Khawlah bint al Azwar – The Islamic Heroine

   There is not an Arab city that does not have a school carrying the name of Khawala Bint Al Azwar, the extraordinary woman who was so contemporary of the early years of Islam. Most of what history tells us about her childhood and environment is quite vague, but provides rich information about her courage that had most likely played a role in strengthening the new religion.

   Notably, whatever we have come to know about Khawla shows that she was very close to her brother Derar, who was a hero of Islam and one of the commanders, which served under the famous Khalid Bin Al Walid, who conquered and put an end to the Roman presence and rule in Greater Syria.

   The recorded history of that era mentions repeatedly the feats of Khawla in battles that took place in Syria, Jordan and Palestine. In one instance, she fought in disguise to rescue her brother Derar after the Romans captured him. Witnesses say that she was in fact much braver than many men. In addition to that, and whenever she did not carry her sword, she took the responsibility of organizing medical care to treat the wounded during the battles. This is 13 centuries before Florence Nightingale did the same in Europe.

   Khawla was the daughter of one of the chiefs of Bani Assad tribe, and her family embraced Islam in its first days. Her father’s name is either Malik or Tareq Bin Awse. Al Azwar was his nickname. Her brother, Derar, was the knight and poet of his tribe, and was well known as well for his wisdom. His love for his sister and confidence in her capabilities were legendary. In fact, the brother and sister were so attached to each other that she was his companion wherever he went. He trained her on all arts of swordsmanship and she became also a perfect knight. Besides that, Khawla was a poet who mastered that noble art. She was a brunette, tall, slim and of great beauty.

   Her name remained greatly unknown, until the battle of  Ajnadin, not far from Jersalem, where Derar lost his spear, fell from his horse, and was taken prisoner. She donned a male knight’s attire, took her arms and rode her mare through the Roman ranks, using her sword skillfully against whoever tried to stop her. The Muslim soldiers, and their leader Khalid, watched her with great admiration, presuming that she was a man.

 

   The Arab Historian, Al Waqidi, tells us in his book “The conquering of Al Sham (greater Syria)” that: “In a battle that took place in Beit Lahia near Ajnadin, Khalid watched a knight, in black attire, with a big green shawl wrapped around his waist and covering his bust. That knight broke through the Roman ranks as an arrow. Khalid and the others followed him and joined battle, while the leader was wandering about the identity of the unknown knight.”

 

   Rafe’ Bin Omeirah Al Taei was one of the fighters. He described how that knight scattered the enemy ranks, disappeared in their midst, reappeared after a while with blood dripping from his spear. He swerved again and repeated the deed fearlessly, several times. All the Moslem army was worried about him and praying for his safety. Rafe’ and others thought that he was Khalid, who won great fame for his bravery and genius military plans. But suddenly Khalid appeared with a number of knights. Rafe’ asked the leader: “ Who is that knight? By God, he has no regard for his safety!”

 

   Khalid answered that he didn’t know the man, though he greatly admired his courage. He called on the arm to attack as one man and to make sure that they protect our hero(ine). They were fascinated as they watched the knight appear with a number of Roman knights chasing him. Then he would turn around and kill the nearest before resuming his attacks.

 

   The Romans eventually lost the battle and fled, leaving many dead and wounded in the battlefield. Khalid looked for the knight till he found him. By then he was covered in blood. He praised his bravery and asked him to remove his veil. But the knight did not answer, and tried to break away. The soldiers wouldn’t let him do that. And everyone asked him to reveal his identity.

   When the knight found that there was no way to avoid that, he replied in a feminine voice: “My prince, I did not answer because I am shy. You are a great leader, and I am only a woman whose heart is burning.”

 

   “Who are you?” Khalis insisted.

   “I am Khawla Bint Al Azwar. I was with the women accompanying the army, and when I learnt that the enemy captured my brother, I did what I did.”

    Khalid ordered his army to chase the fleeing Roman Army, with Khawla leading the attack, looking in all directions for her brother, but in vain. By noontime, the victory was decisive. Most of the Roman soldiers were killed.

 

    Knowing that the prisoners had to be somewhere, Khalid sent Khawla with a number of knights to find them. After a hot chase, they managed to catch up with a Roman detachment that was taking the prisoners to their headquarters. Another fight took place, the Roman guards were all killed and the prisoners saved.

