Ramlah
bint Abee Sufyaan (ra) also known as Umm Habeebah, daughter of Abu
Sufyaan ibn Harb, chieftain of Makkah challenged her father’s authority
when she rejected the deities of the Quraysh and their idolatrous ways.
Together with her husband, 'Ubaydullaah ibn Jahsh, she put her faith in
Allah) alone and accepted the message of his Messenger, Muhammad ibn
Abdullaah (pbuh).
Abu Sufyaan tried with all his power and force at his disposal to bring back his daughter and her husband to his religion of their forefathers. But he did not succeed. The faith that was embedded in the heard of Ramlah (ra) was too strong to be uprooted by the hurricanes of Abu Sufyaan’s fury. Furthermore, Quraysh unleashed the full fury of their persecution against Ramlah, her husband and the other Muslims also; to such as degree that life in Makkah became unbearable.
In the fifth year of his mission, the Messenger Muhammad (pbuh) gave permission to the Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia. Ramlah (ra) her young daughter Habeebah and her husband were among those who left. Abu Sufyaan and the Quraysh leaders found it difficult to accept that a group of Muslims were enjoying the freedom to hold their beliefs and practice their religion in the land of the Negus. They therefore sent messengers to the Negus to seek their extradition. The messengers tried to poison the mind of the Negus against the Muslims but after examining the Muslims’ beliefs and listening to the Qur’aan being recited, the Negus concluded that the recitation that he had heard and what had been brought by Jesus (as) emanated from the same source. Therefore the Muslims were free to practice their belief.
The long journey on the road of hardship and tribulation had finally led to the oasis of serenity. This was what Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) felt. However, she did not know that the new found freedom and sense of peace was later to be shattered. She (ra) was to be put through a test of the most severe and harrowing kind.
One night, it is related, as Umm Habeebah was asleep she had a vision in which she saw her husband in the midst of a fathomless ocean covered by wave upon wave of darkness. He was in a most perilous situation. She woke up frightened, but she did not wish to tell her husband or anyone else what she had seen. The day after that ominous night was not yet through when 'Ubaydullaah ibn Jahsh announced his rejection of Islam and his acceptance of Christianity. What a terrible blow to Ramlah’s sense of peace, which was now shattered. She did not expect this of her husband who presented her forthwith with the choice of a divorce or accepting Christianity. Ramlah Umm Habibah had three options before her. Firstly, she could remain with her husband and accept his call to become a Christian in which case she also would commit apostasy and – Allaah forbid – deserve shame in this world and punishment in the hereafter. This was something she resolved she would never do even if she were subjected to the most severe torture. Secondly, she could return to her father’s house in Makkah – but she knew he remained a tower of shirk and she would be forced to live under him, subdued and suppressed in her faith. Or lastly, she could stay alone in the land of the Negus as a displaced fugitive – without country, without family and without a supporter.
Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) made a choice that she considered was the most pleasing to Allah). She made up her mind to stay in Abyssinia until such a time as Allah granted her relief. She divorced her husband who had become a drunk after becoming a Christian. Umm Habeebah (ra) stayed in Abyssinia for About ten years. Towards the end of this time, relief and happiness came. One morning, Abrahah, the special maidservant of the Negus came to see her and told her that Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had sent a proposal of marriage for her. Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) was ecstatic and immediately accepted.
Ramlah Umm Habeebah bint Abu Sufyaan (ra) illustrated strength and endurance under trying times and had tawwakul (trust) in Allah at all times and Allah rewarded her by elevating her position among the ranks of the ‘Mothers of the Believers’.
Abu Sufyaan tried with all his power and force at his disposal to bring back his daughter and her husband to his religion of their forefathers. But he did not succeed. The faith that was embedded in the heard of Ramlah (ra) was too strong to be uprooted by the hurricanes of Abu Sufyaan’s fury. Furthermore, Quraysh unleashed the full fury of their persecution against Ramlah, her husband and the other Muslims also; to such as degree that life in Makkah became unbearable.
In the fifth year of his mission, the Messenger Muhammad (pbuh) gave permission to the Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia. Ramlah (ra) her young daughter Habeebah and her husband were among those who left. Abu Sufyaan and the Quraysh leaders found it difficult to accept that a group of Muslims were enjoying the freedom to hold their beliefs and practice their religion in the land of the Negus. They therefore sent messengers to the Negus to seek their extradition. The messengers tried to poison the mind of the Negus against the Muslims but after examining the Muslims’ beliefs and listening to the Qur’aan being recited, the Negus concluded that the recitation that he had heard and what had been brought by Jesus (as) emanated from the same source. Therefore the Muslims were free to practice their belief.
The long journey on the road of hardship and tribulation had finally led to the oasis of serenity. This was what Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) felt. However, she did not know that the new found freedom and sense of peace was later to be shattered. She (ra) was to be put through a test of the most severe and harrowing kind.
One night, it is related, as Umm Habeebah was asleep she had a vision in which she saw her husband in the midst of a fathomless ocean covered by wave upon wave of darkness. He was in a most perilous situation. She woke up frightened, but she did not wish to tell her husband or anyone else what she had seen. The day after that ominous night was not yet through when 'Ubaydullaah ibn Jahsh announced his rejection of Islam and his acceptance of Christianity. What a terrible blow to Ramlah’s sense of peace, which was now shattered. She did not expect this of her husband who presented her forthwith with the choice of a divorce or accepting Christianity. Ramlah Umm Habibah had three options before her. Firstly, she could remain with her husband and accept his call to become a Christian in which case she also would commit apostasy and – Allaah forbid – deserve shame in this world and punishment in the hereafter. This was something she resolved she would never do even if she were subjected to the most severe torture. Secondly, she could return to her father’s house in Makkah – but she knew he remained a tower of shirk and she would be forced to live under him, subdued and suppressed in her faith. Or lastly, she could stay alone in the land of the Negus as a displaced fugitive – without country, without family and without a supporter.
Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) made a choice that she considered was the most pleasing to Allah). She made up her mind to stay in Abyssinia until such a time as Allah granted her relief. She divorced her husband who had become a drunk after becoming a Christian. Umm Habeebah (ra) stayed in Abyssinia for About ten years. Towards the end of this time, relief and happiness came. One morning, Abrahah, the special maidservant of the Negus came to see her and told her that Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) had sent a proposal of marriage for her. Ramlah Umm Habeebah (ra) was ecstatic and immediately accepted.
Ramlah Umm Habeebah bint Abu Sufyaan (ra) illustrated strength and endurance under trying times and had tawwakul (trust) in Allah at all times and Allah rewarded her by elevating her position among the ranks of the ‘Mothers of the Believers’.
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