Muslim women used to volunteer for jihad, considering it an honor that they were keen to have. Some of them joined several expeditions the Prophet (peace be upon him) led against different enemies. This continued up to and including his last expedition. It is pertinent to ask: Could such women companions of the Prophet have joined those expeditions without meeting men and providing help to them? Indeed women attended to different useful tasks on such expeditions. Umar said: “Umm Saleet well deserves to have a good garment. She carried heavy water containers for us during the Battle of Uhud.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
Umm Atiyyah says: “I joined God’s Messenger on seven of his expeditions: I used to do guard duty in the camp and prepare food for the men.” (Related by Muslim.)
Anas states: “When the Prophet went on an expedition, he would take Umm Sulaym and other Ansari women. They would attend to the injured.” (Related by Muslim.)
Al-Rubayyi’ bint Mu’awwidh says: “... We used to join the Prophet on his expeditions... and we would send the wounded and the dead back to Madinah.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
One woman armed herself with a dagger to defend herself. Speaking of his mother, Anas reports: “Umm Sulaym had a dagger on the day of the Battle of Hunayn. The Prophet asked her about it, and she replied: ‘I am arming myself with it so that if an unbeliever comes close to me, I will stab him in his belly.’ The Prophet laughed.” (Related by Muslim.)
This was a case of self-defense in anticipation of what might happen. Another case of actual fighting by women was that of Umm Imarah who fought hard during the Battle of Uhud, when things turned against the Muslim army. She fought defending the Prophet against the determined thrust of attack by the unbelievers who aimed to kill him. Umar ibn Al-Khattab quotes the Prophet as saying on the day of the Battle of Uhud: “Whenever I turned right or left, I saw Umm Imarah fighting hard to defend me.” Another area where mixing between men and women is inevitable is the place of work. A woman may have to go out to work, either to help her husband in looking after their family, or to earn money that she may spend in what is beneficial and rewarding, or to discharge a collective duty of the community, such as teaching girls and women and treating them when they fall ill. It is often necessary for women who work for any purpose of these to meet men and deal with them. Whatever work a woman may undertake, her commitments must not encroach on the rights of her husband and children. A woman is first and foremost responsible for looking after her home.
During the Prophet’s time, many women took up jobs in different fields. Jabir reports: “The Prophet went to see Umm Mubashshir, a woman from the Ansar, when she was in her date farm. He asked her whether the person who planted the date trees was a Muslim or an unbeliever. She replied that he was a Muslim. The Prophet commented: “If a Muslim plants a tree or some other plants and a human being or an animal or another creature eats of it, what is eaten in this way counts as a sadaqah, or charity, he has given.” (Related by Muslim.) Another case was that of the woman who worked as a shepherd. Saad ibn Mu’adh mentions that “a slave woman belonging to Kaab ibn Malik was tending sheep near Sila when a sheep was badly injured. She caught the sheep and slaughtered it with a sharp stone. The Prophet was asked about the sheep and he said it was permissible to eat.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.) Other reported cases mention that another woman, Rufaydah, was a nurse, while some women worked from home in different ways.
Moreover, Muslim women could be involved in political activity, in the broadest sense of the word. When people embrace Islam in defiance of opposition by their families, clans or the ruling authorities, they will inevitably be concerned about the welfare of Islam, and they may be subjected to pressures or persecution on account of accepting it. They may have to emigrate from their country as a result. All this is part of political activity in our modern terminology. In the early days of Islam, Muslim women were involved in various such activities, motivated by their firm belief in the new faith and their willingness to defend it.
When the Prophet instructed his companions to immigrate to Abyssinia, 19 Muslim women did so. Abu Musa reports: “Asma’ bint Umays was among those who traveled to Negus’s land...” (Related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.) Similarly, they immigrated to Madinah defying their families. Marwan and Al-Musawwar report: “Women believers also joined the immigration. Umm Qulthoom bint Uqbah was one of those who left to join the Prophet (during the time of the Al-Hudaybiyah peace treaty). She had attained puberty at the time. Her people came to the Prophet asking him to return her to them, but he refused.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
Women pledged their loyalty to the Prophet, which meant that they took part in laying the foundations of the Muslim community alongside men. The Qur’an states: “Prophet! When believing women come to you to pledge their allegiance to you, (pledging) that they would not associate partners with God in any way, and would not steal, and would not commit adultery, and would not kill their children, and would not utter any flagrant falsehood of their own invention, and would not disobey you in anything right, then accept their pledge of allegiance and pray to God to forgive them their sins. God is indeed much-forgiving, merciful.” (60: 12)
That women had their own political interest is clear from the following example: “Abu Bakr visited a woman... and she asked him: ‘How long are we likely to maintain this good way, i.e. Islam, which God has blessed us with after we have lived in ignorance?’ He answered: ‘You will maintain it as long as your leaders will pursue the right policy in conducting your affairs.’ She asked: ‘What leaders?’ He said: ‘Have your people not had chiefs and notables who would be obeyed when they ordered something?’ She answered in the affirmative. He said: ‘These are the ones.’” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
