The
system of female seclusion in vogue in many Muslim societies today did
not come into practice until long after the Republic. Women moved
freely and unescorted in public. They attended , along with the men,
sermons of the khalifs, and lectures delivered
by Ali, Ibn el-Abbas and other Companions of the Prophet
(PBH). The custom of female seclusion, in vogue among the Persians
Mawalis from earlier times, made its first appearance among
the Muslim communities under the reign of the Ommayyad khalif Walid
II. The character and habits of the sovereign favored the growth
and development of this practice which was blindly transplanted
to the congenial soil of Syria. His disregard of social conventionalities,
and the daring coolness with which he entered the privacy of families compelled
the adoption of safeguards against outside intrusion, which once introduced,
overtime evolved into a sanctified custom.
Despite
these unfavorable circumstances, women still enjoyed a remarkable amount
of freedom. The old chivalry was yet alive among men; Byzantine
license and Persian luxury had not destroyed the simplicity and
freedom of the desert. Fathers were still proud to assume surnames after
their accomplished and beautiful daughters, and brothers and lovers still
rushed to battle acclaiming the names of their sisters and lady-loves.
The high-bred Arab
maiden could still hold converse with men without embarrassment and in
absolute unconsciousness of evil. To her, the beautiful lines of Firdousi
were still applicable:
"Lips full of
smiles, countenance full of modesty, conduct virtuous, conversation lively."
She
entertained her guests without shyness, and as she knew her own worth she
was respected by all around her.
Under
the Ommayads flourished as-Sayyidah Sakinah (her real
name Omaymah, Sakinah being a surname given to her by her mother),
the daughter of Husain, Shahid el-Kerbala
(the Martyr or
Kerbala)
who was regarded as the first among the women of her time by birth, beauty,
wit, and virtue. Her residence was the resort of poets, faqihs (jurists),
and learned and pious people of all classes. The assemblies in her house
were brilliant and animated, and always enlivened by her repartee.
Omm-el-Baneen,
the wife of Walid I, and sister of Omar II, was another remarkable
woman of the time. Her influence over her husband was considerable, and
was always exercised for the good of the people. The lecture she once administered
to al-Hajjaj is famous in history. He had come to visit Walid, and
had the effrontery to advise him to shake off the influence of the Khalif's
wife. When Omm-el-Baneen heard this, she asked Walid to send
el-Hajjaj
to
pay his duties to her. El-Hajjaj came into
Omm-el-Baneen's
chamber. He was received with studied neglect, and was allowed to remain
waiting for a long time. After a considerable length of time, Omm
el-Baneen, at her leisure, entered the audience hall accompanied
by her maids. El-Hajjaj's obeisance was acknowledged with reserve,
and she questioned him about his advice to the sovereign not to allow her
interference in affairs of state. A prevaricating reply led to a memorable
lecture. The lady recounted, one by one, all of his misdeeds, and laid
open before him how he had induced his masters to cruel deeds, in which
the best followers of the Faith had been sacrificed, and how he had proved
himself the evil genius of her family. Then, after reproaching him for
his cowardice, she ordered her attendants to unceremoniously thrust him
out .
It
was at this time that the famous Rabi3ah surnamed Omm el-khayr
emerged
upon the scene. She is described as one of the most eminent among
women of her time.
El-
sayida
Aisha was the most important woman in Islamic history. Unlike Fatima,
she lived for fifty momentous years after the Prophet's death
(PBH)). She participated actively
as a leader the Muslim community culminating into the break of the civil
war, despite the outcome, she had a leading and active role in the Battle
of the Camel in 656 A.H.). She
died in 678 A.H.
The
events of her very public life were so familiar that later generations
could hardly invent or suppress them. They could only interpret them. Sunni
traditions have always emphasized her primacy as the Prophet's preferred
wife.
In
the formative years of Islam, Aisha was the source of much of the
oral information about the Prophet (PBH) which developed into the
hadith. This was the abiding basis for Sunni faithfulness, for she
was one of the six most prolific companions.
When
she finally came into her own, in the later Islamic periods, as the most
honored woman in the Islamic Sunni community, the indisputable basis of
her primacy was her religious knowledge. Knowledge was the attribute that,
without doubt or apology, made Aisha tower over all other women. Because
Omm el-Mu'mineen "Mother of the Believers" was a scholar,
she became the tangible model for women scholars, and the prestigious validation
of their careers.
A
tradition related by El-Tabari (1) says that in the battle
of
Dhat el-Sawari the Muslims offered to fight on land but the Byzantines
preferred the sea. It is worth noting here that when Othman is said
to have allowed Mu3awiya to carry out a naval enterprise he stipulated
that no Muslim was to be pressed for sea service, which was to be on a
voluntary basis (2) According to el-Isfahani, Bakrah, the
daughter of eI-Zubirqan ibn Badr was the first Arab woman to enlist
on a fighting ship to support her fellow men!.
It
seems to have been the custom for fighting men to take their wives with
them. According to Baladhuri (3) Mu3awiya, in compliance
with the Khalif's order, was accompanied by his wife Fakhita
(4) on the first expedition against Cyprus. Ubada ibn Al-Samit
also had his wife Umm Harram (5) with him on the same occasion.
Ibn 3Abd Al-Hakam (6) relates that the wife of Ibn 3Abd Al-Sarh
was with her husband at the time of the battle of Dhat Al-Sawari and
applauded a certain 3alqamah ibn Yazid for saving the admiral's
ship which had been carried off by a Byzantine vessel.
(To be continued)
(1)
Tabarî , I, 2868
(2)
Tabarî, I, 2824 ; Maqrizî, Khitat, II, 153
(3)Tabarî,
II 153
(4)
Tabarî, II, 205, mentions her sister Qatwah bint Qaraza whom
Mu3awiya also married.
(5)
Aghânî, XI, 100, Balâdhurî, 154 ; Tabarî
I, 2820 ; Ibn Al-Athîr, III, 75 ; Ibn Taghrî Birdî, I,
85, v. Delaval, J.R.A.S., 1897, 81 sq.
(6)
190-191 - Maqrizî, Khitat, I, 169 ; I.F., III, 164.
Tabarî.--
Tarîykh Al-Rusul wa Al-Muluk. Annales. (15 vols.) Ed. De Goeje and
others. Leyden, 1879-1901.
Isfahânî,
Abu'l- Farag -- Kitâb al-Aghânî 20 Vols. in 4. Cairo,
1285/1862
Baladhurî.--
(1) -Futuh Al-Buldân. Ed. De Goeje. Leyden, 1886
(2)- Ansâb Al-Ashrâf. Ed.S.D.F. Goitin. V. Jerusalem
1936
Ibn
Al-Athîr. --
(1) - Kitâb al-Kâmil fî Al-Tarîykh. Ed.
C.J. Tornberg. 14 Vols. Leyden, 1851-76
(2)- Usd Al-Ghâba fî Ma`rifat Akhbâr al-Sahâba.
5 Vols. Cairo, 1280/1863.
Ibn
Taghrî Birdî. -- Al-Nujum Al-Zâhira fî Muluk Misr
wa Al-Qâhira. Ed. Egyptian Library. Cairo, 1348/1929
Delaval,
C. -- The Story of Umm Haram Ed. in the original Turkish and Tr. C. Delaval,
J. R. A. S., 1897 81-101.
Maqrizî
-- Kitâb Al-Mawâ`iz wa Al-I`tibâr fi Dhikr Al-Khitat
wa Athâr. Ed. Muhammad Quttah Al-l`Adawî. 2 Vols. Bulaq,
1270/1853
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