Hafsa, may Allah be pleased with her, was
the daughter of Sayyiduna Umar ibn al Khattab. She had been married to
someone else, but was widowed when she as still very young, only
eighteen. Umar asked both Abu Bakr and Uthman ibn Affan, one after
another, if they would like to marry her, but they both declined because
they knew that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
had expressed an interest in marrying her. When Umar (may Allah be
pleased with him) went to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) to complain about their behavior, the Prophet smiled, and
said, "Hafsa will marry one better than Uthman and Uthman will marry one
better than Hafsa." Umar was startled and then realized that it was the
Prophet was asking for her hand in marriage. HE was overcome with
delight. They were married just after the battle of Badr, when Hafsa was
about twenty years old and the Prophet as fifty-six. By this marriage,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) strengthened the
ties between two of his closest Companions, the two who would become the
first two rightly guided khalifs after his death. He was now married to
the daughter of Abu Bakr, A'isha and to the daughter of Umar, Hafsa.
Two of the other closest Companions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who would become the third
and fourth Rightly guided Khalifs were also connected to the Prophet
through marriage. Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him)
married Ruqayya, then daughter of the Prophet, in Mecca, and then, after
her death in Medina, soon after the battle of Badr, he had married Umm
Khulthum, also the daughter of the Prophet. It was because he married
two of the daughters of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) that Uthman was given the title of Dhun Nurayn, which means
'the possessor of two lights'. And Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be
pleased with him) had married Fatima, the youngest daughter of the
Prophet, shortly before the Prophet had married A'isha.
Hafsa, like A'isha with whom she became close friends,
was never at a loss for words, and was not afraid to argue with the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who was content to
allow her to say what she thought. One day, while speaking to Hafsa's
mother Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I think I shall so
and so." Whereupon his wife replied, "But it would be better if you did
such and such." "Are you arguing with me, woman?" said Umar who was a
fierce man who did not expect his wives to talk back at him. "Why not?"
she answered. "Your daughter keeps arguing with the Messenger of Allah
until she upsets him for the whole day." Umar (may Allah be pleased with
him) immediately put on his cloak and went directly to his daughter's
house. "Is it true that you argue with the Messenger of Allah?" he
asked. "Indeed I do." She replied. Umar was just about to chastise her
for what he considered were bad manners, when the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) came into the room and would not allow
him to even touch her. So Umar went round to visit Umm Salama, to whom
Umar was related in order to try and influence Hafsa's behavior through
her.
"I wonder at you, Ibn Khattab," she said, after she had
listened to him. "You have interfered in everything. Will you now
interfere between the Messenger of Allah and his wives?" Sayiduna Umar
when relating this incident, continued, "And she kept after me until she
mad me give up much of what I thought proper." Some sources say that
the Prophet divorced Hafsa with a single divorce and that Umar was heart
broken when this happened and began to throw dust on his head.
Then the Prophet took her back after Jibril had
descended and said to him. "Take Hafsa back. She fasts and prays and she
will be your wife in the Garden." Like A'isha, Hafsa memorized the
entire Qur'an by heart. The written copy of the Qur'an which was
recorded by Zayd ibn Thabit on Abu Bakr's instructions, and which was
then given to Umar for safekeeping, was then given by Umar to Hafsa to
look after. When Uthman eventually became the khalif, he instructed
several written copies of the Qur'an to be made so that they could be
sent to the main centers of the now rapidly expanding Muslim empire, and
it was the copy in Hafsa's keeping that was used, after it had been
meticulously checked for its accuracy by referring to all the other
written records of the Qur'an and to all the Muslims who knew the Qur'an
by heart.
Hafsa lived with the Prophet in Medina for eight years,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace and lived on for another thirty
four years after his death, witnessing with joy the victories and
expansion of Islam under her father's guidance, and with sorrow the
troubles that beset the Muslim community after the murder of Uthman. She
died in 47 AH at the age of sixty-three. May Allah be pleased with her.
