Islam Academy

Umm Salama Hind bint Abī Umayya

أم سلمة هند بنت أبي أمية

Umm Salama

Umm Salama, Hind bint Abī Umayya al-Makhzūmiyya, was an early Qurashī Companion and one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Specialist biography places her birth in Mecca around 597 CE and describes her and her first husband Abū Salama among the earliest Muslims. They migrated to Abyssinia, returned to Mecca, and later attempted to migrate to Medina, where she endured a prolonged forced separation from both her husband and young son before being permitted to continue the journey. After Abū Salama died in 4 AH / 625 from complications of a wound associated with Uḥud, Sahih Muslim preserves her recitation of the supplication for a better replacement and the subsequent marriage proposal from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. She married him in Shawwāl 4 AH / March 626. Sahih al-Bukhari 2731–2732 preserves her influential counsel at al-Ḥudaybiyya: when the Companions hesitated after the treaty, she advised Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to perform the sacrifice and shaving himself without further instruction, after which the Companions followed. She became one of the most prolific female transmitters, with specialist biography crediting her with 378 hadiths, second among the Prophet’s wives after ʿĀʾisha. She also became known for legal judgment and answering questions over a long post-Prophetic life. The preferred chronology places her death in Medina in 62 AH / 681 CE, with 61 AH / 680 and 59 AH / 679 also transmitted.

597 — 681

Names and variants

Umm Salama Hind bint Abī Umayya· canonicalUmm Salama Hind bint Abī Umayya· canonicalأم سلمة هند بنت أبي أمية· canonicalUmm Salama· kunyaUmm Salama· kunyaأم سلمة· kunyaHind bint Abī Umayya ibn al-Mughīra· birth nameهند بنت أبي أمية بن المغيرة· birth nameal-Makhzūmiyya· nisbaالمخزومية· nisbaal-Qurashiyya· nisbaالقرشية· nisbaUmm al-Muʾminīn· laqabأم المؤمنين· laqabUmm Salamah· transliterationOum Salama· transliteration

Umm Salama

Umm Salama, Hind bint Abī Umayya al-Makhzūmiyya, was an early Qurashī Companion, wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, transmitter of hadith and respected juristic voice. Her life spans the Meccan persecutions, both major migrations, the Prophetic household and several decades of post-Prophetic teaching.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Name and identity

Her personal name was Hind bint Abī Umayya, but she became overwhelmingly known by her kunya, Umm Salama. Classical sources identify her as al-Qurashiyya and al-Makhzūmiyya.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The name Hind

Specialist biography rejects the occasional attribution of the name Ramla and gives Hind as her personal name. Her kunya remained far more prominent in historical memory.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Quraysh and Banū Makhzūm

Umm Salama belonged to Banū Makhzūm, one of the major branches of Quraysh. Her lineage met that of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at the ancestor Murra.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Her father Abū Umayya

Her father, Abū Umayya ibn al-Mughīra, was remembered for generosity toward fellow travelers and was given the sobriquet Zād al-Rakb, “provision of the caravan.”

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Her mother ʿĀtika bint ʿĀmir

Her mother is identified as ʿĀtika bint ʿĀmir al-Kināniyya from Banū Firās.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Prominent family connections

Her brothers included several Companions, and Khālid ibn al-Walīd was her paternal cousin. These ties placed her within a prominent Makkan clan while her own religious path developed independently.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

An early conversion

Specialist biography places Umm Salama among the very earliest Muslims, immediately after her first husband Abū Salama.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Among the first believers

The traditional enumeration cited by specialist biography describes Abū Salama as the eleventh person to accept Islam and Umm Salama as the twelfth. This is a biographical enumeration rather than a canonical hadith count.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Migration to Abyssinia

Umm Salama migrated with Abū Salama to Abyssinia during the period of persecution in Mecca. Their migration became part of the earliest Muslim experience of seeking safety outside Arabia.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Return to Mecca

They returned to Mecca after hearing the false report that the Quraysh had broadly accepted Islam. The return exposed them again to the pressures of the Makkan environment.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Preparing to migrate to Medina

