. We learn about the heroism of Hamza 
, the bravery of Bilal and the steadfastness of
Saad . Rarely do we learn about the female Companions of the Holy Prophet , therefore I decided to
shed some light on this issue.
During our rare outings to the local Masjid and even rarer participation
in the daily ‘Taleem’ gatherings, we hear and learn about numerous events
of bravery and heroism regarding the noble Companions of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad . We learn about the heroism of Hamza , the bravery of Bilal and the steadfastness of
Saad . Rarely do we learn about the female Companions of the Holy Prophet , therefore I decided to
shed some light on this issue.
There are countless female Companions of the Holy Prophet who demonstrated their bravery and courage for Islam.
One of these was Hadhrat Safiyyah 
who was the daughter
of Abdul Muttalib, hence a cousin of the Prophet .
She has the privilage and honour of being the only paternal aunt of the
Prophet to accept Islam. The pinnacle of
her bravery became apparent during the famous battle of the trench.
During this battle the women were being protected in the strongest Ansari
fort, which belonged to Hadhrat Hassan . This fort
happened to be adjacent to the Jewish tribe Banu Quraizah. During
the onslaught the Jews turned their attention to this fort. Hadhrat
Safiyyah spotted one of the Jews approaching the gate of the fort, intending
to attack. Therefore she informed Hadrat Hassaan to confront and
kill the Jew but he was not able to carry out his protective duties due
to him not being well. At this point the valour and bravery surfaced
within Hadhrat Safiyyah as she took a large peg nail off a tent, went down
to the gate, and amazingly confronted the Jew herself. Then she struck
the Jew in his head with such force that he fell to the ground dead.
Having returned to the fort she asked Hadhrat Hassaan to go and bring the
clothes, weapons and more importantly the head of the Jew – which he declined.
So Hadhrat Safiyyah went herself and returned with the head of the Jew,
after severing it herself. She then threw this head amongst the Jews,
who became certain that their were fighters inside the fort, not daring
to launch another attack.
Another famous Companion of the Holy Prophet was Umme Saleem . She was not only amongst the
blessed and honourable women but also amongst the courageous and brave
ones whom the Prophet used to take along with
him during battles to nurse the injured soldiers of Islam on the battlefield.
This in itself requires a great deal of courage as well as conviction.
She participated in the battles of Uhud and Khayber where her bravery was
not signified as much as it was during the battle of Hunain, where
after being asked why she was carrying a dagger, she replied:
“If any non-believer comes near me I shall tear open his abdomen with it!”
This is just one more of the numerous incidents highlighting the courage
of the Muslim women in self defense and the defense of other women during
the time of the Holy Prophet .
other links:
Heavenly Rights of Women
The high esteem of women in Islam
Status of Women - Maulana Anas Uddin
 |
Home | |
 |
 |
Contents |
|
 Biographies |
