During the lifetime of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), several events took place in Medina. First, we see a hadith mentioned in Bukhari: One day, Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to enter the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while he was in a women’s area. Some women from Quraysh were talking to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and they were talking very loudly. When Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) asked permission to enter, the women got up and hurriedly went behind the curtain. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) gave permission to Umar ibn al-Khattab to enter. Umar came and the women got up and went behind the curtain. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) smiled. My son ibn Khattab said, “O Messenger of Allah, keep yourself always smiling.” The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I am surprised by this. Whenever they hear your voice, they get up and quickly go behind the curtain.” Umar said, “O Messenger of Allah, you should have feared them more.” He said to those women, “You are your own enemies, O women, you fear me but you do not fear the Messenger of Allah.” The women replied from behind the curtain, “Yes, we did, because you are a harsher tongue and a harder heart than the Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then said to Umar, “The devil avoids that path. The devil does not follow your path. He leaves your path and goes to another path.” We mentioned this statement in the first part before we begin, in the context of describing the characteristics of my Khattab. Here, that hadith is mentioned again. Two things are noteworthy in this hadith: Ibn Hajar Asqalani, in his explanation of the hadith, said: How do we understand the meaning of the devil avoiding the path of Umar ibn al-Khattab and following the path that Umar took? It does not mean that the devil can never influence my Khattab. He was not a prophet. So his situation is not like the prophets, innocent and innocent. Omr Ibn al-Khattab is not like that. It is clear that Khattab’s various mistakes and shortcomings as a human being in various incidents. In understanding this hadith, we have to understand it in the way that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said that Satan walks on a different path from the path that my Khattab walked. A picture of his real nature of interaction or association with men emerges before us. What was the culture or culture of that time like, what was life like in Medina? Nowadays, two types of marginalization are seen in the case of women. In one case, some people do not want to follow any kind of veil or restrictions of Shariah at all. They do not wear hijab. They are seen in one type of marginalization and another type of people who actually impose much more restrictions than what Islam asks them to follow. Biography of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the companions, the position of women during the time of the companions, if we look at these issues, we will see what the real situation was like. It appears that the first point is that the women who were talking to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were speaking very loudly, which means that the voice of women is not included in the aura. The voice is not included in the veil, but it is important to be aware of what is being said or how it is being spoken. In conversations between women and men, unnecessary words or informal speech, laughter, and joking are not allowed. Automatically, the voice is not included in the veil.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) had set aside some time in the week for the women of Medina when they would come and ask questions about Islam and seek knowledge and education. Initially, the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to him and complained. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, men are taking up all your time.” He had set aside some time for women. Women would come to those places and learn from the Prophet (peace be upon him). Those women would participate in those places where men would participate. Women would get double the time from the Prophet (peace be upon him). During the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), women would go to the mosque. They would pray behind the men. After all the rows of men were finished, there would be rows of women behind them and they would pray there. In various invitations or gatherings, women would serve food to the guests while maintaining their veils. We also see that women directly participated in jihad. The movement in that society of Medina can be described in this way: Today, liberal or moderate Muslims say that you can do all these things while wearing the hijab, but the women of Medina were not in that position. On the other hand, those who imposed extreme strictness on women imposed various kinds of restrictions, such as not being able to come forward, not being able to talk to anyone, not being able to leave the house, not being able to go to the mosque, there was no extreme strictness in the society of Medina.
Rather, the society of Medina was an ideal society. This time we are going to the next incident where Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and advised them on various matters.
He said that I and an Ansar neighbor of mine, Zayd, lived on the outskirts of Medina. I and that Ansar companion had an agreement that we would take turns meeting the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). One day he would go to the court of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and another day I would go to the court. I would teach him all the news of that day, the revelations and whatever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had taught him, and in this way he would go in turn one day and convey the news to me. On the day I could not go, he told me that when I was in Mecca, the Quraysh had given us precedence over women. When we came to Medina, among the Ansar, I saw that the women here were also quite influential. There were some cultural differences between Mecca and Medina because of them. The women here were also quite influential. So our women, when they saw the women of Medina, began to adopt their character. One day, I became angry with my wife and said something to her in a loud voice. I told her that she also gave me a retort. It was very unpleasant to answer on such a face. Then my wife said to me, I am answering what you said. I am surprised that the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) also used to give several replies and some of them would go for a day or a night without talking to him, that is, they boycotted him. Al-Khattab said that he was shocked to hear this. I said, “Those of them who do this will surely be harmed.” My Khattab was very worried about his daughter Hafsa. Hafsa, (may Allaah be pleased with her), was one of the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the daughter of Umar al-Khattab. Umar said: I put on my clothes and went to my daughter Hafsa’s house when Umar al-Khattab heard the news and said: Hafsa, is there anyone among you who is displeased with the Messenger of Allah all day and night? Hafsa said: Yes. I said: Then you have been harmed. Are you not afraid that Allah will be displeased with you because of the displeasure of the Messenger of Allah and you will ultimately fall into ruin? Umar al-Khattab also said: And if you see that you have no neighbor more beautiful than you or more beloved to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, do not let this mislead you. Here, by the word “neighbor” Umar al-Khattab meant Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with her).
Umar al-Khattab narrated: a neighbor of the Ansar, came back from serving the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) on his day off and knocked loudly on Umar al-Khattab’s door at night, asking if Umar al-Khattab was at home. Umar al-Khattab was frightened by this and came out. He said that a great event had happened. I asked Umar al-Khattab what event? He said, a great event. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had divorced his wives.
Such a news or rumor was circulating there. Umar wondered what had happened to his daughter. If he was worried about the matter, he said, “Then Hafsa is ruined, Hafsa has failed.” I had already imagined that something like this could happen. After the prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went to his two-story house. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had a small room that he used to use as a cell or chamber, and he spent that month when he swore not to go to his wives. Then Umar went to Hafsa and saw that she was crying. I asked her why are you crying now? Didn’t I warn you about this before? Did the Prophet divorce you? I don’t know. I left there and went to the mosque and sat near the pulpit. There were many people sitting there worried and many of the companions were crying.
I entered the room of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and saw that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was lying on a mat, resting on a pillow filled with date leaves. Even the marks of the licking on his body were clean. As he was lying down, I greeted him and stood at the door and asked him, “O Messenger of Allah, have you divorced your wife?” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) looked at me and said, “No.”
Umar ibn al-Khattab happily said Takbir loudly and said Allahu Akbar. All the anxiety was relieved. Then my main speaker, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), said to lighten the atmosphere of the conversation, and with the intention of making it more relaxed, I said, “O Messenger of Allah, listen, can I say something? We Quraish are very influential over women, but when I came to Medina, I saw that women also have some influence over men. Hearing my words, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) smiled. Then my ibn al-Khattab went to Umm Salam. He gave her some advice and Umm Salama said that you have rights over everything, even between the Messenger of Allah and his wives, do you want to lose your rights?” Umm Salama turned her face away, he mentioned this. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) smiled a second time. Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “O Messenger of Allah, if you listen to me or pay attention to me. I told Hafsa that you have no neighbors. Don’t let being beautiful or being the most beloved wife to the Prophet (peace be upon him) distract you.
Meccan women were more obedient. The authority of the family will always be with the man. This is the law of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. The law of Islam is that the head of the family is a husband or a boss. The authority will never go to women under the pretext of cultural defense.
