Sister ... Where is your place in history?

Praise be to Allah the Almighty, and peace be upon the His Messenger, his household, companions, and allies.

A closer look into history shows the extent of the vast difference between the determination of the ancestor women, and the state of the women of this age except for those who Allah has mercy on!

Muslim women in past centuries had given the finest examples of high determination and pride, and had recorded for the following generations wonderful acts of heroism, if women of the present time read about them, they would think that they are forms of fiction, but for the evidences and proofs that verify this fact in history.

By their lives they had set an example for generations, in matters of worship and jihad, in fasting and spending the nights awake worshipping Allah, in their pursuit of knowledge, of education, their advocacy and sacrifice for the religion of Allah.

In this book we will review valuable examples from the conditions of ancestor women, hoping that Allah may revive faith in the hearts of our women, so that they wake up and preserve the spirit of nostalgia to the past, where there is glory and empowerment.

The first to embrace Islam is a woman!

When Allah the Almighty revealed Islam to His Prophet, peace be upon him, he reviewed the matter with his immaculate wife Umm Al-Qasim Khadija Bint Khuwailid, may Allah be pleased with her, her heart throbbed for the religion and her feelings responded with a sense of sincerity and certainty to the master of the Prophets and Messengers, peace be upon him.

Imam 'Izz al-Din ibn Al-Athir, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Khadija was the first to embrace Islam, by consensus of the Muslims". [Jungle Lion (7 / 78)]

She, may Allah be pleased with her, did not care about what might befall her by the idolaters, she had been the best helper and supporter to the Prophet, peace be upon him, she backed him up and supported him with her money, herself and her possessions, therefore, she had had a place in the heart of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, that was not matched by the status of all the other Mothers of the Believers. Mother of the Believers, 'Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "if the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, mentioned Khadija he praised her aptly. She said: one day I became jealous and said to him: how often you remember an old woman of red gums (with a toothless mouth), and in whose place Allah has given you somebody better than her?" He said: "Allah has given me somebody better than her? She believed in me when people denied me, she believed me, when people did not, she supported me with her money, when people deprived me, Allah has blessed me with her children and deprived me of the children of people". [Declared Hassan by Al-Haythami]

›› كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا ذكر خديجة أثنى فأحسن الثناء قالت فغرت يوما فقلت ما أكثر ما تذكر حمراء الشدقين قد أبدلك الله خيرا منها قال أبدلني الله خيرا منها قد آمنت بي إذ كفر بي الناس وصدقتني إذ كذبني الناس وواستني بمالها إذ حرمني الناس ورزقني الله أولادها وحرمني أولاد الناس‹‹

حسنه الهيثمى

This hadith indicates her high ranked position in the heart of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and on the great sacrifice she made because she believed in Allah and His Messenger. The Prophet, peace be upon him, gave her the glad tidings of having a Qassab palace in Paradise wherein there will be neither any noise nor any fatigue (trouble) [The Biography of A'lam An-Nubala' (chiefs of the nobles) 2 / 10, and the Qassab is hollow pearls large as palaces] may Allah be pleased and complacent with her.

O sister O believer, Khadija, may Allah bless her, was the best supporter of Islam; with her and with women like her Allah granted victory to the religion, and defeated the masses of the non-believer idolaters. She has earned a great honor in this world and the Hereafter by her precedence in embracing Islam and true faith, and we hope that the medal of this honor be hanged around the necks of women believers, it is the honor of the precedence of returning to religion, Khadija, may Allah bless her, has earned the honor of being the first to start, and we want you to win the honor of being the first to return to religion!

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "Islam began as something strange and will return to be strange, so blessed be the strangers" [Narrator: Abdullah ibn Masud, from Sahih Al-Bukhari]

›› إن الإسلام بدأ غريبا وسيعود غريبا كما بدأ فطوبى للغرباء‹‹

رواه البخاري بإسناد حسن

Yes; you must pay the tax of the return, as you have paid the tax of the start, which is the same in both cases: it is alienation.

So, may Allah preserve you, be a supporter to this religion by your commitment and response to Allah and His Messenger, take Mother of the Believers an example, endure the desolation and alienation of the path to be taken, the path to paradise is surrounded by hard non loved things and the path to hellfire is surrounded by lustrous desires!

