Ghazala

{{Short description|Leader of the Kharijite movement}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name =  | honorific_suffix = | image =  | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = | native_name = غزالة | native_name_lang = Arabic | pronunciation = | birth_name =  | birth_date =  | birth_place = Mosul | baptised =  | disappeared_date =  | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date =  | death_place = | death_cause =  | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | burial_place =  | burial_coordinates =  | monuments = | nationality =  | other_names = | siglum = | citizenship =  | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = | agent =  | known_for = | notable_works =  | style = | height =  | television = | title =  | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charges =  | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani  | partner =  | children = | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | family = | callsign = | awards = | website =  | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }}

'''Ghazāla''' ({{Langx|ar|غزالة زوجة شبيب}}; died 696 AD near Kufa) was a leader of the Kharijite movement.

==Biography== Ghazāla, born in Mosul, was the wife of Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani. Shabib rebelled against Umayyad rule, and Ghazala was actively at his side. She commanded troops, following in the footsteps of previous Muslim women like Juwayriyya bint al-Ḥārith at the Battle of Yarmuk.

In one battle, she made the Umayyad governor Hajjāj ibn-Yūsuf flee, and take refuge in his palace in Kufa.<ref name="Ahmed">Leila Ahmed, ''Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate'' (Yale University Press, 1992) p.71</ref> As a result, a poem was composed shaming him for posterity: <blockquote>You are a lion against me, but in the battle an ostrich which spreads its wings and hurries off on hearing the chirping of a sparrow.

Why did you not go forth in the conflict and fight with Ghazala hand to hand? But no! Your heart fled from you (as if) with the wings of a bird.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Biographical Dictionary|last=Ibn Khallikan|pages=617}}</ref> </blockquote>In 696 AD (77 AH), after having controlled the city of Kufa for a day, Ghazāla led her male warriors in prayer as well as recited two of the longest chapters from the Quran during the prayer in the Mosque.<ref name="Ahmed" /><ref>M. A. Shaban, ''Islamic history: A new interpretation'' (Cambridge University Press, 1971) p.107</ref><ref>Mohammad Ibn Jareer Al-Tabari, ''History of Messengers and Kings'', Ch. 51, p.80;</ref><ref>Ali Masudi, ''Gardens of Gold'', (Dar al-Andalus, Beirut, 1965), Ch. 3, p.139</ref>

She was killed in battle, and her head was cut off for presenting it to Hajjaj. However, her husband Shabib sent a horseman who killed the carrier of his wife's head, and had a proper burial for it.

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazala}} Category:696 deaths Category:7th-century Arab women Category:Women in medieval Asian warfare Category:Year of birth unknown Category:People from Mosul Category:Women in war in West Asia Category:7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate Category:Military history of the Umayyad Caliphate Category:Kharijites Category:7th-century Arab people Category:Arab women in medieval warfare