Muslim women in history: Thuml Al-Qahramana

Thuml Al-Qahramana

Often called the first female judge in Islam, Thuml lived during the 10th century. Her exact date of birth is unkown. Although said to be the first female judge, this is unverified but we know at least this is the first female judge on which there is a written record. 
She was called Qharmana due to her being the head of the women’s quarters in the palace, before becoming a judge. 

It was during the age of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir; his mother was appointed Queen. She was highly impressed by Thuml’s intelligence and knowledge of the sciences of religion and so ordered her to sit in what was called the "House of grievances " and appointed her head judge or chief of justice.

At first Thuml found intense resentment against her appointment but with the help of a fellow judge Abu al-Hasan Ibn Aloshnani and after making intelligent and fair judgments she was able to overcome the refusal of people and gain their confidence. The people began to trust her when they saw her ability to judge amongst them and they began to come in droves to receive a Just judgment from Thuml.

She oversaw the house of grievances on Friday. As well as all ruling from the House of Grievence has to be signed by her, or else they would not be implemented. She presided over a large council of judges and scholars and dignitaries.

Some historians and scholars who witnessed the times of Thuml in Baghdad, wrote that she was a great judge , and that the objections of the people quickly turned to love because of the reforms she carried out .

It is common to see that some historians described her as “harsh” and strange. This was more due to her lack of trepidation to implement the full extent of the law

She resigned in the year 922 AD and died in 928 AD

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My beautiful motherland is sinking under a growing tide of blood and broken bodies

I was 17 when I first understood how little a woman's life is worth is in Pakistan. How the 'love' of a brother and a mother can lead to a woman, a girl, being hunted with brutality, killed and buried in an early grave.

I met Sania (not her real name) when I was 16 and staying in my grandfather's village in Pakistan Kashmir. She had travelled to our village with her family from rural Punjab to visit some people. I remember Sania. She was 16. She was wearing a red scarf. She had beautiful almond-shaped eyes and whenever she was asked a question she would cover her mouth with the red scarf, look down and then whisper. Like most girls her age she was painfully shy.

Sania appeared curious to meet a Pakistani woman around her age from the west. Because of her shyness we communicated mostly through smiles and she spent a lot of time giggling at me.

The following year when I returned to the village and asked after everyone, I remembered Sania and asked how she was. My aunt raised her finger to her lips and told me to hush. She then pulled me inside the house and sat me down.

"She's dead. Her brother killed her. She was in the kitchen at the time. He entered the kitchen and told her that she was a shameful woman and had brought shame and disgrace on the family. He accused her of looking at a man. He then stabbed her over and over. We heard that she was stabbed at least 20 times." 

Sania's brother had killed her in the family home and nobody did a thing to stop him. The police had arrested him but he was released a few days later because their mother had forgiven him. A mother had forgiven her son for killing her beautiful daughter with the almond-shaped eyes. He was free to live his life while Sania was in the ground, covered by the soil of a country that continues to betray women like her.

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Forgotten Heroines: Umm Aban bint Utbah

From the excellent http://thesalafifeminist.blogspot.co.uk/

Umm Aban bint Utbah

She journeyed to Syria and witnessed its opening to Islam with her brother Abu Hashim and her husband Aban ibn Sa'id. She was widowed on the day of the Battle of Ajnadayn. It is said that they were together no more than two nights before she was widowed. Another version says her husband who was killed was Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan.

When she was widowed, 'Umar proposed to her and she rejected him. She was asked "Why?" She said, "When he enters, he enters sternly and when he leaves, he leaves sternly. He is preoccupied by his Hereafter from his worldly affairs, as if he were staring his Lord in the eye." Another version has it, "He enters frowning and he leaves frowning. His doors are closed and his giving is little."

Then Zubayr ibn al-Awwam proposed to her and she rejected him. She was asked, "Why?" She said, "A wife gets nothing from him but chores and work to secure his needs. And he says, 'I did this' and, 'I did that', and 'I am this', and 'I am that'."

Then 'Ali proposed to her and she rejected him. She was asked, "Why?" And she said, "Women have no luck when they are with him ... " [abridgement]

Then Talhah proposed to her and she said, "Marry me, truly." People said, "How is this?" She said, "I truly know his moral character. When he enters, he enters laughing and when he leaves he leaves smiling. When he is asked, he gives. When I withdraw, he inquires; when I work, he thanks; and when I do wrong, he forgives."

'Ali was visiting them in their home and he said [to her husband], "Abu Muhammad, may I speak to Umm Aban?" He said, "Speak to her." 'Ali said, "As-salamu alayki, oh woman who is dear to herself." She said, "Alayk as-salam." He said, "The Leader of the Believers, Chief of the Muslims, proposed to you and you rejected him."

"That is so."

"And I proposed to you and I am from the Prophet and you rejected me."

"That is so."

 In another version, 'Ali added, "You refused all those whom you refused, and married this son of the daughter of Al-Hadrami." She said "Decree and destiny." 'Ali replied, "You know, you married the one of us who was most beautiful of face, the one with the best hand, and the one with the most goodness toward his family."

[Translated and abridged from A'lam an-Nisa by 'Umar Kahhala, vol. 1, p. 21]

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Quote of the day....

