Umm Salama

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Umm Salama Hind bint Abī Umaiya ( Arabic أم سلمة هند بنت أبي أميّة, DMG Umm Salama Hind bint Abī Umaiya , b. 580 or 597, died between 679 and 683), was the sixth wife of the Prophet Mohammed . She married him a second marriage. Her first husband was Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Asad . Together with him, she was one of the first women in Mecca to adopt Islam . The two emigrated to Abyssinia and later followed the prophet to Medina to avoid persecution by the Meccans.

Umm Salama was one of the most influential women in the early Islamic community and was in great demand as a counselor in religious matters after the death of Muhammad. Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī is quoted as saying that Umm Salama was a woman of "extraordinary beauty" ( ǧamāl bāriʿ ), who had a sharp mind, quick comprehension ( faur ʿaql ) and an incredible ability to formulate accurate judgments . She was also considered a fiqh expert by lawyers and religious scholars of the Islamic Middle Ages . 378 hadiths are traced back to Umm Salama , with which she takes second place among the female narrators behind ʿĀ'ischa bint Abī Bakr . For some Islamic feminists , Umm Salama is a great role model because she campaigned for equal rights for women and did not shy away from confrontation with leading men like ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb , the second caliph.

The tomb of Umm Salama next to that of Māriya al-Qibtīya , Zainab bint Jahsch , Fātima bint Muhammad and Hafsa bint Umar on a schematic representation of the al-Baqīʿ cemetery

ancestry

Umm Salama belonged to the Machzūm clan from the Quraish tribe . Her complete nasab was Umm Salama Hind bint Abī Umaiya ibn al-Mughīra ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Machzūm. Her father, Suhail Abū Umaiya, was one of the great men of his clan and was famous for his generosity. His house was so bountiful that over the years he came to be known as Zād ar-Rakb, which meant that he supplied the caravans with provisions. When he traveled, he refused to let the others bring their own food and insisted on looking after the caravans at his own expense.

Umm Salama's mother ʿĀtika belonged to the Kināna tribe . Her nasab was ʿĀtika bint ʿĀmir ibn Rabīʿa ibn Mālik ibn Jadīma ibn ʿAlqama Jidl at-Tiʿān ibn Firās ibn Ghanm ibn Mālik ibn Kināna.

First marriage to Abū Salama

Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Asad

Abū Salama was originally called ʿAbdallāh. He was the son of ʿAbd al-Asad ibn Hilāl ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Machzūm, came from the same clan Machzūm as his wife, but belonged to a different family. Abu Salama was also Dhū al-Hidschratain ( "the one who twice the Hijra occurred has") because he both the hijra to Abyssinia and that had served to Medina. His mother was an aunt of the Prophet, Barra bint ʿAbd al-Muttalib ibn Hāschim , so he was Muhammad's cousin and also brother through milk relationship , both were breastfed by a slave of Abu Lahab , an uncle of Mohammed.

Common children

There is disagreement about the number and gender of their children, there is talk of three or four children. ʿĀ'ischa ʿAbd ar-Rahmān Bint al-Shāti ' , who gets her information from at-Tabarī , states that she had two sons, Salama and ʿUmar, and two daughters, Zainab and Barra. In Ibn Saʿd the names of the daughter Zainab and the sons Salama, ʿUmar and Durra are mentioned. It is said that Zainab himself was originally called Barra, but the Prophet named her Zainab. The sons Salama, with whom Umm Salama emigrated to Medina and from whom she received her Kunya ( Umm Salama = "mother of Salama"), and ʿUmar and the daughter Zainab are known.

Mohammed is said to have loved the children of Umm Salama very much and regarded them as family members. He chose Salama to be the husband of the daughter Umāma of his uncle Hamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib , who had died in the battle of Uhud . Zainab grew up under the protection of the Prophet and became one of the most learned women of her time. ʿUmar later fought on the side of the fourth caliph ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib .

Emigration to Abyssinia

Umm Salama and Abū Salama were among the first followers of the Prophet Mohammed. When they suffered from difficult conditions in Mecca, some, including the two, emigrated to Abyssinia. Their first son Salama, after whom they were named, was born there. They returned to Mecca when they thought the situation had improved. But they were persecuted again there. When they could no longer endure this, Abu Salama decided to flee again, this time to Medina, where Mohammed had already emigrated.

