Fourth example — narrated by Abū Balaj Yaḥyā ibn Abī Sulaym, who said:
(Chain: good) “I saw Samrāʾ bint Nuhayk—she had lived to see the Prophet ﷺ—wearing a coarse coat of mail and a thick veil. In her hand was a whip with which she disciplined the people, commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong.”
Recorded by al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (24/311/785) with a good chain. Al-Haythamī said (9/264):
“Its transmitters are trustworthy.”
(1)
I say: These authentic incidents provide conclusive evidence of the excellence, magnanimity, and sound upbringing of the early Muslim women. They were able to carry out the duty of cooperating in goodness even when, in principle, it was not obligatory upon them. How, then, would their response be if circumstances actually imposed such an obligation—such as self-defence? Consider Umm Sulaym, may Allah be pleased with her, who took up a dagger on the day of Ḥunayn, and likewise Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both.