Position of Woman in Shari’ah – 5

Position of Woman in Shari’ah – 5

1994 8-9 August-September 25-32 Position of Woman in Shari’ah – 5 (2735)

IN THE FIELD OF ACTION

The general lot of women in the early days of Islam was frequently a hard one, but they bore themselves with remarkable fortitude and adapted themselves to whatever conditions they found themselves in. One shining example is that of Abu Bakr’s daughter Asma’, who was born 27 years before the Emigration. When she accepted Islam in Mecca, the Muslims were just 17 in number.

When Abu Bakr emigrated to Medina, he possessed 6000 dirhams, all of which he took with him. When his father, Abu Qahafa, heard of this, he came to his family to console them and said, “I think that Abu Bakr has not only given us a shock by leaving you alone, but I suppose he has also taken all the money with him.” Asma’ then told her grandfather that he had left them well provided for. She thereupon collected some small stones and with them she filled up the niche where Abu Bakr had formerly kept his money. She covered the pile of stones with a cloth and then placed her grandfather’s hand on it. Having gone blind in his old age, he was easily taken in by this trick, and thought that the niche was full of dirhams. “It is a good thing that Abu Bakr has done. This will suffice for your necessities.” Asma’ then confessed that her father had not left them a single dirham and that it was only to comfort her grandfather that she had conceived of this idea.1

1. Thn Kathir, As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyah, 2/236.

Before the advent of Islam, Asma’s father had been one of the richest merchants of Mecca, but when Asma’ emigrated to Medina with her husband, Zubayr, they had to live in the harshest of conditions. Bukhari has recorded Asma’s account of how her own existence was eked out from day to day:

When I married Zubayr, he had neither wealth nor property, nor anything else. He had no servant, and there was only one camel to bring water and only one horse. I myself brought the grass for the camel and crushed date stones for it to eat instead of grain. I had to fetch the water myself, and when the water bag burst I would sew it up myself. As well as managing the house, I had also to take care of the horse. This I found the most difficult of all. I did not know how to cook the bread properly, so whenever I had to make it, I would knead the flour and take it to the Ansar women in the neighbourhood. They were very sincere women and they would cook my bread along with their own. When Zubayr reached Medina, the Prophet gave him a piece of land which was two miles away from the city. I used to work on this land, and on the way back home I would carry a sack of date stones on my head.

One day, when I was returning like this with a sack on my head, I saw the Prophet mounted on a camel going along the road with a group of Medinan Muslims. When he saw me, he reined in his camel and signed to me to sit on it, but I felt shy of travelling with men, and I also thought that Zubayr might take offence at this, as he was very sensitive about his honor. The Prophet, realizing 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 of sitting with the men on the camel and that I had also remembered his sense of honor. To this Zubayr replied, “By God, your carrying date stones home on your head is harder for me to bear than that.”1

1. Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab an-Nikah, (Fath al-Bari, 9/264-265).

Such instances of how women toiled during their stay in Medina are numberless. At that time women worked not only in their homes, but outside as well. This was because their menfolk were so preoccupied with preaching Islam that there was little time left in which to discharge their household responsibilities. It was left to the women then to deal with both internal and external duties. They even tended the animals, did the farming and worked in the orchards.

THE VIRTUE OF BELIEVING WOMEN

When this verse was revealed in the Qur’an – “They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of God, unto them give tidings of a painful doom”2 – then the Prophet said: “Woe to gold, woe to silver.” When the Companions of the Prophet learned of this they were upset. They began to ask one another what things they were going to store then. At that time ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab was with them. ‘Umar said, if they liked, he could put this matter to the Prophet. Everyone agreed, so ‘Umar went to the Prophet and said, “The Companions are saying, ‘Could we but learn which kind of wealth is better, we would Store that and no other.’ The Prophet said: ‘Everyone should possess a tongue which remembers God, a heart that thanks God and a wife that helps him in his faith.’’’3 Another version has used the word “Hereafter” for faith.

2. Qur’an, 9:34.

3. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, II/352.

WOMEN IN EVERY FIELD

Once Umm Salmah was having her hair combed when she heard the sermon starting in the mosque. The Prophet began with the words, “0 people ...” On hearing this she told the woman who was 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 herself, went to the comer 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.

