Sumayyah bint Khayyat
| Sumayyah bint Khayyat | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | c.550 |
| Died | c.615 C.E. Mecca, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Ethiopian |
| Other names | Sumayyah bint Khabbat |
| Known for | First Muslim martyr and female sahabah of the Islamic prophet Muhammad |
| Spouse(s) | Yasir ibn Amir |
| Children | Horayth ibn Yasir, Ammar ibn Yasir, Abdullah ibn Yasir |
| Parent(s) | Khayyat (father) |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Sumayyah bint Khayyat (Arabic: سمية بنت خياطّ) (c.550-c.615) was the first Muslim to become a shahid.[1][2][3] She was probably also a martyr in the English sense of the word.
Early Life
She was a slave in the possession of Abu Hudhayfa ibn al-Mughira, a member of the Makhzum clan in Mecca.[4] She was not a black woman, but she was of Ethiopian ancestry.[citation needed]
Her master gave her in marriage to Yasir ibn Amir, who was from the Malik clan of the Madhhij tribe in Yemen. After coming to Mecca to look for a lost brother, he had decided to settle there under Abu Hudhayfa's protection.[5][6] Sumayyah gave birth to their son Ammar c.566.[7][8][9][10] Yasir also had two other sons, Hurth and Abdullah,[11][12] but there is no indication that Sumayyah was their mother.
At a later date, Abu Hudhayfa freed both Sumayyah and her son Ammar; but they remained his clients for the rest of his life.[13][14][15][16] It is said that Abu Hudhayfa died "before Islam";[17] but it is also said that he was "one of those who mocked the Prophet".[18]
Conversion to Islam
According to one tradition, Sumayyah was one of the first seven "to display Islam," the other six being Muhammad, Abu Bakr, Bilal, Khabbab, Suhayb and her son Ammar.[19] "To display Islam" might refer to something other than conversion since, according to another tradition, Ammar was not converted until after the Muslims had entered the house of al-Arqam "after thirty men".[20] Yasir and his son Abdullah were also converted "on the rise of Islam,"[21][22][23][3][24][3][24] but Hurth had been killed by the Dil clan before 610.[25][26]
The Quraysh persecuted Muslims of low social rank.[27][24] Sumayyah's family was vulnerable after the death of their patron, and it was other members of the Makhzum clan who tortured them to pressure them to abandon their faith.[28][29][3][30] On one occasion she was put inside a pitcher full of water and lifted so that she could not escape. She, Yasir and Ammar were also forced to stand in the sun in the heat of the day dressed in mail-coats.[31][32] Muhammad passed while they were standing like that and urged them, "Patience, O family of Yasir! Your meeting-place will be Paradise."[33][34]
Although described as "a very old and frail woman," Sumayyah remained steadfast and refused to abandon Islam.[35][36]
Death
One evening Abu Jahl, also a member of the Makhzum clan, came to watch her standing there and he began to insult her verbally. Then he killed her by stabbing and impaling her with his spear.[37][38][39]
When Abu Jahl was killed at Badr, Muhammad said to Ammar, "Allah has killed your mother's killer."[40]
Historical Note
The earliest reference to the murder of Sumayyah is found in Ibn Ishaq's (died 761)[41] biography of Muhammad, Siratu Rasulullah ("Biography of the Messenger of God").[42][43] Her name Sumayyah is not explicitly mentioned in Ibn Ishaq; it is a deduction from the reference to her son as Ammar "son of" Sumayya.[44] However, she is named as Sumayyah in the accounts of Ibn Saad[45][46] and Tabari.[47]
References
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina, pp. 185-186. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr, p. 178. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. Tarikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk. Translated by Landau-Tasseron, E. (1998). Volume 39: Biographies of the Prophet’s Companions and Their Successors, pp. 29, 117. Albany: State University of New York Press.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 188.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron pp. 29, 116-117.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 188.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 185.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron pp. 29, 117.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 203. "Ammar was killed in Safar 37 AH at the age of 93."
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 189.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 29.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 188.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 185.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 117.
- ↑ Muir, W. (1861). The Life of Mahomet, vol. 2, p. 125. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 29.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 117.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 178.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 189.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron pp. 29, 117.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 pp. 188-189.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 185.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/ Bewley vol. 3 p. 189.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 29.
- ↑ Muhammad ibn Ishaq. Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 143. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-636033-1
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 145.
- ↑ See also Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 pp. 185-186.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 145.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 178.
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 145.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p.190.
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 145.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 186.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 p. 178.
- ↑ See also Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 145.
- ↑ See also Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 186.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 186.
- ↑ Robinson 2003, p. xv
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 143.
- ↑ University of Wisconsin-Madison
- ↑ Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 229.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 3 pp. 178, 188.
- ↑ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 185.
- ↑ Tabari/Landau Tasseron pp. 29, 30, 117.
