The Role of Women in Hijrah

The fourth lesson from the hijrah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): the role of women — the role of women in fighting, the role of women in Madīnah, the role of women in hijrah, because these are role models. How was the whole story of hijrah heard? Who was the narrator of the story of hijrah? Whether it is in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī or Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, it was ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her. The whole story of hijrah was preserved by ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her. Number two, Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, the sister of ʿĀʾishah. She tore her girdle to put food into it to send it to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr. She suffered because of hijrah. Abū Jahl and some men from Quraysh came knocking on the door of Abū Bakr after he had left, and Asmāʾ opened the door, so Abū Jahl asked her, "Where is your father?" She said, "I do not know where my father is." So he slapped her on her face so hard — that was a suffering that she took for the sake of Allah (swt), to protect the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr. She did not go screaming and yelling and hollering over one slap. She was patient and she stayed quiet. And it can be noted here that she lied: she said, "I do not know where my father is," and it is allowed to lie in such a situation, because it is for the protection of a Muslim. She was patient; she had taqwā toward Allah (swt).

The father of Abū Bakr, her grandfather, was already a blind man. He came in and said, "I see that my son has caused you two sufferings: one, by him leaving, and number two, by him not leaving you behind any money." So Asmāʾ, she was very creative, she went and filled a sack with some rocks and put it in the hands of her grandfather and said, "No, look, he left us a lot of money." The grandfather said, "Well, it is good that he did so." She did that to keep him calm. So she was very content, she was very patient, and she had taqwā toward Allah (swt). Besides ʿĀʾishah and Asmāʾ being women, they are also members of the family of Abū Bakr, so these same examples also show the sacrifice that the entire family of Abū Bakr went into for the sake of hijrah.