Before the pledges of al-ʿAqaba had fully reshaped the Muslim community, Abū Salama prepared to migrate to Medina with Umm Salama and their son.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Forced separation from her husband

Her own Makhzūmī relatives prevented Umm Salama from leaving Mecca with Abū Salama, so he continued to Medina without her.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Separated from her son

Abū Salama’s family then took her young son Salama from her, leaving Umm Salama separated from both husband and child.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

A year of separation

Specialist biography reports that she spent roughly a year grieving over this forced separation before both families eventually relented.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Permission to leave

Eventually her relatives allowed her to leave Mecca and Abū Salama’s family returned her son, enabling mother and child to set out for Medina.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Escort by ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥa

On seeing Umm Salama traveling with her child, ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥa, who was not yet Muslim, escorted them safely toward Medina. The episode is remembered as an example of personal honor crossing confessional lines.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Arrival in Medina

Umm Salama and her son reached Medina and reunited with Abū Salama. Specialist biography counts the family among the earliest Qurashī emigrants to the city.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Her children

Sources name Salama, ʿUmar, Durra and Zaynab among her children with Abū Salama. Reports differ over whether some of them were born in Abyssinia or Medina.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Abū Salama

Abū Salama was an early Muslim, a relative and foster-brother of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and Umm Salama’s companion through the first migrations.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The wound from Uḥud

Specialist biography states that Abū Salama suffered a wound at Uḥud that later reopened or worsened, eventually leading to his final illness.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Death of Abū Salama

Abū Salama died in 4 AH / 625. His death left Umm Salama widowed with children and became the setting for one of her best-known transmitted supplications.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The supplication after calamity

Sahih Muslim 918a–c and 919 preserve that after Abū Salama’s death, Umm Salama recited the supplication asking Allah for reward in the calamity and a better replacement. She later identified her marriage to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as that better replacement.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [13] Supplication after Abū Salama’s death and marriage proposal, [14] Parallel calamity supplication report, [15] Parallel calamity supplication report, [16] Parallel report and better replacement

The marriage proposal

Sahih Muslim 918a preserves that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sent a proposal to Umm Salama. She raised concerns about her children and her jealous temperament, and the report records his reassurance.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [13] Marriage proposal and Umm Salama’s concerns

Marriage to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Umm Salama accepted the proposal and became one of the Mothers of the Believers. Her children were thereby incorporated into the Prophetic household as stepchildren.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [14] Marriage to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ after Abū Salama’s death

Marriage in Shawwāl 4 AH

Specialist biography places the marriage in Shawwāl 4 AH, approximately March 626 CE.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Life in the Prophetic household

Umm Salama became a close observer of worship, family life, legal questions and revelation in the household of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Many of her later reports derive from this proximity.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Travel with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Specialist biography reports that Umm Salama accompanied Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on journeys including Khaybar and Ṭāʾif.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The crisis at al-Ḥudaybiyya

At al-Ḥudaybiyya in 6 AH, many Companions were deeply disappointed by the treaty terms and initially did not respond when Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ordered them to sacrifice and shave.

Sources: [1] Treaty and initial hesitation of the Companions, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Umm Salama’s advice at al-Ḥudaybiyya

Sahih al-Bukhari 2731–2732 preserves that Umm Salama advised Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to go out, sacrifice his animal and have his head shaved without further discussion.

Sources: [1] Direct advice by Umm Salama, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The Companions follow the example

Bukhari records that after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ acted on Umm Salama’s advice, the Companions followed by sacrificing their animals and shaving one another.

Sources: [1] Companions follow after Prophetic example, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Reputation for sound judgment

The al-Ḥudaybiyya episode became the clearest canonical example of Umm Salama’s practical judgment under pressure. Specialist biography explicitly notes that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ valued her views.

Sources: [1] Canonical example of practical counsel, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Seeing Gabriel in human form

Sahih Muslim 2451 preserves Umm Salama seeing a visitor whom she assumed to be Diḥya al-Kalbī; Prophet Muhammad ﷺ later informed her that the visitor had been Gabriel.

