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Fatwa CenterWomen fighting in Jihad
Question
Are women allowed to practically fight in Jihad, by using arms etc.; was this practiced in the times of the Rasool SAW or the tabiyeen or taba tabeyeen?
Answer
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.
There are two situations where women could participate in Jihad.
First, if the enemies invade Muslims in their homes, all Muslims who could carry weapons (women, men, and children) must participate in fighting to chase away the enemies and protect Muslim territorial integrity. In this situation, they should participate in any way they can.
Second, if the Muslims invade their enemies, in this case, the Muslim women can participate and go with the Muslim army if the latter is a strong and powerful army and if there is no fear that Muslim women would be taken prisoners. Ibn Abdel Barr said: 'They (the women) can go with the army if the army is strong enough to take hold of the enemy's army'.
This is the opinion of all scholars and it is an imitation of a Sunnah that the Prophet did and his companions followed. In fact the Prophet took his wives and some of the wives of the Muslims in several Ghazwahs (holy battles in the company of the Prophet) as narrated in a sound Hadith.
But the role of women was limited mostly in looking after the wounded and providing food and drink to the men. However, whenever they are requested to carry weapons or fight they should do so, especially now when women can participate in war without having to travel. If she has to travel it should be within the limits of her nature.
Um Umara Nusaybah Bint Kaab Al Ansariyyah (
) fought in Uhud and also fought with the army that killed Musaylimah the Liar. She was wounded in thirteen places that day and her hand was cut off.
Originally war was a male affair. But women can participate in it if there is dire need for it and provided that they would not be made prisoners. So, the woman's Jihad is the one that does not involve fighting, i.e., Hajj and Umrah as the Prophet said. All this is to honour the woman and protect her, to give her time to educate generations and create heroes. So, the roles of men and women are complementary and without this balance, life will be spoiled.
Allah knows best.
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