Part 104

"T entered Paradise where I heard a rustle. I asked, "Who is that?" They replied "This is arRumaisa' bint Malhan, the mother of Anas ibn Malik.”

(Reported by Muslim and Al-Bukhari)

She really deserved such a rank for her sacrifice and her sincere faith (may Allah he pleased with her).

Umm Haram bint Malhan

She was Umm Haram bint Malhan ibn Khalid ibn Zayd ibn Haram. She was amongst the Helpers of Madina. She was the sister of Umm Salim, the aunt of Anas ibn Malik, and the wife of "Ubadah ibn as-Samit

Al-Nawawi narrated in the explanation of Sahih Muslim that Umm Salim and Umm Hiram (may Allah be pleased with them both) were the Prophet's aunts from the maternal side either by suckling or by blood. She was the Prophet's aunt by either suckling or blood. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) used to visit her. Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported,

"Once, the Messenger of Allah, (pbuh) came to our home where there were only my mother, aunt Umm

Haram and I. He said, let me lead you in prayer."

It was not a time of prayer by then."

Umm Haram (may Allah be pleased with her) hoped for travelling in the cause of Allah by ship to disseminate Allah's word and raise higher the banner of Islam. Allah the Almighty fulfilled her hope as she accompanied her husband ‘Ubadah ibn as-Samit when

"When going to Qiba', the Prephet (pbuh) used to visit Umm Haram, the wife of Abu “Ubada ibn asSamit. One day the Prophet (pbuh) entered her home. She offered him food and when he finished eating she started to check his hair, then the Prophet (pbuh) slept. He awoke after a while

laughing. Umm Haram asked, "why do you laugh Messenger of Allah? He said. I saw some people of my nation on a board in the midst of the sea conquering in the cause of Allah. They were like kings on chairs.” Umm Haram said, "0 Messenger of Allah may you invoke Allah to make me join them. The Prophet invoked Allah for her and slept again. He got up laughing Umm Haram said, O Messenger of Allah, "Why do you laugh?" He (pbuh) said, "I saw some people of my nation conquering in the cause of Allah. They were like kings on thrones" She said, "0 Messenger of Allah, may you invoke Allah to make me join them" He said, you are among the earlier ones.

Anas said, "Afterwards, she accompanied her husband, Ubadah ibn as-Samit when setting out for the conquest of Cyprus. Having left the sea, she rode on an animal, which killed her. She was buried in Cyprus The leader of this army was Mu ‘awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan. This was in the era of ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them all).

May Allah be pleased with the first naval martyr.

She was the daughter of ‘Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Uwaimir ibn Nawfal. She was from the helpers. The Prophet (pbuh) called her the martyr. She hoped for death in the cause of Allah. Therefore, at the battle of Badr, she asked the Prophet's (pbuh) permission to join the Muslim army in order to treat the wounded or she might win the martyrdom. The Prophet (pbuh) said to her

"Allah would grant you martyrdom. Stay home you are a martyr."1

She (may Allah be pleased with her) memorized the Quran by heart. The Prophet (pbuh), therefore, allowed her to lead her household (of women) in prayer.

She kept doing the rites of Islam until she was murdered at the hands of two slaves: male and female. These two slaves killed her because their freedom was conditional on her death. In the morning, “Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "By Allah, I did not hear the recitation of aunt Umm Waraga last night. Accordingly he checked her home and found that she had died. He said, "The Messenger of Allah was truthful when he used to say,

"Let us go to visit the martyr".

“Umar ordered the killers to be brought before him. They confessed their crime. Thus, he sentenced them to be crucified. They were the first people to be crucified in Madina. May Allah have mercy on Umm Waraqa who won the martyrdom, which she had asked before. [Related by Ibn Hajar in Isbah, Asbahani in He/yar al awliya' and al-Hakim in Mustadrak.}

She was Asma’ bint 'Amis ibn Ma'd ibn Tamim ibn al-Harith ibn Ka'b ibn Malik ibn Quhafa. She was called Umm ‘Abdullah. She had embraced Islam before Muslims got into al-Arqam house. She was the wife of Jafar ibn Abu Talib, an honorable companion, whom the Prophet (pbuh) called the owner of two wings. When greeting ‘Abdullah ibn Ja'far, the Prophet (pbuh) used to say,

"Peace be upon you, son of the owner of two

Asma’ (may Allah be pleased with her) was among the early immigrants. She migrated with her husband, Ja'far ibn Abu Talib to Abyssinia where she suffered a lot. There, she gave birth to three children: “Abdullah, Muhammad, and Awn. The first son was similar to his father and the father was similar to the Messenger of Allah

When the Prophet (pbuh) issued a command for the immigrants to go to Madina Asma' was so pleased with the new Muslim State.

