A gutsy British Second World War hero – a woman, and a Muslim. Have you ever heard of her?

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the death of one British war hero — who happened to be a woman and a Muslim. Given the endless current debates about Britain and Islam, it is a good time to tell her story again.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/dominicselwood/100288047/a-gutsy-british-second-world-war-hero-a-woman-and-a-Muslim-have-you-ever-heard-of-her/

fabulous article Zack. What a woman. thanks for sharing!

A phenomenal story of amazing courage. I wonder if her story will be applauded by everyone we know in forum world.
Sadly, I fear not.

yes and of course ALL Muslims are like this are they not, even those covering the returned jihadists, and those who celebrated 9/11

which sort of Muslim I wonder is in the majority......

@victor
normal Families who do you think is the majority?

What a great story. Perhaps they should do a documentary on her, it may help with the current climate...?

veya_victaous wrote:@victor
normal Families  who do you think is the majority?

those who "run with the hounds but howl with the wolves"
those who, behind closed doors celebrated 9/11
those who, despite knowing who they are cover the ass of those returning jihadists
those who say nowt
those who "pretend" to be friends with us in the manner ordained in their handbook

Handy Andy wrote:A phenomenal story of amazing courage. I wonder if her story will be applauded by everyone we know in forum world.
Sadly,  I fear not.

Try not to worry what others think, as long as you're happy, life is sweet.

victorisnotamused wrote:

veya_victaous wrote:@victor
normal Families  who do you think is the majority?

those who "run with the hounds but howl with the wolves"
those who, behind closed doors celebrated 9/11
those who, despite knowing who they are cover the ass of those returning jihadists
those who say nowt
those who "pretend" to be friends with us in the manner ordained  in their handbook

umm okay
Glad I know enough people of enough races and religions to know most people are just people with the same hairless ape desires of safety, security and prosperity, the extremist is a special case and the minority, they are someone that is 'broken' if you will. and there is always a human being with the greed/desire/motivation to round them up like kindling in order to start a blaze.

Cass wrote:fabulous article Zack. What a woman. thanks for sharing!

Here are some others you may not have heard of me Lady:


1) Khadīja b. Khuwaylid (d. 620). Even before her famous marriage to the Prophet Muhammad, she was an important figure in her own right, being a successful merchant and one of the elite figures of Mecca. She played a central role in supporting and propagating the new faith of Islam and has the distinction of being the first Muslim. As the Prophet Muhammad himself is believed to have said in a hadith preserved in Sahih Muslim: “God Almighty never granted me anyone better in this life than her. She accepted me when people rejected me; she believed in me when people doubted me; she shared her wealth with me when people deprived me; and God granted me children only through her.” Indeed, another of the most important women of early Islam, Fāṭima al-Zahrā’, was the daughter of the Prophet by Khadīja and it is only through Fāṭima (especially through her two sons, al-Hasan and al-Husayn) that the lineage of the Prophet Muhammad is preserved. These facts make Fāṭima and her mother Khadīja among the most revered female personages in Islamic history.


2) Nusayba b. Ka‘b al-Anṣārīyya (d. 634). Also known as Umm ‘Ammara, she was a member of the Banū Najjār tribe and one of the earliest converts to Islam in Medina. As a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad, there were many virtues attributed to her. She is most remembered, however, for taking part in the Battle of Uhud (625), in which she carried sword and shield and fought against the Meccans. She shielded the Prophet Muhammad from enemies during the battle and even sustained several lance wounds and arrows as she cast herself in front of him to protect him. It is said that after she sustained her twelfth wound, she fell unconscious and the first question she asked when she awoke (a day later in Medina) was “did the Prophet survive?”

3) Khawla b. al-Azwar (d. 639). Another contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. She is best known for her participation in the Battle of Yarmuk (636) against the Byzantines. According to later narratives of the Islamic conquests, authors described her as having the skill and fighting ability of the famed Muslim general Khālid ibn al-Walīd. There are a lot of embellishments and unclear details that emerge from later sources about her which make the details questionable, leading some scholars to doubt whether she had even existed at all! Despite these reservations, it is nonetheless notable that scholars such as al-Waqidi and al-Azdi, writing in the eighth and ninth centuries, found it necessary to ascribe such importance to a female warrior in the conquests. Indeed, if she never existed at all this makes her legend all the more interesting.