Out of all the Prophet’s wives, ‘Aishah 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, Maruq ibn Ajda’, ‘Ikramah and ‘Alaqamah. A jurist of high calibre, she used to explain the wisdom and background of each tradition that she described. To take a very simple 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.l While travelling, they perspired and became covered in dust: the Prophet had, therefore, told them to take a bath before attending prayers.2

1. Ibn Hajar al-’Athqalani, Fath al-Bari fi Sharh al-Bukhari, 2/284-288.

2. Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab al-Jumu‘a, 2/307.

When the Prophet was preparing to set off for Khaybar to engage in jihad, some women of the Banu Ghifar tribe approached him and said, “O Prophet of God, we want to accompany you on this journey, so that we may tend the injured and help Muslims in every possible way.” The Prophet replied, “May God bless you. You are welcome to come.”3 Umm ‘Atiyah, a Medinan woman, said that she had been present on seven expeditions: “I looked after the emigrants, cooked their food, bound up the wounds of the injured and” cared for those who were in distress.”

3. Ibn Sa‘d, Tabaqat al-Kubra, 8/292.

During the battle with the Jews in Medina, the Muslim women and children were gathered on the roof of a fort with Hassan ibn Thabit as their guard. Safia, the daughter of Abdul Muttalib, who was also present on the roof, describes how she saw a passing Jew taking a round of the fort: “At that time the Banu Qurayza (a Jewish tribe) were doing battle with the Muslims, which is why the road between us and the Prophet was cut off, and there was no one to defend us from the Jews. The Prophet and all his Companions, being on the battlefront, were in no position to come to our assistance. In the meanwhile, the Jew was coming nearer to the fort, and I said, ‘O Hassan, look! This Jew who is walking all around our fort is a danger to us, because he might go and inform the Jews of the insecure position we are in. The Prophet and his Companions are in the thick of battle, so it is your duty to go down and kill him.’ But Hassan replied, ‘By God, you know I am not fit for such a task.’”

“At this, she tied a cloth round her waist, picked up a stick, went down to the outside of the fort and beat the man to death. “This done, 1 came back inside the fort and asked Hassan ibn Thabit to bring the things the Jew had on him, as I, a woman, did not want to touch him. Hassan ibn Thabit replied, ‘Daughter of Abdul Muttalib, I have no need of his possessions.’’’1

1. Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah, 4/108-109.

THE SUCCOR OF GOD

In the sixth year of Hijrah, a 10-year peace treaty was concluded at al-Hudaybiyyah, one article of which specified that anyone emigrating to Muhammad’s camp without the permission of his guardian would have to be returned to Mecca; whereas any Muslim emigrating from Muhammad’s camp to Mecca would not have to be returned.2 This was adhered to in the case of men, one notable instance was that of Suhayl ibn ‘Amr’s son, Abu Jandal, who in spite of having walked 13 miles from Mecca to al-Hudaybiyyah in a badly injured condition with his feet in shackles, was promptly returned to his persecutors. Similarly, other Muslims having managed to free themselves from Quraysh were returned one after another.3 This pact, however, was not regarded as covering the case of Muslim women. This verse of the Qur’an was revealed on this occasion:

2. Ibn Kathir, As-Sirah an-Nabawiyah, 3/321.

3. Ibid., 3/321-335.

Believers, when believing women seek refuge with you, test them. Allah best knows their faith. If you find them true believers, do not return them to the infidels.4

4. Qur’an, 60:10.

Many incidents have been recorded of women managing to free themselves from the clutches of the Quraysh, coming to Medina, and then not being returned to the Quraysh in spite of the latter invoking the terms of the peace treaty. For example, when Umm Kulthum bint ‘Uqbah ibn Abu Mu’ayt escaped to Medina, she was not returned even when two of her brothers came to take her back.5 The Quraysh considered this refusal a violation of the pact and quickly seized this opportunity to defame the Prophet. It is remarkable, however, that they soon ceased to protest on this score and, considering that they were the Prophet’s direst enemies, it is difficult to understand how this came about. No satisfactory answer is to be found in the books of Sirah and Commentaries on the Qur’an. Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al- ‘Arabi writes that the Quraysh ceased to protest because God had miraculously silenced their tongues.6 There can be no doubt about it: it was one of God’s miracles. (Although not in the usual sense of the word).