Zaynab bint Khuzayma, may Allah be
pleased with her, was married to the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) in Ramadan, 4 AH, soon after his marriage to Hafsa
when he was fifty-six years old and she was thirty years old. After she
had been made a widow when her husband was martyred at Badr, she offered
herself in marriage to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) who accepted her proposal and married her. Zaynab bint
Khuzayma was so generous to orphans and the poor that she came to be
known as the 'Mother of the Poor'. She died only eight months after her
marriage, may Allah be pleased with her, and although not a great deal
is known about her today, there will be many who will testify to her
generosity on the Last Day.
Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya, may
Allah be pleased with her, was married to the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) in 4 AH at the age of twenty nine, after
her first husband, Abdullah ibn Abdul Asad, had died from the wounds he
had received while fighting at the battle of Uhud. Umm Salama and Abdal
Asad had been among the first people to embrace Islam in the early days
of the Muslim community in Mecca. They had suffered at the hands of the
Quraish who had tried to force them to abandon their new faith, and had
been among the first group of Muslims to seek refuge under the
protection of the Negus in Abyssinia. When they had returned to Mecca,
believing that the situation of the Muslims had improved, they had found
instead that if anything it was worse. Rather than return to Abyssinia,
Abdal Asad and Umm Salama had received the Prophet's permission to
immigrate to Medina, but this proved not to be as easy as they might
have imagined.
In the words of Umm Salama: "When Abu Salama (my
husband) decided to leave for Medina, he prepared a camel for me, lifted
me up onto it and put my son Salama on my lap. My husband then took the
lead and went straight ahead without stopping or waiting for anything.
Before we were out of Mecca, however, some men from my tribe, the Banu
Mahkhzum, stopped us and said to my husband: "Although you may be free
to do what you like with yourself, you have no power over your wife. She
is our daughter. DO you expect us to allow you to take her away from
us?' They then grabbed hold of him and snatched me away from him. Some
men from my husband's tribe, the Banu Abdul Asad, saw them taking both
me and my child and became hot with rage: "No, by Allah!' They shouted.
'We shall not abandon the boy. He is our son and we have a rightful
claim over him.' So they took him by his arm and pulled him away from
me. Suddenly, in the space of a few minutes, I found myself all alone.
My husband headed out towards Medina by himself; his tribe had snatched
away my son from me; and my own tribe had overpowered me and forced me
to stay with them. From the day that my husband and my son were parted
from me, I went out at noon every day and sat at the spot where this
tragedy had occurred. I would remember those terrifying moments and weep
until nightfall.
"I continued like this for a year or so until one day a
man from the Banu Umayya passed by and saw my condition. He went to my
tribe and said, 'Why don't you free this woman? You have caused both her
husband and her son to betaken away from her.' He went on like this,
trying to soften their hearts and appealing to their emotions, until at
last they said to me, 'Go and join your husband if you wish.' But how
could I join my husband in Medina, and leave my son, part of my own
flesh and blood, in Mecca among the Banu Abdul Asad? How could I remain
free from anguish, and my eyes free from tears, if I were to reach the
place of hijrah not knowing anything of my little son left behind in
Mecca?
"Some people realized what I was going through and their
hearts went out to me. They approached the Banu Abdul Asad on my behalf
and persuaded them to return my son. I had no desire to remain in Mecca
until I could find someone to travel with me, for I was afraid that
something might happen that would delay me or stop me from reaching my
husband. So I immediately prepared my camel, placed my son on my lap,
and set out in the direction of Medina. I just had just reached Tan'im
(3 miles from Mecca) when I met Uthman ibn Talha (He as in charge of
looking after the Ka'ba, but did not embrace Islam until the Conquest of
Mecca). "'Were are you going, Bint Zad ar Rakib?' he asked. 'I am going
to my husband in Medina.' 'And isn't there anyone going with you?' 'No,
by Allah, except Allah and my little boy here.' 'By Allah,' he vowed,
'I will not leave you until you reach Medina.'
He then took the reins of my camel and led us on our
way. By Allah, I have never met an Arab more generous and noble than he.
