Fortitude of Muslim Women

the city. I used to work on this land, and on the way home, I would carry a sack of date stones on my head. One day, when I returned like this with a sack on my head, I saw the Prophet mounted on a camel going along the road with a group of Madinan Muslims. When he saw me, he reined in his camel and signed to me to sit on it, but I felt shy about travelling with men, and I also thought that Zubayr might take offence at this, as he was compassionate about his honour. The Prophet, realising that I was hesitant, did not insist and went on his way. When I came home, I told Zubayr the whole story. I said that I had felt shy about sitting with the men on the camel and that I had also remembered his sense of honour. To this, Zubayr replied, ‘By God, your carrying date stones home on your head is harder for me to bear than that.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 5224) Such instances of how women toiled during their stay in Madinah are numberless. At that time, women worked in their homes and outside. This was because their menfolk were so preoccupied with preaching Islam that there was little time left to discharge their household responsibilities. It was then left to the women to deal with both internal and external duties. They even tended the animals, did the farming, and worked in the orchards.