Muslimah of the Week

Sahar

Muslim women are in need of role models. Many of us look to women from Western backgrounds to seek inspiration from. Islam’s history is riddled with examples of admirable women. We either don’t hear about these women today ’cause Muslims are too busy telling women how to dress appropriately; or they are represented to us in a way that appeals to patriarchal expectations.

Each week, Nuseiba is going to feature a woman from Islam’s history, and hopefully will briefly shed light on her character and contributions to the community she lived in. We feature these women in the hope that Muslim women of today are reassured that women from our history were not just identified as the mother, daughter or the wife of some known man. They made great contributions.  For our non-Muslim readers, it will also help to dispel common misconceptions that Muslim women were, and continue to be, submissive and oppressed.


I begin with Aisha bint Abu Bakr as- Siddiq ibn Abi Quhafa who was the third wife of the Prophet. Much of what we know of Aisha is usually clouded in controversy—either by Shia and Sunni’s squabbling over her status; or by Western criticism of her age during the time she consummated her marriage to the Prophet. I won’t dwell on these issues and rather stress some points that are missed in these debates.

In reference to the Qur’an’s description in 33: 6, Aisha is often known as the ‘Mother of believers’. She was a learned woman who was known for her impressive intelligence and memory which enabled her to record how the Prophet lived. Aisha is one of Islam’s early scholars who explained its history and tradition. She often taught men because she had impressive knowledge of Arabic poetry, genealogy and Islamic ethics. Muslims after Mohammad’s death went to her for guidance and leadership. The Prophet had once said that it is through Aisha we should learn ‘half our religion’.

2210 ahadith are attributed to Aisha, many of which are considered authentic references. This is why some scholars and historians have credited her with establishing up to half of  Sharia law, and why many Muslim jurists hold her in high regard.

Aisha was also a military leader. We often get caught up in the battle of Camel and what it meant for Shia and Sunni but fail to see what else it demonstrated. A woman had mobilized and led an army. We are often impressed and even surprised by females in the army, but this was a woman who was leading an entire army in battle. That’s unthinkable even today!

Thus, Aisha serves as a role model for women’s political, scholarly and legal participation in Muslim communities.