Whenever we reached a resting-place, he would make my camel kneel down,
wait until I had dismounted and then lead the camel to a tree and
tether it. Then he would go and rest in the shade of a different tree to
me. When we had rested, he would get the camel ready again and then
lead us on our way. This he did every day until we reached Medina. When
we reached a village near Quba (about two miles from Medina), belonging
to the Banu Amr ibn Awf, he said, 'Your husband is in this village.
Enter it with the blessings of Allah.' Then he turned round and headed
back to Mecca."
Thus after many difficult months of separation, Umm
Salama and her son were reunited with Abu Salama, and in the next few
years that followed, they were always near the heart of the growing
Muslim community of Medina al Munawarra. They were present when the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Abu Bakr (may
Allah be pleased with him) arrived safely from Mecca, and at the battle
of Badr Abu Salama fought bravely. At the battle of Uhud, however, he
was badly wounded. At first his wound appeared to respond well to
treatment, but then his wounds re opened after an expedition against the
Banu Abdul Asad, and after that they refused to heal and he remained
bedridden. Once while Umm Salama was nursing him, he said to her, "I
once heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) that whenever a calamity afflicts anyone he should say what Allah
has commanded him to say: 'Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un!' 'Surely
we come from Allah and surely to Him we return!' and then he should
say, 'O Lord, reward me for my affliction and give me something better
than it in return, which only You, the Exalted the Mighty, can give.'"
Abu Salama remained sick in bed for several days. One
morning the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to
see him. The visit was longer than usual, and while the Prophet was
still at his bedside, Abu Salama died. With his blessed hands, the
Prophet closed the eyes of his dead Companion and then raised them in
prayer. "O Allah, grant forgiveness to Abu Salama; elevate him among
those who are near to You; take charge of his family at all times;
forgive us and him, O Lord of the worlds; make his grave spacious for
him and fill it with light. Amin."
Once again Umm Salama was alone, only now she had not
one child, but several. There was no one to look after her and them.
Recalling what her husband had told her while she was looking after him,
she repeated the dua'a that he had remembered: "Inna lillahi wa inna
ilayhi raji'un!" "Surely we come from Allah and surely to Him we
return!" she repeated. "O Lord, reward me for my affliction and give me
something better than it in return, which only You, the Exalted and
Mighty, can give." Then she thought to herself, "What Muslim is better
than Abu Salama whose family was the first to emigrate to the Messenger
of Allah?" All the Muslims in Medina were aware of Umm Salama's
situation, and when her idda period of four months and ten days were
over, Abu Bakr proposed marriage to her, but she refused. Then Umar
asked her to marry him, but again she refused. Then the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself asked for her hand in
marriage. "O Messenger of Allah," Umm Salama replied, "I have three main
characteristics: I am a woman who is extremely jealous and I am afraid
that you will see something in me that will make you angry and cause
Allah to punish me; I am a woman who is already advanced in age; and I
am a woman who has many children."
"As for your jealousy," answered the Prophet, "I pray to
Allah the Almighty to take it away from you. As for your age, I am
older than you. As for your many children, they belong to Allah and His
Messenger."
The Prophet's answered eased her heart, and so they were
married in Shawwal, 4 AH, and so it was that Allah answered the prayer
of Umm Salama and gave her better than Abu Salama. From that day on, Umm
Salama was not only the mother of Salama, but also became the 'Mother
of the Believers' 'Umm al Muminin'.
Umm Salama was not the only wife to have been widowed as
a result of the battle of Uhud, and thanks to this marriage, many of
the Companions followed the Prophet's example, marrying widows and
thereby bringing them and their children into the circle of their
families, instead of leaving them to struggle on their own.
A'isha said, "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) married Umm Salama, I felt very unhappy
when he mentioned her beauty to us. I waited until I saw her and she was
even more beautiful than her description." She was also from a very
noble family and known for her keen intelligence. On more than one
occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked
her advice in tricky situations.
