Khawla Bint Al-Azwar

Khawla Bint Al-Azwar

Sarah El-Arabaty

Khawla's Abilities

• She was a very talented poet as she was taught by her brother
• She also was knighted, just like Derar
• She was immensly talented with a sword
• She stayed true to what she believed in
• She also organized medical care for wounded in battle (13 centuries before Florence Nightingale in Europe)

During the Battle

• As Khawla was extremely talented with a sword, she wiped out Romans left and right
• Soldiers were so amazed at this warrior, that they called her "the black knight"
• They didn't know any warrior that fought like her so they assumed she was Khalid
• But when Khalid came up to them, they realized that she wasn't Khalid and wondered who she was
• She rode into enemy lines, even as Khalid told her to fall back
• When he caught up to her, he realized that she was Derar's sister and appointed her as general with Rabe ibn Utba

Khawla and Battle of Yarmok

• Khawla accompanies Derar to go fight with Khalid Ibn Waleed against the Romans in Bilad Al-Sham
• Derar gets captured fighting the Romans
• Khawla's first response is to weep, but then she gets back up again and joins the battle
• So she doesn't get recognized, she wears manly clothing and a cloth over her face, then rides into battle

Women in war

Khawla and Derar

• Khawla and Derar were very close.
• Derar taught Khawla everything she knew about sword fighting and had full confidence in her abilities
• Derar was extremely skilled and brave, never giving up when fighting.
• They had one of the closest sibling bonds so that they were almost inseparable

Family

• At that time, women would go with the men to battle for several reasons:
• To remind the men what they were fighting for
• To cook food and heal the warriors
• And to sometimes fight alongside the men

• Her family was one of the first families to accept Islam
• She was the daughter of one of the chiefs of the Bani Assad tribes
• Because her family life was a bit unclear, her father's name was either Malik or Tareq Bin Awse.
• But we know that his nickname was Al-Azwar
• Her brother, Derar, was a wise knight and poet.

What I Will Change in my Life

Why Khawla Is my Role Model

• I will appreciate my brother a bit more, since bonds like Khawla and Derar's are hard to find.
• I will work even harder in school since I know that women can thrive in this world, just as much as men
• I will have faith in Allah, as Khawla did.
• She did not hide that she was Muslim, even in a time when being a Muslim was dangerous. I will be proud of my Muslim heritage.

• She was brave and never gave up
• She had such a huge love for her brother
• She was strong and capable, better than most of the men that fought in the war (people mistook her for Khalid)
• She fought for what she believed in, never fearing anybody except Allah

Death

Resources

Not much is known about Khawla's death.

We only know that she died in 639 AD.

http://www.siddiqi.org/khawla/khawla_bint_alazwar.htm

http://mosaicofmuslimwomen.com/2012/01/then-khawla-bint-al-azwar-the-black-knight/

http://www.islamophobiatoday.com/2014/03/12/15-important-muslim-women-in-history/

http://inkoffaith.com/?p=582

Getting Captured

Finding Her Brother

• In another battle, Khawla and the women in the tents were captured by the Romans
• She urged the women to fight and not to give up
• When they asked her how they would escape without weapons, she said that tents have poles and pegs
• They linked arms, armed with poles, as Khawla fought in front of them, and led them to freedom

• After the battle, she hears news that Derar was in Constantinople with 100 others.
• She rides there, before an army, acting like a tracker, follwing tracks and finding clues
• She and the army succeeded in rescuing the prisoners (including her brother)

Thanks For Watching!!

Questions

Answers:

• Khawla Bint Al-Azwar
• Battle of Yarmok
• To save her captured brother
• Khalid ibn Waleed
• "Black Knight"
• Poles and pegs from the tents

• What was Khawla's full name?
• What Battle did she fight in?
• Why did she join that Battle?
• Who did they mistake her for?
• What did they call her?
• What did she use to free the women that were captured by the Romans?