There are at least two sahabiyah of Rasulullahﷺ who have the name Saidah Afra binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه . They are Afra bint Assakan and Saidah Afra binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه.
However, the last name mentioned is considered more famous and has a glory that is rarely owned by other women. His full name is Afra bintu Ubaid Tsa'labah An-Nahhariyah Al-Anshariyah رضي الله عنه. .
Afra got seven children from three marriages but from two different men. First, Saidah Afra binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. married Al Harits bin Rifa'aj, and they were blessed with three children, namely Mu'adzرضي الله عنه, Mu'awwidz رضي الله عنه, and Aufرضي الله عنه. This is known as bani Harith and belongs to the Ansar. However, Al Harits later divorced Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه.
After that, Saidah Afra binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. visited Makkah and married Al Bukair bin Abdya Al-Laitsy. From this second marriage, Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه.got four children. They are Aqilرضي الله عنه. , Khalid رضي الله عنه., Iyas رضي الله عنه., and Amir رضي الله عنه. . These four Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. children were among those who previously received treatises from Rasulullahﷺ. They often attended preaching that was carried out secretly by Rasulullahﷺ at the house of Arqam bin Abil Arqam.
At that time, Rasulullahﷺ met with six young people of Yathrib, the name of Madinah before the migration of Rasulullahﷺ, in Aqabah. They also took Bai'at and converted to Islam. One of the six Yathrib youths was Auf bin Afraرضي الله عنه,.
In educating her children, Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. instilled the attitude of being loyal and willing to sacrifice even if she had to sacrifice her life for religion. Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. also encouraged his son to get involved in every war the Muslims were in. Seven Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. children are even said to have participated in and witnessed the Battle of Badr.
However, the four sons of Afra were martyred on the battlefield of the Battle of Badr. They are Aqil رضي الله عنه,, Auf رضي الله عنه,, Ma'udzرضي الله عنه, , and Mu'awwidz رضي الله عنه,. In addition, other sons of Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. also died while defending Allah's religion. Khalid bin Bakir رضي الله عنه, died in the Yaumurraji tragedy in Najd, when 10 of Rasulullahﷺ's companions died at Bir' Ar Raji. At that time, the Hudail tribe, the Adzl tribe, and the Qarah tribe pretended to ask Rasulullahﷺ to send friends to teach them, Islam. Arriving at Ar Raji' Well, they were instead attacked by the Hudail Tribe.
Meanwhile, Amer died in the Bi'ir Ma'unah incident, an event of betrayal by a number of tribes to Rasulullahﷺ. The incident was almost identical to what happened at Ar Raji' Well. The betrayal of these tribes is inseparable from the defeat of the Muslims in the Battle of Uhud. Meanwhile, another son of Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه., Iyas رضي الله عنه,, died in the event of Yamamah, the war between the Muslims and the followers of the false prophet, Musailamah Al Kadzzab, during the time of the caliph Abu Bakar Ash Shidiq.
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| Illustration Only - Tragedy of Bir Ar Raji |
The importance of his son was told a lot by Rasulullahﷺ. One of them is mentioned in a narration from Abdurrahman bin 'Auf رضي الله عنه., he said, "When I was standing in the army line at the time of the Badr War, I looked to the right and left side and it turned out that I was between two young people from the Ansar, whereas before I was dreaming of being between two people who are stronger than both of them. Then one of the two gestured to me with his eyes and said: "O uncle, do you know a person named Abu Jahl?" I replied: "Yes, then what do you need with him?" He replied: "I heard that he has criticized Rasulullahﷺ. By the One in whose hands my soul is, if I see him, I will not be separated from him until one of us meets his death."
Abdurrahman continued: "I was surprised to hear that. Then the other young man gestured to me with his eyes while saying the same words. Not long after that, I saw Abu Jahl moving among the crowd of Quraysh. So I said to both of them, 'Don't you see, that's the person you asked me about earlier'."
