History of Women in Early Islam
Women
held important roles and were of great importance throughout Islamic
history. The tendency to write history
as a history of men needs to be revisited and this certainly applies to Islamic
history. The history of women in early
Islam has benefited from new scholarship.
Prof. Barbara Stowasser of Georgetown University has written several
useful studies of women in early Islam.
On a personal note, she was also one of my first professors in college,
so I have a deep appreciation and respect for her work. There are several useful works by Professor
Stowasser that we’ll make use of. An
article on women’s role in the politics of the late Jahili and Early Islamic
Arabia also changes many perceptions and acknowledges the considerable role and
contribution of women in the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula (Stowasser, Women and Politics in Late Jahili and Early Islamic Arabia:
Reading behind Patriarchal History, 2012)[1] Her landmark book, Women in the Qur’an, Traditions and Interpretatio , uses early
sources on women’s history is also an important contribution (Stowasser, Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation, 1994). As Stowasser explains, the Qur’an is filled
with references to pre-Islamic women, including the wives of the prophets Adam,
Noah, Lot , Abraham, and Moses that are revealing of their roles and character (Stowasser, 1994, pp. 25-44). The role of pre-Islamic motherhood are
featured in the stories of Haggar, Abraham’s concubine, and of Mary. But it is the chapter on the mothers of the
early Muslims that is especially insightful into the early formation of a Muslim
view of respect and acknowledgement of the role of women in society and in
Islam. As established in the Qur’an and
in practice in the earliest communities at Mecca and Medina, Muslim women have
historic rights to participate in public space, these practices were likely
developed in the Jahiliyya era (Stowasser, 2012, p. 69). This doesn’t mean the Jahiliyya era was a
golden age for women, or that they were free from patriarchal practices, but we
may recognize that women’s rights to engage in public space, in markets and in
other daily tasks was prevalent. In
ancient Arabian tribal society women enjoyed status as guardians of tribal
lineage and knowledge. They were probably
spiritual leaders and sought as soothsayers of knowledge and lore, and as interpreters
of wisdom (Stowasser, 2012, p. 76). This probably also included the presence of
women alongside men in battle, where they supported and urged their men on in
their fighting. They brought water and nursed the wounded and occasionally
clubbed the enemy to death. They also
assumed the role of public mourning, and performed chanting songs. Women like men were found fighting on both
sides of the Ridda wars, during the Prophet’s lifetime. After these campaigns against the rise of the
Islam were defeated, we find other women who took up arms in combat for the
sake of Islam including women who fought bravely to defend the Prophet and the
cause of Islam in battle. A short
monograph by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Nisa’ mu’minat (Believing Women) is a
short series of biographies of five prominent women during the Prophet’s
lifetime. Among these were two women
Muslim soldiers. These were Umm Salim
al-Rumays`a and Umm ‘Umara Nusayba bint
Ka`b. Later biographies written by al-Waqidi (d. 832) Kitab al-maghazi and Ibn Sa`d (d. 845) Tabaqat feature
these and others including Umm Ayman, Amna bint Jahsh, Safiyya bint
al-Muttalib, Umayya bint Qays, Umm Sinan Al-Aslamiyya, Ku`ayba bint Sa’d
al-Aslamiyya and umm Kabsha (Teipen 449-52);
Afsarudding 42-6). These women watered
and nursed the wounded, fought on the battle field, inspired the male troops to
fight and eulogized the slain. Their
loyalty now transcended tribal loyalty and suggested a broader cause devoted to
Islam. Particular prominence is given to Umm ‘Umara
Nusayba bint Ka’b, . She was among the
group of 73 men and 2 women who first pledged allegiance to the prophet at
Aqaba and she was present at Uhud where she fought in the company of her
hustband and two sons and perhaps also her mother. She sustained 12 wounds to her body,
including a deep gash on her shoulder.
Initially she had gone to the battlefield to nurse the wounded but was drawn
back into the thick of the fight when the battle turned against the Muslims and
she rallied to defend the prophet’s life and person with her spear and
sword. Other women sought permission
to attend or participate in battle, their histories are somewhat subdued in
various accounts according to Stowasser.
A useful discussion of Muslim women’s rights both historic and
contemporary can found on the Muslim Women’s League website (Women in
Pre-Islamic Arabia, 2012).
