Al-Shifāʾ bint ʿAbd Allāh (), whose given name was Laylā, was a companion of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

Biography

She was the daughter of Abdullah ibn Abdshams and Fatima bint WahbMuhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina'', p. 188. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. and a member of the

Adi Adi or ADI may refer to: Abbreviations * Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine * Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector * Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank * Alternating ...

clan of the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

.Ahmed ibn Jabir al-Baladhuri. ''Kitab Futuh al-Buldan''. Translated by Murgotten, F. C. (1924). ''The Origins of the Islamic State Volume II'', p. 271. New York: Longmans, Green & Co., & London: P. S. King & Son. She married Abu Hathma ibn Hudhayfa, and they had two sons, Sulayman and Masruq. She had a reputation as a wise woman. Her by-name ''Al-Shifaa'' means "the Healer, " indicating that she practiced folk medicine.Ahmad ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. ''Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba'' vol. 7 #11373. At a time when barely twenty people in Mecca could read and write, Al-Shifaa was the first woman to acquire this skill. She taught calligraphy to many others, including, her relative,

Hafsa bint Umar Hafsa bint Umar (; 605–665) was the fourth wife of Muhammad and a daughter of the second caliph Umar (). In Islamic writings, her name is thus often prefixed by the title "Mother of the Believers" (Arabic: أمّ المؤمنين, romanized ...

, and the two women remained friends. Al-Shifaa became a Muslim in Mecca and was among the first to join the

emigration 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, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

.Bukhari, ''Al-Adab Al-Mufrad'' 42:1023. There she had a house between the

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

and the market.Malik ibn Anas. ''Al-Muwatta'' 8:7. Muhammad visited her there and sometimes consulted her about best practices in business matters. It was narrated that when

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

became

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, he sometimes would consult her regarding some matters of the marketplace. But this narration is not proven by authentic sources. Shifa would later become the head of Health and Safety in Basra, Iraq. She recalled of him: "When Umar talked, he was loud; when he walked, he was fast; when he beat, he hurt." He also used to visit her in her home. On one occasion he asked why her son Sulayman had been missing from morning prayers; she replied that Sulayman had been praying all night and had given way to sleep in the morning.

Legacy

Among the ''

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

'' that she narrated are the origin of Umar's title, ''Amir al-Muminin'', and these words of Muhammad: "'The example of the ''jihad'' warrior in the path of Allah is like the one who fasts and prays and does not stop fasting or praying until the ''jihad'' warrior returns."Tirmidhi 3:20:1619. Her son Masruq became an

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

. By her son Sulayman she had two grandsons, Abu Bakr and Uthman, who were also narrators of ''hadith''.

References

{{reflist Women companions of the Prophet Year of death unknown Banu Adi