam."  He said "The Leader of the Believers, Chief of the Muslims, 
proposed to you and you rejected him."  
 "That is so."
 "And I proposed to you and I am from the Prophet (pbuh) and you rejected 
me."
 "That is so."


In another version, Ali added "You refused all those whom you refused, and 
married this son of the daughter of al Hadrami."  She said "Decree and 
destiny."  Ali replied, "You know, you married the one of us who was most 
beautiful of face, the one with the best hand, and the one with the most 
goodness toward his family."

That's the end of the story.  In Umar Kahhala, _Alam al Nisa_, Vol. 1 p. 21.


BTW, i want to add that while i would never knock Fatima Mernissi for 
having a commitment to women's equality, having read several of her 
works and interviews, I do not believe this person has any love for the 
Prophet and his Companions.  Some of her writings even indicate that her 
commitment to Islam's basic concept of tawhid is questionable, as she 
celebrates jahilia as a time of pluralism and tolerance (In Islam and 
Democracy, for example).  Her other agendas override love of the basics 
of this faith, I do believe.


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More Companions of the Prophet. Again, Companion means anyone who was 
alive, adult, and Muslim during the Prophet's lifetime.

 Source:  Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al Sahaba by Ibn Hajar.

	Abraha al-Habashiyah (Abraha the Abyssinia).  She was among the 
servants of Al-Najaashi, king of Abyssinia.  She was with the Companion 
Um Habibah when Al-Najaashi performed the marriage ceremony marrying Um 
Habibah to the Prophet (ppbuh). Ibn Sa'd finds her story in the Tarjamah 
of Um Habibah on the authority of Abdullah bin Amr on the authority of 
Ismail bin Amr on the authority of Um Habibah.

	Arnab al-Madaniyah al-Mughaniyah (Arnab the Madinan the singer).  
The two Ispahanis narrate by way of Ibn Juraij that Abu al Asba3 informed 
me that Jamilah the singer informed him that she asked Jabir bin Abdullah 
(a Companion) about singing.  So he replied, "Some Ansari married some 
relation of Aisha, so Aisha led the bridal procession to Quba.  
Then the Prophet, 
ppbuh, said, have you presented your bride?  She said, Yes.  He said, 
Have you sent her off with singing?  For the Ansar love it.  She said, 
No.  He said, You should have sent for Arnab [a woman who used to sing in 
Madinah]."

	Ansar = the native inhabitants of Madinah.

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The following are abridged translations of a historical text.  I hope they 
will be informative references even though they are a little dry, coming 
from a fifteenth century chronicle.  I would like to 
continue the translations as a series on the list if there is interest. 

These women are among the Companions of the Prophet (ppub).  A Companion 
is defined as someone who was alive during the mission of the Prophet 
Muhammad, attained adulthood, accepted Islam, and met the Prophet at 
least once as an adult Muslim.  The latter condition is not held by some.

	Asiya bint al Harith al Sa3diyah.  The milk-sister of the 
Prophet, peace and prayer be upon him.  

	Aaminah bint al Arqam.  Abu Sa'ib al Makhzumi narrates on the 
authority of his grandmother Aaminah bint al Arqam that the Prophet (ppbuh)
granted her title to a wll in the heart of Al-Aqiq, and it became known 
as Aaminah's well, and she was blessed in it.  She was one of those who 
made the Hijrah.

	Aaminah bint Affan al Umawiyah.  Sister of the fourth caliph 
Uthman bin Affan.  Abu Musa says she accepted Islam the day Makkah was 
opened.  She was at the place of Sa3d the client of the Bani Makhzum 
tribe, and she was among the women who pledged to the Prophet (ppbuh), 
along with Hind bint Abi Sufian, that they would not associate anything 
with God, nor steal, nor commit adultery.  Ibn Ishaq mentions her in this 
context in _Al-Maghazi_.


	Source:  Al Isabi fi Tamyiz al Sahaba, by Ibn Hajar al Asqalani, 
Vol. 4.