Khawlah bint Hakim

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Khawlah bint Hakim (Arabic: خولة بنت حكيم‎) was one of the female companions of Muhammad.

1 Biography
2 Battle of Ajnadain
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

Khawla was the daughter of one of the chiefs of Bani Assad tribe, and her family embraced Islam in its first days. She was married to Uthman bin Maz'oon, both being two of the earliest converts to Islam ^[1]. Her father’s name is either Malik or Tareq Bin Awse. Al Azwar was his nickname. Her brother, Derar, was the knight and poet of his tribe, and was well known as well for his wisdom. His love for his sister and confidence in her capabilities was known throughout their tribe. In fact, the brother and sister were so attached to each other that she was his companion wherever he went. He trained her on all arts of swordsmanship and thus she became a perfect knight. Besides that, Khawla was also a distinguished poet.

[edit] Battle of Ajnadain

Recorded history from this era mentions repeatedly the feats of Khawla in battles that took place in Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Whenever she did not carry her sword, she took the responsibility of organizing medical care to treat the wounded during the battles. This is 13 centuries before Florence Nightingale did the same in Europe.

Her name remained greatly unknown, however, until the battle of Ajnadin, not far from Jersalem, where Derar lost his spear, fell from his horse, and was taken prisoner. She donned a male knight’s attire, took her arms and rode her mare through the Roman ranks, using her sword skillfully against whoever tried to stop her. The Muslim soldiers, and their leader Khalid bin Walid, watched her with great admiration, presuming that she was a man. This battle earned Khawla a reputation of immense bravery, and her legendary personna is still well remembered in Arabia up to this day.