Inspiring Women Throughout History – Sumayyah (ra)

Before I begin, I want to share that this discusses torture and murder so please only continue if you are okay to read about these topics.

This is a woman who suffered so much because she became Muslim and was eventually murdered by Abu Jahal. Sumayyah is the Aasiyah of our Ummah and she was murdered by the firawn of our ummah. She was about 60 years old when she died. We don’t know much about her life except after she became Muslim.

She was an Abyssinian woman, from modern day Ethiopia, and was a slave woman to one of the most powerful tribes of Makkah. Her master gave her in marriage to Yasir, who was under the protection of the tribe. She had a son, Amar, who was around the same age as the Prophet (pbuh).

The tribe that her family were in service to were the people who were most resistant to Islam and the Prophet (pbuh). When she became Muslim she was 60 and one of the first seven people to accept Islam publicly. Because she was a slave she had no protection or status to protect her and her master tortured her to try to get her to stop being Muslim.

TW: discussions of torture

She was forced to wear mailcoats under the blazing sun and was beaten publicly to deter others from becoming Muslim. She was tortured in many ways from physical torture of beatings, whips and more but also emptionally tortured by being forced to watch her husband and son (who also became Muslim) being tortured. They all had to watch each other being tortured and because of they were slaves there was no one to stand up for them.

They couldn’t even be bought by anyone to free them from this torture as their tribe refused to sell them. They experimented with different torture techniques on her but she refused to say that she would stop being Muslim or insult the Prophet (pbuh). When they tortured her she would respond with remembrance of Allah.

When she became Muslim she said to the Prophet (pbuh): I bear witness that you are the messenger of Allah and that your promise is true.

This is what she held onto as she was being tortured. Because she refused to do what they wanted when they tortured her, they became more and more angry with her. Eventually Abu Jahal became so mad with her that he speared her, killing her in front of her family. She was the first person to die for Islam. She may have spent her whole life as a slave and spent her last days being tortured but she was the first of this ummah to enter paradise.

This is a woman who had such strength in her faith that no matter what she went through she refused to say what her master wanted her to say about Islam. She died so early on in the call to Islam that she knew very little about it, she only saw the persecutions of the Muslims yet her faith remained true.

Inspirational Women throughout History – Lubna of Cordoba

There are so many amazing women that we never hear about unless we go looking and it is honestly so heart breaking that these women are not known to the majority of people. I hope that these posts inspire you to go look up more about them and find even more women who achieved amazing things.

Today I am going to share a little bit about Lubna of Cordoba who lived in Andalus in the 10^th Century. She was born a slave but rose to become the personal secretary to the Sultan Abdur Rahman and also his son Al-Hakim. As she was not nobility it showed how much faith and trust they had in her ability and knowledge. Not only was she the personal secretary to the Sultan but also a mathematician, a poet and library master and she excelled in all these areas. Her role was even more extradordinary because not only was she a woman who excelled in a male dominated court but she also rose to such great heights while being born a slave.

She oversaw the royal library which had over 500,000 books and she was also one of the first female solo travellers. She travelled all over the middle east to acquire books for her library and also went to places like Baghdad and Cairo. Her library was one of the most famous and important libraries of her time. Not only did she acquire books for her library but she also also transcribed and annotated many books that she had acquired and also translated many books including important historic Greek texts.

She was also known as one of the greatest mathematicians and even taught children maths and it was well known that she loved maths. She was a scholar and known for her knowledge and skill not only in math but also sciences and became one of the most influential people in the palace.  

She was a strong, independent woman whose intellect and determination allowed her to rise to achieve amazing things and left a lasting legacy. We don’t know much about her but what we do know shows that she was incredible woman who excelled in many fields.

A famous Andalusian scholar, Ibn Bashkuwal said, “She excelled in writing, grammar, and poetry. Her knowledge of mathematics was also immense and she was proficient in other sciences as well. There were none in the Umayyad palace as noble as her.” 

I also have blog posts on several other Muslim women in this series which you can find here

Inspirational Women Throughout History – Aisha bint Abu Bakr

Today I am going to talk a little about Aisha bint Abu Bakr (ra). She is one of my favourite women to read about as I find her so inspiring and someone to look up to.

She was an incredible woman, she was a wife of the Prophet (saw) and we know through many narrations that he loved her most from everyone. And when I read about her life and the woman she was I can see why!

She was the most renowned scholar and a teacher and she taught all the companions of the Prophet (saw) especially after his death. If anyone needed clarification on any matters or needed an answer for something they would go to her. She was known to be the most knowledgeable person. She especially excelled in hadith, fiqh, poetry and medicine. She was the type of person who, if she didn’t know or understand something she would go and learn about it until she became confident in that area.

She was a very sharp and feisty woman who stood up for her beliefs and was confident and assertive when it came to correcting people so that misinformation wouldn’t spread. She was also very eloquent in her speech, a great speaker and was even known to be a better speaker than the first four caliphs, Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra), Uthman (ra) and Ali (ra) and these four were known to be some of the best of people and leaders. She was outspoken and voiced her opinions on many matters in Islam, even if the other scholars disagreed she would give her opinion and her evidences for her opinion and always be confident in speaking up.

She spoke up about so many things from women’s rights, to education and so much more.

Her assertiveness and confidence to speak up is even more important to note because she lived in a time when that wasn’t the norm for women to be so outspoken. This slowly changed as Islam spread but she was alive right at the beginning when things were slowly changing. So for her to be so unafraid to speak up against even the men and those in power was something amazing. She did this throughout her life and because of her we have so much information about Islam and the Prophet (saw) and about life at the time.