4) ‘Ā’isha b. Abī Bakr (d. 678). A figure that requires almost no introduction, ‘Ā’isha was the wife of the Prophet Muhammad who had perhaps the most influence on the Muslim community after his death. She played a central role in the political opposition to the third and fourth caliphs Uthmān ibn ‘Affān and ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, even leading an army against the latter at Basra in 656. Although she retired from political life after her defeat, she continued to play a major role as a transmitter of Islamic teachings. She is one of the major narrators ofhadith in the Sunni tradition. In many ways, she is among the most controversial figures in early Islam, especially since the implications of her actions for women’s participation in scholarship, political life, and the public sphere clashed with later conservative conceptions of the role of women. For more about ‘Ā’isha and her legacy, read Denise Spellberg’s excellent book entitled Politics, Gender and the Islamic Past: The Legacy of ‘Ā’isha bint Abī Bakr (1996).

5) Zaynab b. ‘Alī (d. 681). She was the grand-daughter of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fāṭima (d. 633) and her husband ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 661). She was among the most illustrious and admirable figures of the Ahl al-Bayt (Family of the Prophet) and played a central role both during and after the Massacre at Karbala (680), where her brother al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī, and 72 of her nephews and other brothers were killed by the Umayyads. For a time, she was the effective leader of the Ahl al-Bayt and served as the primary defender of the cause of her brother, al-Ḥusayn. At Kufa, she defended her nephew—‘Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn—from certain death by the governor of the city and, when presented to the Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya at Damascus, gave such an impassioned and forceful speech in the royal court that forced the caliph to release her and the prisoners taken at Karbala. Her strength, patience, and wisdom makes her one of the most important women in early Islam. Her shrine at Damascus remains a major place of visitation by both Sunnis and Shi’as, a fact that emphasizes the universality of her legacy among Muslims

6) Rābi‘a al-‘Adawīyya (d. 801). One of the most important mystics (or Sufis) in the Muslim tradition, Rābi‘a al-‘Adawīyya spent much of her early life as a slave in southern Iraq before attaining her freedom. She is considered to be one the founders of the Sufi school of “Divine Love,” which emphasizes the loving of God for His own sake, rather than out of fear of punishment or desire for reward. She lays this out in one of her poems:

“O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise.
But if I worship You for Your Own sake,
grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.”

When asked why he included such a major entry on Rābi‘a in his biographical dictionary of mystics (the Tadhkirat al-Awliyā’), the 13th-century scholar Fariduddīn Attār (d. 1220) explained: “the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself said, ‘God does not regard your outward forms. The root of the matter is not form, but the inner intention. Mankind will be raised up according to their intentions.’ Moreover if it is proper for us to derive two-thirds of our religion from a woman, the noble and blessed ‘A’isha bint Abi Bakr (may God be pleased with them both), then surely it is permissible to take religious instruction from [one who can be likened, in status, to] a handmaiden of ‘A’isha (may God be pleased with her).”


7) Lubna of Cordoba (d. 984). Originally a slave-girl of Spanish origin, Lubna rose to become one of the most important figures in the Umayyad palace in Cordoba. She was the palace secretary of the caliphs ‘Abd al-Rahmān III (d. 961) and his son al-Hakam b. ‘Abd al-Rahmān (d. 976). She was also a skilled mathematician and presided over the royal library, which consisted of over 500,000 books. According to the famous Andalusi scholar Ibn Bashkuwāl: “She excelled in writing, grammar, and poetry. Her knowledge of mathematics was also immense and she was proficient in other sciences as well. There were none in the Umayyad palace as noble as her.” [Ibn Bashkuwal, Kitab al-Silla (Cairo, 2008), Vol. 2: 324].


http://ballandalus.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/15-important-Muslim-women-in-history/

YAY! its History day for Cass today......I'm loving it

Thoughts for the day...
Amnesia comes to mind. I have never heard of this lady before but I am not all that old, well, certainly not as old as Lurker. So maybe this is true but who can tell after all that has been revealed lately. Ebola reminds me of a yellow hat, so who am I to know.