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There were many occasions when Muslim women's intelligence.
wisdom and decisiveness of action were put to the test. Safyya
Bint Abdal-Mutalib. the Prophet's paternal aunt and mother of
al-Zubayr tb-al! Aww`a-m was given an opportunity, when Quraysh, with
all the clans, rode against the Prophet and marched on al-Madinah to
massacre the Musims. The Prophet gathered the women and children in
the fortress of Bani H; rith away from danger. While Safiyya was standing
guard, she noticed on of the enemy's cavalry men close to the fortress.
Afraid that he might climb the walls or alert the rest of his battalion,
to their whereabouts, she asked Hasran bin Thýabit to kill the man,
but he said to her, "Allah forgive you, daughter of Abd al-Muttalib.
By Allah, do you know that I am not the person to do so. "
Undaunted, she took a post and went down to the man, and despite his
being armed, killed him. This shows her courage and quick thinking.
Periods of peace as well as war enabled women to play a significant
role in the early Islam period. Islam gives women the right to give
asylum and protection. '*Umm Han-i Bint Abir T;; lib, Ali's sister, and
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therefore the Prophet's cousin, had given asylum to two men related to her
by marriage.
r Ali bin AJ TWlib wanted to kill them, so she locked them
in and went to the Prophet to inform him. The Prophet approved her
action and said, "We have protected whom you have protected and trusted
those whom you have trusted. So he must not kill them.,,
addition to offering asylum, a woman could also redeem a captive. The
sources also recount that Zaynab, the Prophet's eldest daughter had
dissolved her marriage to Abr Al-! A; 7s because he was an Idolator. But
when he was captured in th Battle of Badr, she redeemed him and the
1. SeeVIfT, op. cit., Vol, 2, P. 112
2
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