Economic Role of Ṣaḥābiyāt (Raḍī Allāhu ‘Anhunna) in the Prophetic Era and the Views of Orientalists and Muslim Thinkers: An Analytical Study

عہدِ نبوی ؑ میں صحابیاتؓ کا معاشی کردار اور مستشرقین ومسلم مفکرین کی آراء: تجزیاتی مطالعہ

Abstract

This research investigates the dynamic economic contributions of the Ṣaḥābiyāt (female companions of Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ) during the Prophetic era, showcasing their active involvement in trade, agriculture, tailoring, craftsmanship, medicine, nursing (riḍā‘ah), childcare (ḥāḍinah), and even military support services. Far from being confined to domestic spheres, these women managed properties, cultivated vegetables in Madīnah, tended livestock, and supported jihād through logistics and battlefield nursing, as exemplified by Umm ‘Ammārah’s valor at Uḥud. Drawing on authentic Ḥadīth collections and classical Sīrah literature, the study contrasts these indigenous sources with Orientalist critiques that often measure Muslim women’s agency against Western secular benchmarks, resulting in skewed portrayals of passivity. A comparative textual analysis exposes biases in Orientalist narratives while amplifying positive, evidence-based acknowledgments of women’s roles. The findings affirm that Islamic teachings predated modern feminism by granting women financial autonomy, inheritance rights, and professional legitimacy—evident in the Prophet’s selection of skilled wet-nurses like Umm Ayman (R) for his son Ibrāhīm. Muslim thinkers, conversely, celebrate this egalitarian framework as divinely ordained empowerment. The study concludes that revisiting primary Islamic sources counters reductionist Orientalism and restores the Ṣaḥābiyāt as architects of early Muslim economy and welfare. It urges contemporary scholarship to prioritize indigenous hermeneutics for authentic gender historiography in Islamic civilization.