Like A'isha and Hafsa, Umm Salama learned the whole of
the Qur'an by heart, and an indication of her high station with Allah
can be found in the fact that she was permitted to see the angel Jibril
in human form: It has been related by Salman that Jibril came to the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) while Umm
Salama was with him, and had a conversation with him. After Jibril had
left, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to Umm
Salama, "Do you know who that was?" and she replied that it was a man
called Dihya al Khalbi. "By Allah," said Umm Salama, "I didn't think it
was anyone else until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) told me who it really was."
She also had a home for her four children: Salama,
Umar, Zaynab, and Durra who ere the foster children of the Prophet.
Once she was with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
with her daughter Zaynab when Fatima came with al Hasan and al Husayn.
He embraced his two grandsons and said, "may the mercy and blessings of
Allah be upon you, People of the House. He is Praiseworthy, Glorious."
Umm Salama began to weep and the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) looked at her and asked tenderly, "Why
are you weeping?" She replied, "O Messenger of Allah, you singled them
out and left me and my daughter!" He said, "You and your daughter are
among the People of the House." Her daughter Zaynab grew up in the care
of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
and become one of the most intelligent women of her time. Once Zaynab
came in while the Prophet was bathing and he splashed water in her face.
Afterwards face retained its youthfulness even into her old age.
Her son Salama later married Umama, the daughter of
Hamza, the martyred uncle of the Prophet. Umm Salama was married to the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for seven years
until his death in 10 AH and accompanied him on many of his expeditions:
Hudaybiyya, Khaybar, the Conquest of Mecca, the siege of Ta'if, the
expedition against Hawazin and Thaqif, and the Farewell Hajj. She
continued to live for a long time, outliving all the other wives of the
Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them, until she died in 61 AH, at the
age of eighty four, may Allah be pleased with her, and Abu Hurairah
said the funeral prayer over her.
Zaynab bint Jahsh, may Allah be pleased
with her, married the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) in 5 AH, when she was thirty-five and the Prophet was
fifty-eight, but only after her pervious marriage, which had been
arranged by the Prophet himself, had ended in divorce. As with all the
marriages of the Prophet Muhammad, there was much for all the Muslims to
learn from it. Zaynab bint Jahsh was the Prophet Muhammad's cousin,
her mother Umayma being the daughter of Abdul Muttalib, Muhammad's
grandfather, who, while he was alive, had ensured the safety of his
grandson, thanks to his position as one of the most respected leaders of
the Quraish. Thus Zaynab bint Jahsh came from one of the noblest
families of the Quraish, and everyone expected her to eventually marry a
man with the same high social status.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
was well aware that it is a person's standing in the eyes of Allah that
is important, rather than his or her status in the eyes of the people.
He wanted her to marry a young man called Zayd ibn Harith, whose
background was very different to that of Zaynab bint Jahsh. Zayd had
been taken prisoner while he was still a child during one of the
inter-tribal wars that had been common before the coming of Islam. He
had been sold as a slave to a nephew of Khadijah (may Allah be pleased
with her) who had given Zayd to her as a gift. In turn, Khadijah had
given him to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) in the days before the revelation of the Qur'an had begun, and the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had given him his
freedom and adopted him as his own son, at the age of eight.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) had watched both Zayd and Zaynab grow up, and thought they
would make a good couple, and that their marriage would demonstrate that
it was not who their ancestors were, but rather their standing in the
sight of Allah, that mattered. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) asked for her hand on behalf of Zayd, Zaynab had her
family were shocked at the idea of her marrying a man who in their eyes
was only a freed slave. Moreover, Zaynab had wanted to marry the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself and in fact
he had already been asked by her family whether or not he would like to
marry her. At first both she and her brother refused, but then the
following ayat was revealed:
It is not for a believing man or a believing woman,
when a matter has been decided by Allah and His Messenger, to have any
say in their decision; and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has
most clearly gone astray. (Quran 33:36)
When Zayd, who had also had misgivings about the
proposed match, and Zaynab realized that there was no difference between
what the Prophet wanted and what Allah wanted, they both agreed to the
marriage, the Prophet providing a handsome dowry for Zaynab on Zayd's
behalf. The marriage, however, was not a success. Although both Zaynab
and Zayd were the best of people, who loved Allah and His Messenger,
they were very different and in the end they could not overcome their
incompatibility. Zayd asked the Prophet's permission to divorce Zaynab
more than once, and although he was counseled to hold onto his wife and
to fear Allah, in the end the divorce took place. The Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) then was ordered by Allah to marry
Zaynab bint Jahsh, while he did in 5 AH, when he was fifty-eight years
old, and she was thirty-five years old. In doing so, he demonstrated
beyond doubt that in Islam an adopted son is not regarded in the same
light as a natural son, and that although a father may never marry a
woman whom his natural son has married and then divorced, the father of
an adopted son is permitted to marry a woman who was once, but is no
longer, married to that adopted son. Furthermore, by marrying Zaynab,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also confirmed
that it is permissible for cousins to marry, and , at the same time,
Zaynab was given her heart's desire to be married to the Best of
Creation.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) received the command to marry Zaynab while he was with A'isha.
