All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and thank Him. We repent to Him
and seek for His forgiveness. We seek refuge from Allah from the evils of our own
souls and from the consequences of our misdeeds. No one can mislead whomever
Allah guides and no one can guide whomsoever Allah causes to go astray.
We testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah alone. He has
no partner. His is the dominion and the praise. It is He who gives life and death and
He has power over all things. Exalted and far is He above what they ascribe to
Him.
We equally testify that our leader and model, Muhammad, is Allah's Servant
and Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam. Allah sent him with guidance and
the religion of truth that He may make it prevail over all other religions and make
him erase the effects of the time of ignorance that have become oppressive and
widespread. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, delivered the
message, fulfilled the trust, wished the Ummah well and fought in the way of Allah
as it was due. He left us on a brilliant path whose night is as clear as its day. It is
only the doomed that can deviate from that path.
Peace and blessings be upon him, his family, the Companions and their
successors and all those who rightly follow them till the Day of Judgment.
Indeed, the first person to believe in Allah as the Lord and in Muhammad,
sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, as the Messenger and Prophet was his wife,
Khadeejah, may Allah be pleased with her. She was the first person to support the
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam. She strengthened him, assured
him and consoled him. She received the Prophet and his message with her big
heart.
After her, many women embraced Islam, not in compliance with their
husbands' will or out of tribal solidarity or in obedience to their fathers' command.
Rather, these women, in most cases, embraced Islam independently, out of
conviction and in demonstration of their right of choice.

If there are men companions, there are also women companions. If there are
`Men around the Messenger' there are also `Women around the Messenger'.
Each of these women played her role in the best possible way and in the
noblest way in the arena of faith and sincerity. These women excellently
maintained necessary balance between the two segments of humanity: male and
female. They stand out as outstanding models in the history of humanity in a way
that made them unrivalled in the history of nations from the time of Aadam, may
Allah exalt his mention, until Allah inherits the earth and all that is on it.
This important and critical aspect in the life of Allaah's Messenger,
sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, the message that he was carrying, the journey of
Islam in its first step and the appearance of the dawn of Islam after the stark
darkness in which the entire humanity was living then needs to be written down for
many reasons.
One of the diseases of our contemporary age with all its achievements and
setbacks, with its scientific breakthrough and cultural defects is that the woman has
been turned to a `doll' or something like a doll in all the senses of the word. I do
not think that I have exaggerated in this.
Take for instance, the advertisement of any product in any of the mass
media, the woman is disgustingly, cheaply and flimsily dragged into this
advertisement even if the product is just the necktie that men wear. This is in
addition to her being used as an instrument of sexual arousal.
This is just an example of how the woman has been reduced to a cheap
commodity. There are other uncountable examples of this, facilitated through
satanic hands.
It is unfortunate this horrible disease has crept into the midst of the Muslims
under the guise of cultural interrelation and in total disregard for our purity and
distinguishing values and for many other uncountable reasons.
It is also astonishing that reawakening Muslims should dedicate a lot of their
intellectual and practical efforts to help man develop his intellectual, spiritual and
physical qualities while little attention is paid to woman. This is in spite of their
sure knowledge that the woman is the foundation of family structure and the

indispensable factor in putting the children properly on the right path. If the family
is endowed with a pious, believing, understanding and hard-working woman, it
will produce a strong member of the Islamic Ummah.
Is there anyone who can answer this call? Is anybody paying attention? Is
anybody ready to work?
As the mother of the faithful, Khadeejah, may Allah be pleased with her,
was the first person to accept Islam the first person to be martyred in the way of
Allah was also a woman: Sumayyah, may Allah be pleased with her. She was
crucified on a wood along with her husband, Yaasir and their son, `Ammaar, may
Allah be pleased with them. They were persecuted in the way of Allah. They were
made to stay in the scorching sun that pierced their bodies as if it was arrows of
fire. Their skins were at the same time, subjected to lashes like strikes of swords
and pierces of spears. They bore all this with patience, hoping to get reward from
Allah. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, would pass by them
while they were in this state of persecution and he would tell them sorrowfully and
with tears in his eyes, "Have glad tiding, the household of Yaasir, may Allah be
pleased with him, for Paradise is your appointed place."
These words from the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, brought relief
and peace to their hearts, making them forgetting the persecution. While they were
in this pitiful situation, Abu Jahl passed by and he insulted and rebuked them. To
show that he was a worthless man, Sumayyah, may Allah be pleased with her,
replied him by spitting in his face. This enemy of Allah then mercilessly stroke her
private parts with a spear he was carrying. She fell down and died as the first
martyr among the Companions of Allaah's Messenger.
This noble woman was patient and persevering in the cause of Allah. She
was soon joined by her husband in the like manner.
As for her youthful son, `Ammaar, may Allah be pleased with him, he feared
death and preferred safety. He was given respite for sometime but he also later died
as a martyr.
Another exemplary woman is `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with him.
She grew up in the house of Islam and Eemaan and she entered the house of

Prophethood while still a youth. She was intelligent and full of knowledge. She
performed her role in her marital home in a most wonderful way that was full of
love and tranquillity.
She conveyed the knowledge that she has comprehended and memorised.
She directed people, taught them, guided them and gave them wisdom. And she
left a legacy that is rare to be found in others among members of the Prophet's,
sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, household. The knowledge she taught formed a
substantial part of rules of Islamic jurisprudence and its principles.
In addition to her erudition in knowledge and understanding, she was also a
lofty model in acts of worship and shunning of worldly materials.
She was once asked of the reason why she applied musk on her money, and
she answered, "This money falls into Allaah's Hand before it falls into the hand of
the beggar."
Though `Aa'ishah, may Allah be pleased with him, was never destined to
bear a child, she was actually a mother. It was in her house that `Urwah ibn
Zubayr, `Amrah bint `Abdur-Rahmaan Al-Ansaariyah, Al-Qaasim ibn Muhammad
ibn Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them, and others were nurtured. These
are those who took knowledge from her, drew from her fountain, blossomed and
produced the fruits of that knowledge under her generous love.
Though the examples of these women are many, we will, by the permission
of Allah, discuss about those women who were around Allaah's Messenger,
sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam, or those women whose lives were connected to that
of the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and played roles in his life.
In spite of the fact that we have previously written something on this topic,
the past methodology is different from the present in many aspects. Here we will,
God willing, discuss about these women in serials and do so within the framework
of calling to the path of Allah, drawing therefrom, the proper stands that a Muslim
must take, and defining his responsibilities.
This is in order to make these women an example to follow in constructive
Islamic resurgence without resorting to any exaggeration.

Dear reader, it is with all love and sincerity to Allah, The Exalted that I am
dedicating this book Women Around the Messenger, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam,
to you, beseeching Allah to accept from me and from every Muslim, male and
female, our good deeds. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds.
Muhammad `Ali Qutb

 This is the women’s lib age as the West preform to term it. But is it true? Is it not a lipservice age turning women practically to dolls or something like reallife dolls ?
 Women entering the fold of Islam played an enviable prominent role, side by side their counterparts, in shaping and developing the Muslim society as a model from the onset, emancipating humanity, men and women, from the shackles of deeprooted ignorance. Women in Islam have a very special place, status, and dignity that is unknown to mankind before or after.
 The women in this book are listed in categories, such as Mothers of the Prophet , Wives of the Prophet , The Prophet’s Daughters , and many more categories.