The Widow of Abū Salamah

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also got married to Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her). Umm Salamah is from Quraysh — she is from Banū Makhzūm, an important family in Quraysh; this is the family of Khālid ibn al-Walīd, incidentally. Her husband, Abū Salamah, was one of the early Companions. He made hijrah to Abyssinia, and he also made hijrah to Madīnah, so he is one of those who made both hijrahs, and he fought in the Battle of Uḥud and was injured there. His injury was beginning to heal when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) sent him on another mission, and during that mission his injury started all over again, and he ended up dying of it.

Now, before that, Abū Salamah had a conversation with his wife. He told her: if a husband dies and his wife does not get married after him, the two of them would be brought together again in Paradise, if both of them were destined to go there. So Abū Salamah told his wife, "How about we make an agreement: if I die, you don't get married; if you die, I don't get married." She said, "Fine, I agree." He then told her, "No — I ask Allah (swt), if I die, that He replace me with somebody better, who will marry you and not harm you or hurt you." Abū Salamah would then say, "And who is better than Abū Salamah? Who will I find in the world better than Abū Salamah?" So this shows that they had a very good relationship.

When he died, she went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and told him, "Abū Salamah is dead." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Say: O Allah, forgive me and forgive him, and replace me with somebody better" — or, give me something that is better — Allāhumma ighfir lī wa ighfir lahu wa aʿqibnī minhu ʿuqbā ḥasanah. And she made that duʿāʾ. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) proposed marriage; she refused. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (may Allah be pleased with him) proposed marriage; she refused. And then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) proposed marriage to her. She said, "Marḥaban" — welcome — but asked that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) be told that she was a jealous woman, and that she had children, young children, and that none of her walī were present. So she agreed, but wanted the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to know her condition: she was a very jealous woman, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was already married, and she had children, and these children would be a burden on him, and none of her guardians were there to give her in marriage to him.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: ammā qawluki innī musbiyatun fa-inna Allāha sa-yakfīki ṣibyānaki — "as for what you said, that you have children, Allah (swt) will take care of those children." Wa ammā qawluki innī ghayūrun fa-sa-adʿū Allāha an yadhhaba ghayratuki — "and as for what you said, that you are jealous, I am going to ask Allah (swt) to take that jealousy away from you." And the guardians who are absent — none of them will refuse to marry you to me; all of them will be happy that you should marry me. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) married Umm Salamah. In another narration, she is said to have told him, "I mean, I agree, but I am an old woman, I am getting old." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "If you are old, I am older than you." This also shows the intention of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in his marriage to Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) — an intention already discussed at length in the account of the Makkan period of his life, and the objectives his marriages served. The marriages of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) were marriages for the sake of the ummah, for the sake of the religion. Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated 338 hadith, very important hadith, some in al-Bukhārī, some in Muslim, and she conveyed this knowledge to the ummah from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). This was one of the reasons Allah (swt) destined the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to marry her, because everything happened according to the decree of Allah (swt) and His plan for this religion. His marriage to ʿĀʾishah was a blessing for the ummah; his marriage to Zaynab was a blessing; his marriage to Khadījah was a blessing; his marriage to Umm Salamah was a blessing. All of his marriages served a purpose in Islam.