Emigration to Medina

The story of their escape is tragic. When Abū Salama wanted to lead the camel with Umm Salama and Salama on it out of the city, men from the al-Mughīras family stopped him. They forbade him to take their family members with him and tore the reins of the camel from him. This made the ʿAbd al-Asad family angry because they claimed their son Salama for themselves. So both sides pulled on the child until one of his arms was dislocated. Eventually his father's men took him away, while the al-Mughīra family kept his mother. So Abū Salama went to Medina alone, Umm Salama was separated from him and from her son. According to tradition, she sat in a place every morning in Mecca and mourned until evening, for almost a year, until a relative took pity on her. He persisted in speaking to his relatives until they allowed Umm Salama to follow her husband. Likewise, the tribe of ʿAbd al-Asad brought their son back. Then Umm Salama saddled her camel, took her son and rode with him alone to Medina to find her husband there. About two miles away from Mecca, she met ʿUthmān ibn Talha , who at that time was still a polytheist and offered to accompany her, since he did not want to let her travel alone. He took her as far as Medina in a courteous manner and showed her in which quarter Abu Salama's house was. Then he returned to Mecca. Umm Salama was the first woman among the emigrants and one of the few women who went to Medina alone.

The death of Umm Salama's husband in the fight for Islam

When the Prophet wanted to wage a battle against Dhū l-Ushaira in the second year of the Hijra (624), he transferred the rule of Medina to Abū Salama in the meantime. With the Prophet he later took part in the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud . The latter suffered a severe wound. When some men turned against Mohammed and Islam just two months after Uhud and Mohammed learned that the Asad tribe was calling their people to attack his home in Medina, he called Abū Salama and assigned him to a force of 150 men lead to fight the attackers. Abū Salama carried out the Prophet's commands and surprised his enemies at dawn. He achieved a victory and returned to Medina triumphantly, restoring the dignity that Muslims in Uhud had lost. Abū Salama led his men into this battle while still suffering from the wound he sustained in the Battle of Uhud, which was only partially healed. The fight against the Asad tribe exhausted him, the wound became dangerous and caused his death. The prophet is said to have visited him on his deathbed and stayed by his side praying until he died. According to Muhammad ibn Saʿd , his death occurred on the 8th Jumādā th-thāniya of the year 4 (= November 11, 625).

Time between the two marriages

"We belong to God and to him we return"

According to Islamic tradition, when Abū Salama died, Umm Salama remembered that he had passed on to her the words of the Prophet: “If a great calamity has befallen someone, he should speak these words:“ We belong to God and we will return to him . ( Arabic إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ, DMG innā li-Llāhi wa innā ilaihi rāǧiʿūna , sura 2, verse 156 ). God, reward me for this misfortune and reward me with something better. "And God will reward him and replace it with something better." Umm Salama is said to have spoken these words and wondered which replacement could be given to her, which better would be as Abū Salama? God then gave her a better replacement (namely the prophet).

Tradition also says that Umm Salama originally wanted to make a pact with Abū Salama that they would not remarry after the death of the other, so that God would reunite them in paradise. But Abū Salama is said to have firmly rejected this and told her that if he died first, she should remarry. On this occasion he also asked God for a better man than him, who neither grieves nor hurts her.

Marriage proposals from respected men

After the prescribed waiting period ( ʿidda ) of Umm Salama, Abū Bakr asked for her hand, but she gently refused him. He was followed by Umar ibn al-Chattāb , but he was no longer lucky. Then the Prophet sent someone to ask for her hand for himself. One report says that Umm Salama wished that she would receive such a great honor, but that she was full of doubts as to whether to occupy an appropriate place in the household of the Prophet alongside ʿĀ'isha bint Abī Bakr and Hafsa bint ʿUmar because they were already older and had children to care for. So, in order to apologize, she sent word to the prophet that she was likely to be very jealous and that she was old and had to look after her children. Mohammed replied that he was older than her and that he would ask God to take away her jealousy; As for the children, God and his prophet would take care of them.

According to another version of the report, the third reason for rejection was not advanced age, but the fact that Umm Salama did not have a wali to marry her off; Mohammed then asked Umm Salama's childhood son to act as her wali. Another reason for the rejection is said to have been that Umm Salama did not want any more children.

