Stories
Women of early Islam
Believers, martyrs, fighters and scholars
4 min, Intro
The first person to accept Islam was a woman, and so was the first to die for it. Women of the first generations traded, fought, taught and narrated much of what Muslims know of the Prophet.
Draft written with AI help: awaiting scholar review
The thread
The Qur'an speaks to believing men and women side by side, and the first generations bear it out. The first believer and the first martyr are women. A woman fights to shield the Prophet at Uhud. And women carry his teaching on, down to a merchant's daughter whose mosque in Fez grows into a centre of learning.
Equal in faith
It starts with how the Qur'an speaks. It often addresses "believing men and believing women" together.
One ayah lists ten qualities, each for men and women alike: submission, faith, devotion, truthfulness, patience, humility, charity, fasting, chastity, and remembering God much.
Another promises: I do not let the deed of any of you be lost, whether male or female.
فَٱسۡتَجَابَ لَهُمۡ رَبُّهُمۡ أَنِّي لَآ أُضِيعُ عَمَلَ عَٰمِلࣲ مِّنكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوۡ أُنثَىٰۖ بَعۡضُكُم مِّنۢ بَعۡضࣲۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ هَاجَرُواْ وَأُخۡرِجُواْ مِن دِيَٰرِهِمۡ وَأُوذُواْ فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَٰتَلُواْ وَقُتِلُواْ لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنۡهُمۡ سَيِّـَٔاتِهِمۡ وَلَأُدۡخِلَنَّهُمۡ جَنَّٰتࣲ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ ثَوَابࣱا مِّنۡ عِندِ ٱللَّهِۚ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُۥ حُسۡنُ ٱلثَّوَابِ ١٩٥
195 Their Lord responded to them: “I will never waste the deeds of any doer among you, male or female; you are the same in reward. Those who migrated and were driven out of their homes and suffered for My sake, and fought and were killed – I will surely expiate their sins and admit them into gardens under which rivers flow, a reward from Allah; with Allah is the best reward.”
إِنَّ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ وَٱلۡمُسۡلِمَٰتِ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِ وَٱلۡقَٰنِتِينَ وَٱلۡقَٰنِتَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ وَٱلصَّٰدِقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ وَٱلصَّٰبِرَٰتِ وَٱلۡخَٰشِعِينَ وَٱلۡخَٰشِعَٰتِ وَٱلۡمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَٱلۡمُتَصَدِّقَٰتِ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمِينَ وَٱلصَّٰٓئِمَٰتِ وَٱلۡحَٰفِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمۡ وَٱلۡحَٰفِظَٰتِ وَٱلذَّٰكِرِينَ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرࣱا وَٱلذَّٰكِرَٰتِ أَعَدَّ ٱللَّهُ لَهُم مَّغۡفِرَةࣱ وَأَجۡرًا عَظِيمࣱا ٣٥
35 Muslim men and women, believing men and women, obedient men and women, truthful men and women, patient men and women, humble men and women, charitable men and women, fasting men and women, and the men and women who guard their chastity, and men and women who remember Allah much – Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward.
In the Qur'an, no deed is lost, whether male or female.
The first believer, the first martyr
Who came first? Khadijah was the first person to accept Islam.
And the first to die for it? Sumayyah bint Khayyat, an enslaved woman, is remembered as the first Muslim killed for her faith, by Abu Jahl, in the persecution in Makkah.
Then there is the Battle of Uhud. Nusaybah bint Ka'b, known as Umm 'Umarah, came to bring water. When the line broke, she ended up fighting to shield the Prophet ﷺ, and was wounded many times.
The first Muslim killed for her faith, Sumayyah, was an enslaved woman.
Scholars and founders
Who passed on what the Prophet taught? Among the main sources of his teaching were 'A'ishah, Umm Salamah and other women of his household.
It did not stop with them. In later centuries, thousands of women narrated hadith, and leading male scholars listed women among their teachers.
Then, in 859, a merchant's daughter spent her inheritance founding a mosque in Fez, Morocco. Her name was Fatimah al-Fihri, and the mosque was al-Qarawiyyin. It grew into a centre of learning that still teaches today, often called the oldest working university.
A woman, Fatimah al-Fihri, founded one of the oldest universities.