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Ibn Sa'd's Book and the Women's Pledge

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The women came to the Prophet ﷺ in person to give their own pledge, and Allah revealed its terms in His Book.

Ibn Sa'd and his book

Abu 'Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa'd is one of the great early authorities on the lives of the Companions. He was born in Basra in 168 AH, studied in Baghdad, especially with the historian Muhammad ibn 'Umar al-Waqidi, and travelled to Kufa and Madinah in search of knowledge. He was so close to al-Waqidi that he was called "the secretary of al-Waqidi". He died in Baghdad in 230 AH. Scholars such as al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, adh-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar described him as reliable.

His great work, Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir ("The Great Book of Generations"), arranges the Companions and those after them by generation. Its eighth volume is given entirely to women who met the Prophet ﷺ or narrated from him. This course follows that volume in the English translation of Aisha Bewley, The Women of Madina.

ArabicNameWhat it is
ابْنُ سَعْدٍIbn Sa'dMuhammad ibn Sa'd (d. 230 AH), the compiler
الطَّبَقَاتُ الْكُبْرَىat-Tabaqat al-KubraHis biographical collection, arranged by generations
الْبَيْعَةُal-bay'ahThe pledge of allegiance given to the Prophet ﷺ

Ibn Sa'd gathered everything he heard, strong and weak, and the translator herself warns that caution is needed before taking a report as a basis for action. In this course we keep only sound reports: what is narrated in al-Bukhari and Muslim or graded sound by the scholars, and the facts of the sirah that the historians agree on. Where reports differ, we give the agreed position or simply say that the reports differ.

The ayah of the women's pledge

The first chapter of the book is about how the Prophet ﷺ received the pledge of the women. Its terms were revealed in Surat al-Mumtahanah:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ إِذَا جَاءَكَ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ يُبَايِعْنَكَ عَلَىٰ أَن لَّا يُشْرِكْنَ بِاللَّهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَسْرِقْنَ وَلَا يَزْنِينَ وَلَا يَقْتُلْنَ أَوْلَادَهُنَّ وَلَا يَأْتِينَ بِبُهْتَانٍ يَفْتَرِينَهُ بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِنَّ وَأَرْجُلِهِنَّ وَلَا يَعْصِينَكَ فِي مَعْرُوفٍ ۙ فَبَايِعْهُنَّ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُنَّ اللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ"O Prophet, when the believing women come to you pledging to you that they will not associate anything with Allah, nor steal, nor commit zina, nor kill their children, nor bring a slander they have invented between their hands and feet, nor disobey you in what is right, then accept their pledge and ask Allah to forgive them. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful."al-Mumtahanah 60:12
No shirkNot to associate anything with Allah
No stealingNot to take what is not theirs
No zinaTo guard their chastity
No killing childrenAs was done in the Jahiliyyah
No slanderNot to invent a lie "between their hands and feet"
Obedience in what is right"Ma'ruf": what Allah commands

The six conditions of the women's pledge

The men also pledged on these same terms. 'Ubadah ibn as-Samit narrated that the Prophet ﷺ took the pledge of a group of Companions on these conditions and then said:

"Whoever of you fulfils it, his reward is with Allah. Whoever falls into any of that and is punished for it in this world, that is an expiation for him. And whoever falls into any of that and Allah conceals it, his matter is with Allah: if He wills He forgives him, and if He wills He punishes him."al-Bukhari 18; Muslim 1709

By speech, not by handshake

Ibn Sa'd brings many reports about the manner of the women's pledge. Some say the Prophet ﷺ covered his hand with a cloth, others mention a vessel of water. These reports are not established. The sound report comes from 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her:

"By Allah, his hand never touched the hand of a woman in the pledge. He only took the pledge from them by speech, saying: I have accepted your pledge on that."al-Bukhari 4891; Muslim 1866

Umaymah bint Ruqayqah came with a group of women to pledge. When they asked him to take their hands, he said:

"I do not shake hands with women. My word to a hundred women is like my word to one woman."an-Nasa'i and at-Tirmidhi; graded sahih

The pledge is a covenant of the heart and the tongue. A spoken word given to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was as binding as any handshake, and he ﷺ kept the limits of Allah even in a moment of public honour.