Umm Salama as the Prophet's wife

Umm Salama's position in Muhammad's household

Umm Salama and the Prophet Mohammed married in the shawwāl of year 4 of the Hijra. The event falls in the year 626 AD, Umm Salama is said to have been 29 years old.

Umm Salama was the sixth woman Mohammed married. He had lived with Khadīja bint Chuwailid , his first wife, for 25 years. After their death in Mecca from Chaula bint Hākim of the Banū Sulaim tribe , he had been found two women, namely Sauda bint Zamaʿa , the elderly widow of a loyal companion, who afterwards looked after the house and children of Mohammed, and ʿĀ'ischa, who still very young daughter of his friend Abū Bakr. He only lived with her later in Medina. His fourth wife was also the daughter of a close companion, Hafsa bint ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb. She had already become a widow at the age of 18, whereupon Mohammed offered her marriage after both Abū Bakr and ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān had rejected her. The fifth wife, Zainab bint Chuzaima , was widowed at the battle of Uhud and lived only a few months in the house of the Prophet. After her death, he married Umm Salama, who moved into the abandoned house of Zainab bint Chuzaima. According to this, four wives were already living with the prophet at this point in time.

Reports of married life

After Mohammed was married to Umm Salama, he is said to have said when leaving her house that she had done her family honor. If she liked, he would give her seven days. But if he gave her seven days, he would also give the other wives seven days. According to another version of the report, Mohammed also offered Umm Salama seven days with him, indicating that the other women would then also get seven days or she could have three days and he would then continue the usual daily rhythm with the others. Umm Salama chose the three days.

Various traditions report that whenever the Prophet wanted to come to her, Umm Salama nursed her daughter Zainab. ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, Umm Salama's milk brother, is said to have suspected that she did this because he then kept his distance from her. He then told her that she should abandon this disgusting game, as it hurt the prophet, and asked her to let her daughter go so that she could devote more time to the prophet. Finally, Umm Salama agreed to send her young daughter Zainab to a wet nurse. When the Prophet came to Umm Salama and asked about the whereabouts of “Zunab” (as he affectionately called her), Ammār declared: “The girl hinders the Prophet's married life”. Muhammad's failure to physically approach Umm Salama while breastfeeding set the precedent in Islam for rejecting sexual relations with nursing mothers.

Jealousy from ʿĀ'ishah and Hafsa

According to Arabic tradition, Umm Salama's arrival in the household of Muhammad caused trouble for his two young wives, ʿĀ'ischa and Hafsa, because Umm Salama brought along beauty, intelligence, pride and a noble parentage. It is reported that the two women pretended to expect the new woman with the greatest possible benevolence, but that ʿĀ'isha could not play this part for long because she was very jealous of Umm Salama. In particular, the constant affection that characterized the prophet's relationship with this wife, who was also very gifted at having a neat conversation, is said to have saddened ʿĀ'isha and fueled her jealousy. Another reason for their jealousy had to do with the prophetic work of Muhammad. Up until then, ʿĀ'ishah was said to have been the only one of the women of Muhammad in whose house revelations had come to him, and'ishah is said to have boasted about it in front of the other women. This special position only lasted until Umm Salama came into the household and the following verse was sent to Mohammed when he was with her (5th year of the hijra , occasion of Abū Lubāba , sura 9, verse 102 ).

ʿĀ'ishah also infected Hafsa with her jealousy. As an example of the jealousy of the two, Bint al-Shāti 'cites a report that they hatched an intrigue against Umm Salama. According to this report, when Mohammed came to see her, Umm Salama usually opened a pot of honey for him because he was very fond of honey. ʿĀ'ischa observed this behavior and told Hafsa about it. In order to prevent him from going to Umm Salama, ʿĀ'ishah also agreed to reprimand Hafsa for his bad breath after his visits to Umm Salama. When he visited ʿĀ'isha, she said to him: “I can smell something on you. What did you eat? ”He said:“ Honey at Umm Salama. ”ʿĀ'ischa said:“ The bees must have visited the (bad smelling) mimosa. ”Then he went to Hafsa. She said the same to him. The prophet is said to have been concerned about it. When he went to Umm Salama again and she offered him honey, he refused it. According to a report that goes back to Umm Salama himself, this was even the occasion for revelation for sura 66, verse 1 : “Oh prophet! Why do you forbid yourself something that God has allowed you? "

ʿĀ'ischa, together with Hafsa and Sauda, ​​whom she admired for their youth, formed one group among the wives of Muhammad, while Umm Salama gathered a second group with later wives, the support of Fātima bint Muhammad , the Prophet's daughter, received.

