Notable Women
Khadījah bint Khuwaylid
The first wife of the Prophet ﷺ, first to accept Islam, a successful businesswoman. The Prophet said she was one of the best women of Paradise, alongside Maryam, Āsiyah, and Fāṭimah.
Bukhārī & Muslim
ʿĀʾishah bint Abī Bakr
A wife of the Prophet ﷺ, scholar of the Ummah — a major narrator of ḥadīth and jurist. The Prophet said: «Take half your religion from this red-faced one (ʿĀʾishah).»
Bukhārī & Muslim
Fāṭimah bint Muḥammad
Daughter of the Prophet ﷺ — «the leader of the women of Paradise.» She was called al-Zahrā (the radiant) and was the mother of al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn.
Bukhārī & Muslim
Maryam bint ʿImrān
Mother of ʿĪsā — the only woman mentioned by name in the Quran, chosen above all women of her time. An entire surah (19) is named after her.
3:42
Āsiyah bint Muzāhim
Wife of Pharaoh who believed in Mūsā; she prayed for a house near Allah in Paradise — «My Lord, build for me a house with You in Paradise.»
66:11 — Muslim
Sumayyah bint Khabbāṭ
The first martyr of Islam — tortured and killed by Abū Jahl for her faith. The Prophet ﷺ said: «Patience, O family of Yasir — your meeting is Paradise.»
Ibn Saʿd
Umm Salamah
Wife of the Prophet ﷺ — a wise companion whose counsel was sought at Ḥudaybiyah. The Prophet said: «Listen to her.»
Bukhārī & Muslim
Rufayda al-Aslamīyyah
The first Muslim nurse — treated the wounded at the Battle of the Trench. The Prophet ﷺ set up a tent for Saʿd ibn Muʿādh in her clinic.
Ibn Saʿd
Khansāʾ (Tumāḍir)
A great poetess and companion — her elegies for her brothers became legendary. She lost her four sons at Qādisiyyah and said: «Praise be to Allah who honored me with their martyrdom.»
Ibn ʿAsākir
Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr
Daughter of Abū Bakr, sister of ʿĀʾishah — known as Dhāt an-Nitāqayn (she of two belts) for splitting her belt to bind the Prophet's provisions on the Hijrah.
Bukhārī
Rights & Status
Spiritual equality
«Whoever does righteousness, male or female, while believing — We will cause them to live a good life and reward them according to the best of what they did.»
16:97
Education
Seeking knowledge is a duty on every Muslim, male and female. ʿĀʾishah taught generations of scholars from her home.
Ibn Mājah
Financial rights
Women own their property independently; a wife's mahr is hers, not her husband's. She may trade, buy, and sell without needing his permission.
4:4, 4:32
Inheritance
Women have a fixed share of inheritance — a right established by the Quran that no one may reduce or deny.
4:7
Honour and dignity
«The best of you are those best to their women.» The Prophet ﷺ never struck a servant or a woman, and he said: «I am the best to my family.»
Tirmidhī, Muslim
Choice in marriage
A woman's consent is required for marriage — «A previously married woman has more right to herself than her guardian; a virgin's consent is sought (by her silence).»
Bukhārī & Muslim
The mother's right
Paradise lies under the feet of mothers — the mother has three rights to the father's one in service and companionship.
Aḥmad, Nasāʾī