As stated previously, it was narrated that Sa'd ibn 'Ubaadah, may
Allaah be pleased with him, said, "If I were to see a man with my
wife, I would strike him with a sword, and not with the flat side of
it." When the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
heard this, he said:"Are you surprised at Sa'd's jealousy over his
honor? By Allaah, I am more jealous over my honor than he is over his,
and Allaah is more jealous than I am."]Al-Bukhaari and Muslim[
It was narrated that when the rebels entered into the presence of
'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan, may Allaah be pleased with him, his wife
Naa'ilah, spread her hair out as she was entreating the chivalry of
the rebels. Thereupon 'Uthmaan, may Allaah be pleased with him,
shouted at her, and said, "Cover yourself! By Allaah, death is easier
for me than the violation of the sanctity of your hair." Therefore,
the husband's protective jealousy over his wife motivates him to
protect and safeguard her from anything that might harm her honor or
disrespect her dignity.
The Protective Jealousy of the Wife over her Husband
One day the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, asked 'Aa'ishah,
may Allaah be pleased with her:"Are you jealous?"She replied in
astonishment, "And how could someone like me not become jealous over
someone like you?" ]Muslim[ It was narrated on the authority of Anas,
may Allaah be pleased with him, that he said,
While the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, was in the house of
one of his wives, one of the Mothers of the Believers sent a meal in a
dish. The wife at whose house the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, was, struck the hand of the servant, causing the dish to fall
and break. The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, gathered the
broken pieces of the dish and then started collecting the food on them
which had been in the dish, and said:"Your mother ]my wife[ felt
jealous."Then he, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, detained the servant
until an ]unbroken[ dish was brought from the wife at whose house he
was. He gave the unbroken dish to the wife whose dish had been broken
and kept the broken one at the house where it had been broken.
]Al-Bukhaari[
Incidents that Were Motivated by Manly Zeal
Narrating the events of the 286th Hirji year, Al-Haafith Ibn Katheer,
may Allaah have mercy upon him, quoted what was mentioned in
Al-Muntathim,
From the wonders that occurred during that year, a woman sued her
husband before the judge of Ar-Rayy ]a city in modern day Iran[. She
claimed that she had 500 Dinars as her deferred portion of her dowry,
but her husband denied this. She managed to get proof to support her
plea. She was then told that she had to uncover her face in order to
make sure that she was the wife. When this was insisted upon, the
husband became jealous and said, "Do not uncover her face. She is
truthful in her claim." He confessed that her claim was true in order
to avoid other people seeing his wife's face. When the wife realized
what had happened and that he had confessed so that others would not
see her face, she said: "I absolve him of the deferred portion of my
dowry in this world and in the Hereafter."
Al-Haafith As-Sam'aani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, added in
Al-Ansaab, "Having admired their jealousy, the judge said: 'This
incident is to be added to the historical record of noble manners.'"
Some historians mentioned the following incident as one of the good
deeds of Al-Hajjaaj ibn Yoosuf Ath-Thaqafi: It was narrated that a
Muslim woman was taken captive in India and she pleaded for the help
of Al-Hajjaaj, and said, "O Hajjaaj!" When the news reached him, he
replied, "At your call!" He spent seven million Dirhams to be able to
rescue her.
Then there is the story of a noble Muslim woman who was captured by
the Romans. The only relation between her and the Caliph,
Al-Mu'tasim-billaah, was the brotherhood of Islam. When she was
tortured by the prince of 'Amooriyah, she cried for his help and
released a shout that was so huge that its echo was recorded in
history. She cried, "O Mu'tasim!" He received the news of her cry
while he was resting. He immediately responded, saying, "At your
call!" He mobilized a huge army of Muslim soldiers, who set off with
him. Each one of them was filled with pride and enthusiasm due to the
manly zeal over the honor of this woman. They defeated the enemies and
marched closer and closer to their country, breaking into their
fortresses until they reached 'Amooriyah and destroyed its fortresses.
They marched until they reached the captured woman and, thereupon,
Al-Mu'tasim said to her, "I ask you to testify before your great
grand-father, the Messenger of Allaah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
on the Day of Judgment that I came to rescue you."
In the seventh century after Hijrah, disunity struck the Muslims such
that they became weak. Therefore, the crusaders conquered parts of
their countries and aspired for further occupation. They sought the
help of one group of Muslims against the other until they almost
conquered Egypt. The Fatimide ruler of Egypt during that time,
Al-'Aadhid lideen-illaah, thought to seek the help of the governor of
Ash-Shaam, Noor Ad-Deen Zinki, but how could he accept when the king
of Ash-Shaam himself did not recognize the caliphate of the Fatimide
ruler in Egypt and denied the legitimacy of his governance and rule?
He was an affiliate to the caliphate of the Abbasids in Baghdad, who
were struggling with the Fatimides. Al-'Aadhid decided to use manly
zeal over Muslim women and their honor in order to solve the problem:
He sent a message to Noor Ad-Deen Zinki seeking his aid and
accompanied it with the most influential summons: the locks of hair of
his womenfolk in the caliphate in Cairo. This had a strong impact on
Noor Ad-Deens's heart. It aroused feelings of jealousy and chivalry in
the hearts of the soldiers of Ash-Shaam as well as its people. To
rescue Egypt from the crusaders, they sacrificed the best of their
soldiers under the leadership of Asad Ad-Deen Shirkooh and Yoosuf ibn
Ayyoob )Salaah Ad-Deen Al-'Ayyoobi(. That was the influence that a
lock of a woman's hair had, which changed the course of history. This
was followed by the battle of Hitteen during which the sacred land
)Palestine( was cleansed from disgrace and the crusaders were forced
to leave.
While Muslims live by and enjoy these feelings of jealousy and manly
zeal in their societies, which elevates their ranks way above the
stars and raises them to the most sublime of ranks in virtue and
purity, the non-Muslim societies in the East and the West experience
the life of weak men )Dayyooths( and procurers, filth and impurities,
indecency and disgrace, humiliation and shame. Indeed, some animals
would refuse to experience such a life: Some male animals get jealous
over their females, and in order to protect her, the male fights
others until the strongest one of them finally wins. How truthful our
prominent scholars were when they said, "Every nation whose men have
weak manly zeal, its women do not properly maintain their chastity."
NAJIMUDEEN M