Islam Academy

Umm Habiba (Ramla bint Abi Sufyan)

أم حبيبة رملة بنت أبي سفيان

Umm Habiba

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.

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

Names and identity

Her personal name was Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, while she became best known by the kunya Umm Habiba.

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

Ramla bint Abi Sufyan

Ramla was the daughter of Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb of the Umayyad clan of Quraysh.

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

The kunya Umm Habiba

She was called Umm Habiba after the birth of her daughter Habiba in Abyssinia.

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

Umayyad lineage

Umm Habiba belonged to Banū Umayya, one of the leading clans of Quraysh.

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

Her father Abu Sufyan

Her father Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was a leading Meccan figure who opposed the early Muslim community before later accepting Islam.

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

Her mother Safiyya

Her mother was Safiyya bint Abi al-ʿAs ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams according to specialist biography.

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

A shared Quraysh ancestry

Her lineage and that of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ meet at ʿAbd Manāf according to the specialist biographical tradition.

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

Approximate birth around 593

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.

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

Among the early Muslims

Umm Habiba and her first husband were among the early Muslims during the Meccan period.

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

Marriage to ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh

Before her marriage to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, she was married to ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh, a relative of the Prophet through his paternal aunt Umayma.

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, [28] Previously wife of Ibn Jahsh; migration to Abyssinia

Migration to Abyssinia

Facing persecution in Mecca, Umm Habiba migrated to Abyssinia with her husband.

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, [28] Migration context in Abyssinia

The second migration group

Specialist biography places the couple among the second group of Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia around 616 CE.

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

Birth of her daughter Habiba

Umm Habiba gave birth in Abyssinia to a daughter named Habiba, from whom her kunya derived.

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

Life among the emigrants

Biographical tradition places Umm Habiba and her husband among the Muslim emigrant community associated with Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib in Abyssinia.

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

Her husband’s reported conversion to Christianity

Specialist biographical sources report that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh later adopted Christianity in Abyssinia and attempted to pressure Umm Habiba to leave Islam.

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

Remaining Muslim

The same biographical tradition presents Umm Habiba as refusing to abandon Islam despite her husband’s change of religion.

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

Separation and loss of her husband

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.

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, [28] Previous husband died in Abyssinia

Alone in Abyssinia with her child

With her father still outside Islam in Mecca and her husband gone, Umm Habiba remained in Abyssinia with her daughter.

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

A marriage proposal from Medina

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ decided to marry Umm Habiba while she was still in Abyssinia.

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

The mission to the Negus

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.

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

Khalid ibn Saʿid as her representative

Umm Habiba appointed Khalid ibn Saʿid as her representative for the marriage according to specialist biography.

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

The Negus conducts the marriage

Canonical reports state that the Negus arranged the marriage of Umm Habiba to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Abyssinia.

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, [28] Negus married Umm Habiba to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, [29] Negus arranged marriage, [38] Parallel marriage report

Reports on the dowry

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.

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, [29] Four thousand dirham dower, [38] Four thousand dower and outfitting, [44] Four thousand dirham dower

Chronology of the marriage

Specialist biography dates the marriage to 6 or 7 AH, corresponding approximately to 628–629 CE.

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

Journey from Abyssinia to Medina

After the marriage, Umm Habiba left Abyssinia and joined the Muslim community in Medina.

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

Mother of the Believers

As a wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Umm Habiba held the status of a Mother of the Believers.

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

Abu Sufyan’s reported reaction

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.

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

An interpretation linked to Qurʾān 60:7

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.

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

The visit of Abu Sufyan

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.

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

Hudaybiyya and family loyalty

The episode is remembered as illustrating the tension between family bonds and Umm Habiba’s loyalty to her faith and marriage.

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

Life in the Prophetic household

Umm Habiba lived in Medina as part of the Prophetic household and became an important transmitter of Prophetic practice.

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

A church seen in Abyssinia

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.

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, [32] Parallel canonical report, [41] Graves and images in places of worship

Twelve voluntary rakʿahs

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.

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, [19] Twelve voluntary rakahs, [20] Parallel twelve-rakah report, [22] Specified twelve-rakah pattern, [26] Parallel Abu Dawud report, [33] Parallel Nasai report, [46] Parallel Ibn Majah report

Four before and four after Ẓuhr

She also transmitted the report promising protection from the Fire for maintaining four rakʿahs before and four after the noon prayer.

