When the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were ordered to be screened, so that no man other than their immediate relatives could speak to them unless they were behind a screen, they could have been excused had they decided to keep to themselves and not to take any interest in the affairs of the community. They, however, did nothing of the sort. They continued to participate fully in the social and public affairs of their community. They considered their screening as a special ruling which they meticulously observed as it was expressly ordered by God in the Qur’an. They realized that they had a special position, providing a link between the Prophet in his private life at home and the Muslim community. Examples of such participation are numerous. We will cite a few to draw a picture of how this worked in practice.
At times, the Prophet (peace be upon him) wanted to speak to people so as to draw their attention to a particular point. He would call out to them to gather and he would then address them. Lady Umm Salamah, one of his wives, reports: “I used to hear people speak about the Fountain of the hereafter but the Prophet did not mention it in my presence. One day I was at home, with my maid doing my hair when I heard the Prophet calling on people to gather. I told the maid to stop. She said: ‘He has called only on men to come to him, but he did not call the women.’ I said: ‘He called the people and I am one of the people.’ The Prophet said in his address: ‘I shall be ahead of you preparing things at the Fountain. Let no one of you be turned away when he tries to come forward to me. I would ask why he is turned away and I would be told: You do not know what they had perpetrated after you had gone.’ I would then say: ‘Away with them.’” (Related by Muslim.)
The point here is that Umm Salamah was keen to attend a public address by the Prophet, considering herself one of the people. She could have stayed at home and learned what the Prophet said to the people when he went to see her later that afternoon, as was his habit with all his wives, but she felt that she needed to be with the people, listening with them.
Another wife of the Prophet, Lady Zaynab bint Jahsh, was a model of generosity, taking care of the poor and helping those in need of any kind of help. Several reports confirm this quality of hers. In fact she excelled in handicraft, selling her artifacts and donating the proceeds to good causes. Lady Ayesha reports: “One or the other of the Prophet’s wives asked him who of them would be the first to die after him. He said: ‘The one with the longest hand.’ They took a stick to measure their hands, and concluded that Sawdah (who was a tall woman) had the longest hand. However, when Zaynab was the first of them to die after the Prophet, they realized that the Prophet’s expression, ‘the longest hand’, referred to the one who was the most charitable. Zaynab simply loved to give to charity.” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) In another Hadith, Ayesha says: “I never saw a woman who was more devout, God-fearing, truthful in what she says, kinder to relatives, or more dedicated to her work which she dedicated to charity than Zaynab.” (Related by Muslim.) Ibn Hajar quotes a Hadith related by Al-Hakim who collected an anthology of authentic Hadiths fulfilling the criteria set by Al-Bukhari and Muslim but missed out by both scholars. In this Hadith Ayesha says: “Zaynab was clever in handicraft: she used to tan and make leather articles, giving her profits to charity.”
The Prophet’s wives were ready to give advice whenever one was needed. While such an advice was appreciated by the person who received it, it is a special type of advice that could be given to the Prophet concerning a public affair. When the Prophet traveled with 1,400 of his companions, heading to Makkah to perform the Umrah when Makkah was still under the unbelievers, they were stopped by its people. Prolonged negotiations led to the Al-Hudaybiyah peace agreement which stipulated that the Prophet and his companions would go back without entering Makkah, while they would be allowed to visit the Kaaba and do the Umrah the following year, staying only three days. Since the Prophet and his companions were already in the state of consecration, or ihraam, they needed to release themselves by slaughtering their sacrifice and shaving their heads, or cutting their hair short. The Prophet told them to do so, and repeated his orders three times. They felt very sad and despondent, because they had eagerly looked forward to this visit to the Kaaba and realized that it was not to be. None of them did as the Prophet told them.
Depressed at this lack of compliance, the Prophet went into his tent and complained to his wife, Umm Salamah, telling her that they could incur a grave sin. She gave him a sound, practical advice. She said: “Messenger of God! Would you like this to be sorted out? Go out but do not speak to any of them until you have slaughtered your own sacrifice and got a man to shave your head.” The Prophet did exactly that. When his companions saw what he did, they all slaughtered their sacrifice and they shaved one another’s heads.
The point in this story is Umm Salamah’s participation in public events, being consulted and giving sound advice. The fact that she was to remain behind a screen did not prevent the Prophet from taking her with him on this trip or consulting her in such a serious public matter. Her advice averted a serious situation developing into a case of public disobedience that would have had far-reaching negative consequences.