Salma bint Harmalah
Salma bint Harmalah also known as Al-Nābiġah (Arabic: النابغة; lit. 'genius') was the mother of the prominent Sahaba Amr ibn al-A'as.[1] She lived during the 6th century and was a contemporary of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Her son Amr become Muslim in 630s. He became one of the greatest Muslim military leader.
Salma bint Harmalah | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Died | |
| Other names | Al-Nābiġah |
| Children | Amr ibn al-As, see more below |
| Parent | Harmalah |
| Family | Anazzah tribe |
Biography
Salma bint Harmalah was born in the Anazzah tribe, it was an Arabian tribe in the Northern Arabian Peninsula (now part of southern Jordan), Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant.
She was the mother of Amr ibn al-As, who was born in c. 573.[2] His father, al-As ibn Wa'il, was a wealthy landowner from the Banu Sahm clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca.[3] Following the death of al-As in c. 622, Amr inherited from him the lucrative al-Waht estate and vineyards near Ta'if.[4] Amr's mother was bint Harmalah from the Banu Jallan clan of the Anaza tribe.[5][6]
Salma bint Harmalah had been taken captive and sold, in succession, to several members of the Quraysh, one of whom was Amr's father.[7] As such, Amr had two maternal half-brothers, Amr ibn Atatha of the Banu Adi and Uqba ibn Nafi of the Banu Fihr, and a half-sister from the Banu Abd Shams.[6][7] Her famous son, Amr is physically described in the traditional sources as being short with broad shoulders, having a large head with a wide forehead and wide mouth, long arms and a long beard.[6]
Salma bint Harmalah died before or shortly after the start of Advent of Islam.
Claim against her
Centuries after her death, In the 4th Islamic century, a Twelver shia writer Al-Sharif al-Radi (970–1015) wrote a book called Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence). This book made some new claims against her in the late 10th-century.
Twelver Shi'a claims
In the Shia work Nahj al-Balagha or Peak of Eloquence, Ali is quoted as saying:
- I have taught you the Qur'an, clarified to you arguments, apprised you of what you were ignorant and made you swallow what you were spitting out. Even a blind man would have been able to see, and he who was sleeping would have been awakened. How ignorant of God is their leader Muawiyah and their instructor Ibn an-Nabighah.
"Al-Nabighah" is the nickname of the mother of Amr ibn al-A'as according to many Shias. He is called "son of his mother" because of his mother's reputation: once Arwa bint al-Harith went to Muawiyah and during their conversation Amr ibn al-A'as intervened. Arwa said to Amr:
"O son of al-Nabighah, you too dare speak, although your mother was known publicly and was a singer of Mecca? That is why five people claimed you (as a son), and when she was asked she admitted that five people had visited her and that you should be regarded as the son of him you resembled most. You must have resembled A'as ibn Wa'il and therefore you came to be known as his son." These five persons were:
A'as ibn Wa'il, Abu Lahab, Umayah ibn Khalaf, Hisham ibn al-Mughirah, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb [1]. .
Sunni response to the Twelver claims
Sunnis tend to stay away from criticizing the Sahabah and their relatives. Furthermore, Sunnis maintain that slandering anyone is an unjust act, pointing to the Quranic verse 4:15
"If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way."
And they maintain that because there wasn't four eye-witnesses of Layla having commit adultery as is alleged, that it is unjust to simply believe in some unsubstantiated rumors. No Sahih Sunni hadiths mention these allegations against Layla. However, it is also possible that the five visited her separately and it was not a Nikah Ijtimah.
References
- AMR IBN AL-`AS
- Wensinck 1960, p. 451.
- Lecker 1989, pp. 24–25.
- Lecker 1989, pp. 25–26.
- Lecker 1989, p. 25.
- Raisuddin 1981, p. 277.
- Lecker 1987, p. 25.
Sources
- Wensinck, A. J. (1960). "ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ al-Sahmī". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J.; Lewis, B. & Pellat, Ch. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Volume I: A–B (2nd ed.). Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 451. OCLC 495469456.
- Lecker, Michael (1989). "The Estates of 'Amr b. al-'Āṣ in Palestine: Notes on a New Negev Arabic Inscription". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 52 (1): 24–37. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00023041. JSTOR 617911.
- Raisuddin, Abu Nayeem Muhammad (April 1981). "Amr ibn al-As and His Conquest of Egypt". Islamic Culture. 55 (4): 277–290.
- Lecker, Michael (1987). "A Note on Early Marriage Links between Qurashīs and Jewish Women". Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam. 10: 17–40.