The Holy Prophet’s Forming Allegiance with Women

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘How did the Messenger of Allah touch the hands of women for their pledge of allegiance? He (the Imam) said, ‘He (the Messenger of Allah) asked for a bucket in which he would make wudu. He (the Messenger of Allah) poured water in it, then immersed his right hand in water and as soon as one of them pledged allegiance he (the Messenger of Allah) asked her to immerse her hand in the water and she did so whenever he (the Messenger of Allah), O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, did and this is how he touched their hands.’” Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from certain persons of his people from abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), a similar Hadith.

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once asked me, ‘Do you know how the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, pledged allegiance with women?’ I replied, ‘Allah knows best and the child of His Messenger knows best.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He (the Messenger of Allah) called them to come together around him (the Messenger of Allah) and asked for a bowl. The place was Baram (near al-Baqi‘). He (the Messenger of Allah) poured water in the bowl just to moisten it and immersed his hand in it, then said, ‘Listen all of you. I pledge allegiance with you with the condition that you will not call anything as partners of Allah, you must not steal, you must not fornicate, you must not kill your children, you must not accuse falsely fabricating all by yourselves and you must not disobey your husbands in lawful matters. Do you confirm and acknowledge?’ They replied, ‘Yes, we confirm.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) then moved his hand from the bowl then said to them, ‘Immerse your hands in the bowl and they also did so. The purified and holy hand of the Messenger of Allah, O Allah, grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause, must not have touched female hands who were not of his relatives.’”

“About the words of Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, ‘. . . that they must not disobey you in lawful matters’ (60:13) Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘lawful matters means not to tear one’s shirt, slap one’s face, crying, ‘woe is me’, must not remain behind near the grave, must not blacken clothes and must not spread hairs.’”

“I once heard Abu Ja‘far (a.s.) say, ‘Do you know what is the meaning of the words of Allah, ‘. . . that they must not disobey you in lawful matters?’ (60:13) I replied, ‘No, I do not know.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (sw) once said to Fatimah (sa), ‘When I die, you must not cause abrasion to any face, do not spread for me any hairs, do not cry ‘woe is me’ and do not call any gathering to mourn for me.’ He (the Imam) then said, ‘This is the lawful matter about which Allah, most Majestic, most Glorious, has spoken.’”

“When the Messenger of Allah (sw) liberated Makkah, men pledged allegiance; then women came to pledge allegiance; and Allah, most Majestic and most Glorious, said, ‘O Prophet, when believing women come to pledge allegiance with you not to call anything as partner of Allah, not to steal, not to commit fornication, not to kill their children, not to accuse falsely of their own making, must not disobey you in lawful matters, then pledge allegiance with them and ask forgiveness from Allah for them, Allah is forgiving and merciful.’ (60:13)
Hind then said, ‘We brought up children from the time they were infants but you killed them when they grew up.’ Umm Hakim daughter of al-Harith ibn Hisham, wife of ‘Ikramah ibn Abu Jahl asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, what is that ‘lawful matters’ that Allah has commanded us not to disobey you? He replied, ‘Do not slap any face, abrade it, pull out any hair, tear apart front part of a shirt, blacken clothes and do not cry ‘woe is me’.’
The Messenger of Allah (sw) pledged allegiance with them on this and then she said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, how can we pledge allegiance to you?’ He (the Messenger of Allah) said, ‘I do not place my hand in the hands of women.’ He (the Messenger of Allah) then asked for a bowl of water and immersed his hand in it and then moved it and told them to immerse their hands in the bowl and that was pledging allegiance.’”