Jihad of Women
Jihad of Women (Arabic: جِهَادُ الْمَرْأَة) refers to the direct participation of women in military conflicts. In Islamic jurisprudence, such participation is not obligatory,[1] and some jurists have deemed it illegitimate.[2] This ruling applies specifically to Initial Jihad;[3] however, in the context of Defensive Jihad, the participation of women is considered obligatory should the necessity arise.[4] According to the Shia scholar Husayni Tihrani, the exemption of women from the obligation of jihad does not equate to a prohibition of their presence on the battlefield. Rather, it signifies that they are not required to engage in direct combat; fulfilling support roles, such as logistics and treating the wounded, remains permissible for them.[5] Historical sources record instances of women's presence during the Battles of the Prophet (s); for example, in the Battle of Uhud, fourteen women—including Lady Fatima (a) and Aisha—were involved in supplying water, providing provisions, and tending to the injured.[6]
«JIHĀD AL-MARʾA ḤUSN AL-TABAʿʿUL»
The jihad of a woman is good companionship with her husband.
Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 5, p. 507.
In hadith literature, certain actions performed by women are categorized as forms of jihad, including:
- Good Companionship: In a narration from Imam al-Kazim (a), a woman's jihad is defined as maintaining good companionship with her husband.[7]
- Endurance of the Spouse: In a tradition from Imam al-Baqir (a), the jihad of a woman is regarded as patience in the face of her husband's mistreatment.[8]
- Housekeeping: A narration from Prophet Muhammad (s) equates the value of domestic work to that of Jihad.[9]
- Pregnancy: According to a Prophetic narration, a pregnant woman merits a reward comparable to that of those waging jihad and is absolved of sin upon giving birth.[10]
Notes
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 7; Ṭūsī, al-Nihāya, p. 289; Ibn Idrīs, al-Sarāʾir, vol. 2, p. 3; Ḥillī, Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ, vol. 9, p. 12; Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, vol. 9, p. 197.
- ↑ Muntaẓirī, Risāla-yi istiftāʾāt, vol. 1, p. 102; Ḥusaynī Ṭihrānī, Risāla-yi badīʿa, p. 121.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 3, p. 8.
- ↑ See: Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 3, p. 8; Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Kashf al-ghiṭāʾ, pp. 395–396.
- ↑ Ṭihrānī, Risāla-yi badīʿa, p. 121.
- ↑ Wāqidī, Kitāb al-maghāzī, vol. 1, p. 249.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 5, p. 507.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 5, p. 9; Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 3, p. 439.
- ↑ Fattāl al-Nayshābūrī, Rawḍat al-wāʿiẓīn, vol. 2, p. 376.
- ↑ Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, p. 618.
References
- Ibn Idrīs al-Ḥillī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. al-Sarāʾir al-ḥāwī li-taḥrīr al-fatāwā. Qom: Islamic Publications Office, second edition, 1410 AH.
- Ibn Qudāma, ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad. al-Mughnī. Cairo: Maktabat al-Qāhira, 1388 AH.
- Ḥusaynī Ṭihrānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Risāla-yi badīʿa. Mashhad: Allamah Tabataba'i Publications, 1418 AH.
- al-Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Masālik al-afhām ilā tanqīḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Qom: Muʾassasat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, first edition, 1413 AH.
- al-Shaykh al-Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom: Islamic Publications Office, second edition, 1413 AH.
- al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. al-Amālī. Qom: Dār al-Thaqāfa, first edition, 1414 AH.
- al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. al-Nihāya fī mujarrad al-fiqh wa-l-fatāwā. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, second edition, 1400 AH.
- al-ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Tadhkirat al-fuqahāʾ. Qom: Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt (a), first edition, 1414 AH.
- Fattāl al-Nayshābūrī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Rawḍat al-wāʿiẓīn wa baṣīrat al-mutaʿaẓẓīn. Qom: Raḍī Publications, first edition, 1375 SH.
- Kāshif al-Ghiṭāʾ, Jaʿfar b. Khiḍr. Kashf al-ghiṭāʾ ʿan mubhamāt al-sharīʿat al-gharrāʾ. Isfahan: Mahdavī Publications, first edition, n.d.
- al-Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī and Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, fourth edition, 1407 AH.
- Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿAlī. Risāla-yi istiftāʾāt. Qom, first edition, n.d.
- al-Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī and ʿAlī Ākhūndī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, seventh edition, 1404 AH.
- al-Wāqidī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. Kitāb al-maghāzī. Edited by Marsden Jones. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī, third edition, 1409 AH.