Protective Jealousy is the Characteristic of the Noble

The Protective Jealousy of the Husband over his Wife
As stated previously, it was narrated that Sa'd ibn 'Ubaadah said, "If
Iwere to see a man with my wife, I would strike him with a sword, and
not with the flat side of it." When the Messenger of Allaah heard
this, hesaid: "Are you surprised at Sa'd's jealousy over hishonor? By
Allaah, I am more jealous over my honor than he is over his,and Allaah
is more jealous than I am." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]
It was narrated that when the rebels entered into the presence of
'Uthmaan ibn 'Affaan his wife Naa'ilah, spread her hair out as she was
entreating the chivalry ofthe rebels. Thereupon 'Uthmaan shouted at
her, and said, "Cover yourself! By Allaah, death is easier for me than
the violation of the sanctity of your hair." Therefore, the husband's
protective jealousy over his wife motivates him to protect and
safeguard her from anything that might harm her honor or disrespect
her dignity.
The Protective Jealousy of the Wife over her Husband
One day the Prophet asked 'Aa'ishah : "Are you jealous?" She replied
in astonishment, "And how could someone like me not become jealous
over someone like you?" [Muslim] It was narrated on the authority of
Anas that he said,
While the Prophet wasin the house of one of hiswives, one of the
Mothersof the Believers sent a meal in a dish. The wife at whose house
the Prophet was, struck the hand of the servant, causing the dish to
fall and break. The Prophet gathered the broken pieces of the dish and
then started collecting the food on them which had been in the dish,
andsaid: "Your mother [my wife] felt jealous." Then he detained the
servant until an [unbroken] dish was brought from the wife at whose
house he was. He gave the unbroken dish to the wife whose dish had
been broken and kept the broken one at the house where it had been
broken. [Al-Bukhaari]
Incidents that Were Motivated by Manly Zeal
Narrating the events of the 286th Hirji year, Al-Haafith Ibn Katheer
quoted what was mentioned in Al-Muntathim,
From the wonders that occurred during that year, a woman sued her
husband before the judge of Ar-Rayy [a city inmodern day Iran]. She
claimed that she had 500 Dinars as her deferred portion of her dowry,
buther husband denied this. She managed to get proof to support her
plea. She was then told that she had to uncover her face in order to
makesure that she was the wife. When this was insisted upon, the
husband became jealous and said, "Do not uncover her face. She is
truthful in her claim." He confessed that her claim was true in order
to avoid other people seeing his wife's face. When the wife realized
what had happened and that he had confessed so that others would not
seeher face, she said: "I absolve him of the deferred portion of my
dowry in this world and in the Hereafter."
Al-Haafith As-Sam'aani added in Al-Ansaab, "Having admired their
jealousy, the judge said: 'This incident is to be added to the
historical record of noble manners.'"
Some historians mentioned the following incident as one of the good
deeds of Al-Hajjaaj ibn Yoosuf Ath-Thaqafi: Itwas narrated that a
Muslim woman was taken captive in India and she pleaded for the help
of Al-Hajjaaj, and said, "O Hajjaaj!" When the news reached him, he
replied, "At your call!" He spent seven million Dirhams to be able to
rescue her.
Then there is the story of a noble Muslim woman who was captured by
theRomans. The only relation between her andthe Caliph,
Al-Mu'tasim-billaah, was the brotherhood of Islam. When she was
tortured by the prince of 'Amooriyah, she cried for his help and
released a shout that was so huge that its echo was recorded in
history. She cried, "O Mu'tasim!" He received the news of her cry
while he was resting. He immediately responded, saying, "At your
call!" He mobilized ahuge army of Muslim soldiers, who set off
withhim. Each one of them was filled with pride and enthusiasm due to
the manly zeal over the honor of this woman. They defeated the enemies
and marched closer and closer to their country, breaking into their
fortresses until they reached 'Amooriyah and destroyed its fortresses.
They marched until they reached the captured woman and, thereupon,
Al-Mu'tasim said to her, "Iask you to testify before your great
grand-father, the Messenger of Allaah on the Day of Judgment that I
came to rescue you."
In the seventh century after Hijrah, disunity struck the Muslims such
that they became weak. Therefore, the crusaders conquered parts of
their countries and aspired forfurther occupation. They sought the
help of one group of Muslims against the other until they almost
conquered Egypt. The Fatimide ruler of Egypt during that time,
Al-'Aadhid lideen-illaah, thought to seek the help of the governor of
Ash-Shaam, Noor Ad-Deen Zinki, but how could he accept when theking of
Ash-Shaam himself did not recognizethe caliphate of the Fatimide ruler
in Egypt and denied the legitimacy of his governance and rule? He was
an affiliate to the caliphate of the Abbasids in Baghdad, who were
struggling with the Fatimides. Al-'Aadhid decided to use manly
zealover Muslim women and their honor in order to solve the problem:
He sent a message to Noor Ad-Deen Zinki seeking hisaid and accompanied
it with the most influential summons: the locks of hair of his
womenfolk in the caliphate in Cairo. This had a strong impact on Noor
Ad-Deens's heart. It aroused feelings of jealousy and chivalry in the
hearts of the soldiers of Ash-Shaam as well as its people. To rescue
Egypt from the crusaders, they sacrificed the best of their soldiers
under the leadership of Asad Ad-Deen Shirkooh and Yoosuf ibn Ayyoob
(Salaah Ad-Deen Al-'Ayyoobi). That was theinfluence that a lock of a
woman's hair had, whichchanged the course of history. This was
followed by the battle of Hitteen during which the sacred land
(Palestine) was cleansed from disgrace and the crusaders were forced
to leave.
While Muslims live by andenjoy these feelings of jealousy and manly
zeal in their societies, which elevates their ranks way above the
stars and raises them to the most sublime of ranks in virtueand
purity, the non-Muslim societies in the East and the West experience
the life of weak men (Dayyooths) and procurers, filth and impurities,
indecency and disgrace, humiliationand shame. Indeed, someanimals
would refuse to experience such a life: Some male animals get jealous
over their females, and in order to protect her, the male fights
others until the strongest one of them finally wins. How truthfulour
prominent scholars were when they said, "Every nation whose menhave
weak manly zeal, itswomen do not properly maintain their chastity."