The First Woman Warrior of Islam

Many years ago, I was reading the Seerah of our Prophet Muhammed ﷺ. I was reading a chapter about the “Battle of Uhud,” one of the most important battles in Islamic history, named after the mountain “Uhud,” which was a few miles north of Medina at the time. This battle scene stayed with me long after I finished reading about it and visualizing it.

Muslims had a small army of 1000 soldiers and one horse, whereas the Quraish had 3000 soldiers, abundant weapons and 300 horses! The Muslim army, under the leadership of our Prophet ﷺ had a good start and it even appeared that they were winning the battle until the archers left their positions to plunder the loot, contrary to the prophet’s ﷺ orders not to leave their positions until the very end of the battle. The enemies, the Quraish, were just waiting for this one mistake to break their strategy, penetrate in and outmuscle them.

Consequently, Muslims were on the verge of defeat and scattering when an enemy of Islam was able to reach our prophet ﷺ in the battle field. The soldier was about to attack when he ﷺ saw a woman warrior before him. Unshielded and with only a sword in-hand, this woman warrior defended the Prophet ﷺ from all sides: “Wherever I turned, to the left or to the right, I saw her fighting for me,” he had said.

Nusaybah Bint Ka’ab رضي الله عنه was her name. She was a mother, a wife and a warrior on the battlefields, defending Islam. She was also one of the first Ansar women to visit the Prophetﷺ and to pledge her allegiance to protecting him in the name of Islam. As a warrior, she was skilled, brave and fierce to the point that she astounded her contemporaries.

“Where can anyone get courage like you, oh Umm Umaarah,” the prophet ﷺ said to her. (Nusaybah ra was also called Mother of Umaarah , after the name of her son)

Moreover, her two sons and husband fought alongside her in the “Battle of Uhud.” Another instance of her bravery in this battle occurred when her son was injured and when she discovered the soldier who attacked him, she avenged her son.

The compassionate Prophet said, “May Allah bless this household! May Allah be merciful toward you!” He also said, “The stance of Nusaybah bint Ka’ab is better than so-and-so”

It kept replaying in my mind how she must have picked up the sword, the fierceness in her eyes, her lightning-fast swordsmanship, her battle prowess and what an honour it must have been to be the first woman to defend the Prophet ﷺ on the battle grounds. Allah had set aside a special moment in history for her; it was her fate. What must it have felt like to see the injured soldiers, one of whom was her son, excellent warriors, acquaintances lying dead around her and then, to see our prophet ﷺ under attack! She didn’t freeze, she didn’t panic; but instead, she picked up a sword and fought, completely aware of what she was getting herself into.

That was the goal she was aspiring for in this world and in the Hereafter. Therein, the Prophet, supplicated for her saying,

“O Allah, make them (Umm ‘Imarah and her family) my companions in Paradise.”

Despite the fact that Nusaybah رضي الله عنه had lost two sons and her husband in the battles, she remained undeterred. She had also fought in the Battles of Hunayn, Kheybar and Yamamah, where she had lost a hand. At the time, she was 60-years-old. She was highly respected in society and was honoured by Abu Bakr Al Siddique رضي الله عنه and Omar Bin Al Khattab رضي الله عنه.

Her life is an example of a woman who fought so many battles at different levels with society, her mind, and her own body can also have immense courage on the battlefield. She demonstrated that one can be feminine and strong at the same time, that one can be modest and still be a warrior, one can be kind and compassionate, and fierce all at the same time.

A NARRATOR OF HADITH

The scholarly aspect of Umm ‘Imarah ‘s life also had its place and importance. She was a narrator of Hadith with excellent memory. Some of her narrations contained Islamic jurisprudence.

For example, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah reported in their Sunan on the authority of Umm ‘Imarah that the Messenger of Allah, visited her and she presented some food to him. The Prophet told her, “Eat” She said: “I am fasting.” The Prophet then said: “If food is eaten in the house of a fasting person, the angels will invoke blessing on him.”

Al-Waqidi reported that Umm ‘Imarah said: “Men were shaking the hands of the Messenger of Allah, in the night of (the pledge of) ‘Aqabah while Al-‘Abbas (his uncle) was holding the Prophet’s hand. When it was only me and Umm Manee’, my husband, Ghuzayyah ibn ‘Amr, said: “O Messenger of Allah, these are two women who came with us to pledge their allegiance to you.” The Prophet said: “I have accepted their pledge to what I accepted your pledge to, for I do not shake women’s hands.’”

At-Tirmidhi narrated that she came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: “I see that everything is directed to men, and that women are not mentioned at all” so, the verse(For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women…) (Al-Ahzab 33:35) was revealed.

“Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.” (Surah al-Ahzab 33:35)

She used to perform the prayers in the Mosque and attend religious lessons. May Allah be pleased with her and please her. May He make her a model to be emulated by our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters.

It is worth mentioning that when some expensive clothing was given to the khalifah ‘Umar, he asked about the person who deserves it most, many names were nominated but he chose Umm ‘Imarah at the end.

When she returned to Madinah, at the year 13 AH, she came to meet her appointed time peacefully, smilingly and willingly. Indeed she will fortunately meet her loved ones; Muhammad, and his Companions.