Jihad (Struggle, effort, endeavour) - Part 6

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('Jihad' - Struggle, effort, endeavour. [Muhammad Prophet For Our Time Glossary

pg. 217].)

 

 

Jihad - Part 6

 

(p.138) There were also changes in Muhammad's family life. On his return from

Badr, he learned that his daughter Ruqayyah had died. 'Uthman was sincerely

grieved, but was glad to accept the hand of his late wife's sister Umm Kulthum

and retain his close relationship with the Prophet. One of the prisoners of war

was Muhammad's pagan son-in-law, Abu l-'As, who had remained true to the

traditional faith. His wife Zaynab, who was still living in Mecca, sent the

ransom money to Medina together with a silver bracelet that had belonged to

Khadijah. Muhammad recognized it at once and became momentarily distraught with

sorrow. He let Abu l-'As go free without taking the ransom, hoping that this

would encourage him to accept Islam. He refused conversion but sadly agreed to

the Prophet's request that he send Zaynab and their little daughter Umamah to

him in Medina, because life would not be impossible for them in Mecca. It was

also time for Muhammad's youngest daughter, Fatimah, to be married, and Muhammad

gave her to 'Ali. The couple set up house near the mosque.

 

Muhammad also took a new wife: 'Umar's daughter Hafsah, who had been recently

widowed. She was beautiful and accomplished, and at the time of her marriage to

the Prophet was about eighteen years old. Like her father, she could read and

write, but she also had 'Umar's quick temper. 'A'isha was happy to welcome her

into the household. (p.139) 'A'isha would be jealous of Muhammad's other wives,

but the growing bond between their fathers made these two girls firm friends.

They particularly enjoyed ganging up together against the stolid, unimaginative

Sawdah.

 

'A'isha may by this time have moved into the apartment that had been prepared

for her in the mosque, though Tabari says that because of her youth she was

allowed to remain for a while longer in her parents' house. Muhammad was an

indulgent husband. He insisted that his wives live frugally in their tiny,

sparse huts, but he always helped them with the household chores and looked

after his own personal needs, mending and patching his clothes, cobbling his

shoes, and tending the family goats. With 'A'isha particularly he was able to

unwind, challenging her to footraces and the like. She had a sharp tongue and

was by no means a shy or submissive wife, but she liked to spoil Muhammad,

anointing his hair with his favorite perfume, and drinking from the same cup.

One day, while they were sitting together, the Prophet busily repairing his

sandals, she saw his face light up at a passing thought. Watching him a moment,

she complimented him on his bright, happy expression, and Muhammad got up and

kissed her forehead, saying " Oh 'A'isha, may Allah reward you well. I am not the

source of joy to you that you are to me. " [22]

 

Muhammad lived cheek by jowl with his family and companions and saw no

opposition between his public and private life. [23] It was possible for his

wives to hear every word that was spoken in the mosque from their apartments.

(p.140) The Emigrants had immediately noticed that the women of Medina were

different, less rigorously controlled than in Mecca, and soon found that their

own wives were picking up the free and easy ways of the Medinese women: 'Umar

was furious when his wife started to answer him back instead of meekly accepting

his reproaches, and when he rebuked her she simply replied that the Prophet

allowed his wives to argue with him. [24] Trouble was brewing. Muhammad's

deliberate conflation [combining] of private and public was a blow to male

supremacy, which can only exist if this distinction is maintained.

 

Muhammad (Prophet For Our Time)

Chapter 4, 'Jihad', p. 138-140

Karen Armstrong

Harper Perennial - London, New York, Toronto and Sydney

ISBN-13 978-0-00-723248-2

ISBN-10 0-00-723248-9

 

Notes:

 

[22] Nabia Abbott, 'Aishah, the Beloved of Muhammad' (Chicago, 1992), 67.

 

[23] Mernissi, 'Women and Islam', 106-11.

 

[24] Muhammad al-Bukhari, 'Al-Sahih' (Beirut, 1978); Mernissi, 'Women and

Islam', 142-3; Leila Ahmed, 'Women and Gender in Islam' (New Haven and London,

1992), 52-53.