After he had received the revelation, he smiled and said, "Who will go
and give Zaynab the good news?" and he recited the ayat that he had
received. Some say that it was Zayd himself who told her the good news.
When Zaynab heard the news, she stopped what she was doing and prayed
to thank Allah. Afterwards, she was fond of pointing out that her
marriage had been arranged by Allah. It was at this point that the
Prophet changed her name from Barra to Zaynab.
Zaynab's wedding feast was also the occasion for another
ayat of Qur'an to be sent down. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) sacrificed a sheep and then commanded his servant,
Anas, to invite the people to partake of it. After they had eaten, two
men remained there after the meal chatting. The Messenger of Allah went
out and said goodnight to his other wives and then came back and the
two men were still there chatting. It was very hard on the Prophet who
did not like to criticize people directly, and so he waited patiently
until they left. Then Allah sent down the following ayat which is known
as "The Ayat of Hijab":
O you who believe! Do not go into the Prophet's
rooms except after being given permission to come and eat, not waiting
for the food to be prepared, However, when you are called, then go in
and when you have eaten, then disperse, and do not remain wanting to
chat together. If you do that, it causes injury to the Prophet though
he is too reticent to tell you. But Allah is not reticent with the
truth. When you ask his wives for something, ask them from behind a
screen. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. It is not for
you to cause injury to the Messenger of Allah nor ever to marry his
wives after him. TO do that would be something dreadful in the sight of
Allah. Whether you make something known or conceal it, Allah has
knowledge of all things. There is no blame on them regarding their
fathers or their sons or their brothers or their brothers' s sons or
their sisters' s sons or their women or those their right hands own.
Have fear of Allah. Allah is witness over everything. Allah and His
angels pray blessings of the Prophet. O you who believe! Pray
blessings on him and ask for peace for him. (Quran 33:53-56)
Zaynab was a woman who was constantly immersed in
the worship of Allah. It is related by Anas ibn Malik that once the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered the mosque
and found a rope hanging down between two of the pillars, and so he
said, "What is this?" He was told, "It is for Zaynab. She prays, and
when she loses concentration or feels tired, she holds onto it." At
this time the Prophet said, "Untie it. Pray as long as you feel fresh,
but when you lose concentration or become tired, you should stop."
Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her) was
with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for six
years, and lived for another nine years after his death, dying at the
age of fifty, in 20 AH, and thus fulfilling the Prophet's indication
that she would be the first of his wives to die aftehim. Zaynab bint
Jahsh, like Zaynab bint Khuzayma before her, was very generous to the
poor, and indeed the Prophet said, when speaking of her to his other
wives, "She is the most generous among you."
It has been related by A'isha that the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allah be upon him) once said to his wives, "The one who
has the longest hands among you will meet me again the soonest."
