View source for Umm Kulthum bint Uqba

{{Short description|Companion (Sahabiyyah) of Muhammad (c.610–654)}}{{Infobox person
| name               = Umm Kulthum bint Uqba<br/>{{lang|ar|أُمُّ كُلثُوم بِنْتِ عُقبَة}}
| birth_date         = {{circa}} 610
| birth_place        = [[Mecca]], [[Hejaz]], [[Arabia]]
| death_date         = {{circa}} {{death year and age|654|610}}
| death_place        = Hejaz, [[Rashidun Caliphate]]
| known_for          = [[Sahaba|Companion]] of [[Muhammad]]
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
*[[Zayd ibn Haritha]]
*[[Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]]
*[[Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf]]
*[[Amr ibn al-'As]]
}}
| mother             = [[Arwa bint Kurayz]]
| father             = [[Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt]]
| relatives          = *[[Uthman]] {{small|(half-brother)}}
*[[Al-Walid ibn Uqba|al-Walid]] {{small|(full-brother)}}
| family             = [[Banu Umayya]] (clan)
}}

'''Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqba''' ({{langx|ar|أُمُّ كُلثُوم بِنْتِ عُقبَة}}) ({{circa|610–654}}) was a [[sahaba|companion]] of the [[Islam]]ic prophet [[Muhammad]]. A verse of the [[Qur'an]], 60:10, was declared in response to her situation.<ref name=Saad8>Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina'', pp. 162-163. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.</ref>

==Emigration==
Born in [[Mecca]], she was the daughter of [[Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt]] and [[Arwa bint Kurayz]];<ref name=Saad8/> hence [[Caliph]] [[Uthman ibn Affan|Uthman]] was her [[uterine half-brother]]. Their mother Arwa was a first cousin of Muhammad.<ref name=Saad3>Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.</ref>{{rp|38}}

Umm Kulthum's father Uqba was an outspoken opponent of Muhammad, but she became a Muslim before 622. She remained in Mecca after the [[Hijra (Islam)|''Hijra'']].<ref name=Saad8/> Uqba was killed at the [[Battle of Badr]] in 624.<ref>Muhammad ibn Ishaq, ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad'', p. 337. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref>

After the [[Treaty of Hudaybiyyah]] in 628, Umm Kulthum left Mecca for [[Medina]] in the company of a man from the [[Banu Khuza'a|Khuza'a]] tribe. Her brothers, [[Walid ibn Uqba|Walid]] and Ammara, pursued her, and she arrived in Medina only one day ahead of them. Her brothers asked Muhammad to return her to them, in accordance with the treaty, which stated that Muslims who escaped from Mecca to Medina should be returned to their families. Umm Kulthum pleaded that "women are weak" and that she might not have the strength to remain firm in her faith if she had to live among polytheists. Muhammad then announced the new revelation:<ref name=Saad8/>
{{Quote|O you who believe! When believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them; Allah knows best as to their faith, then if you ascertain that they are true believers, send them not back to the disbelievers. They are not lawful for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful for them. But give them (disbelievers) that which they have spent (on their dower).|Qur'an 60:10.}}
After this prophecy, he pointed out that the word in the treaty for "escaped people" was masculine, so it did not apply to women. However, escaped women must be tested for the genuineness of their faith.<ref>[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1533&Itemid=116/ Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir'' on Q60:10].</ref> Umm Kulthum was asked whether she had come to Medina "for love of Allah and his Apostle and Islam" or whether she was seeking or escaping a husband or hoping to make money. After she had passed the test, Muhammad told her brothers: "Allah has broken the treaty regarding women by what you know, so leave."<ref name=Saad8/>

Other women then followed Umm Kulthum's example and also left Mecca for Medina.<ref name=Saad8/>

==Subsequent career==
Four men asked for her hand in marriage, and in fact she was to marry all four of them in rotation. She asked her brother Uthman which suitor she should accept, and he advised her to consult Muhammed. He instructed her to marry [[Zayd ibn Harithah]]. The couple had two children, of whom Zayd died in infancy, but Ruqayya lived to come under the protection of Uthman. Zayd divorced Umm Kulthum, but was killed soon afterwards at the  [[battle of Mu'tah]].<ref name=Saad3/>{{rp|32-33}}

She then married [[Zubayr ibn al-Awwam]], whom she "disliked" because he had "some harshness towards women." She asked him for a divorce, but he refused. So "she pestered him while he was doing ''wudu'' for the prayer, and he divorced her with a single divorce." She then left the room and gave birth to their daughter Zaynab, which immediately ended her '''iddah''. When Zubayr heard, he complained, "She tricked me, may Allah trick her!" Muhammad advised him to "propose to her again," but Zubayr replied: "She will never come back to me."<ref name=Saad8/>

Her third husband was [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf]]. They had six children: Muhammad, Ibrahim, Hamid (or Humayd), Ismail, Hamida and Amat ar-Rahman.<ref name=Saad3/>{{rp|97}} This marriage lasted over twenty years, until Abd al-Rahman's death in 653/654.<ref name=Saad8/>

On being widowed, Umm Kulthum married [[Amr ibn al-'As]], but she died only one month later.<ref>[http://www.al-eman.com/IslamLib/viewchp.asp?BID=185&CID=111 al-Tabakat al-Kobra for Ibn Sa'd]</ref>

==References==
<References/>

[[Category:610s births]]
[[Category:650s deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:Women companions of the Prophet]]
[[Category:Banu Umayya]]