The first martyr in Islam was a woman

What an amazing destiny of Allah that the first martyr in Islam was a woman, so that all Muslim women throughout history should know that women's role in supporting religion was great; the first to throb for Islam was a woman, and the first to water the soil by her blood in order to support Islam and Allah was a woman.

It is Sumayya Bint Khubbat, the mother of Ammar ibn Yasir. She was the seventh of seven in Islam. When the heat of noon intensified, and the heat became unbearable, Banu Makhzum (a clan of Quraish), took her and her son and husband out to the desert where they put them into iron armors and poured down burning sand upon them, and stoned them, whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, passes by them he says: "patience the family of Yasir you are promised Paradise!" To avoid that bitter torture the two men - her son and husband – said by their tongue words of disbelief, while their hearts were at rest with Faith, Allah the Almighty has excused people in their condition by saying: “except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith” [An-Nahl 6:106]

{إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ} النحل: 106

Transliteration: illa man okriha waqalbuhu mutmainnun bialeemani

However the woman held patience, and settled to torment, and refused to give the people what they asked for, of disbelief, after faith. They took her life and killed her in a horrible way. She died, may Allah be pleased with her, and was the first martyr in Islam!

Where are sisters like Sumayya in our time! And where is the woman who becomes patient with Islamic hijab (veil) without drifting behind the idle talk of fashion and its spot lights!

Where is the woman who perseveres in obeying Allah the Almighty and her husband and parents!

Where is the woman who sacrifices her time for learning, education and advocacy for Allah's religion!

It was an honor for women that martyrdom in Islam was inaugurated by their hands. Sumaya Bint Khubbat, may Allah have mercy on her, had certified her commitment to Islam by her blood , flesh and soul, in order to leave for the following Muslim women generations a legacy of history to be proud of and to follow its path for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure.

O sister

You have been willingly guided to Islam *** satisfied with only the teachings of the best prophet

You were a precious preserved pearl *** today they want you for fun and play

A free woman they would turn into a slave *** having a strange brain, but her name is Arabic

Are those equal whose leader is the Messenger of Allah *** to those of the abyss of Abu Lahab

Then, whose role model is Al-Zahra *** equal to that of the wood carrier

Sister, you are not rootless *** you are not a bastard

You are the Arab daughter of Islam *** in the bosom of the purest mother and from the dearest father

Do not care about their throwing *** you have the mind responding if you call

Ask it: Who am I? My family? My origin? *** am I from the West or from Islam and Arabs?!

[My Muslim Sister who Ordered You the Hijab (veil), p. 24.]

Women make heroes

Al-Khansa' was one of the finest Arab women in the days of ignorance. The day her brother was killed, she cried him bitterly, and became an example of wailing, because of the severity of the pain of losing him!

But when she converted to Islam and became a worthy Muslim, she made heroes, and gave lessons for future generations. When her sons, the apples of her eyes, prepared for combat, she preached them like the admonishing Commander who sharpens the courage of his soldiers, and awakens their sleep, she said to them: "Sons, you embraced Islam willingly, and migrated by choice. By Allah Who there is no god but Him, you are the sons of one man, and you are the sons of one woman, you are of authentic breed and origin, know that the Hereafter is better than this vanishing world.

Be patient, and endure hardships, station yourselves, and fear Allah so that you may prosper, when you see that the war had broken out fiercely, hurry unto its furnace, fight its strongest, you will win booty and dignity, in the House of Eternity"

When the combat intensified, they rushed unto the enemy, until they all died, may Allah have mercy on them. She did but say: "Thank Allah Who honored me by their death and I hope that He joins me with them in His house of Mercy". [Al-Isabah 7/615-616]

Where are the likes of Al-Khansa' in our time? Where are those who raise the determination of daughters and sons to sacrifice for the sake of religion, if not in combat, then by education and work, advocacy and advice, and make good deeds and refraining from doing harm?

Muslim sister: Remember that a home is a school for children, and you are their teacher, according to your guidance and education your children will approach life and produce, therefore, good guidance and ethical education are prerequisites in making heroes.

