Ghazāla (; died 696 AD near

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

) was a leader of the

Kharijite The Kharijites (, singular ) were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the conflict with his challeng ...

movement.

Biography

Ghazāla, born in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, was the wife of

Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani Shabīb ibn Yazīd ibn Nuʿaym al-Shaybānī () (646/47 – 697/98) was the leader of the Khwarij, Kharijite rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in central Iraq (region), Iraq between 696 and his death in 697/98. Life Origins and early career ...

. Shabib rebelled against Umayyad rule, and Ghazala was actively at his side. She commanded troops, following in the footsteps of previous Muslim women like Juwayriyya bint al-Ḥārith at the

Battle of Yarmuk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk; ) was a major battle between the Byzantine army, army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim Rashidun army, forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements ...

. In one battle, she made the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

governor Hajjāj ibn-Yūsuf flee, and take refuge in his palace in

.Leila Ahmed, ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate'' (Yale University Press, 1992) p.71 As a result, a poem was composed shaming him for posterity:

You are a lion against me, but in the battle an ostrich which spreads its wings and hurries off on hearing the chirping of a sparrow. Why did you not go forth in the conflict and fight with Ghazala hand to hand? But no! Your heart fled from you (as if) with the wings of a bird.

In 696 AD (77 AH), after having controlled the city of

for a day, Ghazāla led her male warriors in prayer as well as recited two of the longest chapters from the Quran during the prayer in the Mosque.Ali Masudi, ''Gardens of Gold'', (Dar al-Andalus, Beirut, 1965), Ch. 3, p.139 She was killed in battle, and her head was cut off for presenting it to Hajjaj. However, her husband Shabib sent a horseman who killed the carrier of his wife's head, and had a proper burial for it.

References

696 deaths 7th-century women Women in medieval warfare Year of birth unknown People from Mosul Women in war in West Asia 7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate Military history of the Umayyad Caliphate Kharijites 7th-century Arab people Arab women in war {{MEast-mil-bio-stub