Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 32
! ! 32 from the time of the Holy Prophet sa. I will now relate an incident which took place after his demise. Another Example There was a woman by the name of Hind , who was initially so hostile to the Holy Prophet sa that when his sa uncle, Haz rat Ha mza ra was martyred, she tore out his liver and ground it between her teeth in order to cause the Holy Prophet sa pain. However, after she accepted him sa , she served the faith very well and participated in several battles. For instance, in the time of Haz rat ‘ Umar ra , the Muslims were battling a large Christian army where they were outnumbered fourteen to one. T he Muslims were retreating. At that time , Hind said to her female companions, “ These are men, yet they are running away from the enemy. Let us wo men teach them a lesson. ” After saying this , they [the women] removed the poles from the ir tents and created a barricade. They then sent the [retreating] Muslims back by whipping their horses with sticks. At that time , Hind said to her husband, “Have you no shame? When you were a disbeliever, y ou fought boldly against Islam and now you retreat ?” Thus , women have shown many such acts of bravery. Women Giving Advice in Important Matters It was the practice of the Holy Prophet sa , as is proven by Ah adith [ sayings of the Holy Prophet sa ] that he would consult his wives on hugely important issues. For i nstance, when he went for Hajj and the disbelievers stopped him from entering M e cca , t he Holy Prophet sa asked the Muslims to discard their I hraam [ prescribed attire for performing Hajj and Umrah ]. When t hey did not comply , t he Holy Prophet sa went to his wives and told them of what had passed. They advi sed him to return quietly and discard his own I hr a am 4 after ! " ! Pilgrims remove their Ihraam and put on ordinary clothes after slaughtering their animal which marks the end of the pilgrimage. As the Muslims were not permitted to perform the pilgrimage on that occasion in accordance with the Treaty of Hudaibiyah which the Holy Prophet sa had just signed, he used this activity to bring a close to their wish to do so. See also page 7 9. [Editor] !