Zafina waited with her fairy tale books piled up on the bed next to her, just waiting for Suha to finish praying her Esha salah. Before Suha could even finish giving the salam on her left, Zafina impatiently asked, “Are you done?! It always takes you forever to finish!”
Before she could respond, Zafina tugged at Suha’s sleeves, indicating that she got inside the hanging mosquito net, onto the bed.
Every time Suha came to stay over at her cousin Tamanna’s place, her day usually got by very fast, full of activities involving her eight year old niece, Zafina, in which her 13 year old niece, Adeeba, also sometimes took part. Now that it was bedtime, Suha knew exactly where things were headed. She grew tired of reading out the same fairy tales to her cousin’s younger kid, and she was sure that Adeeba too was tired of hearing the same story being recited every night of each visit. Suha sat on the bed and looked at which fairy tale it was this time-Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
“Zafina, we’ve read this one countless times already, why don’t I tell you another bedtime story today?” Suha insisted.
Zafina pointed at the pile next to her and remarked, “which one? Should we read the Beauty and the Beast, then?” Suha smiled and shook her head and said,
“Why Don’t I Tell You A Real Story Tonight? About Real People? Not The Made Up Stuff About Princesses, Dwarves Or Beasts.”
Suha knew that she had gotten both of their interests now. “A real story?” went on Zafina, “whose story?” “Ghost stories!” Adeeba shouted, clearly excited about such a possibility.
Suha replied, “Nooo. There’s no such thing as ghosts. I’ll tell you the story of a woman who’s famous for her contribution to Islamic history, a-”
“Is it Khadija (radiAllahu anha)?” interrupted Adeeba.
“No,” replied Suha.
“Then Aisha (radiAllahu anha)? or Aasiya (alaihis salam)? Or Fatima (radiAllahu anha)? Or-“ continued Adeeba, but Suha cut her short and said, “Let me stop you there, awesome as each of the women you have mentioned were, the phenomenal woman I’m going to tell you about today is probably someone you, and many other muslims, probably haven’t heard of before.”
“Who could it be?” Zafina wondered aloud.
Adeeba pushed her glasses up her nose and asked, “How can she be famous if we haven’t even heard of her before?”.
Suha explained, “Well, there were people who were more famous than her, and so are more renowned, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t famous. If that were the case then how did I get to know of her?” They both fell silent, giving Suha permission to continue with her story.
Suha began,” Who was Umm Sulaim? This name belongs to a person whom Muslims should remember but one that the majority of Muslims don’t know of. She was a great companion of the Prophet ( PBUH). Her name was Umm Sulaim Binte Milhaam Ibn Khalid Ibn Zaid Ibn Haraam. But this was her kunya.”
“Boy, that’s a long name! What’s a Kunya?” stated Zafina, confused.
“You know? Calling someone the mother of so and so?” explained Suha,”Like they call your mother ‘Adeeba’s mother’? That’s something that the Arabs used to do as well. Anyway, some say her real name was al-Gumaisaa, others say it was al- Rumaisaa. Indeed, most of us are familiar with her son, the famous Anas Bin Malik (radiAllahu anhu), who was the servant of Muhammad ( PBUH).
She Was Amongst The First To Accept Islam, She Lived In Medinah, Which Means That She Was The First Of The Ansaar To Accept Islam.
She was married to Malik Ibn Nadr, who, when she accepted Islam, remained with her, but did not want to accept Islam himself. He was against Umm Sulaim (radiAllahu anha) bringing their sons up under the fold of Islam and had not responded to her continuous efforts of dawah. He had gone to the North of Arabia on a journey and died a mushrik.”
“What’s a mushrik? Zafina asked again.” “Uff, Zafina. It means he died a disbeliever,” replied Adiba, “Suha Khala (aunt), please continue.”
“Don’t be mean to your sister,” Suha stated before returning to narrate her story, “She had two sons, the other being al-Bara’ Ibn Malik, one of the greatest warriors of Islam. This was the household of Umm Sulaim (radiAllahu anha) and we can see the fruits of her upbringing in her two sons. When the Prophet ( PBUH) had come to Medinah, she was the smartest mother there and requested the Prophet ( PBUH) to take her son Anas, who, she guaranteed was a fast learner, to let him serve him ( PBUH) while he was in Medina. The Prophet ( PBUH) had agreed to take on her request and took Anas Ibn Malik under his care.”