A girl is a School, if well-prepared*** you have prepared well-bred people

Whoever takes a closer look at the reality of Muslims today will find out that the reason for the degradation in many aspects of their lives is the absence of the spirit of education and guidance, the absence of the pioneer role of motherhood in the making of men who hoist the banner of religion. So, may Allah guide you, take care of your children, and make them soldiers of Allah!

Women... Defeated the Romans!

In the battle of Yarmouk history testified for women with courage and heroism, sacrifice for the victory of Islam and Muslims. The Romans were astonished and stunned with amazement when they saw the wives of the Mujahideen (Muslim fighters) use stones and wood sticks, and canes as weapons, they jumped over the Roman knights, and were killing as men, even more!

In our present time – things have been reversed – and there has become admiration in the hearts of many women to the Romans - the West - and their conditions, they imitated them in everything, admired their life style and their characteristics, men, women and children.

In the battle of Yarmouk, some Muslims fled when the Roman armies outnumbered the right side of the Muslim army, and here the courage of women and their role in inciting to jihad are manifested, when they called: "O daughters of the Arabs! Intervene between men, bring them back from defeat till they return to fight," Sa'idah bint Asim Al-Khawlani: "I was among the women that day on the hill, and when the right side of the Muslim army got exposed, 'Uqairah bint Gha'far – she was an extemporaneous woman - chanted loudly:" Women of the Arabs! Intervene between men, carry your children by your arms, and receive the men with incitement to fight ". The daughter of Al-'Assi ibn Munbih cried loudly: "may Allah curse the face of a man who flees leaving his wife," the women said to their husbands: "You are not our husbands, unless you defend us against those Al'ilj (infidels)". [The Beginning and the End (7 / 11)]

Ibn Jarir said: "Muslim women fought in this day and killed a lot of the Romans. They hit the defeated Muslims, saying:" Where are you going and leaving us for those infidels? When they rebuffed them, the men wouldn't help but return to the fighting." [The same source]

Hind bint Utba came out with a lute in her hands, behind her were some women of Al-Muhajireen (migrants), she incited the Mujahideen, saying the poetry she said on the day of Uhud (name of a battle).

Then she received the knights of the right side of the Muslim army, they were in a state of defeat, so she cried out: "Where are you going? And what are you running from? From Allah and His paradise are you running? He is seeing and knowing what you are doing." She looked at her husband Abu Sufyan, he was defeated so she hit the face of his horse by her stick, and said to him: "Where to, O Abu Sakhr? Return to the fighting, exert your heart so as to erase your previous incitement against the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him," Al-Zubair ibn Al-'Awam said: " When I heard the words of Hind to Abu Sufyan, I remembered the day of Uhud while we were in the hands of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him." He said: when Abu Sufyan heard the words of Hind he returned back and so did the Muslims after him, and I looked at the women, they were fighting beside the men, racing them to the battle.

I have seen a woman of them who has approached one grand infidel [A Knight of order of the Romans] he was on a horse, she hang out to him until she throw him off his horse, and killed him, saying: "This is a manifestation of Allah's victory to Muslims!" In this battle Asma bint Yazeed ibn As-Sakan killed with the pole of her tent nine of Romans ". [the Biography A'lam An-Nubala' 2 / 297]

My Muslim sister... These beautiful bright scenes in the history of the Muslim woman stir up determination and ambitions in our souls, they throw sublimity and superiority inside the heart, the woman is the foundation of society, and she is the nucleus of the family, her status is great in all legitimate fields! So think, may Allah preserve you, how these Muslim fighters defeated the enemies of Allah, the Romans with the worst recorded defeat in history, none like it was ever recorded up till now!

So come on, Make heroes as the ancestors had made, and be the motivator of your husband for good and virtue.

Women as worshipers

The Mothers of the Believers were, obedient, repentant, oft-fasting, satisfied with what they had and spending nights in prayers.