Consultation with the Prophet at Hudaibiya

The Prophet always had one or more of his wives accompany him in his ventures. Umm Salama was involved in many of them. In the sixth year of the Hijra (628), she accompanied the Prophet on the pilgrimage to Mecca when the Quraish prevented him and his followers from visiting the holy places. It was on this occasion that the Treaty of Hudaibiya was signed, which historians later considered a great victory. As various traditions report, Umm Salama played a prominent role in this event. At that time there was anger among the followers of Mohammed about the terms of the contract, especially with ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb. The matter became so serious that an argument threatened. The Prophet then ordered his companions to stand up, slaughter the sacrificial animals and shave to mark the end of the pilgrimage. Although he repeated this request three times, no one responded. He went to Umm Salama and told of the riot. She is said to have said: “O Prophet of God, you would like to see your companions slaughter animals and see them shave? Go out and don't say a word to any of them until you've slaughtered your fat camel and called your barber to shave you. ”The Prophet listened to her advice, went out and didn't say a word before he was his Animal and it was shaved. When the companions saw this, they silently followed his example. The Treaty of Hudaibiya is considered an important victory in Islam. According to the Arab reports, the number of Muslims more than doubled under this treaty.

Her role in the dispute over Māriya and Muhammad's boycott of marriage

When she returned to Medina in the eighth year of Hijra, Umm Salama was incited by the other wives, led by ʿĀ'ishah and Hafsa, against his slave and concubine Māriya al-Qibtīya . They insisted that she submit to ʿĀ'ishah and agree to support their intrigues against Māriya. Māriya had given birth to her son Ibrāhīm in the eighth year of Hijra, and Umm Salama, ʿĀ'isha, Hafsa, Zainab and the rest of the wives saw the great joy that he caused in the Prophet. These intrigues are said to have been the reason that Mohammed separated from his wives for a month. Another account of the Prophet's withdrawal from his wives attributes it to an earlier incident with Māriya when she was still pregnant, which aroused great jealousy in the wives that none of them could give a child to Mohammed.

According to a report narrated by Ibn Saʿd, when Muhammad withdrew from his wives, Umm Salama spoke out against the interference of other men in Muhammad's marriage affairs. The account says that ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb came to the Prophet and asked him why he did not come to prayer and was so dejected. Mohammed replied that his wives wanted something from him that he could not give. ʿUmar talked to Mohammed until his condition improved, then went to Abū Bakr and told him the story. Abū Bakr went to ʿĀ'ishah to tell her not to ask anything from the Prophet that he did not have. ʿUmar went to Hafsa and said something similar to her. Then they both went to the other wives and began to admonish them until they came to Umm Salama and mentioned this to her. But she admonished Abū Bakr and ʿUmar: “What kind of things are you two doing here? The prophet of God is more justified in our affairs. If he wants to forbid us something, he will forbid us. Who are we if we don't ask God's Messenger? Is there anyone between you and your wives? Don't burden yourselves with it. ”The two of them then proceeded, and the other wives thanked Umm Salama for their speech, as they themselves had not had an answer for the two men.

Correction from Umar ibn al-Chattab

Another report mentions that Umm Salama specifically opposed the later caliph ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb when he tried to interfere in the relationship between Muhammad and his wives. The background to the dispute was that ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb had an argument with his wife. He gave her instructions with the expectation that she would accept them without objection. But she asked him counter questions, which annoyed him. She said, “How strange, son of al-Chattāb, that you do not want to be pointed out while your daughter points this out to the Messenger of God until he remains angry all day.” Umar immediately went to Hafsa and asked her, “Daughter, do you plague the Prophet so that he is angry all day? ”She said yes. Then he went to Umm Salama, because she was his relative, and talked to her about it. She was outraged: “How amazing, oh son of al-Chattāb, you interfere in everything, now even in the affairs between the Prophet and his wives.” She rebuked him and spoke to him until his anger subsided and he did gave her right.

