…
The marriage of ʿUmar with Umm Kulthum al-Hashimiyya (6 - 49) the daughter of ʿAli and Fatima took place on the year 17 of the Hijra. ʿAli gave her away to ʿUmar upon his request although he was afraid at first that ʿUmar might not accept her due to her youth and because he wished her to marry one of her cousins among the sons of Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib. But ʿUmar said, “Marry her to me for I swear I have toward her more dedication to excellent companionship than any man on the face of the earth.”
ʿUmar gave her a dowry of 40,000 dirhams in honor of her lineage to the Messenger of Allah, upon him blessings and peace.
He came to the Muhajirun among the Companions as they sat between the Grave and the Pulpit – their usual place for meeting ʿUmar to discuss news: “Felicitate this newlywed!” Then he told them he had married ʿAli's daughter Umm Kulthum and said: 'I heard the Messenger of Allah say ﷺ upon him blessings and peace: “Every lineage and means will be severed on the Day of Judgment except my lineage and my means.” I have kept company with him and wished to add this also.' Later he again said, on the pulpit: 'Do not disparage me [for marrying a young girl], for I heard the Prophet say ﷺ upon him blessings and peace: “On the Judgment Day every means will be cut off and every lineage severed except my lineage.”
It is well-known that our liege-lord ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab 
Allah be well-pleased with him, had a particular veneration for
the Prophetic Household (Ahl al-Bayt) as illustrated by the
following additional reports:
(a) Ibn Saʿd narrated from al-Shaʿbi and al-Hasan that al- ʿAbbas had some need of ʿUmar one day and said to him: "Commander of the Believers, suppose the uncle of Musa, upon him peace, came to you as a Muslim, how would you treat him?" He replied, "I swear by Allah that I would treat him well!" Al-ʿAbbas said, "Well, I am the uncle of Muhammad the Prophet ﷺ - upon him and his House blessings and peace!" ʿUmar said, "Abu al-Fadl, and what do you suppose? By Allah, your father [ʿAbd al-Muttalib] is certainly dearer to me than my own father!" He said, "By Allah?" ʿUmar said, "By Allah, yes! Because I know that he [ʿAbd al-Muttalib] is dearer to the Messenger of Allah than my own father, therefore I prefer the love of the Messenger of Allah to my love."
(b) A man disparaged ʿAli ibn Abi Talib in the presence of ʿUmar whereupon the latter said: "Do you know the dweller of this grave? He is Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib. And ʿAli is the son of Abu Talib ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib. Therefore, do not mention ʿAli except in a good way for if you dislike him you will harm this one in his grave." Narrated by Ahmad with a good chain in Fada'il al-Sahaba (2:641 #1089).
(c) After ʿUmar saw al-Husayn ibn ʿAli ibn Abi Talib waiting at his door he said to him: "You are more deserving of permission to enter than [my son] ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar! You see the goodness that was placed on our head; [therefore] first Allah then you [the Prophetic Household]" and he placed his hand on his head as he spoke. Narrated by Ibn Saʿd, Ibn Rahuyah, and al-Khatib.
(d) ʿUmar distributed garments to the Companions but found nothing appropriate for al-Hasan and al-Husayn so he sent a message to Yemen and had a kiswa sent, which he offered them. Then he said, “Now I am content.” Narrated by Ibn al-Jawzi in Manaqib ʿUmar (p. 97).
Umm Kulthum bore ʿUmar Zayd al-Akbar, known as Ibn al-Khalifatayn (= 'Son of the Two Caliphs' i.e. ʿUmar and ʿAli) who became renowned for his great beauty, and a daughter, Ruqayya.
After ʿUmar died she remarried, upon ʿAli's order, with ʿAwn ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib. When ʿAwn died ʿAli remarried her with ʿAwn's brother Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar. Ibn Saʿd and al-Daraqutni claim that when the latter also died young, she remarried with his brother ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar who was widowed of her sister Zaynab bint ʿAli – an anachronism since Zaynab outlived Umm Kulthum and was present at Karbala – where her two sons from ʿAbd Allah, Muhammad and ʿAwn [both named after their uncles], were killed.
Zayd al-Akbar died a young man, childless, from a stone throw in the time of Muʿawiya. Umm Kulthum died at the same time and Saʿid ibn al-ʿAs ibn Saʿid or Ibn ʿUmar prayed over them, Allah have mercy on them.
