30 Khawaatir in 30 Days- A Parent’s Guide | Day 10: The Dua’ of Umm Salama

Now that we have learnt about a good word, let’s talk about the dua’ of Umm Salama.

Today I’m going to share with you a story of a very important woman in Islamic history named Umm Salama . She was a female companion, which means she was a sahaabiya (female companion). 

Umm Salama  was one of the first people to embrace Islam and she was one of the few Muslims who actually performed the hijrah twice. 

Question: Who can tell me what a hijrah is?

A hijrah is when someone leaves a place they are in for the sake of Allah . The first hijrah was to Ethiopia, where a just Christian ruler named Najashi took in a group of Muslims and took good care of them. 

So Umm Salama and Abu Salama  went to Ethiopia. After some time living there, they really wanted to go back to Mecca so that they could be next to the Prophet Muhammad and learn everything about Islam. As they waited patiently, news traveled all the way to Africa saying that the Muslims were no longer getting persecuted because Umar ibn al-Khattab and Hamza , the uncle of the Prophet , had embraced Islam. 

Umm Salama and Abu Salama  decided to return back to Mecca, and when they did, they realized that it was only a rumor and that the Muslims were still being tortured by Quraysh. So, when the Prophet Muhammad instructed all of the Muslims of Mecca to leave to Madina for the second hijrah, they wasted no time getting ready. 

Question: Do you see how they were so active and didn’t take their Islam for granted?

As Umm Salama was about to mount her camel, her tribe, the Banu Makhzum, came and told Abu Salama   that they would not allow him to take Umm Salama   to Madina. Then Abu Salama’s tribe, the Banu Asad, takes Salama, his child, away.  Abu Salama  could not defend himself against all of these men, so he sets off to Madina.

In just one day Umm Salama  lost her husband and her child, and she suffers so much because of it. She is in a lot of pain. After some time her cousin starts to feel sorry for her and speaks to the tribes on her behalf. He is then able to reunite her with her son. Then after a year of waiting, Umm Salama is finally able to meet her husband in Madina. 

Abu Salama  was known to be a very caring husband and courageous man. He fought in the Battle of Badr as well as in the Battle of Uhud. In Uhud, he received a wound that he wasn’t able to recover from. 

Umm Salama was so sad the day Abu Salama  died, but the Prophet Muhammad taught her to recite a beautiful dua’:

إِنَّا لله وإنا إليه راجعون اللهم أجرني في مصيبتي وأخلف لي خيرا منها 

“We belong to Allah and to Allah is our return. Oh Allah, reward me for my calamity, and replace my loss with something better.”

Umm Salama recited this dua’, but in her mind she thought, “Who can be better than Abu Salama ?” 

After a few months passed, Umar ibn al-Khattab  proposed to Umm Salama , but she said no. 

Then, Abu Bakr proposed to Umm Salama , but again she said no. 

Then, the Prophet Muhammad proposed to Umm Salama  and she accepted. So now, she was not only the mother of Salama, but the mother of all of the believers until the end of time!