Among them is the Mother of Believers Zainab bint Jahsh ibn Ri'ab, she was the cousin of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and she, may Allah be pleased with her, was a woman artisan, and was working by her hands, she gave what she earned to charity for Allah's sake. [The Biography A'lam An-Nubala' 2 / 217]

She was, may Allah bless her, a righteous, charitable, benevolent, she was nicknamed "Mother of the poor," The Mother of believers, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, eulogized her after her death saying: "a benign praising Allah woman has passed away, the reliever of orphans and widows". [The Al-Isabah of 7 / 670]

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: " the Prophet, peace be upon him, entered and saw a rope extended between two poles, he said: "What is this rope?" They said:" it is a rope of Zainab, when she feels lazy she hangs unto it". The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "No, untie the robe, you should work actively until you feel tired, then you should rest". [Al-Bukhari]

›› دخل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، فإذا حبل ممدود بين الساريتين ، فقال: ما هذا الحبل. قالوا : هذا حبل لزينب ، فإذا فترت تعلقت . فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم : لا ، حلوه ، ليصل أحدكم نشاطه ، فإذا فتر فليقعد ‹‹

رواه البخاري

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: "the status of Zainab bint Jahsh was equal to mine with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, I have never seen a better woman in religion than Zainab, more fearing of Allah, more truthful, more benevolent to her kin, and more charitable, she used to work herself out to giving charity to get closer to Allah the Almighty, except for a surge of anger that she experienced once and a while " [The Al-Isabah of 2 / 214]

My Muslim sister: exert efforts, may Allah guide you, in the obedience of Allah, take the Mothers of the Believers as your role models, and read their history in the biographies and history books, to become acquainted with their acts of worship and asceticism in this world, and their drawing closer to Allah by acts of worship and good deeds. Beware of being deceived by women of this age; being many does not indicate being right, Allah the Almighty said: “And few of My servants are grateful” [Saba 34:13]

{وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ} سبأ: 13

Transliteration: waqaleelun min AAibadiya alshshakooru

And He said about Noah: “But none had believed with him, except a few” [Hud 11:40]

{ وَمَا آمَنَ مَعَهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ} هود: 40

Transliteration: wama amana maAAahu illa qaleelun

Woman scientist

The women had a prominent role in the conservation of sciences and teaching them; Imam Abu Muslim Al-Faraheedi, (a narrator of Hadith) wrote about seventy women [the Attitude of Scientists, p. 345 (margin)], Al-Hafiz ibn 'Asakir alias the preserver of the nation, has had eighty something teachers and masters of women!! [Arab Women 2/138]

An example of women scientists in that era of ancestors is: Hafsa bint Sirin, the learned Umm Al-Hudhail Al-Ansariyya.

Hisham ibn Hassan said: "Hafsa bint Sirin recited the Qur'an when she was twelve years old, and she died at ninety."

Hisham also said that when ibn Sirin got confused with something from the Qur'ran, he would say: "Go and ask Hafsa how to read," Hisham also said that: "Hafsa bought a Sindi slave, she was asked: "How do you perceive of your mistress? Ibrahim mentioned words in Persian which interpretation is: she is a righteous woman, but she had committed a great sin because she spends all night crying and praying ". [The Biography A'lam An-Nubala' 4 / 507]

O sister: "Think, may Allah preserve you, how this righteous woman combined the beauty of knowledge with that of worship, Allah has enlightened her through the Qur'an in word and in deed. In our present time many sciences had spread, and the Islamic tapes and the Islamic books filled corners of the libraries in our houses, but comprehending is almost non-existent; it is spread on the shelves but is alleviated from the hearts. Associations for reciting Qur'an by heart are abundant, but few are those who are guided by Allah and fill these associations with recitations and memorization of Qur'an.

Where are our women stand compared to the ancestor women?! And what is soil to a chandelier! But we do not hit a blind eye to hope, every now and then there are still all signs of good in the corners, spreading righteousness and showing it, there is still a glimmer of bright light here and there lightening the way for women of the nation, preventing them from slippage and renewing the ambition and hope inside them, may Allah aid them.

Peace be upon Muhammad, his household, relatives and companions.

Author: Scientific Section Dar Ibn Khuzaymah

Publisher: Dar Ibn Khuzaymah

Site of Islamic booklets

(Slightly modified)

 Translated by wathakker.info website