The Prophet’s wife who took up the cause of women’s rights

The life of Umm Salamah, one of the Prophet’s wives who became known for her intelligence, piety and support for women’s rights, will be the focus of the sermon on Friday. Umm Salamah was among the first women to embrace Islam and migrate to Madinah with the Prophet Mohammed.

When her husband died, after becoming injured in the battle of Uhud, she was left with three young children to care for.

The Prophet Mohammed asked her to marry him but she hesitated, warning him that she was a jealous woman,

“advanced in age” and had a young family.

The Prophet dismissed her concerns, telling her: “Your family is my family.” She became his fourth wife, and the third woman he married to take care of after her husband perished in war.

Described by the Prophet as “good and righteous”, Umm Salamah was a loving wife and mother. She prioritised her children over herself and spent more on them than she would on herself.

Umm Salamah gave her children a good education. Her daughter, Zaineb, became one of the most learned women of her time.

The sermon will tell worshippers that all parents should strive to emulate her positive attributes.

Umm Salamah was also very pious and would recite the Quran often, reflecting on its meanings.

One day she approached the Prophet to ask why women were not mentioned in the Quran the way the men were.

Her question prompted this revelation and statement from Allah: “Muslim men and Muslim women, men who are believers and women who are believers, devout men and devout women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, men who give charity and women who give charity, men who fast and women who fast, men who guard their modesty and women who guard their modesty, and men who remember Allah and women who remember Him: for them, Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.” (Quran 33:35)

Umm Salamah went on to become a scholar and jurist who dedicated her life to the spread of knowledge.

After the Prophet’s death, she became a main contributor to the hadith, a record of the Prophet’s teachings.

Umm Salamah was a scholar and jurist who dedicated her entire life to the spread of knowledge