Maymunah bint al-Harith al-Hilaliyyah ( ar, مَيْمُونَة ٱبْنَت ٱلْحَارِث ٱلْهِلَالِيَّة, Maymūnah ibnat al-Ḥārith al-Hilālīyah; ), was a twelfth wife of

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 ...

. Her original name was Barrah ( ar, بَرَّة, link=no), but

changed it to Maymunah, meaning "good tidings", as his marriage to her marked the first time in seven years when he could enter his hometown of

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 ...

from

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...

Family

Her father was Al-Harith ibn Hazn from the Hilali tribe of Mecca. Her mother was

Hind bint Awf Hind bint ʿAwf () was a mother-in-law twice of Muhammad. As the mother, mother-in-law and grandmother of several Sahaba, companions of Muhammad, she was known as the "grandest mother-in-law on earth". She was also known by the name Khawla. Fam ...

from the

Himyar The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) (fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerite ...

i tribe in

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. Her full sister was Lubaba the Elder. Her paternal half-sisters were Layla (Lubaba the Younger), Huzayla and Azza. Her maternal half-siblings were Mahmiyah ibn Jaz'i al-Zubaydi,

Asma bint Umays Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays ( ar, أَسْمَاء بِنْت عُمَيْس) was a Companions of the Prophet, companion of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. She is known for having married three companions of the Prophet: ...

(a wife of

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

), Salma bint Umays (a wife of

Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ( ar, حمزة بن عبد المطلب; 568 – 625)Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. was a ...

) and Awn ibn Umays.

Ibn Kathir Abū al-Fiḍā’ ‘Imād ad-Dīn Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī al-Damishqī (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير القرشي الدمشقي أبو الفداء عماد; – 1373), known as Ibn Kathīr (, was ...

also mentions a tradition that

Zaynab bint Khuzayma Zaynab bint Khuzaymah ( ar, زينب بنت خزيمة) ( 596 – 625), also known as Umm al-Masākīn ( ar, أم المساكين, link=no, "Mother of the Poor"), was the fifth wife of the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. As a resul ...

(a wife of Muhammad) was another maternal sister.

Marriage

She married

in 629 in Sarif, about from Mecca, just after the Lesser Pilgrimage. She was in her late 30s when she married him. Maymuna lived with Muhammad for three years until his death in 632.

Death

Maymuna's death date is controversial. According to Al-Tabari: "Maymuna died in the year 61 AH (680–681 CE) during the caliphate of

Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...

. She was the last of the wives of the Prophet to die, and her age was then 80 or 81." However, Al-Tabari asserts elsewhere that

Umm Salama Hind bint Abi Umayya ( ar, هِنْد بِنْت أَبِي أُمَيَّة, Hind ʾibnat ʾAbī ʾUmayya, 580 or 596 – 680 or 683), better known as Umm Salama ( ar, أُمّ سَلَمَة, link=no) or Hind al-Makhzūmiyah ( ar, هِنْد ...

outlived Maymuna. Ibn Hajar also cites a tradition implying that Maymuna predeceased

Aisha Aisha ( ar, , translit=ʿĀʾisha bint Abī Bakr; , also , ; ) was Muhammad's third and youngest wife. In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" ( ar, links=no, , ʾumm al-mu'min, muʾminīn), ...

: "We stood on the walls of Medina, looking out … isha said 'By Allah! Maymuna is no more! She has gone, and you are left free to do whatever you like. She was the most pious of all of us and the most devoted to her relatives.'"

References

External links

Al Islam Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maymunah bint al-Harith 594 births 674 deaths Women companions of the Prophet Banu Hilal Wives of Muhammad Muslim female saints

Family

Marriage

Death

See also

References

External links