While the most shocking and oppressive of practices of the Jahiliyya era
was female infanticide a practice found in other other ancient societies as
well, in other respects, women in Pre-Islamic Arabia probably held greater
status and rights than women in numerous other contemporary societies of this
period. Within the prophet’s immediate community at Mecca and Medina, Islam
provided a new mandate for women’s status in several ways.
The
Qur’an also protected females from the practice of infanticide (Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia, 2012).
Hence, do not kill your children for fear of
poverty: it is we who shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you.
Verily, killing them is a great sin. (Qur’an 17:31)
By
accepting Islam, a woman became a citizen of the umma (Stowasser, 2012, p. 71). The egalitarian nature of Islam granted
rights and recognition and the obligation of recognition to both female and
male Muslims.
Sahih International The believing men and believing women are
allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and
establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those - Allah
will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise. (Qur’an 9:71, as cited in Stowasser, 2012,
71).
Nevertheless, traditional custom also
continued alongside new Muslim principles and practices. The difficulty of studying and commenting on
early Muslim women’s history is the problem of bias and patriarchal assumptions
on the part of both early Muslim historians and modern historians about the
historical relations between men and women in early Arabia (Stowasser, 2012, p. 75). The lives of early Muslim women are
informative of the problems of transition from custom to Islamic society. The Meccan aristocratic woman, Hind bint
‘Utba was well known for her early opposition to Islam when she performed
rituals on behalf of the opponents of Islam.
Her later conversion to Islam and welcoming by the Prophet is
instructive as she renews herself as part of fight on behalf of the early
Islamic battles in Arabia and the conquest of Yarmuk (Stowasser, 2012, p. 81). The persistence of strong matriarchal roles
continued into the early Muslim period.
Some women leaders from the Hadramawt in Yemen opposed the Prophet and
the early Muslims and were eventually caught and killed or severely
punished. But other women who supported
Islam became very key and important leaders in battles on behalf of the Muslim
community. Yusuf Qaradawi’s Nisa Mu’minat (Believing Women, 1979)
provided biographical detail on five of these earliest Muslim women. In addition to the Prophet’s first wife
Khadija, and their daughter, Fatima, he included profiles of two Muslim women
warriors. These were `Umm Salim
al-Rumaysa` and Umm ‘Umara Nusayba bint Ka`b.
Both women are given prominence in various historical sources,
including Al-Waqidi’s 9th
century Kitab al-maghazi and Ibn
Sa`d’s Tabaqat. Of the two, Umm `Umara Nusayba bint Ka`b
was among the small group of 73 men and 2 women who first pledged allegiance to
the Prophet at Aqaba. At Uhud she fought
in the company of her husband and sons. While trying to nurse some of the
wounded in battle she was forced into the fight and sustained twelve wounds,
including a deep gash on her shoulder.
Another prominent figure was Umm Waraqa, who asked for and received the
Prophet’s permission to take part in the Battle of Badr. (Stowasser, 2012, pp. 95-99)
The
Muslim Women’s League, Women
in Pre-Islamic Arabia
(Women in Pre-Islamic Arabia, 2012) Noteworthy:
Muhammad Badr Ma`abdi Adab
al-nisa’ fi-l-jahiliyya wa-l islam. (Women’s Literature in the Jahiliyya
and in Islam) Umar Ridha Kahalah, ‘ulam
al-nisa’ fi ‘alami al-arabi wa-l islam. (The Worlds of Women in the Arab and
Islamic World) 5 Volumes. This is a
useful encyclopedia of biographical entries on women in Muslim history. Muslim Philosophy and
Women It is generally accepted that
the Prophet Muhammad improved and upheld the status and position of women. While some early Muslim historians and
philosophers understated the importance of women, among those who upheld the
status of women was the great 12th century Andalusian philosopher,
Ibn Rushd (also known as Averroes in the European translations of his
name. Ibn Rushd argued that women were
equal to men and noted that women warriors were found in a number of societies,
including those of the Greeks, Arabs and Africans (Ahmad). Recommended for Further Research:
[1]
Barbara Stowasser, “Women and Politics in Late Jahili and Early Islamic
Arabia: Reading behind Patriarchal
History,” in Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, ed.,
Gulf Women, 69-103. (Doha:
Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing, 2012).
