The Women of Uḥud: Water and Medicine

It is important to look at the role of the women, and at role models from among the ṣaḥābiyāt, since the Companions were the best generation — Islam was best understood by them, and so they are the closest to the truth, and theirs is the best way. Whenever what is done, or what is understood, differs from that of the Companions, it is one's own way that is wrong, and theirs that was right. So, the ṣaḥābiyāt in the Battle of Uḥud used to provide water and medical assistance. Anas ibn Mālik said, "I saw ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr and Umm Sulaym, with their clothes tucked up so that their legs, their shins, could be seen — and this was before ḥijāb — carrying buckets of water on their shoulders, and pouring the water into the mouths of the soldiers, then going back and filling them again, and doing the same, going back and forth." Jihād, in this, was a family effort: the men took part, and the women took part; here was ʿĀʾishah, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the wife of the leader, serving fī sabīli Allāh. Ḥamnah bint Jaḥsh used to provide water to the thirsty, and would give medical assistance to the injured, and Umm Ayman used to provide water to the injured as well.^** Anas ibn Mālik said, "When the Prophet (peace be upon him) would go out to fight, he would take with him Umm Sulaym and some women from the Anṣār; if he went out, they would give the men water and heal their wounds" — this is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and it shows that women would accompany the armies of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to serve them in this way.

In the time of ʿUmar's caliphate, he received pieces of cloth, and he was handing them out to the women of Madīnah. A fine piece of cloth remained, and some of those present said, "O Commander of the Faithful, give this to the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)" — meaning Umm Kulthūm bint ʿAlī, whom they called the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) because she was his granddaughter. ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, said that Umm Sulaym deserved it more: she was one of the women of the Anṣār who gave the pledge to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and she was the one giving water on the day of Uḥud. So ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, was recognising the effort of this woman years later — and in this affair it was the women of the Anṣār who deserve special recognition for their effort, for even their women gave everything, as is the way of the Anṣār.

Fāṭimah also took part: it was she, as already related, who washed the wound of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), while ʿAlī poured the water from a shield; and when Fāṭimah saw that the water was only increasing the flow of blood, she took a piece of matting and set fire to it, then attached it to the wound, and the blood ceased flowing.

Not only did the women act in supporting roles — taking care of the injured, delivering water — but there are also accounts of women who fought with the sword, and one example is Nusaybah bint Kaʿb, may Allah be pleased with her. She was a strong woman, and at Uḥud she fought at the side of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and she fought in more than one battle, and even fought in the time of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, against Musaylimah al-Kadhdhāb. When she died, her granddaughter said, "I was one of those who washed her, and she had thirteen wounds on her body, and the worst of them was the scar left behind by the sword of Ibn Qamiʾah" — the same man who wounded the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — who struck her on her shoulder as she defended him; that was the worst of her scars, and she would suffer other wounds in other battles, healed by pouring boiling oil over them, of which she said the process of healing was worse and more painful than the wounds themselves. This wound she took from Ibn Qamiʾah at Uḥud took one full year to heal. Yet even with however many wounds she had taken in the Battle of Uḥud, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was going out to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad the next day, she wanted to go out, but when she stood up, she collapsed, and could go no further — such was the strength of her resolve. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went to Ḥamrāʾ al-Asad, immediately when he came back, he sent someone to ask about her, and they came back and told the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that she was getting better, and he was very glad. This shows another dimension of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): he cared, he cared for the Companions, he would ask about them, he wanted to know how they were doing — they were on his mind, and this is how a leader should be.