Fākhitah bint Abī Ṭālib ( ar, فاختة بنت أبي طالب), also known as Hind and better known by her
kunya Umm Hānī, was a cousin and
companion of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
.
Early life
She was the eldest daughter of
Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib
Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib ( ar, أَبُو طَالِب بن عَبْد ٱلْمُطَّلِب '; ) was the leader of Banu Hashim, a clan of the Quraysh, Qurayshi tribe of Mecca in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula. He was an uncle of ...
and
Fatima bint Asad
Fatima bint Asad ( ar, فَاطِمَة بِنْت أَسَد ', 555–626 CE), was the mother of Ali ibn Abi Talib, married to Abu Talib, and an aunt to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Fatima bint Asad and her husband, Abu Talib, acted as p ...
,
[Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'', vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.][Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rasul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Landau Tasseron, E. (1998). ''Volume 39: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors''. Albany: State University of New York University Press.] hence a sister of
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
.
Marriage
Before 595 the young Muhammad asked Abu Talib's permission to marry Fakhitah, but Abu Talib accepted an alternative proposal from Hubayra ibn Abi Wahb, a member of the wealthy
Makhzum
The Banu Makhzum () was one of the wealthy clans of the Quraysh. They are regarded as being among the three most powerful and influential clans in Mecca before the advent of Islam, the other two being the Banu Hashim (the tribe of the Islamic proph ...
clan. Muhammad asked: "Uncle, why have you married her off to Hubayra and ignored me?" Abu Talib replied: "Nephew, they are our in-laws, and the noble is an equal for the noble."
This cryptic reply might have meant that Abu Talib owed a favour to the Makhzum clan; but the more likely meaning was that Muhammad had no money.
Hubayra, who was a poet,
[Muhammad ibn Ishaq. ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.] is described as "wise and influential".
He and Fakhitah had at least seven children, 3 daughters and 4 sons: Hani (from whom she took her ''kunya'' Umm Hani), Ja'da, Yusuf, Umar,
Fulan, Aqla and Amr.
Muhammad was a guest in Fakhitah's house one night in 621. The next morning he told her that he had miraculously
travelled to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and then to
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
during the night. She urged him not to tell anyone, as the
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
would only laugh at him, and she tried to restrain him physically. Muhammad ignored this advice.
Conversion to Islam
Fakhitah became a
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
when Muhammad
conquered Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
in January 630.
[Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi. ''Kitab al-Maghazi''. Translated by Faizer, R., Ismail, A., & Tayob, A. K. (2011). ''The Life of Muhammad''. London & New York: Routledge.] Hubayra did not want to convert, so he fled from Mecca and took refuge in the Christian city of
Najran
Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen fr ...
.
This caused an automatic divorce.
Muhammad proposed to Fakhita again, but she refused him, saying that she would not be able to do justice to both young children and a new husband. Muhammad responded: "The Quraysh are the best women on camel-back! They are so kind to their children and so careful of their husbands' property!"
Later Fakhitah told Muhammad that her children had grown up and she was now ready to marry him. He told her that she was too late, since a new revelation had forbidden him to marry any first cousin who had not emigrated to Medina before the Conquest.
Death
Her date of death is unknown; however, she outlived her brother Ali, who was killed in 661.
[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Hawting, G. R. (1996). ''Volume 17: The First Civil War: From the Battle of Siffeen to the Death of ‘Ali'', pp. 213-216, 226-227. Albany: State University of New York Press.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fakhitah bint Abi Talib
576 births
661 deaths
6th-century Arabs
7th-century Arabs
Women companions of the Prophet