Umm Habiba, Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, was a Companion and a wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Born around 593 CE into the Umayyad clan of Quraysh, she accepted Islam early and migrated to Abyssinia with her first husband, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh. Their daughter Habiba was born there, giving Ramla the kunya by which she became best known. Biographical sources report that her husband later adopted Christianity and died in Abyssinia, while Umm Habiba remained Muslim. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then arranged to marry her through the Negus; canonical reports preserve the marriage in Abyssinia and a substantial dowry paid on his behalf. She later joined the Prophetic household in Medina. Her hadith legacy is considerable among the Mothers of the Believers and includes the twelve daily voluntary rakʿahs, rules of mourning, early departure from Muzdalifa, marriage prohibitions and observations from Abyssinia. Specialist biography places her death in 44 AH / 664 CE in Medina, with 42 AH / 662 and 59 AH / 679 transmitted as alternatives.
593 — ?
Names and variants
Umm Habiba (Ramla bint Abi Sufyan)· canonicalUmm Habiba (Ramla bint Abi Sufyan)· canonicalأم حبيبة رملة بنت أبي سفيان· canonicalRamla bint Abi Sufyan· birth nameRamla bint Abi Sufyan· birth nameرملة بنت أبي سفيان· birth nameUmm Habiba· kunyaأم حبيبة· kunyaRamla bint Abi Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb· variantرملة بنت أبي سفيان صخر بن حرب· variantal-Umawiyya· nisbaالأموية· nisbaUmm al-Muʾminin· laqabأم المؤمنين· laqabÜmmü Habîbe Remle bint Ebî Süfyân· transliterationUmm Habibah· transliteration
Umm Habiba (Ramla bint Abi Sufyan)
Umm Habiba, Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, was a Companion and a wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ whose life connects early conversion, migration to Abyssinia, marriage by proxy and a substantial hadith legacy.
TDV states that she was born seventeen years before the beginning of Islam, which is best retained approximately as around 593 CE rather than as an exact year.
Specialist biographical sources report that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh later adopted Christianity in Abyssinia and attempted to pressure Umm Habiba to leave Islam.
Biographical sources report separation after her husband’s change of religion and his later death in Abyssinia. Canonical marriage reports independently confirm that she was previously married to Ibn Jaḥsh and that he died there.
Specialist biography reports that ʿAmr ibn Umayya was sent to the Negus with letters that included a request concerning Umm Habiba’s marriage and the return of Muslim emigrants.
Canonical reports express the dowry as four thousand dirhams, while the TDV specialist biography reports four hundred dinars. The differing denominations should be preserved rather than collapsed into one figure.
Specialist biography reports that Abu Sufyan, still outside Islam at the time, reacted to the marriage with respect for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ rather than rejecting it.
Ibn ʿAbbās is reported to have linked Qurʾān 60:7, concerning affection emerging between former enemies, to this marriage. This should be presented as an exegetical attribution rather than an uncontested cause of revelation.
Biographical tradition reports that when Abu Sufyan later visited Medina seeking an extension of the Hudaybiyya agreement, Umm Habiba would not allow him to sit on the bedding associated with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Umm Habiba and Umm Salama later recalled a church they had seen in Abyssinia that contained images.
Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [18] Parallel church report, [32] Parallel church-and-images report, [41] Church seen in Abyssinia
The church-and-graves report
Sahih Muslim preserves Prophet Muhammad ﷺ responding that communities who built places of worship over the graves of righteous people and decorated them with images would face severe blame.
Umm Habiba directly transmitted the well-known report that a house is built in Paradise for the Muslim who regularly performs twelve voluntary rakʿahs in a day and night.
The Prophet explained that marrying two sisters simultaneously was not lawful and also clarified the foster-kinship barrier involving the daughter of Umm Salama.
When her father Abu Sufyan died, Umm Habiba used perfume after three days specifically to demonstrate the Prophetic ruling on mourning.
Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [7] Perfume after death of Abu Sufyan, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [15] Mourning after father death, [16] Parallel report, [24] Parallel Tirmidhi report, [40] Parallel Nasai report
The mourning-period ruling
She transmitted that a woman should not mourn a deceased person for more than three days, except for a husband, for whom the period is four months and ten days.
