Women of the companions

The Prophet ﷺ praised Khadījah رضي الله عنها as the best among women, alongside his praise of Maryam عليها السلام

When he ﷺ came home from Ḥirāʾ afraid, she told him Allah would never disgrace him, for he kept family ties, carried the weak, helped the poor, honoured guests and stood by people in hardship.

Jibrīl عليه السلام brought her greetings of peace from her Lord, and good news of a house in Paradise.

Biographical account and appearances

Above other women as tharīd is above other food

She was slandered in the affair of the ifk and wept for days, until Allah revealed her innocence.

Her lost necklace led to the revelation of tayammum; Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr رضي الله عنه said it was not the first blessing to come through the family of Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه.

24:11–20 — Her innocence after the slander.

Biographical account and appearances

The Prophet ﷺ described her as chief of the women of Paradise, or chief of the believing women; the report preserves both wordings

When Quraysh put the filth of a slaughtered camel on her father's ﷺ back as he prostrated, she came and removed it.

She sought help for the strain that grinding with a hand mill had caused her hands. ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها conveyed her request to the Prophet ﷺ.

'Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها is a part of me; whoever angers her angers me.'

The Prophet ﷺ visited her and ʿAlī رضي الله عنه at bedtime and taught them to say Subḥān Allah thirty-three times, Alḥamdulillāh thirty-three times, and Allahu Akbar thirty-four times, saying this was better for them than a servant.

Biographical account and appearances

Described in ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm as the first woman martyr in Islam

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that Sumayyah رضي الله عنها was tortured with her husband Yāsir رضي الله عنه and her son ʿAmmār رضي الله عنه, and that Abū Jahl killed her.

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that the Prophet ﷺ passed the family of Yāsir رضي الله عنه and reassured them of Paradise.

Biographical account and appearances

Dhāt an-Niṭāqayn — she of the two waistbands

Asmāʾ رضي الله عنها described feeding al-Zubayr's رضي الله عنه horse, drawing water, preparing dough and carrying date stones on her head from his land.

She prepared food for the Hijrah journey and, finding nothing to tie it with, cut her waistband in two.

When the Prophet ﷺ met her carrying date stones, he made his camel kneel so that she could ride behind him. She reported feeling shy to travel with the men; he ﷺ noticed and continued on his way.

Biographical account and appearances

Mother of the Believers whose counsel the Prophet ﷺ followed at al-Ḥudaybiyah

After Abū Salamah رضي الله عنه died, she said the prayer for calamity taught by the Prophet ﷺ. She reported that Allah subsequently gave her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ.

Ar-Raḥīq records that her family kept her from migrating and separated her from her husband and child before she reached Madinah.

When the companions did not rise to sacrifice after the treaty, she advised him ﷺ to go out, say nothing, sacrifice and shave; he did, and they all followed.

Biographical account and appearances

Named in ar-Raḥīq as one of the two women at the second pledge of ʿAqabah

Ar-Raḥīq names her among those who formed a protective shield around the Prophet ﷺ during the fighting at Uḥud.

Biographical account and appearances

She gave her allotted day to ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها

As she became older, she gave her allotted day with the Prophet ﷺ to ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها.

Biographical account and appearances

Widowed, then married to the Prophet ﷺ

Her husband Khunays ibn Ḥudhāfah رضي الله عنه died in Madinah. Her father ʿUmar رضي الله عنه approached ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه and Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه about marriage.

The Prophet ﷺ asked for her hand, and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه married her to him.

Biographical account and appearances

She worked with her hands and gave in charity

She worked with her hands and gave what she earned in charity.

Anas رضي الله عنه reported that Al-Aḥzāb 33:37 was revealed concerning her and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah رضي الله عنه.

33:37 — Her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ after the marriage to Zayd ibn Ḥārithah رضي الله عنه ended.

Biographical account and appearances

The Prophet ﷺ taught her words of remembrance

ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported that Juwayriyah رضي الله عنها was among the captives and had entered an agreement to purchase her freedom. She came to the Prophet ﷺ seeking help with its payment.

She remained in her prayer place from the morning until the Prophet ﷺ returned later that morning.

