Divine Laws for the Movements of Women (2/2)

Rules for Women during Hajj

The second congregational duty in Islam is the performance of Hajj which is obligatory both for men and for women. But women have been prohibited from mixing with men as far as possible while moving round the Ka’abah. According to a tradition related by ‘Ata’ in the Collection by Al-Bukhari, women used to move round the Ka’abah along with men during the time of the Holy Prophet, but they did not mix with them.

According to a tradition related by Ibrahim Nakh’i in Fathal Bari,   ‘Umar had forbidden the males and the females to mix during the ceremonial rounds of the Ka’abah.

Once when he saw a man in the midst of women, he caught hold of him and whipped him. (Vol-III, p. 312). According to Mu’atta ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar used to send the members of his family in advance from Muzdalifah to Mina, so that the women could offer the Dawn Prayer and perform the stone-throwing ceremony before the people arrived.

Similarly, Asma, a daughter of Abu Bakr, used to leave for Mini early in the morning when it was still dark, as that was the common practice among women during the time of the Holy Prophet.

Participation in Friday and ‘Id Prayers

The importance of religious congregations on Friday and on the ‘Id occasions in Islam cannot be exaggerated.

Keeping in view the importance of these congregational prayers, the Law giver waived the first condition for joining in the daily prayers, that is, the prohibition to join in the day-time, though women have been exempted from the obligation of offering the Friday Prayers. (Reported by Abu Dawud). Their participation in the ‘Id Prayer is also not compulsory.

But if they so desire they may join in these prayers, provided that they observe the other conditions for them for joining in the congregational prayers. Traditions show that the Holy Prophet himself used to take his wives to the religious congregations on the ‘Id occasions.

According to Umm ‘Atiyyah, the Holy Prophet used to take unmarried young girls and married and menstruating women along with him to the ‘Id congregations.

The menstruating women would keep away from the prayers, but would join in the invocation. (Reported by Al-Tirmizi). According to Ibn ‘Abbas, the Holy Prophet took his daughters and wives to the ‘Id congregations. (Reported by Ibn Majah).

Attending Funerals and Visiting Graves

Attending the funeral of a Muslim is a duty, though optional, and the instructions exhorting the Muslims to attend funerals are well known to the people who care. But these instructions are meant only for the males. As for women, they have been prohibited, though not strictly, from attending funerals.

Traditions show that women were sometimes allowed to attend funerals, but the Lawgiver did not approve of this. A tradition related by Umm ‘Atiyyah in the Collection by Al Bukhari says: “We were prohibited, though not strictly, from accompanying funeral processions”.

According to Ibn Majah and Nasa’i, once the Holy Prophet was attending a funeral when he saw a woman.  ‘Umar reproved her, but the Holy Prophet said: “O ‘Umar, leave her alone”. It appears that the woman was a near relative of the dead person and had accompanied the funeral under the intensity of grief. The Holy Prophet had a regard for her feelings and forbade   ‘Umar to reprove her.

Similar is the injunction about visiting the graves. Women are by nature soft-hearted, and they keep the memory of the dead ones fresh in their minds for a long time. That is why the Holy Prophet did not like to suppress their feelings completely, but instructed that frequenting the graves by women was prohibited. According to a tradition related by Abu Hurairah in the Collection by Al-Tirmizi, “The Holy Prophet cursed the woman who visited the graves frequently”.[1]

 ‘A’ishah went to the grave of her brother,  ‘Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr, and said, “By God, if I had been present at the time of your death, I would not have visited your grave today”. (Reported by Al-Tirmizi). According to Anas bin Malik, when the Holy Prophet saw a woman crying over a grave, he did not forbid her, but said “Fear God, and have patience”. (Reported by Al-Bukhari).

Now let us consider these instructions carefully. The Islamic prayer is a holy worship; the mosque is a sacred place pilgrim to the Ka’abah performs the ceremonies with the purest thoughts; and the person attending a funeral and visiting a grave has the thought of death foremost in his mind, and is overwhelmed by grief.

