Leah (wife of Prophet Yaqub)

Liya bint Laban (known in the Bible as Leah) was the elder daughter of Laban, the uncle of Prophet Yaqub AS (Jacob), and became his first wife. In Islamic tradition, Yaqub AS had two wives who were sisters: Liya (Leah) and Rahil (Rachel). The Quran does not narrate Yaqub's marriage directly, but Islamic scholars have preserved the story through the Isra'iliyyat — reports from Jewish and Christian sources considered permissible to narrate when they do not contradict Islamic theology. According to this account, Yaqub traveled to his maternal uncle Laban after leaving his home. He fell in love with Rahil and agreed to work seven years for her hand. When the time came, Laban substituted Liya as the bride instead, and Yaqub had to work another seven years for Rahil. Liya was the mother of several of Yaqub's sons: Lawi (Levi), Yahudha (Judah), Rubil (Reuben), Shamun (Simeon), Yassakhar (Issachar), and Zabulun (Zebulun), among others. These sons became the patriarchs of tribes that formed Banu Isra'il (the Children of Israel). Lawi was an ancestor of Musa AS and Harun AS, and Yahudha was an ancestor of Dawud AS and the Jewish royal line. In Islamic theology, all the wives and families of the Prophets are respected as essential to the chain through which prophethood was transmitted.