MUSJIDUL HAQ

Download PDF: She sacrificed her Family for Islam

At the beginning, Sayyidah Umme Salamah May Allah be pleased with her was the wife of Hadrat Sayyiduna Abu Salamah Abdullah bin Asad May Allah be pleased with him. Both of them had accepted Islam and migrated to Abyssinia.

After a while, they returned to Makkah Shareef and decided to migrate to Madina Shareef when the call came. However, while Hadrat Sayyiduna Abu Salamah May Allah be pleased with him was preparing the camel and his blessed wife was preparing to put their little baby on the camel, the family of Sayyidah Umme Salamah May Allah be pleased with her (the Bani Mughayrah) came to learn about their intention to migrate. They came and forced her to jump off the camel. They also stopped her from going to Madina Shareef.

Meanwhile, when the tribe of Hadrat Sayyiduna Abu Salamah May Allah be pleased with him heard about this, they became very angry. They took away the little baby from Sayyidah Umme Salamah May Allah be pleased with her saying that the baby belonged to them and that they will never allow the child to live with her in Makkah Shareef. In this manner, Hadrat Sayyiduna Abu Salamah’s May Allah be pleased with him wife and child was taken away from. But this did not stop him from his intention to migrate to Madina Shareef.

His wife continued to weep for her little child night and day. On day, one of her cousins felt sorry for her and pleaded to the Bani Mughayrah by saying, “How long will you continue to separate this lady from her little child and from her husband. Can you not see that for nearly a week now, she sits alone and weeps for both of them?”

The Bani Mughayrah finally agreed to this request to let her go to Madina Shareef. When the tribe of Sayyiduna Abu Salamah May Allah be pleased with him also saw this behaviour of the Bani Mughayrah, they also felt sorrow for her and decided to return her child.

In this manner, she departed alone with her little child to Madina Shareef. On the journey, she met ‘Uthman bin Talha who was kind enough to guide her towards Madina Shareef. (Zarqani, 3/272)

Lesson

The command to migrate had already reached the Muslims as is seen in Surah Anfal, verse 72:

اِنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَہَاجَرُوۡا وَ جٰہَدُوۡا بِاَمْوٰلِہِمْ وَاَنۡفُسِہِمْ فِیۡ سَبِیۡلِ اللہِ وَالَّذِیۡنَ اٰوَوۡا وَّنَصَرُوۡۤا اُولٰٓئِکَ بَعْضُہُمْ اَوْلِیَآءُ بَعْضٍ ؕ وَالَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَلَمْ یُہَاجِرُوۡا مَا لَکُمۡ مِّنۡ وَّلٰیَتِہِمۡ مِّنۡ شَیۡءٍ حَتّٰی یُہَاجِرُوۡا ۚ وَ اِنِ اسْتَنۡصَرُوۡکُمْ فِی الدِّیۡنِ فَعَلَیۡکُمُ النَّصْرُ اِلَّا عَلٰی قَوْمٍۭ بَیۡنَکُمْ وَبَیۡنَہُمۡ مِّیۡثٰقٌ ؕ وَاللہُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُوۡنَ بَصِیۡرٌ ﴿۷۲﴾

Undoubtedly, those who believed and left their hearth and homes for Allah and fought with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah, and those who gave shelter and helped they are heirs one of another. And those who believed and did not emigrate, you have no duty to their inheritance unless they emigrate, if they seek help from you in the matter of the religion, then it is obligatory upon you to help them, but against a people between whom and you there is an agreement. And Allah is seeing your doing.

When this command came to the Muslims, even in difficult circumstances, the Muslims obeyed this command. We can see this from the behaviour of Hadrat Sayyiduna Abu Salamah May Allah be pleased with him that he was prepared to even leave his wife and child behind for the Divine Pleasure of Allah Almighty and His beloved Prophet May Allah send peace and blessings upon him.

This incident teaches us that as the men among the early Muslims were prepared to sacrifice everything for the sake of Allah Almighty, and in like manner, many sacrifices were also displayed by the early Muslims females. The above incident clearly proves this fact.

Imagine the state of this blessed female! Firstly, her little baby is snatched away. Then her husband leaves and she is surrounded by people who do not belong to her religion. What must have been the state of this Muslim lady? She is unaware whether she will ever see her husband or little baby again and yet, in all this state, she remains firm in the religion of Islam! Even when the husband was leaving, she did not even complain or ask him how she would survive or whether she will ever see her child again.

We also see that when she is finally given permission, she mounts the camel to travel hundreds of miles alone with her little baby. This proves that no amount of hardship or tribulation ever stopped these blessed souls from remaining steadfast on the path of Islam.

This is also a lesson to those Muslim sisters who are not prepared to sacrifice anything for the sake of Islam. At the same time, in this regard, they are also not prepared to help and assist their husbands and brothers when it comes to helping and assisting Islam and Islamic activities.

What is sad is that we see that when the husband gets a job or position and comes home late his wife never complains. But, when the same husband comes home late after performing some Islamic duty, the mood of his wife changes completely. In like manner, when the husband decides to leave for another country and remains there for months at a time, the wife is jubilant and cheerful. She never complains but continues to laugh and joke. Yet, when the same husband decides to leave the country for a few days to serve Islam, again there is argument and disruption in the same house.

If only our Muslim females can learn from the life of such blessed females as Sayyidah Umme Salamah May Allah be pleased with her and the immense sacrifices that these blessed females gave in the path of Islam, the present state of Muslim would be much different.

We make Du’a that Allah Almighty give Muslim females the strength to continue serving Islam and to be always ready to make sacrifices for Islam. Aameen.