Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 415
! ! 415 said, “Y our job is to dress the wounds of the injured and to prepare food, etc. ” The Holy Prophet sa gave equal shares to men and women in the bountie s of war. The underlying wisdom in keep ing women away from the battlefield is to preserve their p u rdah. If they were to take part in war, the result would be that they could be taken captive. Therefore, God Almighty has released them from taking part in war and given them th e responsibility of dressing wounds. I f women were to take part in war, they would certainly be taken captive as well. Thus , women are prohibited from taking part in war in order to protect th eir dignity and respect. Otherwise , there have been many incidences of women who have confronted great g enerals. For example , Chand Bibi ha s prove n herself several times. Haz rat Zarrar ’s ra sister took part in many wars. Once , the Christian army came upon them with such ferocity that the Muslim ’s defense faltered. Haz rat Zarrar ’s ra sister called out to Hind and said , “ Hind ! Come out. T hese men are not capable of fighting, so let us fight!” They pulled down their tents and began to strik e the men’s horses with the tent poles. Ab ū Suf y ā n said to his son , Mua wiya , “These women’s swords are more brutal than the Christian’s. I would prefer to be killed , rather than to retreat. ” There upon , the m en went back to the battlefield. Therefore, a woman can surely fight, but since there is the risk that she might be taken captive Islam cannot tolerate that a Muslim woman could fall into the hands of others. Finally , t here is another matter besides war, in which a distinction has been established and that is that a man can be a prophet , but a woman cannot. However, a woman can certainly attain the rank of Siddiq , which is only second to prophethood. You must know that Haz rat Abu Bakr ra is also called Abu Bakr Siddiq ra. Likewise , we say Maryam Siddiqa ra and A’isha h ra Siddiqa. In other words, God Almighty has given the same rank to women He has given to men. In the same way, women can attain the rank of Shuhada [martyrs]. A woman who di es due to labor pains would be considered Shaheed , for she has helped to propagate the human race. Similarly , she can also attain the rank of Saleh [righteous]. Only the rank of prophethoo d is unattainable by women, but a woman can certainly receive her share in the reward of h eaven granted to a Prophet. Thus, God Almighty refers to this truth in the Holy Qur’ān , declaring :