Maryam Amir – Womens voices of influence Rabata
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AI: Transcript ©
When the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, received the
revelation from Angel Jibreel his salaam, when he heard Bismillahi,
Rahman Al Rahim he went to Khadija Radi Allahu. Anha, and he was
terrified when he went to Khadija radi, Allahu. Anha, we know that
she was so comforting to him, so Allahu, alaihi, wasallam and
Khadijah rodi Allahu. Anha, the way we present who she is really
depends on who we are speaking to. So when we speak to individuals
who are not Muslim and we're trying to share with them the
empowerment of Muslim woman in Islam, what do we often describe
her as? We often mention how she was a businesswoman. We will
mention that she was a widow, older than the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, who proposed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, but when we talk about Khadija, radiAllahu anha, two
Muslims, what is the image that we often speak about? We speak about
her as an incredibly supportive wife, radiAllahu anha, which she
was to the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa salam, his best friend.
We talk about her rodi Allahu anha and her mothering of faulty mode,
radiAllahu anha and all of her children. Radiallahu anhu,
radiallahu anhu. We talk about Khadija, radiAllahu anha as this
devoted wife and mother which is so important and so real.
But when we talk about Khadija qualities, when we're talking to
those who are not Muslim,
when we think about Muslim women in our own community who are
widowed or divorced, who are older, who want to propose to a
husband, who are businesswoman, do we speak with that same pride of
who Muslim women are within our own community? Or do we have a
very particular lens in the way that we talk about who Muslim
women are when we look at your anha? Have you ever thought of her
as a political revolutionary? Because when the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to Khadija radiAllahu anha, and
she heard the Quran first from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, and she accepted the message of Islam. She didn't
simply accept to change her spiritual practice. She accepted a
message which completely transformed the economic, the
socio political reality of Mecca. She had to accept a political
change. And so she was the very first individual who accepted
Islam for her own personal practice, of course, but also for
political change in society. When we look at Asmaa, the daughter of
Abu Bakr Aldi Allahu, anhuma, we often talk about Asmaa as the
woman who cut her belt so that she could have, you know, these two,
these two pieces of fabric that she used to tie the goods to help
the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam and Abu Bakr al the Hijrah,
what we don't mention is that she was a political rebel because she
was aiding fugitives out of Mecca, salallahu, alayhi wa sallam
RadiAllahu. Anhu Asmaa was in her third trimester of pregnancy. When
we talk about the example of Asmaa, are we also mentioning that
even in pregnancy, she physically put her body on the line to
support fugitives who are leaving the city sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam rule the Allahu Anhu. When we look at the political role of
the women who were companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam. We see that they were present in Aqaba. Aqaba was a
pledge that happened twice, in which the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam wasn't wasn't meeting with people to have tea.
He was seeking political refuge. Women were present during that
time, and these women included Nusrah anha. Many of us know of
Nusrah anha as this incredible warrior who defended the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in Uhud, everywhere he looked
salalahu alayhi wa sallam, she was there to his right and to his
left, defending him. But are we also aware of the fact that she
was present in seven battles that six of them were with, were were
with her husband, one of them without him, and she lost her arm
in one of the battles. So she became a woman with a disability
in the society of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And.
It's interesting, because often we choose how we're going to share
narrations. So on the point of Muslims with disabilities, when we
look, for example, Abdullah ibn umaq tomb, many people know the
story of Abdullah ibn umaq tomb because Allah said Miss mila
wahir, Rahim Abu Asmaa,
this surah of the Prophet salallahu alayu swam, turning from
the blind man who came to ask. And yet that blind man, RadiAllahu,
Anhu was one of the appointed with Bilal. RadiAllahu, an of the
Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. He was in charge of the
city when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam left for a
battle. On an occasion, he led prayers when the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wasn't present because he was gone.
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and Abdullah ibn maqtum Ram anhu, he
died, martyred on the battlefield clutching the flag of the Muslims.
When we look at the role of companions, sometimes we shape a
particular way in which we want to present them, and this is notably
seen in the story of Asmaa bint umais rodi, Aloha anha. Because if
you've even heard of Asmaa rodi, Allahu anha, you might have heard
of her as the wife of Jaffa rodi Allahu an and after he passed
away, radila anhu. She then, later on married Abu Bakr, and she was
there nursing him as Abu Bakr, oldy Allahu Anhu was passing away.
