Her nickname (Umm Ma’bad) was Atiqah bint
Khalid al-Khuzai’ya, (Arabic: عاتكة بنت خالد الخزاعية) who
camped in Qudad, a place between Makkah and Madinah. Atiqah bint Khalid
al-Khuzai’ya was a Bedouin woman who used to provide food and drinks to the travellers.
Sometimes she charged a little something for her service and mostly she did it
for free, out of hospitality. Atiqah bint Khalid al-Khuzai’ya rendezvous with Rasulullahﷺ was during his migration to Madinah
from Makkah.
She is also known
for a miraculous event narrated in some Islamic sources. It was 622CE when
prophet Muhammad set out for his migration to Madinah (an oasis 300 miles north of Makkah). During the migration the
prophet Muhammad came to halt near the tent of Umm Ma’bad; she was a very old
lady. Sayidina Abu Bakr ra, Rasulullah ﷺ 's companion, wanted to get milk from a goat, and
found out that the goat could not even give a drop of milk. Rasulullah ﷺ is reported to have
stroked one of the goat's udders, whereupon the goat gave large amount of milk
from which the migrating party and Umm Ma’bad refreshed themselves.
Rasulullah ﷺ was on his way to Madinah with Sayidina Abu Bakr
ra, and the freed slave of the latter who served as their guide, a man called
Abdullah ibn Urayqit. They stopped for rest at Umm Ma’bad’s camp. When they
asked her for some drink, she simply replied that she had nothing to offer to
them, as it was the time of drought and Umm Ma’bad had no provisions. Rasulullah ﷺ then noticed a weak goat in the
corner of her tent and asked her permission to milk it. She told Rasulullah ﷺ
it was beyond milking implying the goat was too weak and old to be milked,
nevertheless she gave Rasulullah ﷺ the
permission to milk it.
Rasulullah ﷺ milked it
himself, and to the amazement of the woman, the three of them drank their fill
and she too was offered some milk to drink. Then Rasulullah ﷺ milked it
one more time and left that milk for the Bedouin woman. The group then moved on
with their journey.
When her husband came back and
saw the milk, he was amazed and inquired about it. Umm Ma’bad narrated the
whole incident and simply said,” A blessed man passed by us.” Her husband
hearing about the man, asked her to describe him. It is then, Umm Ma’bad, an
illiterate Bedouin woman described the Rasulullah ﷺ
in the most beautiful words ever. This precise observant of a woman
described the Beloved of
ا للہ عزوجل
(Rasulullah ﷺ)
in the following words:
” I saw a man who is clearly
handsome with a beautiful face. He is well-built, neither blemished by a big
belly nor disfigured by an unusually small head. The pupils of his eyes are
very dark, his eyelashes are very long and the area around the pupils is
extremely white. His eyebrows are perfectly close. He has very dark hair, a
rather long neck and a thick beard.
When he remains silent, he is
ever contemplative and when he speaks, eminence and splendour show in his
words. His words are like sliding stringed pearls. He is a gifted orator whose
words are neither too few nor too many. He has the clearest wand and the most
audible voice as he speaks. When you look at him from afar, he is the most
handsome of all people, and when you move closer to him, he is the most
pleasant of them.
You will never be tired of
looking at him. He is like a branch between two branches.
He is the most handsome of the
three and the most important of them. He has companions who honour him; when he
speaks, they listen to his words and when he commands, they hasten to carry out
his order. They serve and gather around him. He neither frown or nags.”
When her husband heard this
description he exclaimed,” Wallahi this is the Quraysh man. If I see him, I
will follow him.”
Umm Ma’bad did not need any
further proof to Rasulullah ﷺ claim of Prophethood, she having had
witnessed the miraculous countenance of the man himself.
They accepted Islam and swore
allegiance to Rasulullah ﷺ. This story of their acceptance of Islam was
narrated by the brother of Umm Ma’bad,known as Khunays (or Hubaysh) ibn Khalid
who ا
للہ عزوجل honoured with martyrdom on the
day of Fathul Makkah or conquest of Makkah.
It is also said, according to
a report narrated by Al-Waqidi, that the goat Rasulullah ﷺ milked with his
noble hands continued to live for many years yielding abundant milk. There are
many reports in this regard which shouldn’t come as a surprise, for it is
naturally due to the blessing of Rasulullah ﷺ.
