'And some of the females held my banner' (qasida 6:6)

This is the motto for this section, which is either for the women view points or for the things that matter the most for them.

You can find all special expressions in the Glossary. We need your comments to develop this site for you.

The mother of believers: Om-Salama [AAH]

Her relations [AAH]:

She is Hend, Om-Salama, bent Sohail who is known as Abo-Omaiya ibn al-Moghirah. It is said that the name of her grandfather, al-Moghirah, is Hozaifa and he is known as “the provisions for the passenger” because of his generosity, as he would never let anyone, traveling with him, carry any provision, rather he used to provide for all of them. She is Quraishan and Makhzoumian. She got married to Abo-Salama Abdullah ibn abdel-Asad the Makhzoumian.

Her virtue [AAH]:

Om-Salama [AAH] is considered to be one of the most perfect women in mind and morals. She and her husband Abo-Salama are from the first Muslims. She migrated with Abo-Salama to Habasha [Sudan]. She gave birth there to Salama and they returned to Mecca. Then they migrated to Medina, and she gave birth there to two daughters and another sons. She was the first woman to migrate to Medina [Mohajir]. Abo-Salama died in Medina from a wound he got from the conquest of Uhud, after he fought like a very sincere who loves to die and be martyr. Abo-Salama used to pray to Allah saying “O, Allah, please take my place in my family with good”. Allah made his successor onto his wife, Om-Salama [AAH], the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH], so she became a mother of believers. Allah also made his successor onto his children the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH], so the came to grow up in his company [PPBUH]. That was on 4H.

She [AAH] was also considered one of the Fiqh knowledgeable companions who used to give Fatwa [Shari'a judgment]. Ibn Hazm considered her to be in the second degree companions who are the middle level Fatwa ones [AAT], where he said "the middle ones in Fatwa are: Osman, Abo-Huraira, Abdullah ibn Amro, Anas, Om-Salama, …" and he counted up to thirteen. Then he said "a small part from the Fatwa of each of them can be collected".

The marriage of Om-Salama [AAH] to the Prophet [PPBUH]:

After her Edda [the holding period of the widow woman before she could marry], Abo-Bakr sent to her to propose for her, but she did not accept him. The Prophet [PPBUH] proposed for her out of pity for her and her children who are the children of his brother from nursing. She said to him "the ones like me are not suitable for marriage, as I passed the age and I can not bear children any more. I am also a jealous woman. I also have children". The Prophet [PPBUH] sent to her a letter saying (as for age, I am older than you. As for jealousy, Allah will make it go away. As for the ones you provide for, there is no one of them unless I am pleased with). So, Om-Salama sent her son Omar to marry her to the Prophet [PPBUH].

When the Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] married Om-Salama [AAH], sayyda Aisha [AAH] was very sad because of what they said about the beauty of Om-Salama, and she said when she saw her "by Allah, she is even multiple times as much beauty and prettiness as they described her to me". The Prophet [PPBUH] used to pass by his wives after al-Asr prayer, starting with Om-Salama [AAH] and ending with Aisha [AAH].

The Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] traveled for some of his travels and took Safiya bent Hayey and Om-Salama with him. The Messenger of Allah came to the sedan of Safiya thinking it was Om-Salama's one. It was the day of Om-Salama. So when the Prophet [PPBUH] stayed and talked to Safiya, Om-Salama got jealous. The Messenger [PPBUH] knew that, so she told him "You talk to the Jew's daughter in my day, while you are the Messenger of Allah", then she said "ask Allah for me forgiveness, I was driven for this by jealousy".

Her characteristics and morals [AAH]:

Om-Salama used to give a right opinion. She advised the Prophet [PPBUH] in the day of Hudaibiya. That happened when the Prophet [PPBUH] made peace with the people of Mecca and wrote treaty between him and them, and when he finished writing that covenant, he said to his companions (Go! Slaughter your sacrifices and cut your hair). But no one got up and did anything even after he said that three times. The Messenger of Allah [PPBUH] got up and entered the tent of Om-Salama and told her what happened. Om-Salama said to him "O, Prophet of Allah, If you like that, then go out and do not speak a word to anyone until you slaughter your sacrifice and call on you barber to cut your hair". The Prophet [PPBUH] got up and went out and did not speak to anyone, not even a word, then he slaughtered his sacrifice and called his barber who cut his hair for him. When they saw that they all got up and slaughtered their sacrifices and cut each other's hair with such an enthusiasm that some of them almost killed each other.

