3 of 3 · 11 AH / 632 CE · after the Prophet's passing · Madinah
Umm Ayman (Barakah) رضي الله عنها
Why She Wept
After the Prophet ﷺ died, Abu Bakr said to 'Umar that they should visit Umm Ayman, as the Prophet ﷺ used to visit her. When they came, she wept.
They asked why she was weeping, since what was with Allah was better for His Messenger ﷺ. She said she knew that; she was weeping because the revelation from heaven had come to an end. They wept with her (Sahih Muslim 2454).
She did not live long after him. Reports differ about her death: some say within months, others that she lived into the caliphate of 'Uthman. She is remembered as one who loved the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the person he was and for what came through him.
The deepest grief is for what a loss takes from the community's connection to Allah, not only for the person.
What would you miss most if the guidance reached you only through memory?
- Sahih Muslim 2454 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- Ibn Hajar, al-IsabahHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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