Rufaida al-Aslamiya

Rufaida bint Sa'ad al-Aslamiya (also known as Rufaidah or Ku'ayba) was born around 620 CE in Yathrib (modern-day Medina) into the Banu Aslam tribe. Her name derives from the Arabic word "rafada," meaning to provide help or assistance. Her father, Sa'ad al-Aslami, was an esteemed surgeon in the Khazraj clan who trained his daughter in medicine from a young age. She worked as his assistant, learning to care for the sick, treat the wounded, and serve as a community health worker — identifying causes of disease and working to address them.\n\nRufaida and her family were among the earliest converts to Islam after the Prophet Muhammad's migration to Medina in 622 CE. She is known to have treated the wounded after the Battle of Badr (624 CE), the first military campaign of the Muslim community. During the Battle of the Trench (627 CE), the Prophet Muhammad himself directed that the injured companion Sa'd ibn Mu'adh be placed in her care, saying: "Place him in the tent of Rufaida which is by the masjid until she tend to him" (recorded by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah). Her tent, set up adjacent to the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, functioned as the first formal military field hospital — a mobile medical unit where she led teams of female volunteer nurses who entered the battlefield to retrieve and treat the wounded, including stabilizing patients before surgery or amputation.\n\nBefore the Battle of Khaybar (629 CE), Rufaida personally approached the Prophet Muhammad, requesting permission for her group to accompany the army: "O Messenger of Allah, we want to go out with you to the battle and treat the injured and help Muslims as much as we can." The Prophet agreed, and after the battle, in which they helped treat fifty wounded men, the women were paid a sum equal to the male soldiers who had fought — a remarkable recognition of their service.\n\nRufaida's group of volunteer nurses became known as the al-Asiyat (singular: Asiyah). She established a school for training more nurses, teaching them skills in diagnosis, wound care, and hygiene, as well as their role as social workers and public health practitioners. The al-Asiyat served the community in both peacetime and war, caring for orphans, the poor, and the disabled. The Prophet Muhammad encouraged his own wives and daughters to pursue similar work, and by personally sanctioning the al-Asiyat, he ensured that no future authority could legitimately prevent women from administering medical care — including to men. Rufaida is remembered as a sahabiyyah, one of the honoured female companions of the Prophet Muhammad.