Umm al-Muminin Hafsa bint Umar ibn al-Khattab
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dār al-Qāsim
Umm al-Muminin Hafsa bint Umar ibn al-Khattab (أم المؤمنين حفصة بنت عمر بن الخطاب) is a biographical treatise by the contemporary author Khalid al-Hamudi detailing the life, virtues, marital history, and historical role of the Prophet's wife Hafsa bint Umar ibn al-Khattab .
Background and Content
The work traces Hafsa's biography chronologically, beginning with her lineage as the daughter of Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zaynab bint Maz'un, sister of Uthman ibn Maz'un . The author notes that historical reports date her birth to five years before the prophetic mission (al-Bi'tha), coinciding with Quraysh's rebuilding of the Kaaba and the birth of Fatima al-Zahra .
The narrative covers her initial marriage to Khunays ibn Hudhafa al-Sahmi, an early convert and veteran of the emigration to Abyssinia, and their subsequent emigration together to Medina . Following Khunays's fatal wounding at the Battle of Uhud and his death in Medina, Hafsa was widowed around the age of twenty without children . Al-Hamudi describes Umar's subsequent sorrow and his attempts to arrange a marriage for her, first offering her to Uthman ibn Affan after the death of Ruqayyah, and then to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq . After both declined or remained silent, Umar complained to the Prophet ﷺ, who announced that God would marry Uthman to someone better than Hafsa and marry Hafsa to someone better than Uthman, subsequently marrying her himself . Abu Bakr later explained to Umar that he had kept silent only because he knew the Prophet had mentioned her .
Virtues and Historical Role
The book highlights Hafsa's character and standing in the prophetic household. It recounts her accompaniment of the Prophet ﷺ on military expeditions after lots were drawn, where she assisted by tending to the wounded and providing water, for which the Prophet allotted her eighty wasqs of wheat . It addresses the domestic tensions that led the Prophet to withdraw from his wives for a month, noting that when Umar feared she had been divorced, Jibril conveyed to the Prophet: لا تطلق حفصة فإنها صؤوم قؤوم وإنها من نسائك في الجنة ("Do not divorce Hafsa, for she is constantly fasting and praying at night, and she is one of your wives in Paradise") .
Al-Hamudi emphasizes her role during the caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar, specifically that her residence served as the repository for the recorded revelations written on parchments and bone tablets, which were relied upon during the initial compilation of the Quran following the casualties at the Battle of al-Yamama . The author also surveys her transmission of prophetic hadith regarding legal rulings and conduct, listing transmitters who narrated from her, such as her brother Abdullah ibn Umar, his son Hamza, Haritha ibn Wahb, al-Muttalib ibn Abi Wada'a, Umm Mubashshir al-Ansariyya, Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith ibn Hisham, and Abdullah ibn Safwan .
Death
The text concludes with an account of her demise in 45 AH in Medina . Her funeral prayer was led by the governor of Medina, Marwan ibn al-Hakam, with Abu Hurayra among the attendees . She was buried in al-Baqi' cemetery, and her brothers Abdullah and Asim descended into her grave to lay her to rest .
Answer updated