Umm Ayman

Umm Ayman (d. 644 CE), whose real name was Barakah bint Thalabah, was a woman of remarkable significance in the Prophet's life. She was an Abyssinian woman who had been a servant of the Prophet's mother Aminah, and she cared for the Prophet from his infancy through his childhood after both his parents died.

The Prophet regarded Umm Ayman with deep filial affection, calling her 'my mother after my mother' and saying 'she is the remainder of my household.' He would visit her regularly throughout his life and treated her with the utmost honor and respect. She was among the earliest converts to Islam and endured the hardships of the Meccan period alongside the Muslim community.

Umm Ayman was married first to Ubayd ibn Zayd, with whom she had a son named Ayman, and later to Zayd ibn Harithah, with whom she had Usama ibn Zayd. She migrated to both Abyssinia and Medina. After the Prophet's death, Abu Bakr and Umar would visit her, following the Prophet's practice. She wept when the Prophet died, saying she wept not because she did not know he was going to a better place, but because revelation from heaven had ceased. She died during the caliphate of Uthman.