Ruqayyah bint Muhammad was step-daughter or daughter of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. She is viewed as the daughter of Muhammad and Khadijah bint Khuwaylid by Sunni Muslims[citation needed], other Muslim sects such as Shia Muslims debate her being daughter of Muhammed (or even of Khadijah) (see Genealogy of Khadijas daughters). She died in 2 AH (624 CE).[citation needed]

Origin dispute

Main article: Genealogy of Khadijah's daughters

There is dispute about her origin. Some historian[who?] has reported her as orphaned girls raised by Khadija,[1] some view her as daughter of Khadija's sister, Hala,[2] or were orphaned girls raised by her.[1] Possibly, all of them were Khadijah's but only Fatimah was born to Muhammad.[citation needed] Sunni Muslims however do not contest the parentage of her daughters.[citation needed] They affirm what the Qur'an states, "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers...".[3][citation needed] With the exception of Fatimah, neither is there no narration that Muhammad had ever visited Ruqayya or any of his other daughters, nor there isn't any report that any of them have ever been distiguished in any occasion of Muhammad's life. Muhamad was always visiting Fatimah, and the only daughter who is recognized among the members of Ahlulbayt and Ahl al-Kisa. While there are lots of reports about many suitors who asked for marriage to Fatimah, there isn't any similar report for any other daughter of Muhammad. In the incident of mubahala in which Muhammad agreed to accompany his family members, Fatima was his only child who accompanied him.

The famous Sunni scholar Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr says: "His children born of Khadīja are four daughters; there is no difference of opinion about that".[4]

Marriage dispute

There is dispute about her marriage. Some sources has reported she was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab. His father, Abu Lahab, forced Utbah to divorce Ruqayyah due to Abu Lahab's opposition to Muhammad and his teachings. Muslim convert Uthman ibn Affan had long admired Ruqayyah and was then able to ask for her hand in marriage.[5]

While some Sunni's historians have reported anger of Muhammad when Ali asked marriage to the daughter of Abu Jahl, there is no report about Muhammad's comment on Uthman's marriage to Ramla daughter of Shuiba ibn Rabi'a, Fatima daughter of Walid, Umm ul-Banin daughter of 'Ayina, whose fathers were enemies of Muhammad.

The only man who is reported as Muhammad's son-in-law in the early Islamic history is Ali. As an example, when a man asked Abdullah ibn Umar about comparison of Ali and Uthman, he replied:

As for 'Uthman, it seems that Allah has forgiven him, but you people dislike that he should be forgiven. And as for 'Ali, he is the cousin of Allah's Apostle and his son-in-law.

[6]

Another matter about her marriage is her age at the time of marriage. The historian who viewed Ruqaya as daughter of Muhammad, have reported that she was born after Muhammad passed his 40 years old and started Islam faith,[7][8] and she was the youngest daughter of Muhammad[9]

Marriage rules

Based on narrations found even in Sunnī[10] sources, Muhammad said that daughters of his household could only marry those who were from Banū Hāshim.[10]

But (if it is assumed that Zaynab, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were daughter of Muhammed and Khadijah) this argument does not seem to be correct as:

Daughters of Muhammad and Khadijah

Main article: Genealogy of Khadijah's daughters

The daughters attributed to Muhammad are;

  1. Zainab bint Muhammad, married to her maternal cousin Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabee before Hijra
  2. Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan
  3. Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, was first married to Utaybah bin Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan after the death of her sister Ruqayyah
  4. Fatimah, was married to Ali (Ali ibn Abi Talib)

The famous Sunni scholar Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr says: "His children born of Khadīja are four daughters; there is no difference of opinion about that".[12]

Sunnis do not contest the parentage of Khadijah's daughters and believe that all four were borne to Muhammad.[citation needed] They affirm what the Qur'an states, "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers..."[13].[citation needed]

According to some Shia sources, she only had one daughter, Fatimah. The others were said to have belonged to her sister Halah or were her daughters from a previous marriage. Thus, the Shia scholar Abu'l-Qasim al-Kufi writes:

"When the Messenger of Allah married Khadijah, then some time thereafter Halah died leaving two daughters, one named Zaynab and the other named Ruqayyah and both of them were brought up by the Prophet and Khadijah and they maintained them, and it was the custom before Islam that a child was assigned to whoever brought him up." (al-lstighathah, p. 69)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Al-Tijani in his The Shi'ah are (the real) Ahl al-Sunnah on Al-Islam.org note 274
  2. ^ Again, it is also not agreed that these two were the real daughters of Muhammad, because there is one group which denies them to be his real daughters, and regards them as being the daughters of Khadijah's sister Halah, or the daughters of her own previous husband. Thus, Abu'l-Qasim al-Kufi writes: "When the Messenger of Allah married Khadijah, then some time thereafter Halah died leaving two daughters, one named Zaynab and the other named Ruqayyah and both of them were brought up by the Prophet and Khadijah and they maintained them, and it was the custom before Islam that a child was assigned to whoever brought him up." (al-lstighathah, p. 69) Ibn Hisham has written about the issues of Hadrat Khadijah as follows: "Before marriage with Muhammad she was married to Abi Halah ibn Malik. She delivered for him Hind ibn Abi Halah and Zaynab bint Abi Halah. Before marriage with Abi Halah she was married to `Utayyiq ibn `Abid ibn `Abdillah ibn `Amr ibn Makhzum and she delivered for him `Abdullah and a daughter." (as-Sirah an-nabawiyyah, vol. 4, p. 293) This shows that of Khadijah had two daughters before being married to Muhammad and according to all appearance they would be called his daughters and those to whom they were married would be called his sons-in-law, but the position of this relationship would be the same as if those girls were his daughters. (Commentary to Nahj al-Balagah [1])
  3. ^ Quran 33:59
  4. ^ al-Istī`āb fī Ma`rifat al-Aşĥāb (Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr, The Comprehensive Compilation of the Names of the Prophet's Companions) vol.1 pp.50
  5. ^ Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet by Karen Armstrong
  6. ^ Sahih bukhari, Vol 6
  7. ^ al-Muqaddasi Dhia, al-Bida wa al-Tarikh, Vol. 4 p. 139 & Vol. 5 p. 15: عن قتادة ، قال : ولدت خديجة لرسول الله ( صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم ) : عبد مناف في الجاهلية ، وولدت له في الاسلام غلامين ، وأربع بنات : القاسم ، وبه كان يكنى : أبا القاسم ، فعاش حتى مشى ، ثم مات ، و عبد الله ، مات صغيرا . وأم كلثوم . وزينب . ورقية . وفاطمة ... .
  8. ^ Qastallani Shahab ad-Din, al-Mawahen al-Dunniya, Vol. 1, p. 169: وقيل : ولد له ولد قبل المبعث ، يقال له : عبد مناف ، فيكونون على هذا اثني عشر ، وكلهم سوى هذا ولد في الاسلام بعد المبعث .
  9. ^ Ibn Abd al-Barr, Al-Isti'ab, vol. 4, page 1818: وقال الزبير ولد لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم القاسم وهو أكبر ولده ثم زينب ثم عبد الله وكان يقال له الطيب ويقال له الطاهر ولد بعد النبوة ثم أم كلثوم ثم فاطمة ثم رقية .
  10. ^ a b * al-Haythami, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ibn Hajar (1965). al-Sawa`iq al-muhriqah. Maktabat al-Qahirah. p. 160.
    * Ibn Qutayba, Abd Allah ibn Muslim (1960). Kitab al-Ma'arif. s.n. p. 70.
  11. ^ Al-Mubarakphuri, Safi-ur-Rahman. Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar). Riyadh: Dar-us-Salam Publications, 1996
  12. ^ al-Istī`āb fī Ma`rifat al-Aşĥāb (Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr, The Comprehensive Compilation of the Names of the Prophet's Companions) vol.1 pp.50
  13. ^ Quran 33:59
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