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 report, [27] Four before and four after Zuhr, [34] Parallel report, [43] Parallel report

Consistency in practice

In Sahih Muslim, Umm Habiba states that she did not abandon the twelve daily rakʿahs after hearing the teaching from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

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, [19] She did not abandon the practice, [20] Parallel consistency statement

Offering her sister in marriage

Canonical reports preserve Umm Habiba proposing that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ marry her sister so that her sister might share in the good she experienced.

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, [12] Parallel report, [13] Parallel Muslim report, [17] Offers her sister in marriage, [37] Parallel Nasai report

Marriage prohibitions and foster kinship

The Prophet explained that marrying two sisters simultaneously was not lawful and also clarified the foster-kinship barrier involving the daughter of Umm Salama.

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, [14] Parallel marriage-law report, [17] Two sisters and foster-kinship barriers

After the death of Abu Sufyan

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.

Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [7] Three days except husband four months ten, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [15] Canonical mourning period, [39] Parallel report, [45] Parallel report

Early departure from Muzdalifa

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.

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, [25] Muawiya asks his sister about prayer garment, [31] Parallel report

Bells in travelling groups

Abu Dawud preserves Umm Habiba transmitting that angels do not accompany a travelling group in which there is a bell.

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, [30] Angels and bells in travelling company

A supplication about family lifespan

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.

Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [6] Dua mentioning husband father and brother, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [21] Parallel predestination teaching

Reported hadith count

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.

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

Those who transmitted from her

Her transmitters included relatives, freedmen and members of the next generation, according to specialist biography.

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

Muawiya as a transmitter from his sister

Canonical material preserves Muawiya asking and transmitting from his sister Umm Habiba on household practice.

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, [25] Muawiya transmits from his sister, [31] Parallel sibling transmission

During the siege of ʿUthmān

Biographical tradition reports that Umm Habiba tried to support her cousin ʿUthmān during the siege of his house.

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

Avoiding later political conflict

Specialist biography describes her as avoiding involvement in the political conflicts that followed the death of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

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

Preferred death date: 44 AH

The TDV specialist biography gives 44 AH as the principal chronology for Umm Habiba’s death.

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

Approximate equivalent: 664 CE

The preferred 44 AH chronology corresponds approximately to 664 CE.

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

Alternative death dates

Some sources instead transmit 42 AH / 662 CE or 59 AH / 679 CE. These remain alternatives rather than the preferred chronology.

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

Death in Medina and burial in al-Baqīʿ

The specialist biography places her death in Medina and burial in al-Baqīʿ, while rejecting a report that she died in Damascus.

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

A substantial hadith legacy

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.

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] Pilgrimage report, [15] Mourning law, [17] Marriage-law report, [19] Voluntary prayer

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.

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

Source-sensitive points

established

Umm Habiba was Ramla bint Abi Sufyan of Banū Umayya, daughter of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and Safiyya bint Abi al-ʿAs.

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

reported

A birth around 593 CE is an approximate reconstruction from the specialist statement that she was born seventeen years before the beginning of Islam.

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

established

Biographical and canonical evidence place Umm Habiba among the early Muslims who migrated to Abyssinia with her first husband.

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, [28] Migration to Abyssinia with Ibn Jahsh

reported

Specialist biography reports that she gave birth in Abyssinia to a daughter named Habiba, from whom her kunya Umm Habiba derived.

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

reported

Specialist biographical sources report that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh adopted Christianity in Abyssinia and pressured Umm Habiba to leave Islam.

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

reported

Specialist biography presents Umm Habiba as remaining Muslim despite her husband’s reported change of religion.

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

established

Canonical reports state that the Negus arranged the marriage of Umm Habiba to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ while she was in Abyssinia.

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, [28] Negus conducts marriage, [29] Parallel Abu Dawud report, [38] Parallel Nasai report

disputed

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.

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, [29] Four thousand dirham dower, [38] Four thousand dower, [44] Four thousand dirham dower

reported

Specialist biography dates the marriage to 6 or 7 AH, approximately 628–629 CE.