She narrated 2210 hadith (sayings of the Prophet ) which included things on worship and family and especially women’s health, for example what women can and can’t do on their periods in terms of worship etc. She always shared intimate moments about her life with the Prophet (saw). Things we otherwise would never have known, from how he was in the home, how he spoke to her, how much he joked and made her laugh, how much he expressed his love to her and so attentive to the point that he knew by her changing one word in how she spoke to him that she was mad at him. We would never know any of these things without her.

She preserved so much of Islamic beliefs and worship and so much more because she was one of the best teachers and leaders in education. Without her so much would have been lost to time.

Books To Give You A Spiritual Boost in Ramadan

Growing up I didn’t have much access to attending classes for Islamic studies past learning to read the Quran as a kid so the main way I learnt about Islam was through reading and over the years I have read a lot of books that helped me to learn about Islam.

While I have been attending Islamic classes for about 10 years now I still love reading these books and learn so much and they have helped me get through some really difficult times. So I thought I would share these books and I hope you all benefit from them too!

Spiritual Boosting Books

Prayers of the Pious by Omar Suleiman
Allah Loves by Omar Suleiman
Patience and Gratitude by Ibn al-Qayyim
The Eternal Challenge: A Journey Through the Miraculous Quran by Abu Zakariya
Love and Happiness byYasmin Mogahed
Reclaim Your Heart by Yasmin Mogahed
Signs of the Day of Judgement by Ibn Kathir
Diseases of the Heart and their Cures by Ibn Taymiyyah
The Heart of the Quran by Asim Khan
Al-Ubudiyyah: Being a True Slave of Allah Ibn Taymiyyah
Weakness of Iman – It’s Signs of Weakness, Causes and Cures by Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid
Revive Your Heart by Nouman Ali Khan
Morals and Manners in Islam: A Guide to Islamic Adab by Marwan Ibrahim al-Kaysi
The Abandoned Prayers by Adanan Aali Uroor
Light Upon Light by Nur Fadhilah Wahid
The Relief From Distress by Ibn Taymiyyah
Dua: The Weapon of the Believer by Yasir Qadhi
Lesson from Surah Kahf by Yasir Qadhi
Muhammad: How He Can Make You Extraordinary by Hesham al-Awadi
Children Around the Prophet by Hesham al-Awadi

History Books

Lost Islamic History by Firas Al-Khateeb
Muhammad The Last Prophet by Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi
Misquoting Muhammad by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary
Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Kathir
Muslim Girls Rise by Saira Mir
Ibn Battuta: The Journey of a Medieval Muslim by Eduardo Albert
Child Companions Around the Prophet by Sameh Strauch
Sala ad-din and the crusades by Qaiser M. Talib
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf
When the Moon Split by Safi-ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri

Books About Women

The Forgotten Queens of Islam by Fatima Mernissi
Al-Muhaddithaat: Women Scholars in Islam by Akram Nadwi
Beyond the Veil by Fatima Mernissi
Women in Islam: Challenging Narratives by Ismail Adam Patel
Islam: The Empowering of Women by Aisha Bewley
Muslim Women: A Biographical Dictionary by Aisha Bewley
It’s Noy About the Burqa edited by Mariam Khan
Women in the Quran by Asma Lamrabet
The Veil and the Male Elite by Fatima Mernissi
Golden Stories of Sayyida Khadijah by Abdul Malik Mujahid
A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly
Believing Women in Islam by Asma Barlas
Gendered Morality by Zahra Ayubi

Other

Secrets to a Successful Marriage by Afshan Khan
Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet by Abdul-Matin
The Unchallengeable Miracles of the Quran by Yusuf Al-hajj Ahmad
Slavery and Islam by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Hadith: The Foundations of Islam by Jonathan A.C. Brown
Islamic Medicine: Key to a Better Life by Yusuf Al-Hajj Ahmad
Worship During Menses by Muhammad al-Jibaly
The Quest for Love and Mercy by Muhammad al-Jibaly
Healing with the Medicine of the Prophet by Ibn Qayyim
The Productive Muslim by Mohammad Faris
Scents and Flavors by Charles Perry

I hope you’re able to find something you want to read and I am always happy to answer any questions or give you other book recommendations if you’re looking for something specific!

This isn’t all the books I own but ones I definitely recommend!

Inspirational Women Throughout History – Fatima Al Fihri

This post is about Fatima al Fihri who built the world’s first university.

Fatima Al Fihri was born in Tunisia and then migrated with her family to Morocco. She came from a wealthy family and when her father passed away he left her a big fortune. Not much is known about her early life but her and her sister were well educated and deeply religious. She used the money her father left her to invest in and build a mosque and educational institute for her community.

Initially it was a smaller place of education with a courtyard, prayer hall, libraries and classrooms. At first the courses which were offered were religious studies and Quranic studies. When she thought about making a place for a higher level of learning she expanded on the institute. People would come from all over the world to study and it was expanded and built upon until it was made into a university.

The university was named the University of al-Qarawiyyin, named after Fatima’s birthplace, Qayrawan in Tunisia. It was established in 859 and was the first degree granting institute in the world. There was a wide range of areas of study available to study from, astronomy, maths to sciences, medicine, languages and more. Even Fatima studied there too. Notable scholars from all over the world studied there and it was considered a place of a major intellectual centre in the medieval times.

The university is still running now and there are also other places which are part of the university which you can visit too including the library which is one of the world’s oldest libraries! There are over 4000 manuscripts there and you can even see Fatima’s diploma on display there on a wooden board!

She has such an amazing lasting legacy that a woman was the first to build and establish a university where everyone was welcome to come and study at. As a result of her building this higher education institute it paved way for other places to be built including University of Oxford and helped advance opportunities for higher learning all over Europe.

You can read the previous posts in this series here:

Khadijah al Khuwaylid

Nusaybah bint Ka’ab