Umme Salamah (Hind Bint Abi Umayyah)

Umme Salamah (ام سلمۃ) or ‘mother of Salamah’ was the teknonym of Hind bint Abi Umayyah (ہند بنت ابی امیّہ) . According to Abu Umar, her actual name was Ramlah (رملۃ) ¹ but as per the opinion of the majority of scholars, her name was Hind (ہند). ² She was a cousin of Khalid bin Waleed ³ and was one of the most significant companions of the Holy

. She is famous for narrating various Hadiths from Prophet Muhammad .

Lineage

She was Hind bint Abi Umayyah ibn Al-Mugherah ibn Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Makhzoom. ⁴ Her mother was Atiqah bint Aamir ibn Rabee’ah. ⁵ Her father was famous for his generosity and was known as ‘Zaad Al-Rakib’ (زاد الراکب) ⁶ i.e., the food provider of the travelers, who used to supply the caravan with food which travelled with him, at his own expense. ⁷

Life before Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

Before her marriage with the Holy

, Umme Salamah was married to Abu Salamah whose real name was Abdullah ibn Abdul Asad from Banu Hilal. ⁸ The Holy Prophet and Abu Salamah were nursed by Thuwaybah , hence Abu Salamah was also a foster brother of Prophet Muhammad . ⁹

Apart from their noble lineage, Umme Salamah and Abu Salamah were among the first converts to

. ^{10 11} Only Abu Bakr , Ali and few other people had converted before them. After their conversion, they were subjected to a lot of persecution by the people of Quraysh, but they remained steadfast. Twice, on Muhammad’s order, they migrated to Abyssinia. ^{12 13} However, when they heard that the situation in Makkah had improved, they decided to come back.

As soon as they reached Makkah, they were again persecuted for being Muslims. When they could not tolerate these persecutions, they decided to migrate to Madinah. Some of the people found out about their migration plans and tried to stop them. A group of men from Banu Mugherah’s tribe (Umme Salamah’s family) attacked Abu Salamah , took the camel’s reins from him. Then, they forced Umme Salamah to come down and get back to their tribe against her will. Reacting to this, the people of Banu Asad tribe (Abu Salamah’s tribe) took Salamah (their baby) and told the people of Banu Mugherah that if you separate the wife from her husband, then you will not be allowed to take our son. In the scuffle that followed, Salamah’s hand was dislocated, but still, the people of Banu Asad took the baby. ¹⁴

After that, Umme Salamah was taken to her tribe where she mourned to see her baby and her husband. Her husband had followed

Muhammad to Madinah while her son was still with the people of Banu Asad. Every day, she would go to a place known as ‘Al-Abtah’ and weep over the loss of her husband and child from morning till evening for a whole year. ¹⁵ One day, one of her family members took pity on her and decided to let her go to join her husband. He talked to the people of the tribe and convinced them to let her go. When the people of Banu Asad heard this, they returned her son to her and she readied a camel for her so that she could go to Madinah. She placed her son in her lap and headed towards Madinah. When she reached Tan’eem, a place near Makkah, she met Uthman ibn Abi Talhah , who was a non-believer at that time. Uthman offered his help and guided them all the way to Madinah. When they reached Quba, Uthman told her that your husband was in this village and after a year of separation, she was united with her husband. ^{16 17}

Umme Salamah was the first Muslim woman to enter Abyssinia and the first Muslim woman to enter Madinah. ¹⁸ Overall Umme Salamah bore Abu Salamah four children, namely Salamah , Umar , Zaynab and Durrah , ¹⁹ some state that the name of Durrah was Ruqayyah . ²⁰

Abu Salamah was one of those companions who bravely fought in the battle of Badr which was won by the Muslims. After that, he also fought bravely in the battle of Uhud, ²¹ however, he was severely injured in this battle. ²² He treated his wound carefully and after two months, the wound had healed. In the 4th year of Hijrah, in the month of Safar, the Holy Prophet entrusted Abu Salamah to command one hundred and fifty men to fight the people of Banu Asad ²³ who were instigating other people to attack the Holy

in Madinah.