She was taking care of him as he was so sick. And when Abu Bakr
radila Huan, who eventually passed away, she married Ali rodi,
and so oftentimes, if you've even heard of Asmaa bint umas, it's in
the lens of who she married. But Asmaa was one of the first people
to to to take political asylum in Abyssinia. She migrated to
Abyssinia with the other companions And subhanAllah in
these migrations. In the first group, four women were a part of
this seeking political asylum. And in the second group, 18 women were
Asmaa, radiAllahu anha, when she came back to Medina, not came back
when she came to Medina again, making Hijrah. She made hijra from
Mecca to Abyssinia. Now she made hijra from Abyssinia to Mecca, and
she's in Mecca, and Amarillo, and who sees her with his daughter,
Hafsa, and he asks her, realizing that she's one of the ones who
came on the ship. And she said, he said to her, we have more of a
right to the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam than you do
implying stating that, not implying stating that because they
got there first, that they had more of a right to the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam, now Umar as a person promised
paradise. He is a physically very large man. He is intimidating
shaytan run ran the runs the other way when he saw Amma RadiAllahu an
and yet Asmaa, while the Lahore anha, didn't stop and say
you're right, you have more of a right to the Prophet sallallahu,
Salah, not like many women today, when we feel like we have, we're
forced to say you're right. Men have more of a right to the masjid
than than we do. You're right. Men have more more deserving of these
spaces than we are or anyone from any type of background. Born
Muslims have more of a right than converts. Women who are married
have more of a right than women who are not. We have all of these
narratives in our community which are unfortunately destroying us.
Asmaa, radiAllahu anha, she didn't allow all the law on whose
statement to become policy. She went to the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, gave
her the glad tidings that he is not more deserving of all moral
dilawahdillahu. Anhu and his companions are not more deserving
of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, because for them, they get
the reward of Hijra once, versus Asmaa and her companions get the
reward of Hijra twice. And why this is so important is because
Abu Musab ashradi And so many of the companions kept coming back,
the people of the ship, the people who made this migration from
Abyssinia to Medina, kept coming back to Asmaa, radiAllahu anha,
asking to hear this narration over and over and over again, because
her using her agency of voice changed the policy, the culture.
It changed the way that people saw the people of the ship, the
community of Medina saw the people of the ship in a different way.
When we look at that lens, it impacts the way that we see women
who are with the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam and
Dr Asmaa ziyadah. She finished a book that her father, a sheik, was
starting, and he passed away Rahim Allah before he was able to
complete it. And she mentioned in the beginning of this book, this
book.
Called the political role of woman in the time of the Prophet
Muhammad, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam, and the time of the
righteous companions. And in her book, she talks about the fact
that so many people have looked back on the Sira, and they want to
write a story about the Sira that highlights certain aspects of the
Sira that are that is important to them as an author. And so when
that's their lens, they're not necessarily looking for the women
companions, Royal dilahoran and how they were involved
politically, how they were involved socioeconomically, how
their contributions shaped the society. They're looking through a
particular lens. And so sometimes women are mentioned as an
afterthought, if they are mentioned at all. And this is what
Abu Shuka mentions. He wrote Tahrir Mara FIAs arisala, the
liberation of women in the time of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
sallam. He initially started writing a Sira book. He wanted to
look write about the SIR and he was looking for references in
buchari and Muslim and kept coming across one narration after another
of the women companions, which he had never heard about, the way
that the women were so actively involved in society, so present.
And so when he noticed that their voices shaped the way that the
society of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam functioned, he
decided to call up all of these friends that he had in different
political factions in Egypt, the Salafis and the Sufis and all the
different factions. And he asked all of them if they had heard of
these narrations. And all of them had said, no, they had never heard
of a woman in these spaces. He wrote this book, and it was
actually illegal to sell it in Saudi Arabia, they banned his
book. The first volume of his book is simply compilations of women in
the Quran and in buchare and Muslim Subhan Allah. When we look
at the reality of how, whether it's politically, whether it's
because of war or colonization or Greek mythology or Greek Greek
philosophy, and the way that the Greeks looked at women and how
Sheikha Krom nadewi mentions that women were seen by Greek
philosophy as you know, the talking point we often use while
women were questioned whether or not they had souls in Europe,
Muslims saw women as empowered. Show that in our policy, please,
before you continue to use that talking point, when they were
translating these Greek books into Arabic, and it started
infiltrating Muslim thought the way the impact that it had on
Muslims shifted the reality of how women went from scholarship being
the scholars of commune of the society to having doors closed,
opportunities of education were closed, and that was impacting
policy, because the rulers of the time made that policy. How do you
think that's going to impact generations of women seeking
education when they're not allowed to seek education? That, of
course, impacted the way that Muslim women were viewed. But when
we look at the time of the companions, when we choose to look
at their comprehensive example, instead of a narrowed lens, what
we see is, for example, Sophia Wadi Allahu anha. She is often
mentioned in the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, who is walking and he sees these two companions. And the
Prophet sallallahu sallam, is exchanging Salam. And then he
clarifies SallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam, that he's with Hadith with
Sophia, radiAllahu anha. And this hadith, growing up, I heard this
hadith to talk about how the shaytan runs, you know, in every
part, giving constant messages to every single person. And so
because of that, we need to clarify that we are with someone
who's a Mahamantra with us, and also, in general, that women
shouldn't be with men. In general, that's how I heard the context.
