Umm Ma'bad

ProfileUmm Ma'bad

Umm Ma'bad (may Allah be pleased with her) is known by that name, meaning the mother of Ma'bad. According to the early biographies, her name was Atikah bint Khalid, of Khuza'ah, and her husband was Abu Ma'bad. The Khuza'ah were an old tribe of the outskirts of Makkah, who later became allies of the Prophet ﷺ, and when Quraysh's allies attacked them, that broke the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and led to the Conquest. According to the early biographies, she lived in a tent beside the road, in a year of hardship for her people, and was known for giving food and drink to travellers.

According to the early biographies, on the Hijrah the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Amir ibn Fuhayrah and their guide, Abdullah ibn Urayqit, stopped at her tent and asked if she had anything to give them. She did not know who they were. She said that if she had had anything, they would not have needed to ask, and that her husband was away looking for food. The Prophet ﷺ saw a thin goat in the corner of the tent and asked what was the matter with it. She said that it was too weak to go out with the flock. He asked whether it had any milk, and she said that it was too weak for any, but he asked leave to milk it, and she said that he might, if he saw any in it. He passed his hand over its udder, and said the name of Allah, and prayed for her in her goat, and it spread its legs and let its milk flow. He asked for a large vessel and milked until it was full, and gave it to her first, until she had drunk her fill, and then to his companions, and last of all drank himself. He milked it again and left that vessel full with her, and went on.

According to the early biographies, her husband came back later, driving his thin goats, and saw the milk, and asked where she had got it, since the goat was weak and there was no milk in the house. She said that a blessed man had passed by, and told him how it was. He asked her to describe him, and she said that she had seen a man whose cleanness was clear and whose face was bright. His build was fair, with no swollen belly and no small head. He was handsome and well proportioned, with wide, dark eyes and long lashes, a long neck, and a thick beard. His eyes were very dark and very white, his eyebrows were arched and nearly met, and his hair was black. When he was silent, he had dignity, and when he spoke, he shone. He was the most handsome and splendid of people from afar, and the sweetest and the finest close up. His speech was sweet and clear, neither too little nor too much, and his words were like pearls on a string. His companions stood around him, and when he spoke, they listened, and when he gave an order, they hurried to carry it out. He was neither scowling nor scolding. Her husband said that this was surely the companion of Quraysh whom they spoke of, and that he would have liked to be with him, and would do so if he found a way. According to the early biographies, they later went to Madinah and accepted Islam.

According to the early biographies, the people of Makkah did not know where the Prophet ﷺ had gone, until a voice that no one could see recited verses that named Umm Ma'bad's tent, and so they knew the road he had taken.

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