Sources: Ibn al-Jarud, al-Muntaqa [an entirely sahih book] (p. 142); al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar, al-Muntakhab min Azwaj al-Nabi SallAllahu ʿalayhi wa-Sallam (p. 30-31); al-Dulabi, al-Dhurriyat al-Tahira (p. 62); Ibn Saʿd, Tabaqat (8:337-340=8:463-464); al-Siyar wal-Maghazi (p. 248); Tarikh al-Yaʿqubi (2:260); Ibn Shabba's Tarikh al-Madina (2:654); Nasab Quraysh (p. 352); ʿAbd al-Razzaq, Musannaf (3:465); al-Nasa'i, Sunan (4:71) and Sunan Kubra (1:641); al-Bukhari, Tarikh al-Saghir (1:102); Ibn Qutayba, Maʿarif (p. 107, 122); al-Tabari, Tarikh (4:199 and 5:335); al-Daraqutni, Sunan (2:79); al-Bayhaqi, Sunan Kubra (4:33); Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Istiʿab (4:490-491); al-Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma' wal-Lughat (2:267 #1219); al- Dhahabi, Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubala' (Dar al-Fikr ed. 5:22-24) and Tarikh al- Islam (4:58-59, 4:137-139, 4:227, 5:21); al-Dimyati, Nisa' al-Rasul (p. 128); Ibn Hajar, Isaba (4:492 #1481); Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghaba (7:387-388) and al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (3:54, 4:12); al-Suyuti, al-Hawi lil-Fatawa (2:179); etc.
The following is a reply to various claims and inaccuracies posted at the following site as of March 1, 2004:
In Mishkat Shareef, it is reported that when Abubakr and Umar asked the holy Prophet ﷺ for his daughter, Lady Fatima[sa]'s hand the Prophet ﷺ replied she is too young to marry. If this is correct then think rationally over the fact that, Umme Kulthum[sa] whose mother was too young to marry these people, marries these same personalities, does this make sense?
Observe in the above lines the jump from the hadith "she is too young to marry" to the spin that she "was too young to marry these people".
Rather, as Sharh al-Mishkaat states (Dar al-Fikr ed. 10:476-477), she had been asked at an early time and the Prophet ﷺ waited, upon him blessings and peace, for specific heavenly revelation concerning Fatima, period.
This is confirmed by the other version of the proposal of the Two Shaykhs of Islam - Allah be well-pleased with them - Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, in which the Prophet replies ﷺ upon him and his Family and Companions blessings and peace: "The qada' [concerning this decision] has not been revealed yet."
It also makes Hadrat Umar - Allah be well-pleased with him - the step- grandfather of Fatima whom he did ask in marriage and the Prophet ﷺ upon him blessings and peace, did not reply "This is not allowed in Islam"!
The reason is, this sort of marriage is definitely allowed in Islam and this *is* proven from the Qur'an. Read again the verses defining who is mahram from who is not in Surat al-Nisa'!
The above is a deceptive way of quoting because the sources only mention the date of the marriage as the year 17. They do not say Umm Kulthum was 5 or 4 that year nor anything about her date of birth. This is your own claim inserted as an historical premise, followed by your own conjecture.
Besides, the "History of Abul-Fida" is by the king of Hama, Ismaʿil ibn ʿAli ibn Mahmud (d. 732) and Nuʿmani is a contemporary. Surely, they must have an earlier transmitted basis for whatever they supposedly say. However, they did not say anything other than the date of marriage as the year 17.
Ibn Kathir's Tarikh states the year 16 for the marriage of ʿUmar with Umm Kulthum; so she was between 10 and 12 since her date of birth is mentioned by al-Dhahabi in Siyar Aʿlam al-Nubala' as around the 6th year after the Hijra. Allah knows best from where the claim that she "was 5 or 4" comes from.
Among the Shiʿi sources that narrate the fact of this marriage from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir with the statement "Umm Kulthum bint ʿAli ibn Abi Talib died at the same time as her son Zayd ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab" and the narration from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan that "ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab married Umm Kulthum bint ʿAli ʿalayhi al-Salam with a dowry of 40,000 dirhams":
1- Agha Burzug al-Tahrani's al-Dhariʿa (5:184).
2- ʿAli ibn Muhammad al-ʿAlawi's al-Mujdi fi Ansab al-Talibiyyin (p. 17).
3- Al-Fadil al-Hindi's Kashf al-Litham (2:312).
4- Al-Hurr al-ʿAmili's Wasa'il al-Shiʿa Al al-Bayt (15:19, 17:594,
21:263,
26:314).
5- Muhammad ibn Habib al-Baghdadi's al-Munammaq fi Akhbar Quraysh
(p. 301).
6- Al-Muhaqqiq al-Ardabili's Majmaʿ al-Fa'ida (11:530).
7- Al-Muhaqqiq al-Naraqi's Mustanad al-Shiʿa (19:452).
8- Al-Muhaqqiq al-Sabzawari's Kifayat al-Ahkam (p. 307).
9- Al-Sayyid Muhammad Sadiq al-Rawhani's Fiqh al-Sadiq (24:496).
10-Al-Shahid al-Thani's Masalik al-Afham (13:270).
11-Al-Shaykh al-Amini's al-Ghadir (6:136-137).
12&13- Al-Shaykh al-Tusi's al-Mabsut (4:272) and Tahdhib al-Ahkam
(9:362-363).
14-Al-Shaykh al-Jawahiri's Jawahir al-Kalam (39:308).
Her father – Allah bless him and greet him.
The above reference to al-Bukhari contains nothing about Umm Kulthum. Rather, al-Bukhari narrates in his Tarikh al-Saghir (1:102) - like everyone else - that Umm Kulthum had married ʿUmar. As for her date of birth is it is 6 Hijri as cited above.