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

established

Sahih Muslim records Umm Habiba and Umm Salama recalling 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 route, [32] Parallel Nasai report, [41] Church seen in Abyssinia

established

Umm Habiba directly transmitted that a house is built in Paradise for one who regularly performs twelve voluntary rakʿahs in a day and 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, [19] Twelve voluntary rakahs, [20] Parallel Muslim report, [22] Detailed twelve-rakah pattern, [26] Parallel Abu Dawud report, [33] Parallel Nasai report, [46] Parallel Ibn Majah report

established

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.

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, [12] Parallel Bukhari report, [13] Parallel Muslim report, [17] Sister and foster-kinship ruling, [37] Parallel Nasai report

established

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.

Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [7] Mourning duration, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [15] Mourning duration and father death, [16] Parallel Muslim route, [24] Parallel Tirmidhi report, [39] Parallel Nasai report

established

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.

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, [25] Muawiya asks his sister, [31] Parallel Nasai report

established

Sahih Muslim preserves a supplication by Umm Habiba mentioning her husband, father and brother, followed by a Prophetic teaching on fixed lifespans and sustenance.

Sources: [1] Biographical treatment, [2] Biographical treatment, [3] Biographical treatment, [4] Biographical treatment, [5] Biographical treatment, [6] Family supplication and fixed lifespan, [8] Biographical treatment, [9] Biographical treatment, [10] Biographical treatment, [21] Parallel Muslim report

reported

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.

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

probable

The preferred specialist chronology places Umm Habiba’s death in Medina in 44 AH, approximately 664 CE.

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

disputed

Alternative death dates of 42 AH / 662 CE and 59 AH / 679 CE are transmitted in some sources and should remain disputed variants.

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

Relationships

Muhammad ﷺ

spouse · established

Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb

parent · established

Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān

sibling · established

ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan

other · established

Contributions

The twelve daily voluntary rakʿahs

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. [1]
    Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ

    al-Dhahabī · Classical biographical source

  2. [2]
    Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba

    Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī · Classical companion biographical source

  3. [3]
    Usd al-ghāba fī maʿrifat al-ṣaḥāba

    Ibn al-Athir · Classical companion biographical source

  4. [4]
    al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb

    Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr · Classical biographical source

  5. [5]
    al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā

    Ibn Saʿd · Classical biographical source

  6. [6]
    Sahih Muslim 2663 b

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  7. [7]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2299

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  8. [8]
    al-Mustadrak ʿalā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn

    al-Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī · Classical hadith-historical source

  9. [9]
    Tārīkh Dimashq

    Ibn ʿAsākir · Classical historical-biographical source

  10. [10]
    ÜMMÜ HABÎBE

    Aynur Uraler · TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · 2012

  11. [11]
    Sahih Muslim 1292 a

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  12. [12]
    Sahih al-Bukhari 5107

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  13. [13]
    Sahih Muslim 1449 a

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  14. [14]
    Sahih Muslim 1449 c

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  15. [15]
    Sahih Muslim 1486 a, 1487 a, 1488 a, 1489

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  16. [16]
    Sahih Muslim 1486 d

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  17. [17]
    Sahih al-Bukhari 5101

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  18. [18]
    Sahih Muslim 528 b

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  19. [19]
    Sahih Muslim 728 a

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  20. [20]
    Sahih Muslim 728 c

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  21. [21]
    Sahih Muslim 2663 d

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  22. [22]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 415

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  23. [23]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 427

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  24. [24]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 1195

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  25. [25]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 366

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  26. [26]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 1250

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  27. [27]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 1269

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  28. [28]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2086

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  29. [29]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2108

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  30. [30]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2554

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  31. [31]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 294

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  32. [32]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 704

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  33. [33]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 1800

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  34. [34]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 1816

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  35. [35]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3035

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  36. [36]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3036

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  37. [37]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3284

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  38. [38]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3350

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  39. [39]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3500

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  40. [40]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3533

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  41. [41]
    Sahih Muslim 528 a

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  42. [42]
    Sahih Muslim 1292 b

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  43. [43]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 428

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  44. [44]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2107

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  45. [45]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 3527

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  46. [46]
    Sunan Ibn Majah 1141

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

Back