Umm Ubays

Umm Umais (Arabic: أُمُّ عُبَيْسٍ), Umm Ubais or Umm Ubays was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

She was a slave in Mecca who became an early convert to Islam. After 614 she was tortured in an attempt to force her to renounce her faith.[1] Abu Bakr bought and manumitted her. It was in response to the purchase of these slaves that Abu Bakr's father protested: "I see that you are freeing weak slaves. Why don’t you free powerful men who could defend you and protect you?" Abu Bakr replied, "I am only trying to do what I am attempting for God’s sake."[2]

Umm Ubays had a sister, Harithah bint al-Muammil.

Note. It is sometimes asserted that Umm Ubays was the daughter of Al-Nahdiah. This is apparently due to the ambiguous wording of Ibn Saad.[3] However, Ibn Ishaq makes it clear that Umm Ubays and Al-Nahdiah's daughter were two different people, both of whom were purchased and manumitted by Abu Bakr.[4]

See also

References

  1. Muhammad ibn Saad. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir volume 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina, p. 180. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
  2. Muhammad ibn Ishaq. Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 144. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. Ibn Saad/Bewley p. 180.
  4. Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 144.


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