At all such occasions, sexual feelings are either wholly absent or suppressed by the pure feelings.

But in spite of that the Law-giver, did not approve that the male and the female should mix in such social and religious gatherings. Though he allowed women to go out of the houses in view of the solemnity of the occasions, purity of the purpose and their delicate feelings sometimes even took them along with him—he imposed such restrictions of Purdah as would guard against the least probabilities of mischief. Then he ruled that except for Hajj it was better for women not to attend the other religious congregations.

It is obvious that the Law which has such trends cannot be expected to allow that the two sexes should freely mix in schools and colleges, offices and factories, parks and places of entertainment, theatres and cinemas, and cafes and ballrooms as and when they please.

Participation in Battle

Now that we have seen the strictness of the laws of Purdah, let us see where and why they are relaxed.

Imagine for a while that the Muslims are engaged in war and emergency has been declared.

Circumstances demand that the whole collective strength of the nation should be mustered in defence.

Under such extreme conditions Islam enjoins the Muslim women also to contribute their due share to the war effort. But it keeps in view the fact that woman was created for motherhood and not for killing and shedding blood. Therefore, to equip her with the weapons of war is to distort her very nature.

That is why Islam allows women to take up arms only in self-defence, but it does not favour carrying them in the battle field and recruiting them in the forces. It employs them only to give first aid to the wounded, take water to the thirsty, cook food for the soldiers, and guard the camp in their absence.

In order that they may carry out these duties efficiently, restrictions of Purdah have been considerably relaxed. In fact, they have been allowed by Shari’ah to wear the same sort of dress, with a little modification, as is worn by the Christian nuns now-a-days.

Traditions show that the wives of the Holy Prophet and the other Muslim women used to give first aid to the wounded and water to the thirsty at the battle-field. This practice remained in force even after the commandments of Purdah had been ordained. (Reported by Al-Bukhari).

According to Al-Tirmizi, Umm Sulaim and certain other women from among the Ansar accompanied the Holy Prophet to many a battle-field. According to Al-Bukhari, a woman requested the Holy Prophet to pray for her that she might accompany those people who were to go for the naval battle. He prayed, “O Allah, let her be one of them!” On the occasion of the battle of Uhd, when the soldiers of Islam had been compelled to retreat, ‘A’ishah and Umm Sulaim brought leather-bags full of water on their backs and took water to the fighters. Anas says that he saw them running to and fro with their trousers tucked up; so much so that the lower part of their shins could be seen (Reported by Al-Bukhari).

‘Umar has related this Saying of the Holy Prophet about another woman, named Umm Sulait:

“During the battle of Uhd, wherever I looked, to the right or to the left, I saw Umm Sulait fighting desperately to protect me”.

In the same battle, Rubai’, daughter of Mu’awwaz, accompanied by a party of women was busy giving first aid to the wounded, and the same women were also carrying the wounded back to Madinah. (Al-Bukhari). In the battle of Hunain, Umm Sulaim was seen moving about with a dagger in her hand. The Holy Prophet asked “What is this for?” She replied, “If some unbeliever comes near me, I will rip open his belly”. (Reported by Ibn Majah).

Umm ‘Atiyyah took part in seven battles and was responsible for guarding the camp, cooking food for the soldiers, and nursing the wounded and the sick. (Reported by Ibn Majah). According to   Ibn ‘Abbas, the women who performed such war services were awarded prizes from the booty. (Reported by Muslim).

This shows that the Islamic Purdah is not a custom of ignorance which cannot be relaxed under any circumstances. On the other hand, it is a custom which can be relaxed as and when required in a moment of urgency. Not only is a woman allowed to uncover the face and the hand but even if she has to uncover a part of her satar under necessity, there is no harm. But as soon as the necessity is over, she has to observe the normal rules of Purdah. Just as this Purdah is not a Purdah of ignorance, so the relaxation allowed in observing it is not like the license of ignorance. The Muslim woman cannot be compared with the European woman who came out of the house in view of the emergency created by war, but even after the war was over, she refused to return to her natural sphere.