Umm Ma’bad is described as a
famous, chaste, strong and courageous woman. Her description of Rasulullah ﷺ is so eloquent, that after fourteen
centuries, her words and expressions used to describe Rasulullah ﷺ
are still being studied at the universities. Native Arab speakers would
pick up their dictionaries to understand and explain her eloquent expressions!
Umm Ma’bad’s description of Rasulullah ﷺ;
ا للہ عزوجل combined
both outward and inward perfection. ا للہ عزوجل fashioned
His Rasulullah ﷺ to be morally and physically sound or Kamal [Perfection].
We are all familiar with the
beautiful character of Rasulullah ﷺ, yet how many of us are aware of his
physical beauty? We find in the sirah many beautiful descriptions from the
Companions that describe the physical perfection of Rasulullah ﷺ, insha’Allah
a few instances will be shared here.
Al Bara ibn Malik ra was
asked, “Was the messenger of Allah’s face sword-like?” and he responded, “No,
it was moon-like.”
[Miskaat Al Masaabih
2/518]
We recognize the beauty in the
sun, so why did the companion describe him as a moon, and not as the sun? The
scholars say that although the sun is beautiful in nature, you cannot look at
the sun directly because it is too bright and painful for your eyes. However,
with the beauty of the moon, you can stare at it the whole night without any
pain. Such is the beauty of Rasulullah ﷺ –there
is no harm in staring at him. Another companion, Jabir bin Samurah ra said;
“I saw him at one full-moon
night. I looked at him. Rasulullah ﷺ was
dressed in a red garment. I compared him to the moon and found that — for me —
he was better than the moon.”
[Mishkat Al-Masabeeh
2/518]
Another point from this
description is that Al-Bara ra was asked if his face was ‘sword-like’–a sword
is thin while the moon is round, so from this we also learn that the Rasulullah ﷺ
did not have a thin and lean face, rather he had a round face.
Ka’b bin Malik ra said: “When
he was pleased, his face would shine with so bright light that you would
believe that it was a moon-piece.”
[Sahih Bukhari 1/502]
Description of Sayidina Anas
ra.
Sayidina Anas ibn Malik ra was
the servant of Rasulullah ﷺ for ten years, and his description is more
amazing because of this fact. Usually those under us–wives, children,
employees– are the ones who see the ‘worst’ side of our character because we do
not fear reproach from them, but Sayidina Anas ra narrated that he never even
heard “uff” (the smallest expression of disgust) from Rasulullah ﷺ!
Sayidina Anas ra also said: “I have never touched silk or a silky garment
softer than his hands; nor have I smelt a perfume or any scent nicer than his.”
[Sahih Bukhari]
Another version description of
Umm Ma’bad of Rasulullah ﷺ
The description of Umm Ma’bad
is by far the most comprehensive and detailed narration we have of Rasulullah ﷺ.
Umm Ma’bad, who would take care of travellers who passed by her tent, only saw Rasulullah ﷺ
once. During the Hijrah of Rasulullah ﷺ, he stopped by her tent with his
companions for some rest and food.
“It was narrated that Rasulullah ﷺ
his servant, a guide and Abu Bakr ra, left Makkah, passing a tent of an elderly
lady called Umm Ma’bad. She would sit close to the tent and would give food and
drink to travellers. So, they asked her if they could buy some meat or dates
from her but she could not find anything. Rasulullah ﷺ looked towards a
sheep next to the tent. They had run out of provisions and were hungry. Rasulullah ﷺ
asked Umm Ma’bad, “What is wrong with this sheep, dear Umm Ma’bad?”
Umm Ma’bad replied, “The sheep
is fatigued and is weaker than the other sheep.”
Rasulullah ﷺ
said,
“Does it milk?”
Umm Ma’bad replied, “I swear
by your mother and father, if I saw milk from it then I would milk it.” Rasulullah ﷺ called the sheep and moved his hand
over its udder; he pronounced the name of Allah and praised him. Then he called
Umm Ma’bad when the sheep steadied its feet and its udder filled. He asked for
a large container and milked it until it was filled. The lady drank until full;
his companions (meaning satisfied) drank until full, then the others drank.
Then it was milked for a second time until the container was full and they left
her and continued on their journey.
