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'And some of the females held my banner' (qasida 6:6) This is the motto for this section, which is either for the women view points or for the things that matter the most for them. You can find all special expressions in the Glossary. We need your comments to develop this site for you.
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In the company of the Female Companions (cont') 2
We continue today with the aromatic biography that we started with the great female companions of the Prophet [PPBUH], who lived during His great life, had the privilege of seeing Him, and fulfilled the conditions of the companions. Imam Ahmed said that whoever accompanied the Prophet for just one hour or even seen Him he would be considered as a companion. We will see how these female companions were affected with the great Prophet [PPBUH] and with Islam and how they earned the title of the Companions. From amongst those was al-Khansa' as-Sollamiya, the poet [AAH]. Her name was Tomader bent Amro, and she was a descendant of Emro' al-Qays ibn Salym. She went to the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] with her people and she converted to Islam with them. They mentioned that the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] used to ask her for her poems and she used to say it to Him, and He would say: (Come on Khansa', say). They say that she did not perfect her poetry until she made her famous elegies for her brothers. People of knowledge and poetry consented that there was no other woman, before or after her, that did more poems than her. Abo-Wagiza said: al-Khansa' was present in the war of al-Qadysiya with her four sons, and she said to them at the beginning of the night: «O sons, you have embraced Islam and done Hijra by your own choice. I swear with Allah, the one and only God, that you are sons to the same father as you are to the same mother. I never betrayed your father, done your uncle wrong, altered or mixed your ancestry. You may know what Allah has prepared of great rewords to Muslims who fight polytheists. You should know that the lasting inhabitation is better than the transient one. Allah Almighty says: [O you who believe! Endure, outdo all others in endurance, be ready, and observe your duty to Allah, in order that you may succeed] al-Umran 3:200. So if the morning came on you while you are safe, you go to fight you enemy with your insight and asking Allah the victory over his enemies. And when you see that the battle became aggravated and flamed out, you go into the fierce of its heat, and you secure your foothold and fight its heads. This way you will gain the reword and dignity in the Everlasting House». Her sons went to battle, accepting her advice, advanced, and fought well, while saying poems, and they were all killed and became martyrs [AAT]. When al-Khansa' got their news, she said: «Thanks Allah who honored me with their death, and I ask of him to group me with them in his settled mercy». Omar [AAH] used to give her the wage for her four sons, a hundred Dirham each, until he passed away. So look at how she was at the beginning of her Islam, when she made her elegies for her brothers, and after that, when she gave all her four sons at one time to the Jihad without hesitation. What a woman and what a faith and strength.
I swear to Allah that, about me and my husband Aws, Allah sent down the beginning of al-Mogadala Sura [chapter] in Qur'an. As I was with him and he was an old man who became bad tempered. He came to me one day and we had an argue so he got angry and said: «You are to me as my mother» - that was some wording they use for divorce before Islam. Then he went out and he sat with his people for an hour then came back. When he got back he wanted me, but I said: «No. I swear to Allah that I will not give you what you want after saying what you said, until Allah and His Messenger judge between us». He tried but I stopped him, then I went to one of neighbors, borrowed a dress, and went to the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] and I sat in front of Him complaining what I get from my husband's bad temper. The Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] kept saying: (O Khwailah, your cousin is an old man, so you fear Allah with him), And I did not leave Him until a Qur'an came down. The Messenger of Allah had what he used to have when the revelation comes to him, then he was relived. The Messenger said to me: (O Khwailah, Allah has revealed some Qur'an in you and your body). Then He read to me: [Allah has heard the saying of her that disputes with you concerning her husband, and complains unto Allah. And Allah hears your colloquy. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower ¤ Such of you as put away your wives (by saying they are as their mothers) - They are not their mothers; none are their mothers except those who gave them birth - they indeed utter an ill word and a lie. And lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful ¤ Those who put away their wives (by saying they are as their mothers) and afterward would go back on what they have said, in that case the freeing of a slave before they touch one another. Unto this you are exhorted; and Allah is Informed of what you do ¤ And he who finds not, let him fast for two successive months before they touch one another; and for him who is unable to do so the feeding of sixty needy ones. This, that you may believe in Allah and His messenger. Such are the limits imposed by Allah; and for disbelievers is a painful doom] al-Mogadala 58:1-4. She said: Then He said to me: (Tell him to free a slave). She said: I swear to Allah, O Messenger of Allah, that he has nothing to give for the freeing. He said: (Let him fast for two consecutive months). She said: I swear to Allah, he is and old man and he cannot fast. He said: (Then let him feed sixty needy ones a load of dates). She said: O, Messenger of Allah, he does not have that too! He said: (We will help him with a half of that load). She said: O, Messenger of Allah, I will help him with the other half. He Said: (You did right. Now go and give it out for him and be good to your cousin). She completed: So I did.
They narrated
that Omar ibn al-Khattab [AAH]
was walking out with the people and they passed by an old woman and
he stopped to talk to her. He stayed long talking to her, so one man
said: O, prince of believers, you kept the people long for this old
woman! Omar said: woe, Do you know who is she? She is a woman that
Allah Almighty heard her complaint from over seven heavens. She is
Khawlah bent Tha'laba, the one to whom Allah sent down the verse [Allah
has heard the saying of her that disputes
with you concerning her husband].
