IECRC (USA & Canada)

The Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) daughters are our great legacy in Islam, for they showed patience and endurance regardless of their situations.  Hazrat Fatima (radiallahu anha) was the youngest daughter of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and the most cherished.  She was knowledgeable in almost every form of Fiqh (Jurisprudence).  It is said that her every action is akin to her Father’s (Peace Be Upon Him) and therefore she acquired the reputation of the most knowledgeable and esteemed.  Hazrat Ruqayya (radiallahu anha) was a very patient and enduring woman.  During the time of the battle of Uhud, she became fatally sick.  The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) asked Hazrat Uthman (radiallahu anhu) to tend to her instead of going to battle.  She died the day the battle was won. Hazrat Zainab (radiallahu anha) was the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) oldest daughter.  She was extremely obedient and dutiful.  When she was asked by her father to make the journey to Mecca, the unbelievers showed no leniency in their persecution of her.  When she decided to leave as her father had instructed her to do, they attacked her with a piercing arrow.  The shock of it was so severe  that she passed out.  She was the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) most responsible and trustworthy of daughters.

The women who became the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) associates were many in number and each had a special skill that she conducted with fortitude and valor.  Hazrat Asma (radiallahu anha) used to love the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) so much that she would have sacrificed anything for him. Relationships, old and new were important to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  The Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had a special relationship with all of Hazrat Khadija’s (radiallahu anha) friends.  Hazrat Hala (radiallahu anha) who was Hazrat Khadija’s (radiallahu anha) younger sister would frequent the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) house.  When He (Peace Be Upon Him) would hear her voice, He (Peace Be Upon Him) would rush to open the door being reminded of his wife Hazrat Khadija (radiallahu anha).

Some of the women who became associates of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) were slaves.  Hazrat Labina (radiallahu anha), a slave, was beaten incessantly, and tortured but her tenacity for Islam was more powerful than the villains who persecuted her.  Hazrat Zarya (radiallahu anha) was also a slave.  She was tortured until she became blind, then her persecutors taunted her about her blindness with “now where is your faith and your leader?”  At that point, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) prayed for her and her sight was restored to her, leaving her enemies bewildered.  Hazrat Nadia (radiallahu anha) was also a slave and she too showed unrelenting courage as a Muslim to her violent torturers.  Hazrat Sameeya (radiallahu anha) was forbidden by Abu Jahal to read the kalma.  In her passion and zeal for Islam, she read the kalma out loud and was pierced with an arrow.  The most sorrowful state was that of Hazrat Umm-e-Abeed (radiallahu anha) who was a Muslim slave girl.  She was tortured under conditions unimaginable to man.  She was burned and torn in every part of her body.  Her worst nightmare was when her persecutors would drown her in the ocean and when death became imminent, they would raise her up again only to repeat the process.  This only gave her more tenacity in her faith.

The associates lived their lives according to the Sunnah, i.e., the traditions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).  They were hard working and their examples should be our most perfect role models.  Hazrat Fatima (radiallahu anha) who was Hazrat Umar’s (radiallahu anhu) sister was the cause of Hazrat Umar (radiallahu anhu) converting to Islam.  It was her valor and love for Islam that changed Hazrat Umar (radiallahu anhu). Hazrat Haleema was the wet-nurse to the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  When He (Peace Be Upon Him) declared Jihad in Taif, out of respect for the mother who nursed him, he laid down his cloak on the bare ground for her to sit.  Hazrat Safia (radiallahu anha) is known for her valor.  She was a dauntless woman who gathered all the women to safety at the battle of Khandaq and watched over them at night.  When the enemy appeared to attack sword in hand, thinking women were defenseless, she hid behind the tent and not only killed the intruder, but de-capitated his head and threw it for the opposing army to see.  They ran for fear of their lives. Hazrat Shifa (radiallahu anha) loved the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) so much that she had a special bed made for him and no one else was allowed to sit on it.  Hazrat Umm-e-Atiya (radiallahu anha) fed and nursed soldiers on the battlefield. Hazrat Umm-e-Darda (radiallahu anha), wife of the famous associate spent most of her time in worship.  She was a very wise woman and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had taught her methods of spiritual healing.  Hazrat Umm-e-Khalid (radiallahu anha) was born in Africa. As a child, she was given an ornamented shawl by the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) who said “wear it and tear it.”  This was symbolic of a long life.  She had the longest life of all the associates.  The famous incident is that of Hazrat Umm-e-Sulaim (radiallahu anha) whose husband was the Prophet’s (Peace Be Upon Him) servant, Hazrat Anees (radiallahu anhu). Her child was sick and when her husband went to work, the child died.  When her husband returned from work, she first gave him dinner and completed all the rituals of an evening as a married couple.  Then she told him about the death of the child. He went to complain to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  He (Peace Be Upon Him) said of her that it was complete faith that made her put her own feelings aside for the welfare of her husband and Allah, The Most Exalted, will reward her for it.  Even though Hazrat Umm-al-Fazl (radiallahu anha) could not perform migration, but wanted it desperately, she was given the reward of a migration.  Hazrat Umm-e-Roman (radiallahu anha), the wife of Hazrat Abu Bakr (radiallahu anhu) is said to have had a lasting influence on the  Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  He (Peace Be Upon Him) referred to her as the spiritual light.  She was honored in both life and death.  Hazrat Rabiya (radiallahu anha) daughter of Nazar was a devout Muslim and when her son was martyred, she told the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) that if her son is in heaven she could endure his death.  Hazrat Umm-e-Sulaith (radiallahu anha) was known to have fed soldiers during war time and fought courageously.  Hazrat Umm-e-Haram’s (radiallahu anha) wish was to die a martyr.  She was trampled upon as the army was heading toward a ship to go to war.  Hazrat Umm-e-Amarah (radiallahu anha) entered every battle field to physically defend the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) from harm.  She would rush toward the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) when he was about to be attacked and stand in between the attacker and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  She ended up with 13 wounds, but before she was fatally stabbed in the stomach, she killed two more men who were heading toward the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