After a short while, the
husband of Umm Ma’bad (Abu Ma’bad) returned from herding goats that were
swaying from weakness. Abu Ma’bad saw the milk and said to his wife, “Where did
you get this milk from, dear Umm Ma’bad. The sheep is single and there is no
milk in the house!”
She replied, “I swear by
Allah, a blessed man came to us today”
Abu Ma’bad said, “Describe him
to me.”
Umm Ma’bad then began her
description on the physical and characters while you may imagine Rasulullah ﷺ
with this description below:
ظاهر الوَضَاءة
“His cleanliness was
apparent”, the first thing she noticed about Rasulullah ﷺ is that his
cleanliness is apparent. Imagine the situation of traveling during that time;
the travellers would be bound to get some dirt on him, yet Rasulullah ﷺ
was so clean that it was the first thing noticeable.
أبْلَجُ الوجه
“His face was luminous”
حسن الخُلُق
“Handsome disposition”
لم تعبه ثُجْلَة
“He did not have a protruding
stomach”
ولم تُزْرِ به صَعْلَة
“Nor did he have a small head”
وسِيم
“Handsome”
قَسِيم
“Well proportioned”
في عينيه
دَعَج
“His eyes had wideness”
وفي أشفاره وَطَف
“His eyelashes were long”
وفي صوته صَهَل
“And in his voice was
raspiness/crackle”
وفي عنقه سَطَع
“And his neck was long”
“The white of his eyes is
extremely white, and the black of his eyes is extremely black”
أكْحَل
“It was as if he had kohl
(eyeliner the Arabs used) on naturally”
أزَجّ
“Natural arching of his
eyebrows”
أقْرَن
“Looked like his two eyebrows
met”, this was mentioned by Umm Ma’bad keeping in mind that she saw him once,
other companions said “laysa bi aqran” he did not have any hair between his
eyebrows but it was a vein that would show when he would be angry. This does
not mean that he necessarily was angry during his stay with Umm Ma’bad but
anything that causes blood to rush to your head, (such as lowering it, to milk
a goat for example) could have caused that.”
شديد سواد الشعر
“His hair was extremely black”
إذا صمت علاه الوقار
“When he was silent, he would
be enveloped in an aura of respect”
وإن تكلم علاه البَهَاء
“And if he spoke it was like a
light protruding from him”
أجمل الناس وأبهاهم من بعيد
“The most beautiful of people
from far”
وأحسنه وأحلاه من قريب
“And the most beautiful from close”
حلو المنطق
“His speech was sweet”
لا نَزْر
“Not short”, Tazar means
someone who is very short and brief in their speech; they do not give you more
than a ‘yes/no’ answer. When Rasulullah ﷺ spoke, he did not speak in this
manner.
ولا هَذَر
“Not very long”, Hathar is the
opposite of Tazar; it is to be very long and detailed in speech, to keep
talking and talking, so much so that it can get annoying. Likewise, the Prophet
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah Be upon Him) was not this way.”
كأن منطقه خَرَزَات نظمن يَتَحدَّرن
“It was as if his speech were
beads of a necklace cut”, meaning that his words fall in order after one
another and that his speech was organized.”
لا تقحمه عينمن قِصَر، ولا تشنؤه
من طول، غُصْن بين غُصْنَيْن، فهو أنْظَر الثلاثة منظراً، وأحسنهم قدْرًا
“His height does not harm and
the eye is not taken over by him, a branch between two branches, he is more
radiant than them and he is most respected.”
له رفقاء يحفون به
“His companions would surround
him”
إذا قال استمعوا لقوله
“When he spoke, they would
listen attentively to his speech”
وإذا أمر تبادروا إلى أمره
“And if he orders they hasten
to it fully”
لا عَابِس ولا مُفَنَّد
Without frowning or refusing”
She ends her description by talking about the respect that was shown to him,
which only adds to his impressive personality in how the companions would
respond. Amr ibn Al’as ra when he met Rasulullah ﷺ and he returned to Makkah
saying that he had visited the courts of Kisrah and Caesar, and he had never
seen anyone more beloved or respected than Rasulullah ﷺ.
Abu Ma’bad responded, “I swear
by Allah, he is the one Quraysh mentioned to us about his affair in Makkah. I
am determined to accompany him; if I could go that way.”