Sources: [2] Umm Salama sees Gabriel in human form, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Questions concerning women’s religious life

Umm Salama’s reports preserve direct questioning about matters that affected women, including ritual purity, menstruation-related law, hair, mourning and marital life.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Women and wet dreams

Canonical reports preserve Umm Salama asking whether a woman must perform ghusl if she experiences the relevant sign after a sexual dream. The answer affirmed that women are subject to the same purity requirement when the sign is present.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [20] Question concerning a woman and ritual bath

Ghusl without undoing braids

Al-Nasaʾi 241, Ibn Mājah 603 and Tirmidhī 105 preserve Umm Salama asking whether tightly braided hair must be undone for ghusl from janāba. The answer states that pouring water thoroughly over the head is sufficient.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [24] Braided hair and ghusl, [25] Parallel sahih braid report, [26] Parallel sahih braid report

The two rakʿas after ʿAṣr

Abū Dāwūd 1273 preserves Umm Salama explaining why she once saw Prophet Muhammad ﷺ pray two rakʿas after ʿAṣr despite his general prohibition: they were a delayed performance of two rakʿas usually prayed after Ẓuhr.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [21] Explanation of two rakʿas after ʿAṣr

Reports on fasting

Umm Salama transmitted several observations about the fasting of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Abū Dāwūd 2336 and parallel reports describe his extensive fasting in Shaʿbān.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [23] Extensive fasting in Shaʿbān

Mourning and widowhood rules

Abū Dāwūd 2299 and 2304 preserve legal guidance transmitted through Umm Salama concerning mourning after a husband’s death, including the four-month-and-ten-day period and restrictions on adornment.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [7] Widow mourning period, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [22] Restrictions on adornment during widow mourning

Her position on the Sālim exception

Abū Dāwūd 2061 preserves Umm Salama and the other wives of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ rejecting the idea that the adult-suckling concession connected with Sālim should be generalized beyond that exceptional case.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [9] Position of Umm Salama and other wives on Sālim exception, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The cloak report in her house

Tirmidhī 3205 and 3787 preserve a report set in Umm Salama’s house in which Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gathered Fāṭima, ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn under a cloak and prayed for their purification.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [17] Cloak report in Umm Salama’s house, [19] Parallel sahih cloak report

Connection with Fāṭima

Specialist biography states that Umm Salama transmitted reports from Fāṭima. The canonical cloak traditions also place Fāṭima in Umm Salama’s house during a major household episode.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [17] Fāṭima present in the cloak event in Umm Salama’s house

A major female hadith transmitter

Umm Salama transmitted from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as well as from Abū Salama, Jaʿfar ibn Abī Ṭālib and Fāṭima. Her long life allowed a large later generation to receive reports from her.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Approximately 378 hadiths

TDV credits Umm Salama with 378 transmitted hadiths, placing her among the Companions with several hundred reports and second among the Prophet’s wives after ʿĀʾisha in hadith volume.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Those who transmitted from her

Transmitters from Umm Salama included her children ʿUmar and Zaynab, Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿĀʾisha, Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Sulaymān ibn Yasār, Ibn Abī Mulayka and others.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Learning through direct questions

Her hadith corpus reflects a habit of asking direct practical questions. That method preserved guidance on subjects that might otherwise have remained less visible in male-centered transmission networks.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Among the female juristic authorities

Specialist biography includes Umm Salama among the female juristic authorities of the Companion generation. Her long life meant later Muslims sought her answers on disputed and practical questions.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Reports of Qurʾān memorization

Biographical tradition includes Umm Salama among the Companions said to have memorized the Qurʾān. It also notes that she had the distinctive opportunity to hear many verses directly from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Life after Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

After the death of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Umm Salama remained in Medina for decades. She continued to transmit hadith, answer questions and serve as a living link to the Prophetic household.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [18] Late transmission from Umm Salama concerning Prophetic supplication

Decades of guidance

Her long lifespan gave later Companions and Successors access to an eyewitness of early Islam whose memory covered Mecca, Abyssinia, Medina and the Prophetic household.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

