Hafsa bint Umar

Ḥafsa bint Umar (Arabic: حفصة بنت عمر ‎) (c.605-665) was a wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and therefore a Mother of the Believers.

Hafsa was the daughter of Umar ibn al-Khattab and Zaynab bint Mazoon. She was born "when Quraysh were building the House [Kaaba], five years before the Prophet was sent," i.e., in 605.

She was married to Khunais ibn Hudhaifa but became a widow in August 624.

As soon as Hafsa had completed her waiting period, her father Umar offered her hand to Uthman Ibn 'Affan, and thereafter to Abu Bakr; but they both refused her. When Umar went to Muhammad to complain about this, Muhammad replied, "Allah will marry Uthman to better than your daughter and will marry your daughter to better than Uthman." Muhammad married Hafsa in Shaaban AH 3 (late January or early February 625). With this marriage, Muhammad strengthened his ties to Umar, who now became his father-in-law.

According to Islamic tradition, Hafsa had memorized the Qur'an. The copy of Zayd ibn Thabit, which was recorded on the instructions of Abu Bakr, was kept in Hafsa's house. Uthman Ibn 'Affan, when he became Caliph, used Hafsa's copy when he standardized the text of the Qur'an. She is also said to have narrated sixty hadiths from Muhammad.

She died in Shaban AH 45, i.e., in October or November 665. She is buried in Jannat-Ul-Baqi.

See also

• Sunni view of the Sahaba

References

1. ^ Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina p. 56. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
2. ^ Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr, p. 307. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
3. ^ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 pp. 56-58. The story is told in five separate traditions.
4. ^ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 58.
5. ^ Bukhari 6:60:201.
6. ^ Siddiqi, M. Z. (2006). Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development, Special Features and Criticism, p. 25. Kuala Lumpar: Islamic Book Trust.
7. ^ Ibn Saad/Bewley vol. 8 p. 60.