History reveals that the world of Islam is rife with women who contributed both socially and spiritually.  We need to only look at the examples left behind for us and will find that our role models have been set aside for us to emulate.  Hazrat Kibsha (rahmatullahi alayha) was a famous saint who was from the Ansar tribe.  She is considered to be our very spiritual mother.  It is said that she loved the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) so much that when He (Peace Be Upon Him) drank from her vessel, she cut out that opening and kept it as a keepsake.  Hazrat Amina Ramila (rahmatullahi alayha) was a saint and a waliya.  She was respected by the most well known saints who anxiously waited for her prayers.  Hazrat Fatima Nisha Poori (rahmatullahi alayha) spent most of her time praying.  Her famous saying is that ignorance leads to sin and impetuousness is the action of a sinner and one who is careful in life is a believer.  Khwaja Baa Yazid Bustami (may Allah have mercy on him) has said about her that “no greater saint lived amongst the women.”  Hazrat Khansa (rahmatullahi alayha) was a saint and a prolific poet.  She is considered to be the greatest poet of Arabia and her work is still extant.  Hazrat Mehmoona Saooda (rahmatullahi alayha) was a deeply spiritual mother who could see beyond the physical eye.  Hazrat Muaza Adwaya (radiallahu anha) was Hazrat Aysha’s (radiallahu anha) teacher and had an awesome fear of Allah, The Most Exalted, that she would not look up at the sky.  She spent all her time in worship.  Hazrat Rabia Basree (rahmatullahi alayha) would cry all night out of fear for Allah The Most Exalted.  Hazrat Saida Aysha (rahmatullahi alayha) was the paternal aunt of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (may Allah be pleased with him).  She was spiritually gifted and when there was a drought, she raised her broom to the sky and prayed and rain came down.  Hazrat Umm-e-Saib (rahmatullahi alayha) was blind, but when she was told that her son had died, she cried and begged God to make him alive.  The son was restored to life.  Hazrat Umm-e-Sharyak (rahmatullahi alayha) is known to have the title of The Miracle of Associates.  She was endowed with spiritual light and once when she was fasting, she was imprisoned by a Jew who refused to allow her to open her fast.  She prayed and she found food.  She could blow into a vessel and it would become butter.  Hazrat Umm-e-Warqa (rahmatullahi alayha) desperately wanted to die a martyr and the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) told her to remain in her home.  She was murdered by her two servants.  Hazrat Umar (radiallahu anhu) had them executed, which was the first execution amongst Muslims.  He said “the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) always spoke the truth.”

Women should take a good lesson from all of our mothers’ examples.  Our mothers lived simple lives, yet each one was knowledgeable in some aspect of Islam.  There was not a single mother whose life was not illustrated with examples of bravery, integrity, and hard work.  When she felt some situation to be unjustified, she immediately reported it to the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).  Thus, all the matters were resolved harmoniously.  Today, we find that many Muslim women are confused and scattered in their thoughts.  Frequently, they adopt roles that they think are worth emulating, but they know that those roles are not inherently acceptable to them.  We must all learn form our mothers in Islam.  Even though they lived in a different culture, there is nothing that has changed for women.  They fought hard for what they believed was right and did not divulge or compromise their integrity.  Their lives are symbolic of roles for women of all ages, of all times, and of all cultures.  Our mothers are beside us.  We need to remember their loving roles and their valor and tenacity in life.  Let us look back to them at their guidance, and tenacious principles in life and death, and their fortitude.  Their lives are not so different from ours, for we women will always belong to that same culture: the culture where truth and integrity are the governing roles of individuals and where nothing is impossible as long we follow their path, for that will be the path that our Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) chose for all Muslims.

Khalida Kareemi

Ms. Kareemi is a Bay Area resident and she enjoys writing.