 

    In another battle in Ajnadin, Khawla’s spear broke, and her mare was killed, and she found herself a prisoner. But she was astonished to find that the Romans attacked the women camp and captured several of them. Their leader gave the prisoners to his commanders, and order Khawla to be moved into his tent. She was furious, and decided that to die is more honourable than living in disgrace. She stood among the other women, and called them to fight for their freedom and honour or die. The others were enthusiastic to her plan. They took the tents’ poles and pegs and attacked the Roman guards, keeping a formation of a tight circle, as she told them.

 

    Khawla led the attack, killed the first guard with her pole, with the other women following her. According to Al Waqidi, they managed to kill 30 Roman knights, while Khawla was encouraging them with her verses, which in fact cause the blood to boil.

 

    The Roman Leader was infuriated by what happened, and led a detachment of his knights against the women, though he tried first to tempt them with many promises. He told Khawla that he planned to marry her and make her the first lady of Damascus. But she answered him calmly and with great contempt: “I wouldn’t even accept you to be a shepherd of my camels! How do you expect me to degrade myself and live with you? I swear that I’ll be the one to cut off your head for your insolence.”

 

    In the ensuing battle, the ladies proved their mettle, kept their grounds for some time, encouraging each other and driving off the attackers with their long poles. Suddenly, Khalid and the army reached the battlefield. In the ensuing fight, over 3.000 Romans were killed. The women who took part in the fighting were proud to say that Khawla killed five knights, including the leader that insulted her.

 

    In another battle, the Moslems were overwhelmed by a much bigger Roman army. Many soldiers fled away, but not for long. Khawla and the other women met the fleeing soldiers, questioning their claims of bravery and forced them to return to the battle. The men were stunned when they saw Khawla drawing her sword and leading a counter-attack. They turned their horses and joined the battle, which was eventually won. 

 

    One of the knights present that day said:  “Our women were much harsher with us than the Romans. We felt that going back to fight and die was much easier than facing the fury of our women later on”.

 
    Khawla became a legend during her life and remains a legend till this day. She set an example to men and women alike that one should fight for what he or she believes in, and never accept defeat.

 http://www.alshindagah.com/mayjun2003/woman.html
http://www.siddiqi.org/khawla/khawla_bint_alazwar.htm

Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi – the Man behind the Armour

Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi - the Man behind the Armour

He defied the odds in an era of darkness. He set aside the criticism of those who called him crazy for wanting to do the seemingly impossible: uniting the Ummah, standing up to the Crusaders, and returning honor where it belonged. He was respected by both his friends and foes, and is perhaps one of the few men whose name evokes feelings of honor and pride in the minds of so many people in every era and place. Even the generally anti-Muslim film industry in America could not help but portray the honor and righteousness that Salah ad-Din was known for.

We all know of how he laid waste to the Crusaders and had them chasing their tails in the battles of Alexandria, Hittin, Acre, Tyre, Beirut, Nablus, Haifa, Tiberius, Gaza, ‘Asqalan, Jerusalem, and dozens of other cities and towns across Sham and North Africa. We know of Salah ad-Din the warrior. But, who was the man behind the armor? What was he like as a person? What was he like as a Muslim? What personality does it take to carry out such heroic feats and achieve such a status?
In ‘al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah’ (13/5-6), Ibn Kathir said that at the time of his death, Salah ad-Din hardly had any money in his possession, and this is because:

“…of the immense amount of gifts and charity and kindness that he used to show the leaders and ministers under his command, and even to his enemies! I’ve already described this previously. And he was very simple in his clothing, food, drink, and transportation. He would only wear cotton, linen, and wool. It is not known that he ever approached anything forbidden or discouraged, especially after Allah blessed him with his kingdom. Rather, his greatest concern and goal was to aid Islam.”

Ibn Kathir continued:

“This is all in addition to the virtues and unique skills he possessed in the Arabic language, poetry, and history, such that it was said he had memorized ‘al-Hamasah’ (a book of poetry compiled by Abu Tammam at-Ta’i) in its entirety.

And he was very strict in praying on time in jama’ah. It is said that he never missed a single prayer in jama’ah for a great part of his life, even during the illness that killed him. The imam would enter and lead him in prayer, and he would struggle to get up and pray despite his weakness.”

He continued:

“And he loved to hear the recitation of the Qur’an and the reading of ahadith and knowledge. He was constant and habitual in listening to ahadith being read to him, to the point that he would hear a section read to him while he was standing between the ranks of soldiers! He would enjoy doing this and say: “Nobody listens to ahadith in a situation like this.”"

He also mentioned:

“He had a soft heart, and was easily swayed to tears when he would hear ahadith.”