What is "right" (ma'ruf), and the women who kept it

Umm 'Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah explained one part of "not disobeying in what is right":

"The Prophet ﷺ took from us, at the pledge, that we would not wail over the dead. None of us kept that except five women, among them Umm Sulaym and Umm al-'Ala'."al-Bukhari 1306; Muslim 936

Wailing here means loud lamenting, striking the face and tearing clothes, as was done in the Jahiliyyah. Tears of the eye and grief of the heart are not part of it. Umm 'Atiyyah's honesty is itself a lesson: she admits that most found this hard, so that we know it is a real struggle that needs effort.

Women who came to pledge

MakkahThe first believing women

Khadijah and the daughters of the Prophet ﷺ, and other early Muslim women, accepted Islam in Makkah.

Second Pledge of 'AqabahTwo women of the Ansar

Nusaybah bint Ka'b (Umm 'Umarah) and Asma' bint 'Amr (Umm Mani') were present with the men of the Ansar who pledged to protect the Prophet ﷺ.

After the HijrahThe women of Madinah

Groups of women came to give the pledge, such as Umaymah bint Ruqayqah, who came with women of the Ansar, and Umm 'Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah.

After al-HudaybiyahThe emigrant women

Believing women who fled Makkah to Madinah were tested about their faith and were not returned to the disbelievers (al-Mumtahanah 60:10).

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا جَاءَكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ مُهَاجِرَاتٍ فَامْتَحِنُوهُنَّ ۖ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِهِنَّ"O you who believe, when the believing women come to you as emigrants, test them. Allah knows best about their faith."al-Mumtahanah 60:10

The treaty of al-Hudaybiyah required the Muslims to return those who came from Quraysh. Allah excluded the believing women from this: once their faith was known, they were not sent back to the disbelievers. 'A'ishah said that the Prophet ﷺ tested them with the ayah of the pledge (60:12), and whoever accepted its conditions had given her pledge (al-Bukhari 4891).

  • A woman has her own covenant with Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. She does not enter Islam only through her father or husband.
  • The terms of the pledge are the foundations of a Muslim life: tawhid, honesty, chastity, protecting life and children, guarding the tongue, and obeying in what is right.
  • Obedience to the Messenger ﷺ is always "in what is right", because he only commands what Allah commands.
  • Honour and closeness never cancel the limits of Allah.
  • Patience at a death is part of the pledge: weeping is mercy, wailing is from the Jahiliyyah.

Key points

  • Ibn Sa'd (d. 230 AH), a student of al-Waqidi, compiled at-Tabaqat; Volume 8 is about the women. This course keeps only the sound reports.
  • The women's pledge is in al-Mumtahanah 60:12, with six conditions; the men later pledged on the same terms.
  • The Prophet ﷺ took the women's pledge by speech; his hand never touched a woman's hand (al-Bukhari, Muslim).
  • Part of "what is right" was not to wail; Umm 'Atiyyah said only five women fully kept it.
  • Two women of the Ansar attended the Second Pledge of 'Aqabah; emigrant women were tested and not returned (60:10).

Quiz

6 questions

Test your understanding of this lesson.

1. How did the Prophet ﷺ take the pledge of the women, according to the sound hadith of 'A'ishah?
2. In which surah are the conditions of the women's pledge revealed?
3. Why does this course leave out some of Ibn Sa'd's reports?
4. Match each person with what is said about them.
Items
Ibn Sa'd
al-Waqidi
Umm 'Atiyyah
Umaymah bint Ruqayqah
Matches
Compiled at-Tabaqat
Ibn Sa'd's main teacher
Heard: I do not shake hands with women
Said only five women kept the promise not to wail
5. What does "not disobeying in what is right" teach about obedience to the Messenger ﷺ?
6. Which of these was part of "what is right" in the pledge, as Umm 'Atiyyah explained?

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