She accompanied the caravan setting from Abyssinia to Madina in the second immigration. No sooner did the delegate arrive at Madina than it was proclaimed that Muslims had invaded Khaybar. When meeting Ja‘far ibn Abu Talib, the Prophet (pbuh) said, "By Allah, I do not know which occasion does please me more: the victory in Khaybar or the arrival of Ja'far".

Once Asma’ bint Amais (may Allah be pleased with her) visited

Hafsa bint ‘Umar. Having seen Asma’, ‘Umar asked, "Who is that?" she said "Asma, bint ‘Amais." ‘Umar replied, "The woman who

migrated to Abyssinian by sea." Asma'said, "Yes". Then ‘Umar said, "We migrated before you (to Madina). Therefore, we are closer to him than you." Asma’ became angry and said, "No, by Allah while you lived beside the Messenger (pbuh), eating and listening to his sermons, we lived far away in a foreign land in Abyssinsa. This was for the sake of Allah and his Messenger (pbuh). She added, "By Allah, I will never eat or drink until I mention that to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). We were suffering and scaring. I will mention that typically to the Prophet (pbuh). When the Prophet (pbuh) came, Asma’ said, "Umar said, such and such." The Prophet (pbuh) said "What was your reply?" said, "I said such and such." The Prophet (pbuh) said,

"He is not closer to me than you, the immigrants to

Abyssinia). He migrated only once but you, the

people of the ship, migrated twice."

Asma! got pleased with the Prophet's response. The people soon knew what the Prophet (pbuh) said to Asma’. They began to come to Asma' asking her about what they had heard. Asma’ added, "I saw Abu Musa and the people of the ship coming one after the other to ask about this hadith, They were very joy and happy to hear that compliment from the Prophet (pbuh).

In the day of Mu'tah, Ja'far , Asma's wife was among the Muslim warriors who made great heroic attacks against the enemy. The Prophet (pbuh) appointed him as one of the three leaders in the battle of Mu'tah. Ja'far attained the honour of martyrdom in Mu'tah. He was called Ja'far the pilot because his two arms were cut off while trying keeping the banner of Islam up. Instead of his two arms, Allah granted him two wings to fly in Paradise.

When Ja'far died in the battlefield, the Prophet asked his household to make some food for Ja'far's family since they might be occupied by their affliction."(Reported by Al-Tirmidhi)

Asma’ had nothing to do but to keep patient and sought Allah's reward. Asma’ devoted her life after the death of her husband to her children. But she was betrothed by Abu Bakr as-Siddiq soon after.

She suffered a lot during her life. The most heinous and severe affliction she had was the death of the Prophet (pbuh). Later on, her husband, Abu Bakr died. Abu Bakr left a will stating that her wife should wash him after death. Asma’ therefore washed her husband

It is the Muslims manliness and chivalry that when one of them dies, they marry their brother's widow to one of them so as not to leave the widow or her children face the hardships of this life alone. Accordingly, Ali ibn Abu Talib betrothed Asma’ after the death of Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her). Asma’ gave birth to Yahya and * Awn by Ali.

Once, there happened a quarrel between two sons of Asma’, one belonged to Ja'far and the other to Abu Bakr. They boasted over each other by their fathers. Watching them quarrelling, Ali called upon their mother, Asma' to judge them. Asma’ said, "I have never seen on Arab young man better than Ja'far, so was the old man, Abu Bakr." The two kids embraced each other and went on playing again. But Ali said, "What about me, Asma’?" She smartly said, “If there is someone who is the least of three good people, they will all be elite" Ali said, "If you said other than that I would hate you".

Ali ibn Abu Talib succeeded Uthman ibn Affan as the caliphate of the Muslims. Therefore, Asma’ got married to two caliphates of Muslims’ Abu Bakr and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them all) after this long life of afflictions and trials during which Asma’ kept patient, Asma’ got ill and died (may Allah have mercy on her).

As shifa' bint al-Harith

She was ash-Shifa’ bint “Abullah ibn ‘Abd Shams ibn Khalaf ibn Saddad ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Adiy ibn Ka‘b. She was from the tribe of Quraish. She embraced Islam before Hijrah and was among the early Muslim women who migrated from Makka to Madina and gave the pledge of faith to the Prophet (pbuh).

She (may Allah be pleased with her) got married to Abu Khaythama ibn Hudhayfa and gave birth to a boy called Sulaiman. She learnt to read and write while still in Mekka before Islam. Having entered Islam, she (may Allah be pleased with her) shouldered the task of educating the Muslim women seeking Allah's reward. Thereby, she was called the first female teacher in Islam. Among the women apprenticed at the hands of ash-Shifa' was Hafsa bint ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, the Prophet's wife.