Ibn Saʿd describes the situation in more detail. ʿUmar visited his daughter Hafsa after the argument with his wife and told her that she might contradict the Prophet, as Aisha does, but she has neither the primacy of Aisha nor the beauty of Zainab bint Jahsch. Then he went to Umm Salama and asked them if the wives would speak to the Prophet and even contradict him. Umm Salama was angry and said, “How extraordinary! Is it your job to interfere in the affairs of God's Messenger and his wives? By God we're talking to him. If it bothers him, that's his business. If he forbade us, it would affect us more than if it came from you. ”Then ʿUmar regretted what he had said to the wives.

Commitment to the interests of women

Various reports say that Umm Salama stood up for the interests of women against Mohammed. She is said to have criticized the fact that the Koran was only aimed at men. The answer to this should be the Koran verse sura 33, verse 35 , which is explicitly formulated in such a way that women are also addressed. In the translation by Hartmut Bobzin it reads: “Behold, the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the pious men and women, the truth-speaking men and women, the patient men and women, the humble men and women, the benevolent men and women, the fasting men and women, the men and women who keep their shame, the men and women who remember God often, God has forgiveness and rich reward in store for all of them. “The Quranic verse made it clear that both sexes are equal as believers and members of the community.

Another tradition shows that Umm Salama wanted the term “mothers of the believers” ( ummuhāt al-muʾminīn ), which was used for the wives of Muhammad, to be understood in this general sense as well. Tradition has it that after the revelation of the Koranic verse, according to which the wives of the Prophet were mothers of the believers ( sura 33, verse 6 ), a woman said to ʿĀ'isha: “O mother!” ʿĀ'isha replied: “I am not your mother, I am the mother of your husbands. ”It is said of Umm Salama that she said:“ I am the mother of your husbands and your wives. ”

Umm Salama also excelled with another claim. She is said to have said to Mohammed: “Messenger of God, why do the men go to war and we not?” Or in another version: “Messenger of God, men go to war, and we are denied the right to it while we have the right to inherit! ”This question was about an income of their own, that is, the independence of women from the men who support them, and equality. In pre-Islamic times, women and children were excluded from the inheritance on the grounds that they did not take part in raids or wars and therefore could not obtain any booty.

Last years with Mohammed

Umm Salama also accompanied Mohammed on the campaign to Chaibar (628) as well as during the conquest of Mecca, the battle of Hunain against the Hawāzin and Thaqīf tribes and his victory in Ta'if (630). When Mohammed fell ill in 632, she agreed to be cared for in the house of'ishah.

After Muhammad's death

Under the rule of the first two caliphs, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb, Umm Salama lived very secluded. Her few interventions were mainly concerned with defending the rights and duties of women based on their status as believers . Because tendencies developed to exclude the woman from the mosque and forbid her to go on pilgrimage.

Commitment to ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir under ʿUthmān

Under the third caliph ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān there were the first signs of a more critical and more intervening attitude on the part of the widowed prophets, especially Umm Salama and ʿĀ'ischa. This happened when the caliph had ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, the milk brother of Umm Salama, beaten with a stick because ʿAmmār had objected to the poor use of public money. It was his sister who ingested the lifeless body and nursed it back to health. She also gathered the indignant parents together. Angry, ʿUthmān sent a letter to Umm Salama asking her what this meeting meant. In her sharp response, she asked him to change his leadership behavior. Umm Salama did not hesitate to judge the caliph harshly. Yet she remained in an attitude to criticize the caliph that conformed to conventional norms of advice and rebuke and was shown by many women of the period.

Supporting ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib

In the year 35 (656), after the murder of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, Umm Salama made the pilgrimage with the other wives, but she did not stay at the side of ʿĀ'isha in Mecca, but immediately went home again. In the political struggle, ʿĀ'isha dared to revolt with the camel battle . An exchange of letters between the two widows that followed shows that Umm accused Salama ʿĀ'isha of improper behavior for a woman who was also the mother of the believers. At the same time she went to the side of the fourth caliph ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib .

