Of the galaxy of the Companions of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, there is only one who was blessed with his companionship from the moment he entered this world, until his departure, in other words, his full 63 years, and was a Muslim from the beginning.

I had tweeted this as a quiz question and presented another three candidates who came close to this honour, but none fully meet these criteria as does this noble Companion.

Of the uncles of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, two were Muslim. Ḥamzah (may Allāh be pleased with him) however was martyred at ʿUḥud. The more viable candidate is ʿAbbās (may Allāh be pleased with him) who lived before and after Rasūlullāh ﷺ. However, he entered ʾIslām years later, so his companionship does not cover 63 years.

ʿAbū Bakr (may Allāh be pleased with him) is famous for accepting ʾIslām from the beginning, but as he was born two years after Rasūlullāh ﷺ, he was obviously not present at his birth, nor accompanied him for 63 years.

Our third candidate, Lady Ḥalīmah (may Allāh be pleased with her), the most famous (BUT NOT ONLY) wet-nurse of Rasūlullāh ﷺ only entered Makkah after his birth. She was not present at his birth. Furthermore, while the majority of scholars agree on her companionship, it must be mentioned for completeness of the discussion, academically, that a minority of Muḥaddithūn do not accept the reports that she had embraced ʾIslām. In any case she was not present at the birth and she left this world before Rasūlullāh ﷺ.

Another candidate whom I did not mention, since sadly the ʾUmmah makes no effort in learning Sīrah, and most would have never heard of her, is ʾas-Shifāʾ (may Allāh be pleased with her), the mother of ʿAbdurraḥmān bin ʿAwf (may Allāh be pleased with him). She too was blessed to be present at the birth. However, we do not know when exactly she embraced ʾIslām, and she left the world before Rasūlullāh ﷺ.

Biography Summarised from ʾIbn Ḥajar’s ʾal-ʾIṣābah

I could have commenced this article with the answer, but if I have forced the reader to spend some extra seconds in studying a few facts about Sīrah, then ʾalḥamdu lillāh, may you spend even more time on such lofty pursuits.

The only Companion whom Allāh blessed with companionship from the moment Rasūlullāh ﷺ entered this world, until his departure, in other words, his full 63 years, and was also a Muslim from the beginning, is known as ʾUmm ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with her). Her name was Barakah bint Thaʿlabah bin ʿAmr bin Ḥiṣn bin Mālik bin Salamah bin ʿAmr bin ʾan-Nuʿmān.

She was an African slave first belonging to ʿAbdullāh, father of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, then to his mother, ʾĀminah.  Rasūlullāh ﷺ inherited her from his mother and set her free when he married Khadījah (may Allāh be pleased with her). [Modernists, who follow their desires and some religion in which slavery was abolished, might brush aside this 25-year slavery by saying that this was before revelation. Nevertheless, the vile insinuation then remains that they have purer hearts, and better understanding than Muḥammad ﷺ, whatever his age].

ʾUmm ʾAyman and ʾash-Shifāʾ were present at the birth of Rasūlullāh ﷺ. After Ḥalīmah returned him to Makkah it is essentially ʾUmm ʾAyman who raised him until grew up. May Allāh be pleased with all three great ladies.  However, no matter his age, she always loved and visited he who was like a son unto her.

Rasūlullāh ﷺ would say, “ʾUmm ʾAyman is my mother after my Mother,” and addressed her as, “O Dear Mother – يا أمه .”

Marriages

She first married ʿUbayd bin Zayd ʾal-Khazrajī and gave birth to ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with father and son), hence her title of ʾUmm ʾAyman. ʿUbayd (may Allāh be pleased with him) was martyred at Khaybar. ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with him) was martyred at Ḥunayn.

Her first marriage did not last.

Rasūlullāh ﷺ declared, “He who will be happy to marry a woman of the people of Paradise should marry ʾUmm ʾAyman.” Thereupon Zayd bin Ḥārithah (may Allāh be pleased with him), the only Companion named in the Qurʾān, married her. From him she had ʾUsāmah (may Allāh be pleased with him).

