Umm Sulaym

ProfileUmm Sulaym

Umm Sulaym bint Milhan (may Allah be pleased with her) was of the clan of Najjar in Madinah, and was the mother of Anas ibn Malik. She was known for her strong character and was among the few literate women of Madinah. According to the early biographies, she accepted Islam very early, at the first gatherings of Mus'ab ibn Umayr in Madinah, while her husband Malik was away. He was angry about it, left for Syria and died there.

Abu Talhah proposed to her, and she told him that a man like him should not be turned away, but that he was a disbeliever and she was a Muslim, and it was not lawful for her to marry him. If he became Muslim, she said, that would be her dowry, and she would ask for nothing else. He accepted Islam, and the narrator said he had never heard of a dowry more precious than hers (Sunan an-Nasa'i, graded hasan). When the verse about not reaching righteousness until you spend of what you love was revealed, Abu Talhah gave away his best garden, Bayruha, opposite the mosque, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to give it to his relatives (Sahih al-Bukhari).

She brought her son Anas, then a boy, to the Prophet ﷺ and said he was his servant. The Prophet ﷺ prayed that Allah would increase his wealth and children and bless what He gave him (Sahih al-Bukhari). Anas said that the Prophet ﷺ visited no house but hers, apart from his wives', and when this was mentioned to him, he said that he felt compassion for her because her brother had been killed while he was with him (Sahih Muslim). She used to collect the sweat of the Prophet ﷺ when he slept at their house and mix it into her perfume, and when he asked what she was doing she said that it was for its blessing (Sahih Muslim). The Prophet ﷺ would ask Anas's little brother Abu Umayr what had happened to his sparrow (Sahih Muslim). Once he told an orphan girl in her care that she had grown up and might she not grow old, and the girl ran to Umm Sulaym weeping. Umm Sulaym went to the Prophet ﷺ, who laughed and explained that it was only a manner of speaking (Sahih Muslim).

Abu Talhah noticed a weakness in the Prophet's ﷺ voice and guessed it was hunger. Umm Sulaym wrapped the barley loaves she had in her veil and sent Anas with them. The Prophet ﷺ stood up with the men around him, and came to the house, and she told Abu Talhah that Allah and His Messenger knew best. The Prophet ﷺ had her break up the bread and pour butter on it and he prayed over it, and the people came in ten by ten until they had all eaten their fill (Sahih al-Bukhari). At Uhud, Anas saw her and Aishah carrying water skins on their backs and pouring water into the mouths of the people (Sahih al-Bukhari). At Hunayn she carried a dagger, and told Abu Talhah that she meant to stab anyone who came near her (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih).

When one of her sons died while Abu Talhah was away, she washed and shrouded the boy and laid him in the house. When Abu Talhah asked after the boy, she said that he was quieter than he had ever been. She gave him his supper and he spent the night with her, and in the morning she told him that the boy had died. The Prophet ﷺ prayed that Allah would bless their night, and she bore another son, Abdullah, whom the Prophet ﷺ gave a name and chewed a date for. According to one report, nine of their sons became reciters of the Quran (Sahih al-Bukhari). The Prophet ﷺ said that he had seen himself in Paradise and saw the wife of Abu Talhah there (Sahih al-Bukhari).

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