3 of 3 · After 23 AH · c. 50 AH · Madinah
Umm Kulthum bint 'Ali رضي الله عنها
Mother and Son Together
After 'Umar's death, the biographers report that Umm Kulthum married her cousins, the sons of Ja'far ibn Abi Talib: first 'Awn, and after him Muhammad, and finally 'Abdullah ibn Ja'far. The order and details of these marriages differ between the reports.
She died in Madinah during the caliphate of Mu'awiyah, on the same day as her son Zayd ibn 'Umar. Nafi' reported that their two biers were placed together for one funeral prayer, led by Sa'id ibn al-'As, the governor of Madinah, with Ibn 'Umar, Abu Hurayrah, Abu Sa'id and Abu Qatadah among the people. The boy was placed nearer the imam and the woman beyond him, and when someone objected, the Companions present said: "It is the Sunnah" (Sunan al-Nasa'i 1978).
So even her funeral became a lesson. The way the Companions arranged the biers of a granddaughter of the Prophet ﷺ and her son is still taught today, wherever Muslims pray over more than one of their dead.
Umm Kulthum's last moment among the Muslims taught them a Sunnah; a life close to the Prophet ﷺ benefited people even at its end.
What good might people learn from you even after you are gone?
- Sunan al-Nasa'i 1978 Graded by Abu Ghuddah: Sahih · Al-Albani: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: Isnaad SahihSahih
- Sunan Abi Dawud 3193 Graded by Al-Albani: Sahih · Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih · Zubair Ali Zai: SahihSahih
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
- Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, al-Isti'abHistorical 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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