Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr

Not to be confused with Umm Kulthum bint Ali, Umm Kulthum bint Jarwal, or Umm Kulthum.

Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr أم كلثوم بنت ابي بكر
Personal life
Born	Umm Kulthum c. 634 Medina, Arabia
Died	after 660 CE Hejaz, Arabia
Spouse	Talha ibn Ubayd Allah (until his death) Abdurrahman ibn Abdullah al-Makhzumi
Children	Zakariyya ibn Talha Yusuf ibn Talha A'isha bint Talha Ibrahim al-Ahwal ibn Abdurrahman Musa ibn Abdurrahman Umm Humayd bint Abdurrahman Umm Uthman bint Abdurrahman
Parent(s)	Abu Bakr (father) Habiba (mother)
Era	Early Islamic era
Known for	Famous Tabi'un and a notable hadith narrator. Youngest daughter of Abu Bakr al-siddiq.
Other names	Umm Kulthum bint Abd Allah, bint Abu Bakr
Relations	Banu Taym (Quraish)
Religious life
Religion	Islam

Umm Kulthūm bint Abī Bakr (Arabic: أم كلثوم بنت ابي بكر) was a daughter of Abu Bakr and Habiba bint Kharija. She was said to be the first and probably only Muslim woman in the Early Caliphate's history who received her inheritance from her father in utero. Umm Kulthum was a famous Tabi'un and hadith narrator.

Biography

She was born in Medina shortly after her father's death. While declaring his will, he informed his daughter Aisha that some palm trees that he had given her, should then be given as inheritance to her two brothers and two sisters. She readily accepted her father's wishes but asked to which other sister he was referring besides Asma. He told her that Habiba was pregnant and that he believed it was going to be a girl.^[1]

After Umm Kulthum was born, she raised under the supervision of her sister Aisha "with kindness and gentleness". When she become old enough for marriage, caliph Umar asked for Umm Kulthum's hand, but Aisha refused consent. Her emissary explained to the Caliph: "You are rough and ready. How will it be with Umm Kulthum if she disobeys you and you beat her? You will have taken Abu Bakr's place in a way that does not suit you."^[2]

Umm Kulthum was eventually married to her father's cousin and close associate Talha, who was over forty years older than her. From the marriage she had two sons and one daughter, named respectively: Zakariyya, Yusuf (who died in infancy) and 'Aisha.^[3] Talha was then killed during the Battle of the Camel in 656. Umm Kulthum then accompanied Aisha on a pilgrimage to Mecca while she was still in her waiting period.^[3]

Thereafter she married Abdur-Rahman ibn Abdullah al-Makhzumi. They had two sons and two daughters: Ibrahim al-Ahwal, Musa, Umm Humayd and Umm Uthman.^[3]

Aisha sent Salim, a grandson of Umar to her sister Umm Kulthum when he was of suckling age, with the instruction to breastfeed him ten times so that Aisha would be considered his foster-aunt, but he fell ill after she nursed him three times so she could not continue it.^[4] So the foster-relationship was therefore incomplete, and Salim did not become eligible to see Aisha unveiled.^[5]

Legacy

Umm Kulthum was a Tabi‘un. She narrated hadith from Aisha, of which some were collected by al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah.^[6]

References

• Muwatta al-Malik ch:30

1. al-Muwatta Book 36, Number 36.33.40
2. Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk. Translated by Smith, G. R. (1994). Volume 14: The Conquest of Iran, pp. 101-102. Albany: State University of New York Press.
3. Muhammad Ibn Sa'd. Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Medina, pp. 298-299. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
4. wikisource:ar:موطأ_الإمام_مالك/كتاب_الرضاع
5. Malik ibn Anas. Al-Muwatta 30:7.
6. Tahdhib al-Kamil al-Mizzi 35/381