Salma Umm al-Khayr bint Sakhar ( ar, سَلْمَىٰ أُمّ ٱلْخَيْر بِنْت صَخَر, ''Salmā ʾUmm al-Khayr ibnat Ṣakhar'') was the
companion of Islamic prophet
Muhammad and was the mother of
Abu Bakr, the first
Rashidun Caliph.
Biography
Salma was the daughter of Sakhar ibn Amir ibn Amr ( ar, صَخَر ٱبْن عَامِر ٱبْن عَمْروْ), from the
Taym clan of the Quraysh, and the brother of her uncle
Uthman ibn Amir
Uthman Abu Quhafa ibn Amir ( ar, عُثْمَان أَبُو قُحَافَة ٱبْن عَامِر, ʿUthmān ʾAbū Quḥāfah ibn ʿĀmir, 540635 CE), was the father of the first Rashidun caliph, Abu Bakr.
Family
Abu Quhafa was the son of ...
, later known as 'Abu Qahafa'. Her kenning was ''Umm Al-Khayr'' ("Mother of Goodness").
Salma and Abu Quhafa had several sons who did not survive infancy. When Abu Bakr was born in 573,
Salma took him to the
Kaaba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
and prayed to the gods: “If this one is granted immunity from death, then bestow him upon me!” Abu Bakr was therefore known as ''Atiq'' (" the exempted"), while his subsequent surviving brothers were given the related names ''Mu'taq'' and ''Utayq''.
Salma was an early convert to Islam. She was among those who were "brought to the house of Arqam"
to meet Muhammad, i.e., after 614 but before the ''
Hijra''.
She died during the Caliphate of her son Abu Bakr between 632 and 634.
Legacy
Sunnis honour her as ''Umm al-Khayr'' ( ar, أُمّ ٱلْخَيْر), meaning "Mother of Goodness", referring to Abu Bakr, whom Sunni Muslims honour as one of
The Ten Promised Paradise
The ten to whom Paradise was promised (Arabic: ar, العشرة المبشرون, translit=al-ʿashara al-mubashsharūn, label=none or ar, العشرة المبشرة, translit=al-ʿashara al-mubashshara, label=none) were ten early Muslims to w ...
among
Muhammad's early companions, the ''
Sahaba''.
Family tree
References
External links
Anwary-Islam.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salma Umm al-Khayr
Women companions of the Prophet
6th-century Arabs
7th-century Arabs