(روى الشعبى: " أن كعب بن سور (1) كان جالسا عند عمر بن الخطاب فجاءت امرأة فقالت: يا أمير المؤمنين ما رأيت رجلا قط أفضل من زوجى والله إنه ليبيت ليله قائما ويظل نهاره صائما فاستغفر لها وأثنى عليها واستحيت المرأة وقامت راجعة. فقال كعب: يا أمير المؤمنين هلا أعديت المرأة على زوجها فلقد أبلغت فى الشكوى فقال لكعب: اقض بينهما فإنك فهمت من أمرها ما لم أفهم. قال: فإنى أرى كأنها امرأة عليها ثلاث نسوة هى رابعتهن فأقضى بثلاثة أيام ولياليهن يتعبد فيهن ولها يوم وليلة. فقال عمر: والله ما رأيك الأول بأعجب من الآخر , اذهب فأنت قاض على البصرة , نعم القاضى أنت " رواه سعيد.
Ash-Sha`abi narrated that Ka`ab bin Soor was sitting with `Umar bin Khattaab when a woman came and said: O Chief of the believers! I have never seen a person better than my husband. By Allah! He spends his night standing in prayer and his day while fasting. `Umar asked forgiveness for her (out of respect and well wishing) and admired her. The woman was ashamed/shy she stood up and went back. Ka`ab said: O Leader of the believers! Why did not you help the woman against her husband while she had approached you complaining? He said to Ka`ab: You decide between them; you understood what I did not understand. He said: I know that there are three other women (for her husband) along with her and she is the fourth of them, I decide three days and nights in which he is allowed to worship and she would have one day and night. `Umar said: By Allah all of your views, former and latter, are wonderful; go and you are the judge over (the city of) Basrah. What a marvellous judge you are!
[Ref: Sa`eed ibn Mansur in his Sunan with a saheeh chain; If some self interpretation deviants dare reject this under the guise of `Umar's Ijtihaad then know that this hukm has a precedence set by the very prophet sallalahu `alayhi wa sallam when he commanded something similar to `Abdullah ibn `Amr]
Some Lessons
1. The women during the Islamic caliphate could freely come complaining about their husbands not fulfilling rights.
2. the rights of a wife includes her right to intimacy so much so that it is reported that the prophet said
ثم إذا قضى حاجته فلا يعجلها حتى تقضى حاجتها
“When he finishes his desire (of sex) he should not hurry with her (to leave her) until she finishes her desire.” Ahmad and Abu Hafas narrated it.
[Ref: Musnad Abu Ya`la (103/1); Dha`eef]
3. The Islamic judge has the authority to analyse the complain of the wife and then rule the husband out from performing voluntary acts of worship leaving the obligatory rights of his wife.
4. This shows that when it comes to women rights, Islam pays attention to such minute yet major issues.
5. The caliph of the the world's second largest empire : Umar ibn al-Khattab - quickly accepted his mistake openly in front of everybody and had the woman come again not worrying about his reputation or esteem only to fulfil the right of a single woman among millions of women across his territory
6. The etiquette and manners in which a woman expressed herself. In such a delicate yet elegant and clear way without stooping low the way some modern day women do.
7. The caliph was so impressed by his (former and) current judgement with regards to a woman's right that he appointed him as a judge over one of the important cities of civilizations back then namely Basrah in `Iraq.
8. It teaches us that on the face value of what many issues may appear unsolvable , yet when religious expertise is applied wisely a solution is always obtained and the husband in this incident could continue his voluntary worship but restrictively so he doesn't sack his wife's e
