KHAWLA BINT AL-AZWAR, DO YOU KNOW THE MUSLIM MULAN?
By Cinthia Mascarell
Did you hear about the Muslim woman warrior disguising herself as a man to participate in a battle?
She is Khawlah bint al-Azwar, born in the seventh century, she was the daughter of one of the chiefs of the Banu Assad tribe. She was a fierce Muslim warrior and later became a great military leader. She has been described as one of the best female military leaders in history and her opponents on the battlefield came to compare her with Khalid Bin Walid.
Khawla was the sister of Derar bin Al-Azwar, soldier and commander of the Rashidun army during the Muslim conquest of the seventh century. She loved her brother, Derar, and the love between these two siblings was absolutely legendary. Her brother, Derar, was a great skilled warrior of his time, and he taught Khawla everything he knew about fight, from the spear, martial arts, sword fighting, and she also became a warrior. On top of that, Khawla was a poetess who dominated that noble art. Historians say she was a brunette, tall, thin and of great beauty. She and her brother were inseparable, they went together to every place, either to the market or to the battlefield.
Her talents in battlefield became evident during the Battle of Sanita Al Uqab in the siege of Damascus against the Byzantine army led by Heraclius in 634 A.D.
The siege of Damascus
In the battle of Sanita Al Uqab, Khawlah had accompanied the Muslim forces to provide medical attention to the wounded soldiers. She set up medical tents and treated the injured, 13 centuries before Florence Nightingale (who is considered the founder of modern nursing). Derar lost his spear, fell off his horse and he was taken as a prisoner.
Gripped by uncontrollable hysteria, Khawla put on a warrior’s armor, covered her face with a veil and wrapped her waist in a green shawl. She rode her mare and grabbed what some think is a sword and others a spear. Galloping she crossed through the Roman ranks using her weapon skillfully against whoever crossed her path and with revenge she killed as many Byzantine soldiers as she could.
According to reports, one of the Rashidun army commanders, Shurahbil Ibn Hassana, said: “This warrior fights like Khalid ibn Walid, but I am sure he is not Khalid.”
The Arab historian, Al Waqidi[1], tells us in his book “The conquest of Al Sham (Greater Syria)” that: “In a battle that took place in Beit Lahia, near Ajnadin, Khalid saw a knight, with a black attire, with a large green shawl wrapped around his waist and covering his bust. That knight crossed the Roman ranks like an arrow. Khalid and the others followed him and joined the battle, while the leader wondered about the identity of the unknown knight.”
Rafe’ Bin Omeirah Al Taei was one of the warriors watching this event. He described how that soldier dispersed the enemy ranks, disappeared in their midst, reappeared after a while with blood dripping from his spear. He swerved again and repeated the action without fear, several times. The entire Muslim army was worried about him and prayed for his safety. Rafe’ and others thought he was Khalid. But suddenly Khalid appeared with several soldiers. Rafe’ asked the leader: “Who is that soldier? By God, he has no regard for his safety!”
Of course Khalid did not know who he was. But he gathered a group to attack and protect this unknown hero. They were stunned by this passionate display, seeing the unknown warrior appear with several Roman soldiers behind chasing him. Then he turns around and kills the nearest one before resuming his attacks.
The Romans lost the battle and fled, leaving many dead and wounded on the battlefield. Khalid looked for the unknown soldier until he found him. The soldier was covered in blood. Khalid praised his bravery and asked him to uncover his face. But the soldier did not respond and tried to leave. The rest of the soldiers would not let him go.
The soldier, seeing there was no way to escape the situation, replied in a feminine voice: “I did not answer because I am shy. You are a great leader, and I am only a woman whose heart is burning”.
“Who are you?” Khalid asked her.
“I am Khawla Bint Al Azwar. I was with the women who accompanied the army, and when I had news that the enemy had captured my brother, I did what I did”.
Khalid ordered his army to get the Romans who were fleeing at that moment, with Khawla leading the attack, looking in all directions for his brother, but all in vain. At noon, the victory was decisive. Most of the Roman soldiers were killed.
