Ruqayya bint Muhammad (; –March 624) was the second eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and Khadija. She married the third caliph

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

and the couple had a son Abd Allah. In 624, Ruqayya died from an illness.

Early life

Born in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

around 601 or 602 CE, Ruqayya was the 3rd child and the second daughter of Muhammad and Khadija, his first wife, who was also a successful merchant.

Marital life

Marriage with Utbah

She was married before August 610 to Utbah ibn Abi Lahab, but the marriage was never consummated.Ibn Ishaq/Guillaume p. 314. Ruqayya became a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

when her mother did. When Muhammad began to preach openly in 613, the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

reminded Muhammad that they had "relieved him of his care for his daughters" and decided to return them so that he would have to support them at his own expense. They told Utbah that they would give him "the daughter of Aban ibn Sa'id ibn Al-As or the daughter of Sa'id ibn Al-As" if he divorced Ruqayya. After Muhammad warned Abū Lahab that he would go to Hell, Abu Lahab said he would never speak to his son again unless he divorced Ruqayya, which Utbah accordingly did.

Marriage with Uthman

By 615, Ruqayya was married to a prominent Muslim,

Uthman ibn Affan Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until Assassination of Uthman, his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable Companions of the Prophet, companion of ...

. She accompanied him on the first

Migration to Abyssinia The migration to Abyssinia (), also known as the First Hijra (), was an episode in the early history of Islam, where the first followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (they were known as the Sahabah, or the companions) migrated from Arabia du ...

,Ibn Saad/Bewley p. 25.Tabari/Landau-Tasseron p. 162. where she suffered a miscarriage. They returned to Abyssinia in 616, and there Ruqayya gave birth to a son, Abdullah in 619. Abdullah died when he was six years old in Medina. She had no further children. Uthman and Ruqayya were among those who returned to Mecca in 619. Uthman

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

in 622, and Ruqayya followed him later. When Usama ibn Zayd was sent on an errand to their house, he found himself staring at her and at Uthman in turns. Muhammad asked Usama, "Have you ever seen a more handsome couple than those two?" and he agreed that he had not.

Death

Ruqayya fell ill in March 624. Uthman was excused from his military duties in order to nurse her. She died later in the month, on the day when

Zayd ibn Haritha Zayd ibn Ḥāritha al-Kalbī () (), was an early Muslim, Sahabi and the adopted son of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He is commonly regarded as the fourth person to have accepted Islam, after Muhammad's wife Khadija, Muhammad's cousin Ali, a ...

returned to Medina with news of their victory at the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

– 17th Ramadan.Muhammad ibn Umar al-Waqidi. ''Kitab al-Maghazi''. Translated by Faizer, R., Ismail, A., & Tayob, A. K. (2011). ''The Life of Muhammad'', p. 51. Oxford & New York: Routledge. When Muhammad returned to Medina after the battle, the family went to grieve at her grave.

References