14. Islam’s Greatest Female Warrior
By the time the Byzantines were beaten at the Battle of Ajnadayn, Khawla was drenched in blood. The army’s commander, Khalid ibn al Walid, unaware of her identity or gender, ordered her to remove the shawl from her face. When she finally relented, he ordered her to the rear, but soon changed his mind and put her in command of a mobile column to pursue the fleeing Byzantines.
On another occasion, Khawla was herself captured during a raid on the Muslim camp, and taken prisoner along with other camp women. They were taken to an enemy general’s tent, who divided the captive women among his officers as slaves and concubines. Khawla roused the captives, and seizing tent poles, they fell upon their captors. She escaped in the ensuing confusion. To this day, she is remembered as one of the greatest female warriors in the history of Islam, and there is hardly any city in the Muslim world that does not have at least one school named after her.