5. Ibn Hajar al-‘Athqalani, Fath al-Bari, 7/366.

6. Ahkam al-Qur’an, Edited by ‘Ali Muhammad al-Bajawi (Beirut, 1987), 4/1786.

It is perhaps easier to arrive at the truth by examining the wording of this particular condition of the pact. Here we quote Bukhari’s version, which may be taken as the most authentic: “You will have to return any of our men who come to you, even if they have accepted your faith.”1 The expression “any of our men” (rajul) obviously gave Muslims a loophole by which to exclude women from the application of this condition. This condition of the pact had not been put forward by them, but by the Meccans, and the actual wording had been dictated by the delegates of the Quraysh. It seems that when one of them, called Suhayl ibn ‘Amr, was dictating, he was thinking of both men and women, but that the actual word he chose in order to convey “any person” (inclusive of both men and women) was rajul, which in Arabic is actually used only for men. Most probably this was why the Prophet could legitimately refuse – according to Imam Zuhri – to hand over Umm Kulthum bint ‘Uqbah to her brothers when they came to him to demand her return. Razi is another annalist who records the Prophet on this occasion as having explained that “the condition applied to men and not to women.”2

Thus God, by means of a single word, saved virtuous Muslim women from the humiliation of being returned to their oppressors.

1. Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab ash-Shurut fi al-Jihad wa al-Musalah (Fath al-Bari, 5/ 262).

2. Ibn Hajar al- ‘Athqalani, Fath al-Bari, 9/345.

WORKING OUTDOORS

According to ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, when Abu ad-Dahdah, one of the Prophet’s Companions, heard the revelation of this Qur’anic verse: “Who will give a generous loan to God? He will pay him back two-fold and he shall receive a rich reward,”1 he asked the Prophet, “O Messenger of God, does God want a loan from us?” When the Prophet replied in the affirmative, Abu ad-Dahdah took him by the hand, and said, “I hereby lend my orchard to God.”

1. Qur’an, 57:11

Abu ad-Dahdah’s orchard was a sizeable one with six hundred date palms and, at the time he donated it to the cause of Islam, his wife, Umm ad-Dahdah, was staying in it with her children. Never-theless, having made his pledge to the Prophet, Abu ad-Dahdah came to the orchard, called his wife and told her that she would have to leave, as it had been loaned to God. Umm ad-Dahdah’s reaction was that he had made a good bargain. That is, that God would reward him many times over in the hereafter. So saying, she left the orchard with her children, taking with her all her bags and baggage.2

2. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 4/308.

From this incident we can gather that Umm ad-Dahdah worked on the date orchard. There are many such incidents in the early phase of Islam (the exemplary phase) which show that certainly women were not confined indoors. They went out in order to attend to many necessary outdoor duties. However, one point should be made clear: these outdoor activities of women were not engaged in entertainment but as a matter of necessity. They were meant to build up the family on proper lines and were in no sense intended to establish women’s equality with men in the outside world.

WOMEN’S POSITION

The honorable position accorded by Islam to woman is symbolically demonstrated by the performance of the rite of sa‘i, as an important part of the pilgrimage to Mecca, made at least once in a lifetime as a religious duty by all believers who can afford the journey. The rite of sa‘i is performed by running back and forth seven times between Safa and Marwah, two hillocks near the Ka‘bah. This running, enjoined upon every pilgrim, be they rich or poor, literate or illiterate, Kings or commoners, is in imitation of the desperate quest of Hajar (Hagar), Abraham’s wife, for water to quench the thirst of her crying infant when they arrived in this dry desert country, four thousand years ago, at God’s behest, long before there was any such city as Mecca. (God’s aim in leading Abraham and his wife and child to this barren, inhospitable land was to bring into being a live community which, free of all superstitions and all other corruptions of civilization, would play a revolutionary role led by the last Prophet.) The performance of this rite is a lesson in struggling for the cause of God. It is of the utmost significance that, this was an act first performed by a woman. Perhaps there could be no better demonstration of a woman’s greatness than God’s command to men, literally to follow in her footsteps.