The Prophet ﷺ offered to pay for her freedom and marry her, and she accepted. ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported that, after the marriage became known, people freed captives related to him ﷺ by marriage, amounting to one hundred families of Banū al-Muṣṭaliq.

He ﷺ taught her words of remembrance to repeat three times.

When she fasted on a Friday without fasting Thursday or intending to fast Saturday, he ﷺ told her to break that fast.

Biographical account and appearances

Freed and married by the Prophet ﷺ

She wept after hearing that Ḥafṣah رضي الله عنها had referred to her as the daughter of a Jew. The Prophet ﷺ came to her while she was crying.

The Prophet ﷺ freed her and married her; her freedom was her marriage payment.

The Prophet ﷺ comforted her by reminding her of her prophetic ancestry and her marriage to a prophet. He then told Ḥafṣah رضي الله عنها to fear Allah.

Their wedding meal included dates, butter and dried dairy.

Biographical account and appearances

She kept the prayers she learned from the Prophet ﷺ

After her father Abū Sufyān رضي الله عنه died, she used perfume and explained that she was following the Prophet's ﷺ limit on formal mourning for someone other than a husband.

She heard the Prophet ﷺ promise a house in Paradise to someone who prays twelve voluntary prayer units in a day and night.

She said she never abandoned those prayers after hearing this from him ﷺ.

Biographical account and appearances

She freed an enslaved woman

The report records that Maymūnah رضي الله عنها borrowed frequently and that members of her family criticised her for it. She responded by citing the Prophet's ﷺ teaching about borrowing with the intention to repay.

Kuraib, the freed servant of Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما, narrated her account of freeing an enslaved woman without first asking the Prophet ﷺ. When she told him ﷺ, he said giving that woman to her maternal uncles would have brought greater reward.

Biographical account and appearances

She wept because revelation from heaven had ceased

After the Prophet ﷺ died, Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه and ʿUmar رضي الله عنه visited her as he ﷺ used to do.

She explained that she was weeping because revelation from heaven had ceased. Her words moved both visitors to tears.

Biographical account and appearances

Her child died, and the Prophet ﷺ prayed for her family

Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه narrated that, when her son died, she told Abū Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه by comparing their loss to returning a borrowed possession when its owners ask for it.

After Abū Ṭalḥah رضي الله عنه told him what had happened, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for blessing for the night they had spent together.

Biographical account and appearances

The Prophet ﷺ upheld her protection

At the conquest of Makkah, she told the Prophet ﷺ that her brother intended to kill a man whom she had sheltered.

The Prophet ﷺ told her that they gave protection to the person she had protected. She also reported his eight prayer units that morning.

Biographical account and appearances

She was not returned under the treaty

She came to the Prophet ﷺ as a young believing migrant during the truce. Her relatives asked him to return her.

The report says that the Prophet ﷺ did not return her because Allah had revealed the instruction concerning believing women who came as migrants.

60:10 — The report cites the revealed instruction concerning believing women migrants as the reason she was not returned.

Biographical account and appearances

The Prophet ﷺ prayed for her request

After the Prophet ﷺ described a dream of followers sailing in Allah's cause, she asked him to pray that she would be one of them. He prayed for her and later told her that she was among the first group.

The report records that she sailed during the rule of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān رضي الله عنهما. After disembarking, she fell from her riding animal and died.

Biographical account and appearances

The people of the ship had two migrations

She migrated to Abyssinia and later came with the people of the ship. ʿUmar رضي الله عنه asserted that the earlier migrants had a greater claim to the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophet ﷺ told her that the earlier migrants did not have a greater claim to him, and that the people of the ship had two migrations.

Biographical account and appearances

She helped prepare his ﷺ daughter for burial

She helped wash a deceased daughter of the Prophet ﷺ with water and sidr, washing an odd number of times and adding camphor at the end, as he instructed.

When the washing was finished, the Prophet ﷺ gave the women his waist-wrapper and told them to shroud his daughter in it.

Biographical account and appearances

Umm al-Masākīn — named for her care for poor people

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that she had been married to ʿAbdullāh ibn Jaḥsh رضي الله عنه, who was killed at Uḥud, before her marriage to the Prophet ﷺ.

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm describes her kindness and care towards poor people and records that she died after a short marriage to the Prophet ﷺ.

