Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan
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Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan Rayhana bint Amr ibn Khunafa** *succession disputed ** status as wife or concubine is disputed |
Ramlah binte Abi-Sufyan, رملة بنت أبي سفيان, aka Umm Habiba, أم حبيبة, was the daughter of Abu Sufyan. She was born c. 595 and died in 662 or 666. She was the wife of Muhammad, the final prophet in Islam and therefore a Mother of the Believers.
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[edit] Early life
She was the daughter of Saffiya bint abi al-'As and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb[1], the leader of Quraish and the most powerful opponent of Muhammad for most of his life. The First Ummayad ruler, Muawiyah I was her brother.
Ramlah was related to Uthman ibn Affan. They were first cousins on mother's side and second cousins by her father's side.
[edit] Marriage with Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh
Her first husband, Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh [2] was among the first people to accept Islam. Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh was the brother of Zaynab bint Jahsh, whom Muhammad married at some point.
In order to avoid hostilities from Quraish, both emigrated to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), where she gave birth to her daughter, Habibah bint Ubayd-Allah[2].
Her husband, later, converted Christianity[2]. He tried to persuade her to do the same, but she held on to Islam. His conversion led to their divorce. She decided to live alone after her husband turned back from Islam, and continued to live in Abyssinia with her daughter. Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh died sometime later[2].
[edit] Marriage to Muhammad
There are contradictory sources. One claim that when Muhammad came to know about what had happened to her, he got worried that she might turn back from her faith like her husband. He decided to propose to her through the Negus, who sent Abraha, one of his maids, with Muhammad's proposal. Ramlah gladly accepted the proposal, and gave her silver bangles and rings as a gift to Abraha[2].
The marriage ceremony took place in Abyssinia even though Muhammad was not present. Khalid ibn Said was chosen by her as her legal guardian at the ceremony. The Negus read out the Khutba himself, and Khalid ibn Said made a speech in reply. On behalf of Muhammad, the Negus offered a dowry of four hundred Dinars to Khalid. A huge wedding feast was given on behalf of Muhammad after the ceremony. the Negus also sent musk and ambergris to the bride through Abraha [2]. Muhammad had given no other wife a dowry larger than this.
Later, the Negus made arrangements to send Ramlah to Medina by boat. Shurahbil ibn Hasana accompanied Ramlah in her journey [2]. She was able to return to Medina six years latter.
[edit] Life to Medina
According to some sources, she got married to the Muhammad one year after the Hijra, though she didn't live with him until six years later when Muhammad was sixty years old and she was thirty-five. Other sources claim her marriage took place in 7 A.H., at an age of 30 years [3]. The marriage afforded protection to her.
On one occasion, Abu Sufyan visited Umm Habiba in her house. He went to sit on a chair, but Umm Habiba hastily removed Muhammads blanket from that chair before Abu Sufyan could sit. Abu Sufyan criticized her for this, claiming that Islam had caused her to lose respect for her father. Umm Habiba replied that it was because she recognised the differing statuses of Muhammad and Abu Sufyan that she removed the blanket, implying that her father Abu Sufyan did not deserve to sit on the blanket of Muhammad.[4]
Ramlah was deeply affected[citation needed], when her cousin, Caliph Uthman, was murdered by followers of Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr.
Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr was later killed during the Caliphate of Ali, to which Ramlah reacted as follows:
- "when Mu'awiya's sister Umme Habeeba received news about Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr's murder, she sent Ayesha a cooked goat suggesting that the reason for his killing was his murder of Uthman. When this happened Ayesha said "May God kill this daughter of fornicating woman. By Allah! I shall never eat this meat again". [5]
She died in the year 662 or 666 (40 or 44 A.H)[6], during the Caliphate of her brother, Muawiyah I and was buried in the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery next to other wives of Muhammad[2].
[edit] Legacy
There are about sixty-five Hadith narrated by her in the Hadith literature. Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim b. al-Hajjaj agreed on two of them, and Muslim took two of them alone [2].
[edit] Sunni view
It is said that she was a courageous, virtuous, and charitable woman and that she was very attached to Muhammad.
[edit] Shi'a view
Shi'a respect her as a Mother of the Believers, but do not appreciate her gesture towards A'isha.
[edit] References
- ^ الشبكة الإسلامية - (9) أم حبيبة رملة بنت أبي سفيان رضي الله عنها
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Islam online
- ^ AlMaghrib Forums
- ^ John Glubb, The Life and Times of Muhammad, Lanham 1998, p. 304-310.
- ^ Tadkhira Khawass page 62 Chapter "Dhikr Khwaarij"
- ^ AlMaghrib Forums