The news of al-Ḥusayn’s death

Specialist biography reports that Umm Salama was still alive when news arrived of al-Ḥusayn’s killing at Karbala in 61 AH / 680 CE and that she was deeply affected. This supports a death date no earlier than late 61 AH.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Death in Medina

The preferred tradition places Umm Salama’s death in Medina, where she had spent the greater part of her adult life.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Death in 62 AH / 681 CE

TDV prefers 62 AH / 681 CE for her death and identifies her as the last surviving wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Alternative death dates

Classical sources also transmit 61 AH / 680 CE and 59 AH / 679 CE. Because the Karbala report places her alive in 61 AH, the earlier 59 AH date is especially difficult to reconcile with the preferred biographical tradition.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Last surviving wife and burial at al-Baqīʿ

Specialist biography identifies Umm Salama as the last surviving wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and reports that she was buried in al-Baqīʿ cemetery in Medina.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Migrant, adviser, transmitter and jurist

Umm Salama’s significance rests on several independently documented roles: early migrant, survivor of family separation, wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, adviser at al-Ḥudaybiyya, transmitter of hundreds of reports and long-lived juristic authority. Her biography is particularly valuable because strong canonical evidence and rich classical biography overlap across many stages of her life.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical account, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical account

Source-sensitive points

probable

TDV infers that Umm Salama was born in Mecca around 597 CE from the report that she died at approximately eighty-four years of age; the date is therefore probable rather than exact.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Classical and specialist biography identify Hind bint Abī Umayya as Umm Salama’s personal name and reject the occasional attribution of Ramla.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

reported

Specialist biography places Umm Salama among the earliest converts to Islam and transmits a traditional enumeration calling her the twelfth Muslim.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

reported

Classical and specialist biographies report that Umm Salama migrated with Abū Salama to Abyssinia and later returned to Mecca.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

reported

Biographical sources report that when the family attempted to migrate to Medina, Umm Salama was forcibly separated first from Abū Salama and then from her young son for roughly a year.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

probable

Specialist biography places Abū Salama’s death in 4 AH / 625 CE after complications from a wound associated with Uḥud.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Sahih Muslim 918a–c and 919 establish that after Abū Salama’s death, Umm Salama recited the supplication asking Allah for reward and a better replacement, and later identified Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as that replacement.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [13] Supplication after Abū Salama’s death, [14] Parallel sahih report, [15] Parallel sahih report, [16] Parallel sahih report

established

Sahih Muslim 918a–c establishes that Prophet Muhammad ﷺ proposed marriage to Umm Salama after Abū Salama’s death and that she became his wife.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [13] Marriage proposal, [14] Marriage after Abū Salama’s death

probable

TDV places the marriage of Umm Salama and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in Shawwāl 4 AH / approximately March 626 CE.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Sahih al-Bukhari 2731–2732 establishes that at al-Ḥudaybiyya Umm Salama advised Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to sacrifice and have his head shaved without further discussion, after which the Companions followed his example.

Sources: [1] Direct canonical account of Umm Salama’s advice, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Sahih Muslim 2451 preserves Umm Salama seeing a visitor she took to be Diḥya al-Kalbī before learning from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that the visitor was Gabriel.

Sources: [2] Gabriel seen in human form, [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Al-Nasaʾi 241, Ibn Mājah 603 and Tirmidhī 105 preserve Umm Salama’s question about tightly braided hair and establish that undoing the braids was not required for ghusl from janāba when water was applied sufficiently.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [24] Braided hair and ghusl, [25] Parallel sahih report, [26] Parallel sahih report

established

Abū Dāwūd 2061 preserves Umm Salama and the other wives of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ refusing to generalize the adult-suckling concession associated with Sālim beyond that exceptional case.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [9] Position of Umm Salama and the other wives, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

established

Tirmidhī 3205 and 3787 preserve a cloak report located in Umm Salama’s house involving Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, Fāṭima, ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [17] Cloak report in Umm Salama’s house, [19] Parallel sahih cloak report

