As for her personal name, it was Hind; yet she was addressed by the kunya (honorific title) Umm Salamah, and in time the kunya eclipsed the given name.

Umm Salamah embraced Islam together with her husband, so she too was counted among the earliest believers. No sooner had the news of their conversion spread than Quraysh seethed and surged, pouring upon them a punishment (1) severe enough to shake the very hardest stone (2). Still, they did not weaken, waver, or hesitate.

When the persecution grew unbearable and the Messenger—may Allah’s blessings be upon him—granted his Companions permission to migrate to Abyssinia, the two of them were in the vanguard of the emigrants.

Thus Umm Salamah and her husband set off for a foreign land, leaving behind in Mecca their palatial home (3), their lofty honor, and their noble lineage,