The context of this hadith is Sophia radiAllahu anha is visiting
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in etikaf. Etikaf is a time
where we don't talk to people, we don't hang out with people. We
focus on worship. And yeah, Sophia came to spend time with the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam dedicated time for her and walked her away from the
masjid, not because she needed an escort, but because the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wanted to spend time with her. Think
about the statement of Aisha radiAllahu anha. Many of us have
heard the praise of the Ansar that their Hayat, their modesty didn't
stop them from asking questions. Many of us have heard that
statement. Why did she make that statement? Because there was a
companion named Asmaa who was asking the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam about how to clean herself after having *.
Why isn't that part of the Hadith ever referenced so that we know
that these conversations were conversations that they had with
the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam, when they were seeking
knowledge SubhanAllah. Think about Zainab, the wife of Ibn Masood.
Radila Zainab was giving charity. Was supporting her husband, Ibn
maseraud. How was she giving charity?
If she didn't work, how was she giving charity if she didn't have
her own money? When we look panel at atyaka Radi Allahu anha, the
wife of amarillohaan, she is often known as the woman who the
Prophet. Excuse me, who am I who didn't want to go to the masjid?
He didn't want his wife to go to the masjid. And many times I have
heard this, this example being used to discourage women from
going to the masjid. Alma, Aldi, Allahu anhu, such a pious man, of
course, no doubt, didn't want his own wife to go to the masjid. So
what about you, sisters today? The part of that context that is never
mentioned is a atyaka, as mentioned by Ibn Hajar, wrote in
her marriage contract to Amar that she did not want to be denied
going to the masjid, that she could go as often as she wanted.
She also included in her contract not to harm her, not to not to
physically hate her. And in their marriage when Amar Adila
confronted her about going and she asked, Are you going to stop me?
The Ummah Radi Allahu Anhu remembered the words of the
Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam, Naru ima Allah, masajid
Allah. So the AMA Radi Allahu anhu, despite his lira, he didn't
use it to control her. He she still went to the masjid. Now he
died radila anhu because of a stab wound as a martyr Inshallah, and
she was in the masjid when he was stabbed. And I've often also heard
that because of this, imagine she was in a place that her own
husband didn't want her to be in when he was when he was stabbed,
and then later on martyred. But when she remarried a Zubair. She
wrote in her marriage contract again that she did not want to be
stopped from going to the masjid. That is the importance of the
masjid for her. And when we look at these women in comprehensive
ways, we can then see because of their shaping of the
sociopolitical reality, of the familial reality, of the economic
reality, we can take their examples and look at the way that
we see our own communities today. Their voices shape the way our
voices speak. It's often interesting that in our society,
in the West, in the Muslim community culture, we speak about
women, and we say that they are progressive liberal feminists as a
way to completely dismiss the very tangible examples that Muslim
women bring up. And yet, when we're talking about, you know,
Muslim women being influenced by the West. In fact, I had a young
woman on Tiktok who talked who she was asking me, why is it that you
and she mentioned Yasmine mugahid, and she mentioned Dr Reni Awad,
and she said, Why are you the only Muslim woman who give lectures?
And I said, with all due respect, you literally know no Muslim
woman, because we are literally three people out of the incredible
amount of scholars who are women in our Muslim community in the
West. And of course, I mentioned Dr Tamara. I'm like, the biggest
fan girl, Dr Tamara and all so many other women, masha Allah, in
our community. And then she said, okay, but that's the West. Aren't
you all influenced by the West? And I sat there, and I was like,
with all due respect, you just don't know. You just don't know.