Knowing that the prisoners had to be somewhere, Khalid sent Khawla with several soldiers to find them. After a chase, they managed to find a Roman detachment that took the prisoners to their headquarters. Another fight took place, Roman guards were killed and prisoners rescued.
The Day She Was Taken Prisoner
In another battle in Ajnadin, Khawla’s spear was broken, her mare was killed and she was taken prisoner. But she was shocked to discover that the Romans attacked the women’s camp and captured several of them. The leader distributed the female prisoners among his commanders and ordered Khawla to be transferred to his tent. Furious, she decided that death was better. She stood among the other women and called them to fight for their freedom and honor or die.
They had no weapons, but, certainly, they did not sit and wait for a charming prince to come and rescue them: they themselves took the tents’ poles and pegs and attacked the Roman guards, maintaining a tight circle formation, as Khawla ordered them.
Khawla led the attack, killed the first guard with her pole and the other women followed. According to Al Waqidi, they killed 30 Roman knights, while Khawla encouraged them with her verses, which in fact made their blood boil.
The Roman leader was enraged by what happened and directed a detachment of his knights against the women, though he first tried to tempt them with many promises. He told Khawla that he planned to marry her and make her the first lady of Damascus. But she replied scornfully: “I wouldn’t even accept you as the shepherd of my camels! How do you expect me to degrade and live with you? I swear it will be me who cuts your head off because of your insolence.”
Having said this, in the events that followed, the ladies demonstrated their courage, they kept their ground for a while, encouraged each other and repelled the attackers with their long poles. Until finally Khalid and the army arrived. In the fight that took place, more than 3,000 Romans were killed. Khawla looked for the leader who wanted to take her and killed him.
One simply should not mess with a woman whose spirit is indomitable.
But the story does not end there…
Another Campaigns
In another battle, Muslims were overwhelmed by a much larger Roman army. Many soldiers fled, but they did not go far: Khawla and the other women who were coming behind the army made them question their claims of bravery and were forced to return to battle. The men were stunned when they saw Khawla unsheathe her sword and lead a counterattack. They turned their horses and joined the battle, which was finally won.
One of the soldiers present that day said: “Our women were much tougher with us than the Romans themselves. We felt that fighting again and dying was much easier than facing the fury of our women later.”
Honours
Many streets and schools in her homeland (which is now Saudi Arabia), have her name. Jordan issued a seal in her honor as part of the “Arab women in history.” Many Arab cities have schools and institutions with the name of Khawla Bint al-Azwar. Today, an Iraqi military unit of women is called the Khawlah bint al-Azwar unit in honor of Khawlah. In the United Arab Emirates, the first military college for women, Khawlah bint Al Azwar Training College, also was named after her.
Khawla is a source of inspiration to follow our dreams and not let the fear of defeat to scare us. She is a lesson for all women, whatever position or career you follow (as long as it is something honest, acceptable to God), do not stop, have faith in your capacities and do not let yourself be limited, challenge society and its order if necessary!
Problems create opportunities, and we should take them to demonstrate our skills and make ourselves able to grow. Khawla’s brother was taken prisoner and against all odds she went to look for him. At the end, not only that she found her brother, but she was recognized as a talented military leader.
And last but not least, your attitude can influence and cheer other people and thus together succeed in the most unthinkable situations. Like Khawla and her group of women did in battle against the massive Roman army.
“Don’t fear failure. Fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today.”
[1] Several works that narrate the Islamic conquests have been attributed to al-Waqidi, although it is now believed that most of these attributions are wrong. Futuh al-Sham (in Arabic: كتاب فتوح الشام, “The Book of the conquests of Syria”), a novel of the conquests of the Islamic army of Byzantine Syria, has traditionally been attributed to al-Waqidi. Modern scholars generally classify Futuh al-Sham as a later work falsely attributed, dating from the time of the Crusades, although some scholars believe that a small portion of the text dates back to al-Waqidi