Hafsa bint Umar

Hafsa bint Umar (حفصہ بنت عمر) was born in 605 A.D., 5 years before the declaration of prophethood of

Muhammad . She was born to Umar ibn Khattab and Zaynab bint Mazo’on , when the Ka’bah was being renovated. ¹ She was famous for her memorization and preservation of the Holy .

Lineage

She was Hafsa bint Umar ibn Khattab ibn Nufayl ibn Abd Al-Uzza ibn Riyah ibn Abdullah ibn Qurt ibn Razah ibn Adiy ibn Kaab ibn Luay. ² Her mother was Zaynab bint Mazo’on ibn Habib ibn Wahab ibn Hudhafah ibn Jamh, the sister of Uthman ibn Maz’oon . ³

Life before Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

She was raised in the noble house of Umar ibn Khattab who was known for his bravery. She was initially married to Khunays ibn Hudhafah ibn Qays ibn Saad Al-Sahmi , who was one of those Muslims who had migrated to Abyssinia, and then to Madinah. ⁴ He participated in the battle of Badr, became severely wounded and passed away due to them. ⁵ Hence, Hafsa was widowed at 18 years of age and suffered a great deal after his death.

Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

Umar could not bear the signs of bereavement on her face which were affecting her youth. He thought of finding her a husband who could bring her happiness and joy. He asked Abu Bakr if he would like to marry his daughter, however, Abu Bakr gave no answer. Then, he went to Uthman and gave him the proposal of marrying his daughter. After a few days of consideration, Uthman also refused it. ⁶ Umar was extremely angry at this and went to the Holy

with his complaint. The Holy Prophet listened to his complain and gave him the following glad tiding:

  قد زوج اللّٰه عثمان خيرا من ابنتك و زوج خيرا من عثمان. ⁷

  Indeed, Allah Almighty has arranged Uthman’s () wedding with a daughter better than yours and has arranged your daughter’s (Hafsa) wedding with a person better than Uthman ().

After hearing this, Umar realized that

Muhammad would marry Hafsa himself and he was overjoyed to hear it, as there was no better person than the Holy Prophet who could marry his daughter. After getting this glad tiding, Umar rushed home to give this news to his daughter, and all the people of Madinah. On the way back, he met Abu Bakr and had the following dialogue with him:

  …فلقيني أبو بكر، فقال: لقد وجدت علي حين عرضت علي حفصة فلم أرجع إليك شيئا؟ قال عمر: قلت: نعم، قال أبو بكر: فإنه لم يمنعني أن أرجع إليك فيما عرضت علي، إلا أني كنت علمت أن رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم قد ذكرها، فلم أكن لأفشي سر رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم، ولو تركها رسول اللّٰه صلى اللّٰه عليه وسلم قبلتها ⁸

  I (Umar ) met Abu Bakr who said: Perhaps you became angry with me when you presented Hafsa to me and I did not give you a reply? I (Umar ) said: Yes. Abu Bakr said: Nothing stopped me to respond to your offer except that I knew that Allah’s Messenger had mentioned her (to me), and I never wanted to let out the secret of Allah’s Messenger . And if Allah’s Messenger had refused her, I would have accepted her.

So,

Muhammad married Hafsa after Aisha ⁹ in the month of Shaban ¹⁰ and her dowry (Mahr) was 400 silver dirhams. ¹¹ The young bride joined Prophet Muhammad’s household, knowing that he had two other wives, Sawdah and Aisha . Sawdah welcomed her contentedly but Aisha took some time to get used to the new bride, but eventually, they became best friends.

Hafsa’s services for the Preservation of the Holy Quran

Hafsa used to spend most of her time praying

and kept asking for repentance. Allah rewarded her by choosing her, among all “The Mothers of The Faithful” to preserve the manuscript copy of the after Muhammad’s demise.

The original manuscript which was prepared by Abu Bakr had passed on to Hafsa after Umar’s death ¹² and remained with her until Uthman asked her to send it to him so that he could make copies of it. She sent him the manuscript and he made several exact copies of it, which were then to the governors, who disseminated them among Muslim lands. ¹³ Hafsa did not only preserve the original copy of the

, but had also memorized it.

Demise

Hafsa spent the remainder of her life fasting and praying, until she passed away in the beginning of Muawiyah’s rule in 41 A.H. ¹⁴ She is buried in the Baqee cemetery (Jannat al-Baqee) with the other “Mothers of The Faithful”.

 

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• ¹ Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi Al-Shami (1993), Subul Al-Huda wal-Rashad fe Seerat Khair Al-Abad, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 11, Pg. 184.
• ² Muhammad ibn Saad Al-Basri (1990), Tabqat Al-Kubra, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 8, Pg. 65.
• ³ Ahmed ibn Yahya ibn Jabir ibn Dawood Al-Baladhuri (1996), Jumal min Ansab Al-Ashraf, Dar Al-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 1, Pg. 422.
• ⁴ Abu Al-Fadl Ahmed ibn Ali Al-Asqalani (1415 A.H.), Al-Isaba fi Tamyeez Al-Sahaba, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 2, Pg. 290-291.
• ⁵ Muhammad ibn Yusuf Al-Salihi Al-Shami (1993), Subul Al-Huda wal-Rashad fe Seerat Khair Al-Abad, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 11, Pg. 184.
• ⁶ Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Habban Al-Tamimi Al-Darmi (1988), Sahih ibn Habban, Hadith: 4039, Muassasah Al-Risala, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 9, Pg. 347.
• ⁷ Muhammad ibn Saad Al-Basri (1990), Tabqat Al-Kubra, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 8, Pg. 66.
• ⁸ Muhammad ibn Ismail Al-Bukhari (1999), Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith: 5122, Dar Al-Salam, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Pg. 915-916.
• ⁹ Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar Al-Madani (2009), Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah le-ibn Ishaq, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Pg. 280.
• ¹⁰ Ali ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmed Al-Halabi (1427 A.H.), Al-Seerat Al-Halabiyah, Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyah, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 3, Pg. 441.
• ¹¹ Abd Al-Rahman ibn Abdullah Al-Suhaili (2000), Al-Raudh Al-Unf fe-Sharha Al-Seerat Al-Nabawiyah, Dar Al-Ihya Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 7, Pg. 562.
• ¹² Sulaiman ibn Ahmed Al-Tabrani (1994), Al-Maujam Al-Kabir, Hadith: 4901, Maktaba ibn Taymiyah, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 5, Pg. 146.
• ¹³ Abu Hatim Muhammad ibn Habban Al-Tamimi Al-Darmi (1988), Sahih ibn Habban, Hadith: 4506, Muassasah Al-Risala, Beirut, Lebanon, Vol. 10, Pg. 360-361.
• ¹⁴ Izz Al-Din Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Shaibani ibn Athir (2003), Usud Al-Ghaba Fi Ma’rifat Al-Sahaba, Maktaba Al-Tawfiqiya, Cairo, Egypt, Vol. 7, Pg. 64.