Rufaida · a Light

A tent in the mosque was the first field hospital

Rufaida bint Sa'd al-Aslamia, of the tribe of Aslam in Madinah, had learned medicine from her father and set up a tent inside the Prophet's ﷺ mosque to treat the wounded. When Sa'd ibn Mu'adh was struck in the arm by an arrow at the battle of the Trench in 627, the Prophet ﷺ ordered that he be carried to her tent so that he could visit him easily. The early biographers record that she trained other women and was given a share of the spoils for her service. Nursing histories now cite her as the earliest named Muslim nurse. The detail worth keeping is the location. The wounded were treated inside the mosque, not away from it.

Rufaida al-Aslamia · Madinah, 627 CE