Ruqayya bint Muhammad ( ar, رقية بنت محمد, translit=Ruqayya bint Muḥammad; –March 624) was the second eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...

and

Khadija Khadija, Khadeeja or Khadijah ( ar, خديجة, Khadīja) is an Arabic feminine given name, the name of Khadija bint Khuwaylid, first wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 1995, it was one of the three most popular Arabic feminine names in t ...

. She married the third caliph

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...

and the couple had a son Abd Allah. In 624, Ruqayya died from an illness.

Early life

Born in

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 city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

around 601 or 602 CE, Ruqayya was the 3rd child and the second daughter of Muhammad and Khadija, his first wife, who was also a successful merchant.

Marital life

Marriage with Utbah

She was married before August 610 to

Utbah ibn Abi Lahab ʿUtbah ibn Abī Lahab () was a first cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Biography Born in Mecca, Utbah was the eldest son of Abu Lahab, Abu Lahab ibn Abdul-Muttalib and Umm Jamil, Umm Jamil bint Harb. For several years his family lived next ...

, but the marriage was never consummated.Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 314. Ruqayya 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 her mother died. When Muhammad began to preach openly in 613, 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 Qu ...

reminded Muhammad that they had "relieved him of his care for his daughters" and decided to return them so that he would have to support them at his own expense. They told Utbah that they would give him "the daughter of Aban ibn Sa'id ibn Al-As or the daughter of Sa'id ibn Al-As" if he divorced Ruqayya. After Muhammad warned Abū Lahab that he would go to Hell, Abu Lahab said he would never speak to his son again unless he divorced Ruqayya, which Utbah accordingly did.

Marriage with Uthman

By 615 Ruqayya was married to a prominent Muslim, Uthman ibn Affan. She accompanied him on the first Migration to Abyssinia,Ibn Saad/Bewley p. 25.Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 162. where she suffered a miscarriage. They returned to Abyssinia in 616, and there Ruqayya gave birth to a son, Abd Allah, in 619. Abd Allah died when he was six years old in Medina. She had no further children. Uthman and Ruqayya were among those who returned to Mecca in 619. Uthman

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

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, ...

in 622, and Ruqayya followed him later. Ruqayya was said to be extremely beautiful. When Usama ibn Zayd was sent on an errand to their house, he found himself staring at her and at Uthman in turns. Muhammad asked Usama, "Have you ever seen a more handsome couple than those two?" and he agreed that he had not.

Death

Ruqayya fell ill in March 624. Uthman was excused from his military duties in order to nurse her. She died later in the month, on the day when

Zayd ibn Haritha Zayd ibn Haritha ( ar, زَيْد ٱبْن حَارِثَة, ') (), was an early Muslim, sahabah and the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He is commonly regarded as the fourth person to have accepted Islam, after Muhammad's wife Kha ...

returned to Medina with news of their victory at the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr ( ar, غَزْوَةُ بَدِرْ ), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ) in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the present-day city of Badr, Al Madinah Provin ...

.Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi. ''Kitab al-Maghazi''. Translated by Faizer, R., Ismail, A., & Tayob, A. K. (2011). ''The Life of Muhammad'', p. 51. Oxford & New York: Routledge. When Muhammad returned to Medina after the battle, the family went to grieve at her grave.

References