Sahih Muslim and al-Nasaʾi preserve Umm Habiba reporting that she was sent from Muzdalifa toward Mina during the night.
Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [11] Sent from Muzdalifa during the night, [35] Parallel Nasai report, [36] Parallel Nasai route, [42] Parallel early departure report
Prayer in a garment used for intimacy
Muawiya asked his sister Umm Habiba whether Prophet Muhammad ﷺ prayed in a garment in which he had had intercourse. She answered that he did so when no impurity was visible on it.
Sahih Muslim preserves Umm Habiba asking to benefit from her husband, father and brother, followed by a teaching on fixed lifespans and asking Allah for protection from punishment.
The TDV specialist biography reports sixty-five hadiths from Umm Habiba in the Musnad of Baqi ibn Makhlad and notes forty-three reports in the Musnad of Ahmad.
Among the Mothers of the Believers, Umm Habiba left a notable hadith corpus spanning voluntary prayer, mourning, pilgrimage, marriage law, household practice and observations from Abyssinia.
A life of migration, steadfastness and transmission
Umm Habiba is remembered for early commitment to Islam, steadfastness in Abyssinia, a marriage arranged across distance, and a substantial body of direct Prophetic transmission.
Canonical reports give the dowry as four thousand dirhams, while the TDV specialist biography gives four hundred dinars; the denomination should be retained as a source-level variation.
Umm Habiba transmitted the promise of protection from the Fire for maintaining four rakʿahs before and four after Ẓuhr.
Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [23] Parallel Tirmidhi report, [27] Four before and four after Zuhr, [34] Parallel Nasai report, [43] Parallel Tirmidhi route
established
Canonical reports preserve Umm Habiba offering her sister in marriage and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ explaining the prohibition on combining two sisters and the foster-kinship barrier concerning Umm Salama’s daughter.
Umm Habiba transmitted that mourning for a deceased person should not exceed three days except for a husband, for whom the period is four months and ten days.
Sahih Muslim records Umm Habiba being sent from Muzdalifa toward Mina during the night.
Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [11] Sent from Muzdalifa at night, [35] Parallel Nasai report, [42] Parallel Muslim report
established
Canonical reports preserve Umm Habiba telling her brother Muawiya that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ prayed in a garment used for intimacy when no impurity was visible on it.
Sahih Muslim preserves a supplication by Umm Habiba mentioning her husband, father and brother, followed by a Prophetic teaching on fixed lifespans and sustenance.
The TDV specialist biography reports sixty-five hadiths from Umm Habiba in the Musnad of Baqi ibn Makhlad and forty-three reports in the Musnad of Ahmad.
Umm Habiba directly transmitted the canonical teaching that a house is built in Paradise for one who regularly performs twelve voluntary rakʿahs in a day and night, and Sahih Muslim preserves her statement that she maintained the practice after hearing it.
religious · established
A canonical mourning-period precedent
Her report after the death of her father preserves the rule that mourning for a deceased person is limited to three days except for a husband, for whom the period is four months and ten days.
religious · established
Marriage-law and foster-kinship transmission
The canonical exchange in which Umm Habiba offered her sister in marriage preserves both the prohibition on combining two sisters and the effect of foster kinship on marriage eligibility.
scholarly · established
A pilgrimage report on leaving Muzdalifa
Umm Habiba transmitted that she was sent from Muzdalifa toward Mina during the night, a report preserved in Sahih Muslim and al-Nasaʾi and used in discussions of departure for those permitted to leave early.
religious · established
A substantial female hadith legacy
Specialist biography reports sixty-five hadiths from Umm Habiba in Baqi ibn Makhlad’s Musnad. Her surviving canonical material spans worship, mourning, pilgrimage, household practice, marriage law and observations from Abyssinia.
scholarly · reported
Sources
[1]
Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ
al-Dhahabī · Classical biographical source
[2]
Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba
Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī · Classical companion biographical source
[3]
Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba
Ibn al-Athir · Classical companion biographical source