It is said of Umm Salama that she said to ʿAlī: “Leader of the believers, if I did not disregard God and you did not reject me, I would come with you. But here is my son Umar, who I prefer to my own life. He will go with you and be by your side in your battles. ”So ʿUmar went with ʿAlī and stayed with him. ʿAlī then appointed ʿUmar governor of Bahrain. Umm Salama vehemently spoke the following words to ʿĀ'isha: “What is it that I have heard about you, you are going to fight? God stands behind his people. If I went out as you do, and if I had been told that I would reap Paradise, I would be ashamed to meet Mohammed, to have violated the seclusion he has imposed on me. "

Act as a religious advisor

After ʿĀ'ishah returned from the camel battle, the two widows were probably reconciled. They were both in a privileged position, practicing and transmitting the Prophet's words. Both had a copy of the Uthmanic edition of the Koran . ʿĀ'ishah also seems to have later recognized the important role of Umm Salama as the wife of the Prophet. When asked which of his wives was of importance to the prophet, she is said to have replied that she herself had been with him a lot and that Zainab bint Jahsch and Umm Salama had an important place with him. The two were the wives he considered the dearest women after her.

Like ʿĀ'isha and Hafsa, Umm Salama could probably read and write. Letters from her are recorded in the sources. With her daughter Zainab bint Abī Salama and Umm Habība and Umm ʿAtīya , she belonged to a group of women who exchanged and questioned one another on religious questions. Like ʿĀ'ischa and Umm Habība, Umm Salama played an essential role in the consideration of Quranic statements and the verification of hadiths. Your testimony was very important.

Umm Salama was also seen as an authority on religious questions and was called upon when such questions needed clarification. One example is her answer to the question about the waiting period ( ʿidda ) of a pregnant widow. There was uncertainty in this regard because there are two relevant statements in the Koran that provide for different rules: 1. that the waiting time of a widow until remarriage is four months and ten days ( sura 2, verse 234 ), 2. that the waiting time of a pregnant woman Woman lasts until childbirth ( sura 65, verse 4 ). A report narrated by Sulaimān ibn Yasār says that Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd ar-Rahmān and ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbbās met with Abū Huraira and discussed this subject with him. Ibn ʿAbbās believed that the waiting time for a pregnant widow was the longer of the two periods. Abū Salama, on the other hand, believed that the waiting period ended with the birth. They couldn't agree. Abū Huraira agreed with the opinion of his nephew Abū Salama. Then they sent someone to Umm Salama to question them. She told of the case of the Subaiʿa al-Aslamīya, whose husband died a few days before giving birth, and the Prophet's permission that she was allowed to remarry after the birth of her child. In doing so, she helped to clarify the question.

In individual questions, ʿĀ'ischa and Umm Salama took opposing views, for example with regard to the marriage-related milk relationship . While'ishah was of the opinion that if a woman gave her milk to an adult five times, she would already have become his mahram and could therefore no longer marry him, Umm Salama was of the opinion that only such breastfeeding would die Marriage forbids being part of the diet and taking place before the age of weaning. The difference of opinion also had to do with the different judgment of an instruction of Muhammad. He had recommended the wife of his companion Abū Hudhaifa to give some of their milk to the slave Sālim, who lived in the common household, in order to establish a milk relationship with him. This should make dealing with him more relaxed, as the two were no longer allowed to marry this way. Mohammed is supposed to have said: "Give Sālim your milk, then you will be illegitimate for him and Abū Hudhaifa will be reassured." ʿĀ'isha referred to this recommendation of Mohammed when assessing the question. Umm Salama, on the other hand, said that this was only a special permit for the wife of Abū Hudaifa, pointing out that all of Muhammad's other wives refused to receive men who were related to them in this way with milk.

Sometimes, however, ʿĀ'isha seems to have valued Umm Salama's religious competence higher than her own. It is reported that some men were sent to ʿĀ'ishah to inquire about a certain prayer practice of Muhammad. This referred him to Umm Salama, as she could not provide any information. Umm Salama then helped clarify this question. It is unclear which of the two women led the women in prayer when they prayed together. Nā'ila bint al-Farāfisa al-Hanafīya and Raita al-Hanafīya reported that ʿĀ'ishah led them in prayer by standing in their midst. Hudjairah, on the other hand, reported that Umm Salama had led the women. She also reported: “Umm Salama led us in the Asr prayer by standing in the midst of us .” It is not mentioned how many participated in these prayers and whether they were all women’s groups.