After the death of her first husband, she was approached by many dignitaries of Medinah because they saw the many great qualities she possessed. One such suitor was Abu Talha al-Ansaari. When receiving his proposal, she informed him that, even though the likes of Abu Talha were not likely to be rejected when he proposed for marriage, there was a problem. She was a Muslim woman, he was a disbeliever and that it simply wouldn’t work out as she wasn’t supposed to marry any from the non-Muslims. However, she had proposed that if he were to accept Islam and become Muslim, she would accept his proposal and take his acceptance as her Mahr (dowry). A while later he had accepted Islam and they got married. By far she had the most valuable dowry in history.“
“Wait. You mean to tell me that Abu Talha (radiAllahu anhu) had become a Muslim so that he could marry Umm Sulaim (radiAllahu anha)?!” Adeeba exclaimed.
Suha chuckled, “Of course not!” she said. “Abu Talha (radiAllahu anhu), also one of the greatest companions of Muhammad (PBUH) and a defender of the Prophet (PBUH) in calamities and wars, had began contemplating about Islam and the message of Muhammad ( PBUH) and finally had made up his mind that Islam was the true religion. Thereafter he became a Muslim. But it is true that Umm Sulaim was the one who had triggered him to ponder about Islam.”
“Anyway, “ Suha continued, “She was a wise woman. She and Abu Talha had a son sometime later. Unfortunately, her first son with Abu Talha had died shortly afterwards. She had asked the rest of her family members to keep quiet about the news. She wanted to be the first to narrate the news to him. When Abu Talha had come home, she had first fed him and then decided to tell him the news later on at night about the passing away of their son. She had used the gentlest of ways to break the news to him. She had asked him to imagine if they had a neighbor who borrowed something from another neighbor, and when the owner of the belonging came to reclaim it, the neighbor refused to return it. Would that be acceptable? Abu Talha agreed that they had no right over that property. Once she stated this eloquently and beautifully, she broke down the news gently and asked him to ask Allah for forgiveness for verily, Allah had claimed the soul of their son. Abu Talha (radiAllahu anhu) was angered by this delay and had gone to complain to the Prophet ( PBUH) about what his wife had just done.
But once he was done complaining about the matter, the Prophet ( PBUH) had made dua that Allah blesses them with another child. Nine months from that time, the couple had another son by the name of Abdullah. And he was one of the most distinguished boys amongst the Ansaar because of the supplication made for him by the Prophet ( PBUH).”
“That’s weird.” Zafina wondered. “Why would she delay telling him such a news though? Why wait till later on at night to give him such an important news?”
“Well, I’m sure he would have been much more upset if he had heard of that devastating news in an empty stomach. Hmm. I’m sure there was a great deal of wisdom behind her actions. I’m sure you’ll understand it better one day,” Suha replied with a straight face.
The sisters did not seem entirely satisfied with the answer and before they could ask any more questions, Suha continued,” You know, she accompanied the Prophet (PBUH) along with her husband in all of their travels. She would take care of the sick along with the other women. In one incident, in the battle of Hunaini, where the Prophet ( PBUH) and the companions went to Taif, after the conquest of Makkah, Abu Talha (radiAllahu anhu) looked at the Prophet ( PBUH) and had said that ‘Oh Prophet of Allah, don’t you see what Umm Sulaim is doing? She is hiding a dagger in her clothes.’ The Prophet (PBUH) had smiled and asked her what the dagger was for. She replied that if any of the enemies, the pagans were to attack her, she would take out the dagger and slash at their stomachs.”
This was Umm Sulaim. She was not just a housewife. She was a housewife, she was courageous, she was brave, she was strong, she always wanted something more. We can only aspire to be like her.
“And that, my darlings, is what I know of Umm Sulaim.” Suha concluded, satisfied about the fact that she was able to entertain the two sisters by sharing beneficial knowledge.
To be continued