He continued:

“And Salah ad-Din was from the bravest of people, and the strongest of them in body and heart despite the illnesses and sickness his body suffered from. This was most evident during the Siege of Acre, where despite the massive numbers of the enemy, he only increased in power and bravery. They had as many as 500,000 soldiers – some say 600,000 – and he killed 100,000 of them.”

He also said:

“He was generous, well-rounded, always laughing and smiling. He would never slack off in any good that he did. He was extremely patient when doing good and worshipping Allah.”

In ‘Siyar A’lam an-Nubala” (15/436), it’s mentioned that al-Muwaffaq ‘Abd al-Latif said:

“I went to Salah ad-Din while he was in Jerusalem, and I saw a king who filled eyes with amazement and hearts with love, whether they were near or far. He was an easygoing person, likeable, and his companions used to try to imitate him, racing towards good actions, as Allah Said: {“And We removed any sense of pain from their hearts, making them like brothers…”} [al-Hijr; 47]
The first night I spent with him, I found his gatherings filled with scholars engaged in knowledge. He would listen intently and participate in their discussions. He would learn how to build walls and dig trenches, and he would then do this himself, carrying the rocks on his own shoulders.”

al-’Imad said in ‘as-Siyar’ (15/440):

“He would only wear what was permissible to wear, such as linen and cotton. His gatherings were free of vain talk, and they were only attended by the most virtuous people. He loved to hear ahadith being read with their chains of narration. He was forebearing, honest, pious, pure, and trustworthy. He would contain himself and not become angry. He would never turn back someone in need or embarrass someone who spoke in front of him. He was extremely kind and charitable, and he reprimanded me for decorating my utensils in silver, and I replied that Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni mentioned a point of view of it being permissible. And I never saw him praying except in jama’ah.”

Also on the same page, Abu Ja’far al-Qurtubi said that when Salah ad-Din was on his deathbed:

“I finished reciting the Qur’an at the verse: {“He is Allah, besides Whom there is none worthy of worship; the Knower of the Unseen and the seen…”} [al-Hashr; 22] and I heard Salah ad-Din saying: “This is true,” and he was in a coma before this. He then died, and al-Khatib ad-Dawla’i washed his body. He was brought out in a coffin, and Muhi ad-Din bin az-Zinki prayed over him. He was then returned to the room in the garden where he had been sick and was buried in a kiosk. Voices were raised in crying, and it became so loud that even the smart one would think that the whole world was screaming in a single voice. The people were so overwhelmed that some of them were distracted from praying over him. People expressed their remorse at his passing – including the Crusaders, due to how truthful and trustworthy he was.”

adh-Dhahabi said:

“And I never saw a king whose death people were sad for except him. This is because he was loved by everyone: he was loved by the righteous and the wicked, the Muslim and the kafir.”

The above descriptions speak for themselves.
This was Salah ad-Din. This was the man behind the armor. This was his lifestyle and character, and it was nothing other than this that served as the platform for the amazing feats across the lands that we remember him for today. It was nothing other than his lifestyle and character that made him the one chosen by Allah out of all his contemporaries to have the vision and do the deeds that would make him such a legend.

And this lifestyle and character is something you find common between all of the legends of Islam we have today, be they scholars or Mujahidin. You always find them paying great attention to the following: daily recitation of the Qur’an, studying of the Shari’ah, giving tons of charity, preventing a single useless word (let alone harmful or obsene) from coming out of their mouths, living simple lives free of luxury and excessive comfort. Believe it or not, some of us actually look at these things as difficult, boring, and lacking excitement, and we ignore them out of an inability to comprehend how these would be linked to the heroic deeds that these legends became known for. However, there is no way around it: it was this lifestyle alone that made it possible for these people to live for something greater than themselves – for Islam. There is no way you can dream of defending the Shari’ah if you don’t even have the willpower to implement it on a daily basis in your own life.

One more thing should be mentioned: he wasn’t always like this. adh-Dhahabi said in ‘as-Siyar’ (15/434 and 436):

“Since his time as a ruler, he had abandoned alcohol and worldly pleasures.”

“He used to drink alcohol, and then repented from it.”

That’s right. Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi - this righteous man who singlehandedly changed the course of history – loved to drink and indulge in the dunya before he decided to take on the Crusaders. This small fact teaches us a mighty lesson: not everyone is born into a life of taqwa. The great people we love and admire who are out there were not always so great, and this gives you hope no matter how insignificant or lost you think you are that you can become something truly great one day.

The Man Behind the Armor