reported

The TDV specialist biography credits Umm Salama with 378 transmitted hadiths and ranks her second after ʿĀʾisha among the Prophet’s wives in hadith volume.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

reported

Specialist biography includes Umm Salama among the female juristic authorities of the Companion generation and reports that later Muslims consulted her on practical and disputed questions.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

reported

Biographical tradition includes Umm Salama among the Companions said to have memorized the Qurʾān; this is biographical evidence rather than a claim anchored by a specific canonical report.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

probable

Specialist biography reports that Umm Salama was alive when news of al-Ḥusayn’s death at Karbala arrived in 61 AH / 680 CE, supporting a death date no earlier than late 61 AH.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

probable

The preferred specialist chronology places Umm Salama’s death in Medina in 62 AH / 681 CE and identifies her as the last surviving wife of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

uncertain

Classical sources also transmit 61 AH / 680 CE and 59 AH / 679 CE as death dates; these variants remain uncertain, and 59 AH is difficult to reconcile with the report that she survived news of Karbala.

Sources: [3] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [4] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [5] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [6] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [8] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [10] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [11] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment, [12] Biographical, hadith or historical assessment

Relationships

Muhammad ﷺ

spouse · established

ʿAʾisha bint Abi Bakr

other · established

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas

student · established

Fatima al-Zahra

other · established

Contributions

Strategic counsel at al-Ḥudaybiyya

Sahih al-Bukhari 2731–2732 preserves Umm Salama’s practical advice when the Companions initially hesitated to carry out the sacrifice and shaving after the treaty. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ acted on her counsel, and the Companions then followed his example.

institutional · established

Transmission of hundreds of Prophetic reports

Specialist biography credits Umm Salama with 378 hadiths, making her one of the most prolific female transmitters and second among the Prophet’s wives after ʿĀʾisha in hadith volume.

scholarly · established

Preservation of women’s legal and ritual questions

Her direct questions and reports preserved rulings on ritual purity, braided hair, mourning, fasting, household practice and other issues affecting women. Her long life also made her a consulted juristic authority for later Muslims.

scholarly · established

Eyewitness memory of the earliest migrations

Umm Salama’s biography preserves an unusually detailed memory of the Abyssinian migration, return to Mecca and the painful family separation surrounding migration to Medina. These accounts help document the social cost of the earliest Muslim migrations.

social · reported

Preservation of Prophetic household testimony

Canonical reports transmitted by or through Umm Salama preserve episodes involving Gabriel, Fāṭima and the cloak tradition, prayer, fasting and the Prophetic household. Her testimony therefore became an important channel for knowledge inaccessible to most outsiders.

religious · established

Sources

  1. [1]
    Sahih al-Bukhari 2731, 2732

    Sunnah.com

  2. [2]
    Sahih Muslim 2451

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  3. [3]
    Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ

    al-Dhahabī · Classical biographical source

  4. [4]
    Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba

    Ibn Hajar al-ʿAsqalānī · Classical companion biographical source

  5. [5]
    al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb

    Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr · Classical biographical source

  6. [6]
    al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā

    Ibn Saʿd · Classical biographical source

  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]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2061

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  10. [10]
    ÜMMÜ SELEME

    M. Yaşar Kandemir · TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · 2012

  11. [11]
    Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb

    Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī · Classical biographical source

  12. [12]
    Musnad Aḥmad

    Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal · Classical hadith collection

  13. [13]
    Sahih Muslim 918 a

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  14. [14]
    Sahih Muslim 918 b

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  15. [15]
    Sahih Muslim 918 c

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  16. [16]
    Sahih Muslim 919

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  17. [17]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 3205

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  18. [18]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 3522

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  19. [19]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 3787

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  20. [20]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 237

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  21. [21]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 1273

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  22. [22]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2304

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  23. [23]
    Sunan Abi Dawud 2336

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  24. [24]
    Sunan al-Nasaʾi 241

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  25. [25]
    Sunan Ibn Majah 603

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

  26. [26]
    Jamiʿ al-Tirmidhi 105

    Islam Academy Hadith Corpus

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