Section: The Prophet’s ﷺ Marriage to Umm Ḥabībah, Daughter of Abū Sufyān

Al-Bayhaqī reports—after the Battle of the Trench—through the chain of al-Kalbī, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding Allah’s words, “It may be that Allah will place affection between you and those with whom you have been at enmity” (al-Mumtaḥanah 60:7). He said, “The verse refers to the Prophet’s ﷺ marriage to Umm Ḥabībah bint Abī Sufyān: she became Mother of the Believers, and Muʿāwiyah became the Believers’ maternal uncle.”

Al-Bayhaqī further said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Najdah narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd narrated to us; Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, from Maʿmar, from al-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from Umm Ḥabībah: She had been the wife of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh, who had journeyed to the Negus and died there. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ married Umm Ḥabībah while she was still in Abyssinia; the Negus acted as his proxy, set her dowry at four thousand dirhams, and sent her to Madinah with Sharḥabīl ibn Ḥasanah, supplying her outfit from his own resources. The Prophet ﷺ did not send anything to her himself. He (the narrator) added, “The dowry of the Prophet’s wives was four hundred (dirhams).”

I say: The sound report is that the dowries of the Prophet’s ﷺ wives were twelve uqiyyahs and a nashsh; an uqiyyah equals forty dirhams and a nashsh is half an uqiyyah, making a total of five hundred dirhams.

Al-Bayhaqī also related—through Ibn Luhayʿah, from Abū al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah—that ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh died in Abyssinia as a Christian, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ married his widow Umm Ḥabībah; ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with him, gave her in marriage to the Prophet.

I say: The account of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Jaḥsh’s conversion to Christianity has already been discussed. After migrating with the Muslims to Abyssinia, Satan ensnared him and made the Christian religion alluring to him, so he adopted it and remained upon it until his death—may Allah’s curse be upon him. He would confront the Muslims, saying, “We have gained insight while you have become dim-sighted,” as has been explained in the section on the Abyssinian migration.

As for ʿUrwah’s statement that ʿUthmān arranged the marriage, that is unusual, for ʿUthmān had already returned to Mecca by that time and later emigrated to Madinah accompanied by his wife Ruqayyah, as previously mentioned. Allah knows best.