Umm Habiba (Ramla bint Abi Sufyan)

Steadfast in Exile

Umm Habiba, Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, was of Banu Umayya, daughter of the Quraysh chief Abu Sufyan — then still an enemy of Islam. With her first husband Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh she accepted Islam early and emigrated to Abyssinia to escape the persecution of the Quraysh. There her husband turned Christian and apostatised; she saw his fall foretold in a dream, yet she herself held fast to her faith and was separated from him — left alone in a strange land for the sake of Islam. 1 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 254–255 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Umm Habiba's emigration to Abyssinia, her husband's apostasy to Christianity, and her steadfastness in Islam.

Married Through the Negus

Allah soon rewarded her loss. The Prophet ﷺ sent to the Negus of Abyssinia to arrange her marriage; the king represented the Prophet ﷺ in the contract, gave her a dowry of 400 dinars on his behalf, held a feast, and sent her to Madinah with her dowry and gifts. So she became a wife of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in 7 AH, while her father was not yet a Muslim. 2 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 255 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — the Negus conducts Umm Habiba's marriage to the Prophet, the dowry of 400 dinars, and her journey to Madinah.

In her own first-person narration she names the Najashi’s messenger Abraha who came to her with the proposal, and her appointment of Khalid ibn Sa’id ibn al-As as her wakil for the contract — with the Najashi himself giving the marriage khutbah in court. 4 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 2 · pp. 665–666 — Kandhlawi — Umm Habiba's first-person account of the Najashi marriage: the messenger Abraha; Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As as wakil; the Najashi's khutbah; the 400-dinar dowry.

A Mat Folded for Abu Sufyan

When her father Abu Sufyan — still a polytheist — came to her house in Madinah and moved to sit on the Prophet’s ﷺ mat, she folded the mat away from him, so that he would not soil it with disbelief. He said: “Have you preferred this mat to me, or me to this mat?” She answered: “It is the mat of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and you are an impure mushrik.” 5 Seerat-e-Mustafa · Vol 3 · pp. — — Idris Kandhlawi — Umm Habiba folds the Prophet's ﷺ mat away from Abu Sufyan in her house in Madinah.

Death & Legacy

Umm Habiba died in Madinah around 44 AH, honoured as a Mother of the Believers whose faith outweighed kin and homeland. 3 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 255 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Umm Habiba's death, most probably in 44 AH.