I swear to Allah, if stood here till night, I would not leave her
except for praying then I will come back. So consider this pure
virtuous companion who was heard and responded to by Allah and how
she was smart enough to figure out that her event is very important
so that Allah sent down some Qur'an for it. So what an honor. Those female companions were role models for all of us in striving and devotion for Allah and His worshiping, without letting down any of their duties to their husbands and children. It was narrated that a woman used to ask her husband at night if needs anything from her; and if he needs her she would not hesitate in obedience for Allah. I he does not need something of her, she would ask his permission to spend the night worshiping her Lord and beloved, reading His Book, praying in His mihrab, and giving tears of fear of Him. In her weeping and asking for Allah's forgiveness, someone might think that she did a crime! It was narrated about Hafsa bent Siryn, that she bought a slave from India, and they asked this slave about Hafsa, she said: She is a righteous woman, except that she did a very great sin because she spends all night weeping and praying. So look how this slave got the wrong idea because of Hafsa's fear of Allah. As for giving away money for the sake of Allah, they were extraordinary. Because women are known to love money for decoration and ornaments, the Prophet [PPBUH] always invited them to spend more of their money for the sake of Allah to avoid being captured in the love of decoration and clothes which may lead them to be stingy. The Prophet [PPBUH] said: (O, womenfolk you should give away alms because I have seen you as a majority in Hell). They said: Why is that? O messenger of Allah. He said: (You curse much, deny the good company, and in spite of your incomplete mind and religion, yet you are the most thing that can rip off the mind of the firm man). al-Bokhary. Female companions were racing to spend out alms. The mothe of believers, Aisha [AAH] used to put Musk to the money before she would give it away. When they asked her about that, she said: «the money goes to the hand of Allah before it goes to the hand of the needy». Look at how she was knowledgeable in religion and how she had a belief strong enough to deal with the unseen as if she sees it. That belief is what made her wanting to give away her money because it is going to Allah, and made her love the needy as they carry her provisions to Allah. It was also narrated about Zainab ath-Thaqafiya, the wife of Abdallah ibn Mas'oud [AAT], as she was quite handy and one day she said to Abdallah: I swear to Allah that you and your son have detained me from giving away alms - because she was giving them what she earns - So you ask the Prophet [PPBUH] if I have a reword for that or I should give away alms. Ibn Mas'oud said: I would not want you to do that if you have no reword. So she asked the Prophet [PPBUH] and He said: (You spend it on them because you have a reword for everything you spend on them). So look at how she was seeking the acceptance of Allah and His Messenger, but do not mistake that with what happens nowadays when some people calculate the number of rewords they are to get, because all she wanted was to make sure that Allah is satisfied with her work.
Mohamed ibn Ka'b said: «the grant for Zainab bent Gahsh was twelve thousands Dirham per year, and she only took it one year then she died. It was carried to her and spent it right away to her kinfolks and to the needy until it was over. Omar new that, so he said: that is a woman that is intended for good. Then he went to her door and sent her his Salam and said: I heard of what you spent. And he sent her another thousand for her expenses, but spent it the very same way as the other money». So she did not keep for herself any money, no wonder she was the first wife to go to the Prophet [PPBUH] Om Zarrah, who was a woman that used to go to Aisha, said: «Ibn az-Zobair sent her - she ment Aisha - some money in two big sacks. I think it was one hundred and eighty Dirham. So she got a plate and she sat, while she was fasting, distributing it to the people. When the sunset came, she had no Dirham left. Then she asked her maid for some food to break her fasting. The maid got her some bread and oil». Om-Zarrah said to her: could not you have left us a Dirham to buy some meat for our breakfast. Aisha said: «Do not be hard on me, if you have reminded me I would have done it». So do you see how she even forgot her fasting in her quest to to spend her money for the sake of Allah. Abdallah ibn az-Zobair [AAH] said: «I never saw any two women more generous than Aisha and Asma'. But they were different in doing that: Aisha used to collect until she had some then she would distribute it, but Asma' did not kept any thing for tomorrow». That was the school of the Prophet [PPBUH] and those were the companions. Those generation was educated to prefer Allah's acceptance to everything. The worldly life was contemptible to them, so they let it out of their hands in obedience to Allah. Their words and situations expressed that and left it for the following generations. No wonder that the Qur'an and Hadith of the honest Prophet [PPBUH] urged us to follow their trace and walk their way, because their belief is the our example and their conduct is our role model. Allah said the truth: [And the first to lead the way, of the Muhajirin and the Ansar, and those who followed them in goodness - Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him, and He has made ready for them Gardens underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the supreme triumph] at-Tawba 9:100.
to be continued ,,,
Written by Samia Sa'id Translated by Ahmed
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Another
one is Khawlah bent Tha'laba. Yousuf ibn Abdallah ibn Salam said
that Khawlah, the woman of Aws ibn as-Samet - brother of Obada ibn
as-Samet, said:
These
companions had far span in Wara' [fear of Allah]. Scholars defined
Wara' as: one leaving some of the permitted to avoid doing any of
the prohibited. So he would leave whatever looks suspicious for
fearing that it might be prohibited. The Prophet [
Competition
between companions in spending money for the sake of Allah. It was
narrated that the Prophet [PPBUH]
said to his wives at his death: (the first one of you to follow
me is one with the longest hand). Sayyda Aisha [AAH]
said: «Therefore, whenever we met -all His wives - we used to
measure our hands against each other on the wall and try to expand
it as much as we can, to see which one of us had the longest hand.
We kept doing that until Zainab bent Gahsh died and she was a short
woman and was not the one with the longest hand. We knew then that
what the Prophet [PPBUH]
meant with the long hand; was the alms. Zainab was handy, and she
used to tan and pierce and give away for the sake of Allah».