Abu Salamah fought bravely and managed to win the battle for the Muslims. Triumphant, he returned home with a lot of spoils of war. ²⁴ The war had an effect on his wound which became infected again and led to his martyrdom. ²⁵ The Holy

was at his side when he passed away. He (The Prophet ) closed Abu Salamah’s eyes with his noble hands at the time of his death. ²⁶ He then recited the following words for him:

  «إن الروح إذا قبض تبعه البصر»، فضج ناس من أهله، فقال: «لا تدعوا على أنفسكم إلا بخير، فإن الملائكة يؤمنون على ما تقولون»، ثم قال: «اللهم اغفر لأبي سلمة وارفع درجته في المهديين، واخلفه في عقبه في الغابرين، واغفر لنا وله يا رب العالمين، وافسح له في قبره، ونور له فيه. ²⁷

  “When the soul is taken, the sight follows it”. Some of his (Abu Salamah’s) family wailed so he (Prophet Muhammad ) said: “Do not pray against yourselves except for good things, as the angels say Ameen to whatever you say.” Then he said: “O Allah, forgive Abu Salamah and raise him in status among those who are guided and take care of his family who are left behind. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the worlds and make his grave spacious for him and illuminate it for him.”

Marriage with Prophet Muhammad

It is narrated that when Umme Salamah was marrying Abu Salamah , she asked him to make an agreement that if either of them passed away, the other would not remarry. Abu Salamah , instead of agreeing, instructed her to remarry after his death and then prayed: O God, provide her with a man better than me who will not hurt or upset her. ²⁸ So, when he had passed away, Umme Salamah recalled his prayer and started reciting it. When her

(عدت) is a waiting period after divorce or death of the husband for the assurance of non-conceiving the child in her womb. During this, a divorced or widowed lady is not allowed to remarry with anyone.] was over, Abu Bakr proposed to marry her in order to honor Abu Salamah , and help her in raising her orphans, but she gently refused his proposal. ²⁹ After him, Umar bin Khattab proposed as well, but he too was refused. ³⁰

Then, the Holy

sent her a messenger and asked her hand for marriage. She did not refuse him, but told the messenger to inform Prophet Muhammad that she was an old woman with a young family. Furthermore, she told him that she was one of those women who could be very jealous. ³¹ In response, the Holy Prophet said:

  These things should not stop you. As to the question of age, I am older than you; as for the children,

Allah

and I will take care of them; and as for the jealousy, I pray that Allah remove it from you. ³²

After this message, she accepted the proposal and was married to the Holy

in the month of Shawwal ³³ against a dowry (Mahr) of a mattress filled with leaves, a cup made of clay, a tray and a wheat grinder. ³⁴ also answered Prophet Muhammad’s prayer positively and removed the jealousy from her heart. She lived a very happy life in the house of the Holy Prophet and her daughter grew up under his care.

In 6 A.H., Umme Salamah accompanied

Muhammad when he left to perform Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) along with his other companions. However, they were unable to do so, as the of Quraysh blocked their way and stopped them at a place known as Hudaybiyyah. The polytheists stated that the Muslims could come back to perform Umrah in the next year instead of the current one.

Umme Salamah also played a very important role in this event. When the Holy

ordered his companions to slaughter their animals and shave their heads, some of them refused as they were unhappy about the treaty which was signed at Hudaybiyah. The Holy Prophet shared this with his wife Umme Salamah so she said:

  O Allah’s Messenger, forgive them. Go out and do not say a word to anyone until you have slaughtered your camel and called the barber to shave your head. ³⁵

Muhammad acknowledged her advice, went out and did not talk to anybody until he had slaughtered his animal and shaved his head. When the Muslims saw him, they began slaughtering their animals and started shaving their heads. ³⁶ They had come back to their senses and had realized that the treaty which Prophet Muhammad had concluded was an important one for the Muslims. It was due to this treaty that the people of Quraysh, after many years of fighting had recognized Islam as a regional power and opened the way for free spread of throughout Arabia and then, throughout the world.

Umme Salamah showed her wisdom at many other situations as well. Even during the battle of camels, she opposed the participation of “The Mothers of The Faithful” and opined that they should not participate in any conflict which could afflict the Muslims.

Demise

She lived a long life and passed away in 61 A.H. She was the last of “The Mothers of The Faithful” to die. ³⁷ Abu Hurayrah led her funeral prayer and buried her in Jannat Al-Baqee along with other “Mothers of The Faithful”. ³⁸

 

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