THEY WERE CORPORATE(ISH)

Salam aleykum ladies,

I am so grateful for the comments and encouragements from you. May Allah make it easy for us to do the right things.

Today, we bring to you a list, with little introduction, of some of the believing women. They made huge contribution to the propagation of Islam, their communities and the world at large using skills and talents Allah (SWT) blessed them with. Alhamdulilah we have great role models to look up to.

Here goes:

 Khadija bint' Khuwailid(ra) 

She was the first wife, confidant and companion to our beloved prophet (SAW). A wealthy businesswoman and trader, supported him morally and financially when he was granted prophethood.

Aisha bint Abu Bakr (ra),

Also beloved wife of the prophet (SAW). She transmitted expanses of knowledge from him and  became a great jurist and scholar

Umm Al-Muqtadir-Billah

She directed state affairs due to the incapacity of her son, the Abbasid caliph Al-Muqtadir-Billah, in the early fourth century Hijrah. In a public square in Baghdad, she set up a tribunal for the purpose of settling people's petitions and lawsuits one day a week. She placed one of her female courtiers as judge. People were scandalized and no one came to her on the first day. On the second day, the woman courtier brought the famous judge Abu'l-Hasan so the public would know that there was scholarly approval. Many wronged people benefited from this increased access to justice, so people soon overcame their resistance to this idea.

Ash-Shifa bint 'Abdullah al-Qurashiyyah al-Adawiyah

The Companion Ash-Shifa bint 'Abdullah al-Qurashiyyah al-Adawiyyah was one of the wise women of her time. Literate in an illiterate age, she was skilled in medicine, involved in public administration, and had a strong presence in early Muslim history.

Al-Shifa embraced Islam before the Hijrah, and was one of the earliest to migrate from Makkah to Madinah. She took the Pledge or Bay'ah to the Messenger, declaring loyalty to him before witnesses when it was still a dangerous thing to do.

Her real name may have been Laylah. Ash-Shifa is a title derived from her profession as a medicine woman; it means "healing." She used to conduct preventative treatments against ant bite before the advent of Islam. After Hijrah, she approached the Prophet, and said, "Oh Messenger of Allah, I used to do preventative medicine for ant bites during Jahiliyyah, and I want to demonstrate it for you."

He said, "Demonstrate it."

Ash-Shifa said, "So I demonstrated it for him, and he said '[continue to] do this, and teach it to Hafsah [a wife of the Prophet]." In another version he said, "Why don't you teach this one [indicating Hafsah] the preventative medicine against ant-bites, just as you taught her how to write?" She apparently taught Hafsah, and probably others, to write, at the personal request of the Prophet.

The Messenger used to visit her in her own home so frequently that she set aside a mat and a cover, orizar, for his use when he took his siesta there. She kept these mementos until her death and passed them on to her children.

The Messenger (peace be upon him) gave her title to a house in the Hakakin area of Madinah. His value for her company influenced the caliphs. As Caliph, 'Umar used to defer to her opinion. 'Umar's respect for Ash-Shifa's competence, character, and judgement led him to appoint her as an officer, or wali, in the administration of the marketplace. This makes her possibly the first Muslim woman to hold an official position in public administration.

Ash-Shifa narrates a good number of ahadith. Many Companions narrate ahadith on her authority, including Hafsah.

With her forceful character, influential counsel, and multiple professional skills, Ash-Shifa bint 'Abdullah must have been a major figure in early Muslim society, probably a household name.

Rufayda bint Sa’ad al-Aslamiyya 

She who lived at the same time as the Prophet (SAW). She nursed the wounded and the dying in the battlefield during the Battle of Badr on 13th March 624 CE. She learned most of her skill from assisting her father, Sa’ad al-Aslami, who was a physician.

Nusayba bint Ka’ab al-Mazneya

She offered her medical services during the Battle of Uhud.

Fatima al-Fihriyya

In the ninth century, there was Fatima al-Fihriyya in Fez, Morocco, who founded the al-Qarawwiyyin mosque. Established in the year 859, the Qarawwiyyin mosque, through which Arabic numbers became known, and used, in Europe, had the oldest and possibly the first university in the world and is still functioning. Students travelled here from all over the world to study Islamic studies, languages and sciences.

Sutayta al-Mahamili

A mathematician who lived in the second half of the tenth century, and came from an educated family in Baghdad. She excelled in many fields such as Arabic literature, hadith and jurisprudence. She invented solutions to many equations which have been cited by other mathematicians which denote aptitude in algebra. She was praised by historians such as Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn al-Khatib Baghdadi and Ibn Kathir.

Labana of Cordoba (tenth century, Spain) 

She was well-versed in the exact sciences of mathematics and could solve the most complex geometrical and algebraic problems known at that time. She was employed as the private secretary to the Umayyad Caliph of Islamic Spain, Al Hakam the Second.

Ashifa bint Abdullah 

Ashifa was the first Muslim woman to be appointed by Caliph Umar ibn Al-Khattab as market inspector and manager. 

Amina, the queen of Zazzua

Amina was the queen of Zazzua, a province of Nigeria, in the sixteenth century. At the age of sixteen, she became the heir-apparent to her mother. Amina chose to learn military skills and emerged as the leading warrior of Zazzua cavalry.  In her reign of 34 years, she expanded the territory to its largest size ever. Her main focus was on forcing local rulers to accept vassal status and permit safe passage to Hausa traders. She is credited with popularizing of the earthen wall fortifications which became characteristic of Hausa states since then. She ordered the building of defensive walls around each military camp that she established. Later towns grew within these walls and many of them are still in existence and are known as Amina’s walls.

Zainab al-Ghazali

The most recent account of a scholar, who dedicated her life to Islam, is that of Zainab al-Ghazali. Born in 1917, in Egypt. Her father encouraged her to become an Islamic leader, citing the example of Nusayba bint Ka’ab al Muzaniyya(mentioned above). At the age of nineteen, she founded the Jama’at al-Sayyidat al-Muslimaat (Muslim Women’s Association) which had a membership of three million throughout the country by the time it was dissolved by government order in 1964. She was invited by Hassan al-Banna, the Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood to merge the Jama’at with his organization. She refused his offer in order to retain her autonomy. However, she did take an oath of personal allegiance to him. Her weekly lectures attracted a crowd of approximately 5000 people. Besides offering lessons for women, the Jama’at published a magazine, maintained an orphanage, assisted poor families and mediated family disputes. She took a political stance, demanding that Egypt be ruled according to the Qur’an. She died on 3rd August 2005, aged 88 years.

1. A'lam an-Nisa, by Umar Kahhala
2. Al-Muhaddithath by Dr. Akram Nadwi
3. Ishraq al Ma’ani, Juz 30, by Syed Iqbal Zaheer
4. www.wikipedia.org
5. http://www.muslimheritage.com
6. www.bewley.virtualve.net
7. FSTC, Al Qarawiyyin Mosque and University (published 20 October 2004)
8. El-Azhari, Taef Kamal, “Dhayfa Khatun, Ayyubid Queen of Aleppo 634-640”, Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies no.15 2000.
9. http://sunnah.org