DAR AL HARB/ISLAM: "WHEN JIHAD BECOMES AN INDIVIDUAL DUTY, IT APPLIES TO WOMEN TOO"

Palestinian MP From Hamas Dr. Yunis Al-Astal on Women's Participation in Jihad - From Islam's Beginnings To Modern Female Suicide Bombers

The following are excerpts from an interview with Dr. Yunis Al-Astal, a Palestinian MP representing Hamas, which aired on Al-Rafidein TV on June 17, 2007.


VIDEO CLIP


"When Jihad Becomes an Individual Duty, It Applies to Women Too"

Yunis Al-Astal: "The most exalted form of jihad is fighting for the sake of Allah, which means sacrificing one's soul by fighting the enemies head-on, even if it leads to martyrdom. Martyrdom means life next to Allah."

[...]

"When jihad becomes an individual duty, it applies to women too, because women do not differ from men when it comes to individual duties."

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Interviewer: "What are the purposes behind women's participation in the jihad of conquest and invasions?"

Yunis Al-Astal: "I have mentioned some of these purposes. [Women] prepare food, they bring water, they tend to the wounded and convey them from the battlefield, they protect the [soldiers'] possessions, and so on. But in many cases, women participated in combat, especially if the Islamic army was weakening, and you could see that the enemy was about to gain the upper hand. In such cases, a woman would draw out her sword, or pull out a pole from her tent, and would resist to the best of her ability."

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"Let's take another example. Safiyya, the aunt of the Prophet Muhammad, used a pole to kill a Jew in the Battle of the Trench. Likewise, in the Battle of Hunayn, Umm Sulaym had a dagger, and when asked about it, she said: 'If an enemy of Allah comes near me, I shall stab him with this dagger.' History has recorded, in shining letters, the fact that Al-Khansaa sacrificed her four children at the battle of Al-Qadisiyya. She inflamed their emotions and she herself incited them to fight until they attained their martyrdom, and then she thanked Allah for honoring her with the killing of them all."

[...]

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Pertinent Links:

1) Palestinian MP From Hamas Dr. Yunis Al-Astal on Women's Participation in Jihad - From Islam's Beginnings To Modern Female Suicide Bombers

2) Video Clip

3) MEMRI.ORG

4) MEMRITV.ORG