At a glance
The Mothers of the Believers- Dates
- Married the Prophet ﷺ c. 6 or 7 AH
- Who
- Daughter of Abu Sufyan, one of the Quraysh leaders, who held to Islam in Abyssinia
- Stages
- The Call in Makkah, and Treaty & Victory
ProfileUmm Habibah, Ramlah bint Abi Sufyan
Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) was born Ramlah, the daughter of Abu Sufyan, one of the most powerful opponents of the new faith in Makkah. She accepted Islam anyway, with her husband Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh, and the two migrated to Abyssinia in 615 CE. That meant leaving her father's house, her city and her family.
In Abyssinia, accounts say, her husband left Islam, and she was alone in a foreign land with her young daughter. She stayed firm in her faith. The Prophet ﷺ sent a proposal of marriage to her through the Negus, the king of Abyssinia, who arranged the marriage and made provision for her. She returned to the Muslims in Madinah around 7 AH.
A well-known account tells that when her father came to Madinah in the period before the conquest of Makkah, still a leader of the opposing side, she folded away the Prophet's ﷺ bedding rather than let him sit on it. Her faith had come before family loyalty. Her father later became a Muslim.
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