1 of 2 · The Madinan years · The Prophet's Mosque, Madinah
Umamah bint Abi al-'As رضي الله عنها
On His Shoulder in Prayer
Umamah was the daughter of Zaynab and Abu al-'As ibn al-Rabi'. She was a small child in the Prophet's ﷺ last years in Madinah, and he loved her dearly.
Abu Qatadah al-Ansari reported that the Prophet ﷺ came out to the people carrying Umamah on his shoulder, and led them in prayer with her there. When he went down, he set her down, and when he rose, he lifted her up again (Sahih al-Bukhari 516; Sahih Muslim 543).
The scholars drew rulings from this: that carrying a child does not spoil the prayer, and that small movements for a need are allowed in it. But the scene itself says more: the Prophet ﷺ did not treat a little girl as something to be put away before he could pray.
The Prophet's ﷺ worship had room in it for a grandchild; mercy toward children is part of the religion, not a distraction from it.
When children interrupt your worship or your work, how do you receive them?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 516 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih Muslim 543 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5996 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
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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