Abdurrahman continued "So they both immediately hunted Abu Jahl and hit their swords until finally, they were both able to kill him. Then after that, they both went to see Rasulullahﷺ and told him about it." Then he asked, "Which of you two killed him?" Each of them answered: "I am the one who killed him". Then Rasulullahﷺ said, "Have you both cleaned your swords?" They answered: "Not yet". Rasulullahﷺ saw the two swords and said "You two have killed him". Then he gave the booty taken from the slain enemy to Mu'adz bin Amr bin Jamuh. While the two young children are Mu'adz bin Amru bin Jamuhرضي الله عنه. and Ma'udz bin 'Afraرضي الله عنه.".
As mentioned in the
narration in Sahih Muslim
أنس
بن
مالك
قال
قال
رسول
الله
-صلى
الله
عليه
وسلم
من
ينظر
لنا
ما
صنع
أبو
جهل . فانطلق
ابن
مسعود
فوجده
قد
ضربه
ابنا
عفراء
حتى
برك
قال
فأخذ
بلحيته
فقال
آنت
أبو
جهل
؟
فقال
وهل
فوق
رجل
قتلتموه
"Anas bin Malik said Rasulullahﷺ said, "Who can tell me the condition of Abu Jahal?" So Ibn Mas'ud went and found Abu Jahl had been beaten down by two of Afra''s children so he was powerless. Then he held his beard and said, are you Abu Jahl? Abu Jahal replied, "Is there anyone nobler than the person you have killed beside me, or the person killed by his people."
That is the love that mothers grow in their children. How great was the courage of the two young men who were determined to help and defend their religion?
The heroic story of the sons of Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. was also narrated in the authentic hadith of Bukhari (number: 3141) and Muslim (number: 4668). As narrated by Abdurrahman bin Auf رضي الله عنه. , ''Indeed I was standing in the ranks of the war (of the Battle of Badr), and I saw on my right and left there were people who were stronger than them (the troops of the Kafirs). At that time, one of them asked, 'Uncle, please show me Abu Jahl?' At that point, I replied, 'Yes, I know him, what business do you have with him?'
He said, 'I heard, he is always looking for Rasulullahﷺ. By Allah, whose life is in His hands, if I see him I will not let him leave me, he who dies first or me." I was shocked by the young man's answer. Later, the second child also asked me the same thing .''
It turned out that the two young men who asked Abdurrahman bin Auf رضي الله عنه.were Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه.'s son, Muadz bin Afraرضي الله عنه. . In addition, in another narration, Muadz's brother, Muawwidz bin Afra رضي الله عنه. , also injured Abu Jahal. These two children of Afra also contributed to the killing of Abu Jahl in the Battle of Badr. When this news was conveyed to Rasulullahﷺ, he asked who had killed Abu Jahal, the two Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. children were also claimed to have killed Abu Jahal. Then, Rasulullahﷺ sent Ibn Mas'ud to ensure the death of Abu Jahal.
As soon as the news of Abu Jahal's death was confirmed, Rasulullahﷺ also said, ''May Allah have mercy on the two children of Afra. Both of them were members of the combined killers of Pharaoh in the midst of this ummah and leaders of disbelief." Then, the companions asked Rasulullahﷺ, "who joined in the killing?" in his murder.'' In this hadith, Rasulullahﷺ called Abu Jahl the Pharaoh of the Muslim community at that time and the leader of disbelief.
Unlike the culture in Arab nations in general, which usually assigns the names of sons to their fathers, Afra's children who were born in Madinah gave their names to their mother, namely Afra, and became Muadz bin Afra, Muawwidz bin Afra, and Auf son of Afra. This is a form of respect for Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه..
In addition, Afra is also said to have glory on the side of Ummul Mukminin, Saudah bint Zam'ah. At-Thabrani said Ummul Mukminin helped the Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. family in lightening the burden of grief after the death of Auf and Muawwidz. Faith has indeed brought Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. and her children to continue to be faithful in defending Allah's religion. Not only that, but Saidah Afra Binti Ubaid رضي الله عنه. also gave examples of the sincerity of a Muslim woman to sacrifice for the sake of upholding Islam.