 

 

Islam is based on naql (texts) and 'aql (intellect). Some people just have the texts – we call them naql-heads. 

 

 - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf  

American Islamic scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College.

Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan - "The Jahaliyyah of Matrimonials

Meet Australia's Muslim Power Couple

Susan Carland and Waleed Aly are exactly the type of people you’d want at your dinner party: intelligent, outspoken, engaging, charming, funny. Add Australian accents to that package and you’ve won me over in a second. 

Independently of each other, married couple Carland and Aly often serve as the public faces of Islam in Australia. Aly, 35, is a broadcaster who hosts multiple shows on both radio and TV, covering news events ranging from politics to entertainment to sports. Carland, 34, is often called on by the media to write articles or give interviews discussing her academic work on the intersection of feminism and Islam. The duo’s friends jokingly refer to them as the “Muslim Brangelina,” and it’s easy to see why. They are young, good-looking, fashionably-dressed and charitable. Like Brangelina, except sans Hollywood and plus two upcoming Ph.Ds.

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Miracle of Ayat ul Kursi | Linguistic Miracle

An Islamic perspective....

So refreshing to see a positive letter about Islam in a London newspaper!!Alhamdulilah!

Unlawful killing of two Palestinian teens outside Ofer

Where is the concern for Palestinian children and their safety? Where is the social media campaign for #stopkillingourboys?

This shocking video shows the unprovoked, cold-blooded killings of two Palestinian teenagers, 17-year-old Nadim Siam Nuwara, and 16-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Odeh Abu al-Thahir on 15 May near Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank city of Beitunia.

Both boys were fatally shot with live ammunition. The video was obtained by Defence for Children International - Palestine Section (DCI-Palestine) which sent the following description to The Electronic Intifada:

The CCTV footage was captured by cameras mounted on the building where the incident took place, which is owned by Fakher Zayed.

“The images captured on video show unlawful killings where neither child presented a direct and immediate threat to life at the time of their shooting,” said Rifat Kassis, executive director of DCI-Palestine. “These acts by Israeli soldiers may amount to war crimes, and the Israeli authorities must conduct serious, impartial, and thorough investigations to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”

Nadim Siam Nuwara, 17, sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Muhammad Mahmoud Odeh Abu al-Thahir, 16, sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the back.

The boys were participating in a demonstration near Ofer military prison to mark Nakba Day and express solidarity with hunger striking prisoners currently held in administrative detention by Israel. The demonstration reportedly began peacefully and then turned violent when Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian youth.

The deaths on Thursday raise the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in 2014 to four, according to data collected by DCI-Palestine. Over 1,400 Palestinian children have been killed as a result of Israeli military and settler presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 2000.

The Israeli military’s own regulations dictate that live ammunition must be used “only under circumstances of real mortal danger,” but the regulations are not enforced and frequently ignored by Israeli soldiers, according to research by DCI-Palestine.

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"He culturally believed he had the right to hit his wife and discipline his wife.”

 I hope he enjoys the dhal in prison! So disgusted....

A Pakistani immigrant beat his wife to death in their Brooklyn home after she made the mistake of cooking him lentils for dinner instead of the hearty meal of goat meat that he craved, according to court papers.

Noor Hussain, 75, was so outraged over the vegetarian fare that he pummeled his wife, Nazar Hussain, 66, with a stick until she was a “bloody mess,” according to prosecutors and court papers.

“Defendant asked [his wife] to cook goat and [his wife] said she made something else,” the court papers indicated as Hussain’s murder trial opened on Wednesday.

“The conversation got louder and [his wife] disrespected defendant by cursing at defendant and saying motherf- -ker, and . . . defendant took a wooden stick and hit her with it on her arm and mouth.”

Defense attorney Julie Clark admitted Hussain beat his wife — but argued that he is guilty of only manslaughter because he didn’t intend to kill her. In Pakistan, Clark said, beating one’s wife is customary.

“He comes from a culture where he thinks this is appropriate conduct, where he can hit his wife,” Clark said in her opening statements at the Brooklyn Supreme Court bench trial. “He culturally believed he had the right to hit his wife and discipline his wife.”

Prosecutors, however, said Hussain meant for his wife to die.

“His intentions were to kill his wife,” Assistant District Attorney Sabeeha Madni said in court. “This was not a man who was trying to discipline his wife.”

Madni said that Hussain “brutally attacked his wife as she lay in her bed” — leaving deep lacerations on her head, arms and shoulders, and causing her brain to hemorrhage.

He beat her with a stick that the family had found in the street and used to stir their laundry in a washtub, the court papers state.

He then tried to clean up the blood that had splattered onto their bedroom wall before calling his son for help, Madni said.

“I killed her. Hurry up and come over,” Hussain told his son, according to prosecutors.

Madni also said Pakistani women who lived in the same building as the Hussains would testify about the beatings Nazar received at the hands of her husband.

“They have told us about years of abuse they witnessed,” Madni said.

Hussain met his wife in Pakistan and the couple married before moving to Brooklyn, prosecutors said.

The trial continues Thursday before Judge Matthew D’Emic.

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