The wives of the Prophet

& The Right Hand Possess

Hind

Hind bint Abi Umayya also know as Oemm Salama

Hind bint Abi Umayya Also known as Umm Salama When Muhammad married Hind, she was his fifth wife. That is more than the permitted four wives: Muhammad’s was given a dispensation. “You may take to yourself whomever you wish,” says the Koran, which continually intervenes in Muhammad’s private life. Later in his life, he would again be saved from dire situations by the Koran.

Hind is important to Islam because she narrated a large number of Hadith. Hadith are traditions about the actions of the prophet and were recorded 200 years after his death. Not all hadith are reliable. If they are, they are given the title ‘Sahih’. Hind was the widow of one of Muhammad’s first followers, Abu Salama. For their safety, the couple lived with their four children in Ethiopia. On their return to Mecca, violence against Muslims flared up again, and Hind’s tribe refused to allow her to leave for Medina, where the Prophet was staying. And so Abu Salamah traveled alone to Medina. The separation lasted for a year until the tribe of Hind realised that the situation was intolerable and immoral.

This story makes you wonder why Hind’s husband did not stay in Mecca with his wife and child. In any case, he would have prayed for a moment, just before his death that Hind would have a better husband than he had been. In the year 4 of the Islamic era, the widow Hind accepted Muhammead’s marriage proposal. She was an older woman of authority and therefore was given a prominent role in Muhammad’s household. His wives all lived in their own homes around the current mosque in Medina. In particular, she had a major role in the upbringing of Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad and Khadija. Muhammad’s other wives accepted her authority because she was intelligent and understood Islamic politics well. She became imam to the female believers after the death of Muhammad. She died at the age of 84 in Medina.

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