A'isha added, "They use to measure each other's hands to see whose as
longest, and it was the hand of Zaynab that was the longest, because she
used to work by hand and give away (what she earned) in charity." The
Messenger of Allah said to Umar, "Zaynab bint Jahsh is one who is full
of prayer." A man said, "Messenger of Allah, what is that?" He said,
"The one who is humble and earnest in prayer." A'isha also said that
Zaynab, "I have never seen a woman so pure as Zaynab, so God-fearing, so
truthful, so attentive to family ties, so generous, so self-sacrificing
in everyday life, so charitable, and thus so close to Allah, the
Exalted."
Several years after the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) had died, when Umar was the khalif, great wealth came
to the Muslims as a result of their victories in fighting the Persians.
The immense treasures of Chosroes, the Persian Emperor, fell into
their hands, and when Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent Zaynab a
pile of gold as her share of the treasure, she called her maid servant
and told her to take a handful of it to so-and-so, naming one of the
poor people of Medina. One after another, she named all the poor people
whom she knew, until they had all received a share of the treasure.
Then she told her maidservant to see what was left. All that remained
of the large pile of gold was eighty dinars, and this she accepted as
her share, thanking Allah for it; but, because she believed so much
money was a temptation, she asked Allah that she would never witness
such a large distribution of wealth again.
By the time a year had passed, when Umar again came to
distribute money amongst those wives of the Prophet who were still
alive, her prayer had been granted for she had already passed away, may
Allah be pleased with her.
Juwayriyya bint Harith, may Allah be
pleased with her, married the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) in 5 AH, when the Prophet was fifty-eight years old
and she was twenty, not long after his marriage to Zaynab bint Jahsh,
and as a result of the Muslims ' successful campaign against the Banu
Mustaliq who were swiftly defeated after the Prophet's surprise attack.
Among the captives taken in this campaign was the beautiful Juwayriyya,
the daughter of al-Harith, who was the chief of the Banu Mustaliq. She
was afraid that once the Muslims realized who she was, they would
demand an exorbitant ransom for her safe release. After the Muslims had
returned to Medina with their booty and prisoners, she demanded to see
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) hoping
that he would help to prevent what she feared. Seeing how beautiful she
was, A'isha was not keen on her seeing the Prophet.
But she persisted, and eventually she was permitted to
see the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and was taken
to him while he was with A'isha. After she had finished speaking, the
Prophet thought for a moment, and then said, "Shall I tell you what
would be better than this?"
He then asked her to marry him, and she immediately
accepted. Although Juwayriyya was young and beautiful and of noble
lineage, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was
thinking of how to save her and all her tribe from an ignoble fate. By
marrying Juwayriyya, the Banu Mustaliq would be able to enter Islam with
honor, and with the humiliation of their recent defeat removed, so that
it would no longer be felt necessary by them to embark on a war of
vengeance that would have continued until one of the two parties had
been annihilated. As soon as the marriage was announced, all the booty
that had been taken from the Banu Mustaliq was returned, and all the
captives were set free, for they were now the in laws of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Thus A'isha once
said of Juwayriyya, "I know of no woman who was more of a blessing to
her people than Juwayriyya bint al-Harith." After they were married,
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) changed her name
was Barra to Juwayriyya.
It has been related by Juwayriyya that early one morning
the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left her room
while she was doing the dawn prayer. He returned later that morning
and she was still sitting in the same place. "have you been sitting in
the same place since I left you?" he asked. "Yes," she replied.
Whereupon the Prophet said, "I recited four phrases three times after I
left you, and if these were to be weighed against what you have been
reciting since dawn, they would still outweigh them. They are: 'Glory
be to Allah and Praise be to Him as much as the number of his creations,
and His pleasure, and the weight of His Throne, and the ink of His
words.'" Which reminds us of the following ayat of the Qur'an:
Say: 'If the sea were the ink for the words of My
Lord, truly the sea would be used up before the words of my Lord were
completed, and even if We used the same again to assist. (Qur'an
18:109)
Juwayriyya was married to the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) for six years, and lived for another
thirty-nine years after his death, dying in 50 AH at the age of
sixty-five, may Allah be pleased with her.
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