Last week, Muslim Memo began a series about the lives of the daughters of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In the second part of this ongoing series, we will be talking about the life of Hz Ruqayyah (RA), the second daughter of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Hz Ruqayyah bint Muhammad (RA), the second daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Hz Khadijah (RA), was born three years after the birth of Hz Zaynab (RA).
Initially, Hz Ruqayyah (RA) was married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab. But, after the advent of Islam, Abu Lahab and his wife became the worst enemies of Muslims. Abu Lahab called his sons Utbah and Utybah (to whom Hz Ruqayyah’s sister, Hz Umm Kulthum (RA), was married), and asked them to divorce both the sisters.
Later on, Allah gave a better partner to Hz Ruqayyah (RA) in the form of Hz Uthman ibn Affan (RA).
When animosity and cruelty of the people of Quraysh increased, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) permitted his companions to migrate to Abyssinia. Among the people who migrated to Abyssinia were Hz Uthman (RA) and his wife, Hz Ruqayyah (RA). While they were living in Abyssinia, Allah blessed Hz Ruqayyah (RA) and Hz Uthman (RA) with a son whom they named Abdullah. Unfortunately, he did not live long and died at the tender age of six.
Later on, Hz Ruqayyah (RA) and Hz Uthman (RA) came back to Mecca, and then eventually migrated to Medina. As such, owing to her travels to Abyssinia and Medina, Hz Ruqayyah (RA) is often known as “The Lady With Two Migrations”.
During the Battle of Badr, Hz Ruqayyah (RA) fell very ill. Therefore, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked Hz Uthman (RA) to refrain from participating in the battle, and instead stay with his wife during her illness.
Narrated by Ibn Umar (RA): [1]
Uthman did not join the Badr battle because he was married to one of the daughters of Allah’s Apostle (PBUH) and she was ill. So, the Prophet (PBUH) said to him, “You will get a reward and a share (from the war booty) similar to the reward and the share of one who has taken part in the Badr battle.”
Hz Ruqayyah (RA) passed away on the same day that the Battle of Badr was won, two years after her migration to Medina in 2 AH. Since Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was still in the battle-field, he could not take part in his daughter’s funeral. Hz Ruqayyah (RA) was buried in the al-Baqi Cemetery in Medina. She was the first of Prophet’s beloved daughters to depart from this world.
References
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 53, Number 359
Wish to read more? Why not check out the other parts of this series?
- Hz Zainab (RA)
- Hz Ruqayyah (RA)
- Hz Umm Kulthum (RA)
- Hz Fatima (RA)