End of life

There are different statements about the time of Umm Salama's death. Maria Senoglu quotes Ibn al- Jawzī as saying that Umm Salama was the last of the prophetic wives to die in the year 59 or 62 and was 84 years old. It is recorded in Muhammad ibn Sa sied that she died in Dhū l-Qa imda in the year 59 of the Hijra. According to another tradition, Umm Salama died after the battle of Karbala (680) and the local massacre of al-Husain ibn ʿAlī and his followers and relatives. Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī writes in al-Iṣāba that she died at the end of the 61st year of the hijra after receiving news of the death of al-Husain. It is also reported that a year later she lived and died when she heard that Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya had sent an army to Medina in 63 to destroy the house of ʿAlī. She probably died the last of the prophetic wives. Magali Morsy, however, thinks that Maimūna bint al-Harith , who died in 681, in the 61st year of hijra, lived even longer than she did.

Significance for posterity

Her role as the narrator of hadiths

Like ʿĀ'isha, Umm Salama was one of the earliest sources of authentication of hadiths for scholars. There were many male scholars who referred to and reported about Umm Salama. A total of 378 hadiths are traced back to Umm Salama, 13 of which are recorded in both al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj , three more in al-Buchari and 13 more from her in Muslim. According to ʿĀ'isha, she is the woman who narrated most of the hadeeth. The scholars praised the reliability and strength of the isnād of the accounts of Umm Salama. Al-Hākim reported that Ahmad ibn Hanbal , Yahyā ibn Maʿīn and ʿAlī ibn al-Madinī met with a group of hadith experts and discussed the best of all good chains. One of them said: "The best is: Shuʿba from Qatāda ibn Diʿāma from Saʿīd ibn al-Musaiyab from Āmir, the brother of Umm Salama, from Umm Salama."

Decisive for the recognition of the authenticity of a tradition was also the fundamental trustworthiness of the person who remembered a prophet's saying. The women who were particularly close to Mohammed, and especially those who were known to be learned, such as ʿĀ'isha and Umm Salama, have a priority. "If both made identical statements, this was almost a guarantee of authenticity."

Modern interpretations as an "emancipated" woman and a forerunner of feminism

Because of the reports about Umm Salama's erudition, intelligence, her role as advisor to the Prophet and her resolute advocacy for the interests of women, Umm Salama appears to many modern authors as the type of "emancipated" woman. Magali Morsy points out that Umm Salama not only spoke to Mohammed about religious matters, but also asked questions about the place of women in Islamic society. This internal debate in the house of the Prophet was primarily conducted through Umm Salama. Morsy said that Umm Salama could even be called a feminist because she had campaigned for women's rights. In her conversations with the Prophet, she tried to specify the areas of responsibility of women and stood up for their privileges with pride and strength.

Doris Decker also interprets Umm Salama as a champion for the recognition and equality of women in the Muslim community. She establishes this, among other things, by the fact that Umm Salama deliberately dealt with the Koranic message and pointed out that women are not explicitly addressed in it. She perceived this as discrimination against the female sex.