Don't take your lack of knowledge to mean that this is the reality
of the world. Because when I spoke to hafida Water Hasan from
Indonesia, who recites like Abdul Basit, and I asked her, she has
won so many of Quran competitions, and she recites Quran on TV, and I
asked her, what got her into it? And she's like, this is part of
our culture. She was taught by her own father. All of her siblings
recite like this. This is the culture of recitation of the Quran
for a woman, when you look at
suhaymi, she is a scholar who she has she's a scholar who graduated
from Al Azhar. She is a master of meth Quran. She said that women in
Singapore, you little girls with little boys, learn the powerful
recitations of Quran like they take PE in school. It's their
culture. No one blinks twice at a woman reciting the Quran. You see
this when Asad a Farhat, again, an incredible Quran reciter in
Malaysia, she hosts a TV show with two other men who are Quran
reciters. They host a TV show together. When she recites the
Quran on TV, the two men who are the hosts with her say Allah.
They don't say Astok ferowa, because in their culture, women
recite Quran. It's part of their culture, the scholars of that
region look at Quran recitation differently from the scholars in
other regions when we're talking about women, women's voices, and
it's so important for us as women to note that their examples are
not just present day examples that are out of a vacuum. They're
following the voice.
Faces of our four mothers, the woman companions, radila and Hun
and the scholars who came after them, building on what they left.
So, for example, Ibn Hajar mentions 53 Hadith scholars who he
studied under, and Imam as Sacha. We mentioned 68 SubhanAllah. We
have names like O Muhammad FAQ and nissat, O Muhammad Al Faraj, and
she used to teach lecture large audiences in the masjid of
Baghdad. And we have Abdul Hadi. And she was appointed to be the
Subhanallah, the teacher of Hadith and the grand Masjid of Benu
omaya. We have one after another Fatima, a who was the scholar of
Ibn his teacher and Imam as sahawi. Excuse me, Imam at the
heavy mentions that his son, a subki, also studied under her And
subhanAllah. We have this beautiful narration of Ibn
rushade, who mentions that she used to teach in the Hadith in the
measure of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam and Dr Akram Nadu.
We mentioned so many of these women in Al muhadita, and they're
also mentioned by Ibn Hajj and Imam suhai, that she used to sit
on the
with her back to the like resting on the grave of the the, you know,
the grave of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam, how
there's something that's covering it. She used to sit and she used
to rest against that SallAllahu, alaihi wasallam, resting area,
narrating Hadith, and men would be sitting there, listening, taking
Hadith, and that she wrote the ijaza by hand for Ibn Rushd and
the scholars that were with him, Subhan Allah, Fatima, radiah,
Asmaa Kandi, she used to advise Salahuddin, the great Salahuddin,
and his predecessor, nurudin Radi Allahu, anhuma SubhanAllah. She
would, she would give them fatwas. They would seek fatwa from her.
They would seek religious guidance from her. These are a handful of
names of so many the teachers Imam Ashe, Imam Malik, so many scholars
of our history were taught by women whose voices shaped fiqh,
whose voices shaped Usul, whose voice has impacted the way that we
see the world today, and SubhanAllah. This is in the Quran
when we see Allah mentioning the daughter of shaykhun Kabir, who
came as an answer to the of Musa alayhi salam, what does she say to
her father? She says,
hire him. Employ him. Scholars mentioned that Allah recorded that
particular part of their conversation. Why he didn't Allah
didn't have to include that part of the conversation, but he did
why to show how women were involved in economic matters. Pan
Allah, when you look at the Queen of Sheba that Allah, Spano Tala
mentions he he mentions that she says talking about the rulers who
come in and they destroy areas, and then the Quran says, like,
that's what they do. And some of the scholars of tafsir mentioned
that that was that's Allah reiterating her statement. Why to
reiterate the intelligence of a woman over and over we see
examples in the Quran and the Sunnah and Islamic history, like
Subhanallah, voices that have shaped our nation today. When I
spoke to Hafi the Asia to she's from the Gambia, she mentioned
SubhanAllah. There is a large history of scholarship, of woman
scholarship in the Gambia. Until today we see her example. We have
ostava Aisha Adams from Nigeria, who talks about the role of women
in Nigeria, in the Dawa. These are women today, who are present day,
shaping the way that women are seen in Islamic history, who are
going to be written inshallah in Islamic history, the question
isn't whether or not they existed, we can clearly see that they did,
and we can clearly see how their voices changed our world. The
question now is for you, Allah says he
has chosen you to be here for a reason in this moment in time, how
is your voice going to shape the future, so that Inshallah, in the
future, young woman and young men can come and say, I know her story
from our past. This is our Islamic legacy, and you have a role to
play in shape.