Biographical account and appearances

A daughter of the Prophet ﷺ married to ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī records that ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه stayed away from Badr because his wife, a daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, was ill. The report does not name her; her identification here follows the book's biographical account.

The Prophet ﷺ gave her husband the reward and share of someone who had taken part in Badr.

Biographical account and appearances

His ﷺ daughter whose burial he helped prepare

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that Abū Lahab forced his sons to divorce the Prophet's ﷺ daughters Ruqayyah رضي الله عنها and Umm Kulthūm رضي الله عنها as part of his opposition to him.

The Prophet ﷺ gave instructions to the women washing her body; when they finished, he gave his waist-wrapper to be used in her shroud.

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه married her after the death of her sister Ruqayyah رضي الله عنها.

Biographical account and appearances

The mother of Ibrāhīm, his ﷺ son

Ar-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm records that her son Ibrāhīm died while still a small child in Madinah.

The book identifies her as an enslaved concubine, not a wife of the Prophet ﷺ.

The report of Ibrāhīm's death records his father's ﷺ affection, tears and grief. It does not record his mother's response.

Biographical account and appearances

His ﷺ daughter whose necklace was sent as ransom

She sent property to ransom her husband after Badr, including a necklace that her mother Khadījah رضي الله عنها had given her. The Prophet ﷺ was moved when he saw it and asked the companions if they wished to release her captive and return her property.

Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها reported that, when Zaynab رضي الله عنها died, the Prophet ﷺ instructed the women washing her body and gave them his garment to place next to her body.

Biographical account and appearances

She brought her complaint to the Prophet ﷺ

ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported that Khawlah bint Thaʿlabah رضي الله عنها complained that, after she had grown older and borne her husband children, he pronounced ẓihār against her, a declaration treating his wife as forbidden to him like his mother. She brought her complaint to the Prophet ﷺ and complained to Allah.

ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها reported that some of Khawlah's رضي الله عنها words were inaudible to her, and that Al-Mujādilah 58:1 was revealed concerning her complaint.

58:1 — The report explicitly connects her complaint with this revelation.

Biographical account and appearances

She challenged a marriage she did not want

Her father gave her in marriage when she was previously married, and she disliked that marriage. She went to the Prophet ﷺ about it.

The Prophet ﷺ declared that marriage invalid.

Biographical account and appearances

She sought guidance after widowhood and childbirth

Subayʿah رضي الله عنها became a widow while pregnant. After giving birth, she went to the Prophet ﷺ about whether she could marry.

The Prophet ﷺ told her that she could marry.

Biographical account and appearances

She sought counsel after divorce

After her husband divorced her irrevocably, Fāṭimah bint Qays رضي الله عنها received marriage proposals and sought the Prophet's ﷺ counsel about them.

The Prophet ﷺ advised her to marry Usāmah ibn Zayd رضي الله عنهما. She reported her initial reluctance, her eventual marriage to him, and that others envied her afterward.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her among the early Muslims, identifying her as the wife of Saʿīd ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه and the sister of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her among the women converts who endured persecution in Makkah; the translation spells her name Zanirah.

The persecution account includes her among the women who suffered at the hands of the opponents. It does not supply a separate detailed account of her response.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her and her unnamed daughter among the persecuted women converts in Makkah.

The book records their persecution without setting out a separate detailed life account for either woman in this passage.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her among the persecuted women converts in Makkah; the translation spells her name Umm Ubais.

The passage includes her among the women who suffered persecution. It does not identify her as one of the particular women purchased by Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her, from Banū Salamah, as one of the two women at the second pledge of ʿAqabah, alongside Nusaybah bint Kaʿb رضي الله عنها.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her among the children of Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها and ʿAlī رضي الله عنه, alongside al-Ḥasan رضي الله عنهما, al-Ḥusayn رضي الله عنهما and Umm Kulthūm bint ʿAlī رضي الله عنها.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq names her among the children of Fāṭimah رضي الله عنها and ʿAlī رضي الله عنه. She is distinct from Umm Kulthūm رضي الله عنها, the Prophet's ﷺ daughter.

Biographical account and appearances

Ar-Raḥīq identifies her as the sister of Maymūnah bint al-Ḥārith رضي الله عنها.

Biographical account and appearances