Section: A summary of the events that occurred in the fourth year after the Hijrah

Ibn Jarīr (1) reports: In Jumādā al-Ūlā of this year ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him—died.

The author adds: He was the son of Ruqayyah, daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he was six years old. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ performed the funeral prayer over him, and his father, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān—may Allah be pleased with him—descended into his grave.

The author also says: In the same year Abū Salamah ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Asad ibn Hilāl ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm al-Qurashī al-Makhzūmī (2) passed away. His mother was Barrah bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the aunt of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He was likewise the Prophet’s foster brother, for both of them had been nursed by Thuwaybah, the freedwoman of Abū Lahab. The acceptance of Islam by Abū Salamah, Abū ʿUbaydah, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (3), and al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam occurred early and on the same day. He and his wife, Umm Salamah, first migrated to Abyssinia, then returned to Mecca, where several of their children were born. Afterwards they migrated from Mecca to Madinah, and Umm Salamah followed him there, as mentioned earlier. He fought at Badr and Uḥud, and died from wounds sustained at Uḥud—may Allah be pleased with him and grant him His good pleasure. Only one ḥadīth is narrated from him, concerning the invocation of “Innā lillāh…” at the time of calamity; it will appear shortly in the account of the Prophet’s ﷺ marriage to Umm Salamah.

Ibn Jarīr (4) further states: In the closing nights of Shaʿbān al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī was born to Fāṭimah, daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—may Allah be pleased with them all.

He also says (5): In Ramaḍān of that same year, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Zaynab bint Khuzaymah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Hilāl ibn ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿah al-Hilālīyyah.

Abū ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Barr (6) relates from ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Jurjānī that he said: “She was the sister of Maymūnah bint al-Ḥārith.” Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr considered this report unusual, remarking, “I have not found it stated by anyone else.” She was known as “Mother of the Poor” because of her abundant charity, kindness, and beneficence toward them. The Prophet ﷺ gave her a dowry of twelve uqiyahs and a nashsh, and he consummated the marriage with her in Ramaḍān. Previously she had been married to al-Ṭufayl ibn al-Ḥārith, who had divorced her.