Maimoonah Al-Harith (ra)

𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒉(𝒓𝒂) 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆. She was the daughter of Al-Harith bin Hazan and Hind bint Awf (known as ‘the most noble old lady in the land’ with illustrious relatives through the marriages of her daughters). You see, Maimoonah(ra) had sisters and half-sisters who had married amongst nobles. Her full sister Lubabah Al-Khubra bint Al-Harith(ra) was the wife of Al-Abbas bin ‘Abdul Muttalib(ra) and the first woman to embrace Islam after Khadeejah(ra), wife of the Prophetﷺ. Maimoonah(ra) was also the aunt of Khalid Ibn Walid(ra) -in time a great general of Islam, the son of her sister, Lubabah As-Sugrah.

Twice married; divorced first, then widowed after her second husband’s death, Maimoonah(ra) found herself living with her sister to whom she confided a secret one day. Maimoonah(ra) wished to marry the Prophetﷺ. She wanted her tribe Banu Hilal to be connected to the Prophetﷺ by marriage, just as he was to tribes like Banu Tameem, Banu Ummayah and others. So her brother-in-law Abbas(ra) took the proposal in the 7th year after hijra, when the Prophetﷺ finally came to Makkah for three days to perform Umrah as agreed by the treaty of Hudaibiyah. The Prophetﷺ invited the Makkan polytheists to partake in the meal to celebrate the joyous occasion of their wedding as a means to heal the rift between them. The Makkans refused, forcing the marriage and it’s celebrations to move on and take place outside of Makkah in Saraf. Maimoonah(ra) arrived on a camel to Saraf where the marriage took place. She moved to Medina but always kept in touch with her relations. In fact, her marriage was to influence the likes of Khalid Ibn Walid(ra) in accepting Islam.

Aisha(ra) said of Maimoonah(ra) when she died years later, “She was the most God-fearing and nurtured the ties of kinship.”

Many marriages of the Prophetﷺ softened the hearts of enemies, bringing an end to hostilities and unification of tribes - Maimoonah’s marriage achieved no less.  It goes to show the importance of familial ties; when healthy the strength and barakah that can come from such relations, grounds the wider society with firm roots to stand upon.

The Prophetﷺ said ;

“He who believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him maintain good relation with kins”

[Bukhari]

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