# Ghazala

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazala
> Source revision: 1344660644
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{{Short description|Leader of the Kharijite movement}}
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| native_name        =  غزالة
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'''Ghazāla''' ({{Langx|ar|غزالة زوجة شبيب}}; died 696 AD near [Kufa](/source/Kufa)) was a leader of the [Kharijite](/source/Kharijite) movement.

==Biography==
Ghazāla, born in [Mosul](/source/Mosul), was the wife of [Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani](/source/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](/source/Juwayriyya_bint_al-Harith) at the [Battle of Yarmuk](/source/Battle_of_Yarmouk).

In one battle, she made the [Umayyad](/source/Umayyad) governor [Hajjāj ibn-Yūsuf](/source/Al-Hajjaj_bin_Yousef) flee, and take refuge in his palace in [Kufa](/source/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](/source/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 ==
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{{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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ghazala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazala) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazala?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.