Hijrah

ʾar-Rawḥāʾ

ʾIbn Saʿd and ʾIbn ʾas-Sakan narrated that ʾUmm ʾAyman set out on Hijrah in the evening, and fasted during the journey. Near ʾar-Rawḥāʾ she was thirsty but had no water. A bucket descended from the sky, held by a thick white rope, floating by her head. She grabbed it and drank. Thereafter she would say, “I would fast on hot days and perform Ṭawāf in the sun, that I may feel what it is like to be thirsty, but I have never felt thirst after that.”

She was present at battles like ʾUḥud and Khaybar, serving water and tending to the wounded.

Demise

Rasūlullāh ﷺ would visit her. She would present milk to him and make him laugh. When he left the world, ʾAbū Bakr (may Allāh be pleased with him) said to ʿUmar (may Allāh be pleased with him), “Let us visit ʾUmm ʾAyman like Rasūlullāh ﷺ used to do.” When they reached her, she was weeping. So they said, “Why do you weep? What is with Allāh is better for Rasūlullāh ﷺ.” She replied, “I weep because heavens’ revelation has been cut off from us.” Thus she made the two of them weep with her.

ʾAnas (may Allāh be pleased with him) narrated:

ʾUmm ʾAyman wept when the Nabī ﷺ died. When she was spoken to, she replied, “By Allāh, I knew that Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ would die. I weep upon the revelation that is now cut off from us from heaven.”

She left the world five months after Rasūlullāh ﷺ.

On an academic note, ʾIbn Ḥajar devotes a few paragraphs or even a few lines in listing most Companions. ʾUmm ʾAyman however gets over two pages. May Allāh be pleased with all the Companions.

Exaggeration, Sensationalism & False Motives

Allāh alone knows how much I love the Companions of His Beloved ﷺ, and may He rectify any defect I have in this and other matters. However, I am not a Shīʿī who exaggerates, lies and idolises sacred personalities.

A search on the internet reveals videos and articles on ʾUmm ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with her) produced by edutainer celebrity scholars. They add such details that I do not see in original sources. For example, that ʾUmm ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with her), was the first person to see the newborn Muḥammad ﷺ, the first to touch him, clean him and hand him to ʾĀminah. Logically, I have no problem believing this to be most likely, but if these details do exist, then the edutainers should provide references.  

ʾash-Shifāʾ (may Allāh be pleased with her) was also present, and without textual evidence to the contrary, it is just as likely that she was blessed with the first glance. In fact, it seems more likely to me, since it is ʾash-Shifāʾ (may Allāh be pleased with her) who narrates about the light that emerged, not ʾUmm ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with her). In fact, the edutainers falsify this and attribute it to ʾUmm ʾAyman (may Allāh be pleased with her). ʾash-Shifāʾ (may Allāh be pleased with her) narrated, “When ʾAminah gave birth to Muḥammad ﷺ… then a light became apparent to me covering east to west, until I could see a palace in Syria.” [Dalāʾil ʾan-Nubuwwah, p.135].

What would motivate such exaggeration and falsification? Allāh is the reader of hearts, but the actions of the edutainers show a penchant for sensationalism that will boost their fame and cyber credentials. Some Muslims may have heard of ʾUmm ʾAyman, but very few know of ʾash-Shifāʾ, may Allāh be pleased with both. If the motive is to produce a sensational video or article, the edutainer boosts himself by adding facts to ʾUmm ʾAyman that either need substantiation, or are in fact false.

The dates of these edutainment productions are also telling. They are around the period of Black Lives Matter sensationalism, when Muslim scholars bent over backwards to prove how much they love blacks and that blacks are important in ʾIslām. As if our religion did not respect all races before western socialist movements. And as if Bilāl (may Allāh be pleased with him) accomplished nothing other than being black (and omitting the fact that he was half-Arab anyway). Thus, in such an atmosphere I do not see it as farfetched for an edutainer to “steal” a virtue from the Arab ʾash-Shifāʾ and attribute it to the black ʾUmm ʾAyman, may Allāh be pleased with both. In so doing the edutainer creates an even more iconic figure for his audience, thus boosting his own fame, which is usually the motive.

Allāh grant us sincerity and love for the pious.

سليمان الكندي

Twitter: @Sulayman_Kindi