Women in Every Field

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.