Friday, May 9, 2008
"AM I too good for the bed, or it is the bed too good for me?" the man asked.
The man was her father, Abu Sufyan, who for some of his life was one of the most resolute enemies of the Prophet spending much of his great wealth in opposing and oppressing the Muslims, and leading the armies of the kafirun against the Muslims in all the early major battles.
Only until the conquest of Mekah, when the Prophet generously pardoned him, that Abu Sufyan embraced Islam and began to fight with the Muslims instead of against them.
Before embracing Islam, he came to Madinah after the Quraish had broken the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, in order to try and re-negotiate a fresh settlement with the Prophet and the Muslims.
He first went to her daughter Umm Habiba's room and was about to sit down on the blanket on which the Prophet slept when Umm Habiba, who had not seen her father for over six years, asked him not to sit on it and quickly folded it up and put it away.
"How can the enemy of Islam sit on the bed of the Holy Prophet?" she replied.
It was only after Abu Sufyan had embraced Islam, that Umm Habiba accepted and loved him again as her father.
When she received the news that her father and brother Mu'awiya, who later became the Khalif of the Muslims, had become Muslims after the conquest, she fell down in prostration to Allâh out of thankfulness.
Umm Habiba spent four years of her life with the Prophet Muhammad and lived for another thirty-three years after he had died. She died at the age of seventy-two in 44 AH, may Allâh be pleased with her.
Like all the wives of the Prophet, Umm Habiba spent much of her time remembering Allâh and worshipping Him.
She has related that once the Prophet said to her, "A house will be built in the Garden for anyone who, in the space of a day and a night, prays twelve voluntary raka'ats"; and she added, "I have never stopped doing this since I heard it from the Messenger of Allâh."
Umm Habiba or Ramla bint Abu Sufyan and her first husband, who was called Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, were among the first people to embrace Islam in Mekah, and they were among those early Muslims who emigrated to Abyssinia in order to be safe.
Once in Abyssinia, however, Ubaydullah abandoned Islam and became a Christian. He tried to make her become Christian, but she stood fast. This put Umm Habiba in a difficult position, since a Muslim woman can only be married to be a Muslim man.
She could no longer live with her husband, and once divorced, she could not return to her father, who was still fighting the Muslims. So she remained with her daughter in Abyssinia, living a very simple life in isolation, waiting to see what Allâh would decree for her.
She was married by the Prophet from a distance. Only after six years, in 7 AH, she met her new husband, the Prophet, when he was sixty years old and she was thirty-five.
When the Muslims in Abyssinia were finally able to return to Arabia, she went to Madinah greeted by Prophet Muhammad, who had just returned victorious from Khaybar.
Umm Habiba related: "When I met the Prophet , I told him all about the arrangements that had been made for the marriage, and about my relationship with the (slave) girl (of King Negus of Abyssinia). I told him that she had become a Muslim and conveyed her greetings of peace to him. He was filled with joy at the news and said, 'And on her be the peace and the mercy of Allâh and His blessing'."
Anwary Islam
The man was her father, Abu Sufyan, who for some of his life was one of the most resolute enemies of the Prophet spending much of his great wealth in opposing and oppressing the Muslims, and leading the armies of the kafirun against the Muslims in all the early major battles.
Only until the conquest of Mekah, when the Prophet generously pardoned him, that Abu Sufyan embraced Islam and began to fight with the Muslims instead of against them.
Before embracing Islam, he came to Madinah after the Quraish had broken the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, in order to try and re-negotiate a fresh settlement with the Prophet and the Muslims.
He first went to her daughter Umm Habiba's room and was about to sit down on the blanket on which the Prophet slept when Umm Habiba, who had not seen her father for over six years, asked him not to sit on it and quickly folded it up and put it away.
"How can the enemy of Islam sit on the bed of the Holy Prophet?" she replied.
It was only after Abu Sufyan had embraced Islam, that Umm Habiba accepted and loved him again as her father.
When she received the news that her father and brother Mu'awiya, who later became the Khalif of the Muslims, had become Muslims after the conquest, she fell down in prostration to Allâh out of thankfulness.
Umm Habiba spent four years of her life with the Prophet Muhammad and lived for another thirty-three years after he had died. She died at the age of seventy-two in 44 AH, may Allâh be pleased with her.
Like all the wives of the Prophet, Umm Habiba spent much of her time remembering Allâh and worshipping Him.
She has related that once the Prophet said to her, "A house will be built in the Garden for anyone who, in the space of a day and a night, prays twelve voluntary raka'ats"; and she added, "I have never stopped doing this since I heard it from the Messenger of Allâh."
Umm Habiba or Ramla bint Abu Sufyan and her first husband, who was called Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, were among the first people to embrace Islam in Mekah, and they were among those early Muslims who emigrated to Abyssinia in order to be safe.
Once in Abyssinia, however, Ubaydullah abandoned Islam and became a Christian. He tried to make her become Christian, but she stood fast. This put Umm Habiba in a difficult position, since a Muslim woman can only be married to be a Muslim man.
She could no longer live with her husband, and once divorced, she could not return to her father, who was still fighting the Muslims. So she remained with her daughter in Abyssinia, living a very simple life in isolation, waiting to see what Allâh would decree for her.
She was married by the Prophet from a distance. Only after six years, in 7 AH, she met her new husband, the Prophet, when he was sixty years old and she was thirty-five.
When the Muslims in Abyssinia were finally able to return to Arabia, she went to Madinah greeted by Prophet Muhammad, who had just returned victorious from Khaybar.
Umm Habiba related: "When I met the Prophet , I told him all about the arrangements that had been made for the marriage, and about my relationship with the (slave) girl (of King Negus of Abyssinia). I told him that she had become a Muslim and conveyed her greetings of peace to him. He was filled with joy at the news and said, 'And on her be the peace and the mercy of Allâh and His blessing'."
Anwary Islam