literature

Arabic sources

Secondary literature

  • ʿĀ'ischa ʿAbd ar-Rahmān Bint asch-Shāti ' : The wives of the prophet . Translated from the Arabic by Matti Moosa and D. Nicholas Ranson. 1st edition. Gorgias Press, Piscataway (NJ) 2006, ISBN 1-59333398-6 .
  • Doris Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. Conceptions of images of women in early Islamic traditions up to the 9th century . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-1702233-5-6 (dissertation).
  • Doris Decker: "Female politics in early Islam using the example of Muḥammads wife Umm Salama" in the Marburg journal of religion. 19 (2017) 1-22. Digitized
  • Fatima Mernissi: The political harem. Mohammed and the women . Translated from the French by Veronika Kabis-Alamba. 1. Edition. Dağyeli, Frankfurt a. M. 1989, ISBN 3-89329-112-1 .
  • Magali Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . Mercure de France, Paris 1989, ISBN 2-7152-1598-3 .
  • Mohammad Akram Nadwī: al-Muhaddithāt: the women scholars in Islam . Interface Publications, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-9554545-1-6 .
  • Michaela Mihriban Özelsel: Woman in Islam. In tradition and today. Considerations from a cultural anthropological perspective . (First publication in the journal “Dialog der Religionen”, 2nd year, issue 2, pp. 154–173, 1992, ISSN 0939-5539) Gesellschaft Muslimischer Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaftler e. V., Cologne 2002.
  • Ruth Roded: "Umm Salama Hind" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. X, p. 856.
  • Maria Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of Ṭabaqāt literature . Nūr al-ḥikma. Interdisciplinary series on Islamic Studies, Vol. 7. Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8300658-3-8 (dissertation).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Understanding the Islamic Law, Raj Bhala, Section Umm Salama, translation: . "In the year 625 Mohammed Umm Salama Hind (circa 580 - 680) married another war widow , she lost her husband in the battle of Uhud."
  2. ↑ Mernissi: The political harem. Mohammed and the women . 1989, p. 153.
  3. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  4. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 123.
  5. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 123.
  6. ↑ Muhammad Ibn Saʿd al- Zuhrī: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  7. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  8. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 124.
  9. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 126.
  10. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  11. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 428.
  12. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 91.
  13. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 130.
  14. ↑ aṭ-Ṭabarī: The History of al-Tabarī . Vol. 16 The Community Divided . 1997, p. 42.
  15. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 124-126.
  16. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 126-127.
  17. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  18. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 86.
  19. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, p. 62.
  20. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 128.
  21. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  22. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, p. 66.
  23. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  24. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 129.
  25. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 47-48.
  26. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 101-103.
  27. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 115.
  28. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, pp. 63-65.
  29. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 129.
  30. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  31. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 123.
  32. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, p. 107.
  33. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 130-131.
  34. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 78.
  35. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, pp. 124-125.
  36. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  37. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 71.
  38. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 132-134.
  39. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 134.
  40. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 81-83.
  41. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, pp. 131-132.
  42. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 295.
  43. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 16-17.
  44. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, pp. 139-140.
  45. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 292.
  46. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: The women of Medina . 1995, p. 141.
  47. ↑ Mernissi: The political harem. Mohammed and the women . 1989, p. 175.
  48. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, p. 134.
  49. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, pp. 111-113.
  50. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, pp. 111-113.
  51. ↑ aṭ-Ṭabarī: The History of al-Tabarī . Vol. 16 The Community Divided . 1997, p. 42.
  52. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 134-135.
  53. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, p. 114.
  54. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 111.
  55. ↑ Nadwī: al-Muhaddithat: the women scholars in Islam . 2007, p. 54.
  56. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 135.
  57. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, p. 19.
  58. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 325.
  59. ↑ Nadwī: al-Muhaddithāt: the women scholars in Islam . 2007, p. 196.
  60. ↑ Nadwī: al-Muhaddithāt: the women scholars in Islam . 2007, pp. 32-33.
  61. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, pp. 324-325.
  62. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 447.
  63. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 448.
  64. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 342.
  65. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  66. ↑ Ibn Saʿd: Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . 2001, Vol. X, p. 85.
  67. ↑ Bint asch-Shāti ': The wives of the prophet . 2006, pp. 134-135.
  68. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, pp. 12-13.
  69. ↑ Mohammad Akram Nadwī: al-Muhaddithat: the women scholars in Islam . Interface Publications, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-9554545-1-6 . P. 139.
  70. ↑ Mohammad Akram Nadwī: al-Muhaddithat: the women scholars in Islam . Interface Publications, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-0-9554545-1-6 . P. 248.
  71. ↑ Senoglu: "She wept and passed out." The female saint figure in the mirror of the qabaqāt literature . 2012, p. 148.
  72. ↑ Nadwī: al-Muhaddithāt: the women scholars in Islam . 2007, p. 25.
  73. ↑ Özelsel: Woman in Islam. In tradition and today. 2002. p. 13.
  74. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, p. 108.
  75. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, pp. 109-110.
  76. ↑ Morsy: Les femmes du Prophète . 1989, pp. 110-111.
  77. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 297.
  78. ↑ Decker: Women as Carriers of Religious Knowledge. 2013, p. 293.
personal data
SURNAME Umm Salama
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hind bint Abī Umayya, Umm Salama bint Zād ar-Rakb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the Prophet Mohammed
DATE OF BIRTH at 597
PLACE OF BIRTH Mecca
DATE OF DEATH between 679 and 683
Place of death Medina