Om-Salama is considered a role model for the mothers and wives of today, through the honorable moral raising of her children. She was the best wife and a righteous mother. She had a preponderant mind and strong personality. She was able to take her own decisions by herself. Her personality was characterized by the politeness and good manners, which is rarely found in many of today's mothers and wives, e.g. the care for the husband, the consideration of the children's affairs, helping the husband during the toughest times, and the appreciation of her husband's condition. We miss all of this in many of today's mothers and wives, because of their recklessness in the raising of their children, their carelessness and negligence of their husbands, and their exaggerated care for the worldly life matters which is often fake and meaningless.

The role of Om-Salama [AAH] in the narration of the Hadith:

Her narrations [AAH] and those who narrated from her:

Mother of believers, Om-Salama [AAH], narrated many good Hadith. She is considered the second woman narrator for Hadith after mother of believers, Aisha [AAH]. The sum of her narrated Hadith is estimated to be 378 Hadith as the book of Baqi ibn Mekhlid said. Bukhary and Muslim agreed over 13 Hadith of hers, Bukhary had 3 more, and Muslim had 13 more. According to “the Masterpiece of the Nobles”, the sum of her narrations is 158.

The existence of the mothers of believers Om-Salama and Aisha [AAT] especially among the companions, and their late death after the Prophet [PPBUH], was one of the important factors that made people seek them specifically for questions and Fatwa. After the death of the mother of believers Aisha [AAH] on the year 58H, Om-Salama became the only mother of believers alive to give Fatwa and narrate Hadith. The thing that made her narrations grow more is that she combined between Shari’a, interpretation, literature, prayers, ordeals, ... etc.

The narrations of Om-Salama were mostly in the Shari’a judgments and basically in the rules of worshiping like: the ritual ablution, prayers, almsgiving, fasting, and Hajj. She also narrated in the rules of the funerals, the politeness, covering the loins, raising the head to sky when coming out of the home, and a woman lays her loincloth for an arm. She also narrated in the drinks, the prevention of cooking the date seeds until they change, the mixing of the wine with the dates… She also narrated about the marriage; she narrated her marriage, the mourning, the breast feeding… She also narrated about the conquests, the grievances, the ordeals, in the army that will sink down, and the Mahdy. She also narrated about the virtues and about Ali and Ammar. All of this makes us admit her great preserving memory and her caring about the Hadith [AAH].

A generation of the narrators narrated from her, men and women, from the different countries. As from her narrators:

From the companions: there are mother of believers Aisha, Abo-Sa’eid al-Khodry, Omar ibn Abo-Salama, Anas ibn Malik, Boraida ibn al-Hasein al-Aslami, Soliman ibn Boraida, Abo-Rafee, Ibn Abbas [AAT].

From the followers: there are sa’ei ibn al-Mosaiyyeb, Soliman ibn Yassar, the brother of ibn Salama, Abdullah ibn Abo-Molaika, Amer ash-Sho’aby, al-Aswad ibn Yazid, Mogahed, Ata’ ibn Rabah, Shahr ibn Hawshab, Nafie’ ibn Jobair ibn Mot’am, … and others.

From the women: there are her daughter Zaynab, Hend bent al-Harith, Safiya bent Shaybah, Safiya bent Abo-Obaid, Om-Walad Ibrahim ibn Abdel-Rahman ibn Ouf, Omrah bent Abdel-Rahman, Hakiymah, Romaythah, Om-Mohamed ibn Qays.

From the women of Kufa: Omrah bent Af’a, Gisrah bent Dagagah, Om-Mesawer al-Hamiry, Om-Mosa (the bondwoman of Ali), the grandmother of Gad’an, Om-Mabshrou’.

Her death [AAH]:

Mother of believers Om-Salama [AAH] was the last mother of believers to die. She lived until she heard of the martyrdom of Imam al-Husain, and she did not last long after that. She passed away to Allah, Almighty, on the year 62H. she lived for more than 90 years.

Written by Rawyah Ramadan

Translated by Mohamed