The Sunnis do not claim that she was 4 or 5 in the year 17 but 11 or 12.
Not Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas but Saʿid ibn al-ʿAs (2-59) and he was the imam as the (universally respected) governor of Madina who had dearly wished to marry Umm Kulthum but desisted when he learnt of al-Husayn's disapproval. It is also possible that he let Ibn ʿUmar be the imam. In the congregation there was also Abu Qatada (d. 54). This is agreed upon in BOTH the Sunni sources and the 14 Shiʿi sources cited above. Some narrations in Ibn Saʿd, al-Bukhari, and al-Bayhaqi state that al-Hasan (d. 49) was part of the congregation, which brings the terminus ante quem for Umm Kulthum's death to 49.
Or 49.
ONLY SOME non-Sunni sources that stand out for their unreliability, such as Muruj al-Dahab by the Muʿtazili chronicler (akhbaari) al-Masʿudi (d. 345); Sharh al-Akhbar fi Fada'il al-A'immat al-At-har (3:198) by the ex-Maliki apostate (murtadd cf. Siyar, Fikr ed. 12:284), al-Qadi al-Nuʿman ibn Muhammad ibn Mansur al-Maghribi (d. 363); Muthir al-Ahzan by Ibn Nama al-Hilli (d. 645); and Bihar al-Anwar by Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi (d. 1111) among other similarly unscrupulous sources.
However, that claim is not found in the 14 Shiʿi sources cited earlier nor in the Sunni sources.
The Siyar (Fikr ed. 4:418) among other Sunni sources only name the following Ahl al-Bayt women as present at Karbala' and taken prisoner:
- Zaynab and Fatima the daughters of ʿAli;
- Fatima and Sukayna the daughters of al-Husayn;
- al-Rabab al-Kalbiyya the wife of al-Husayn and mother of Sukayna;
- Umm Muhammad the daughter of al-Hasan ibn ʿAli.
Sukayna is the one that spoke the famous words to Yazid, "Have you taken prisoner the daughters of the Messenger of Allah??" which words are spuriously attributed to Umm Kulthum bint ʿAli in some of the non-Sunni accounts such as al-Raghib al-Asfahani's Maqatil al-Talibiyyin (p. 79) and the above-cited sources.
The only Umm Kulthum present in the whole episode of Karbala' was Yazid's own wife, Umm Kulthum bint ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmir.
It is more likely that ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar (d. 80), unlike his two brothers ʿAwn and Muhammad [he also named his sons thus], was never married to Umm Kulthum (d. <49) at all but only to her sister zaynab (d. 61).
The marriage of Zaynab to ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar is unquestioned.
Incorrect: Zaynab was at Karbala' but Umm Kulthum had died before 49.
This nonsense is definitely not in the latter two references nor even in the 14 Shiʿi sources other than the few discrepant sources I've identified.
Wrong.
Ibn Qutayba said in al-Maʿarif (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1987) p. 122:
"THE DAUGHTERS OF ʿALI IBN ABI TALIB: As for Zaynab the elder the daughter of Fatima, she was [married] with ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar and gave him children whom we already named. As for Umm Kulthum the elder, also the daughter of Fatima, she was [married] with ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab and gave him children we also already named. When ʿUmar was killed Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib married her. He died before her then ʿAwn ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib married her and she died before him. The rest of ʿAli's daughters were married off to the sons of ʿAqil and the sons of al-ʿAbbas except Umm al-Hasan -- she was married to Jaʿda ibn Hubayra al-Makhzumi -- and except Fatima -- she was married to Saʿid ibn al-Aswad of Banu al-Harith ibn Asad."
The same Ibn Qutayba also says in the same book (p. 107):
"THE CHILDREN OF ʿUMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB FROM HIS BLOOD AND THEIR DESCENDENTS: .... also Fatima and Zayd, their mother being Umm Kulthum the daughter of ʿAli ibn Abi Talib from his union with Fatima the daughter of the Messenger of Allah upon him blessings and peace. It is also said that Umm Kulthum's daughter from ʿUmar was named Ruqayya...."
What was the age for Omar at the time of the marriage ?
Approximately forty-seven. Umm Kulthum was between 10 and 12.
Between 17 and 19. ʿUmar was fifty-four or five.
1. ʿAtika bint Zayd ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAdawiyya.
2. Fukayha who gave him offspring. [Mulk al-yamin]
3. Luhayya al-Yamaniyya who gave him ʿAbd al-Rahman al-
Asghar or al-Awsat, the latter known as Abu Shahma whom
ʿUmar whipped for drunkenness. [May have been mulk al-yamin]
4. Mulayka bint Abi Umayya al-Khuzaʿiyya who may have given
him ʿUbayd Allah.
5. Qariba bint Abi Umayya al-Makhzumiyya [in Jahiliyya].
6. Subayʿa bint al-Harith al-Aslamiyya.
7. Umm ʿAsim Jamila bint Thabit al-Awsiyya who gave him ʿAsim.
8. Umm Hakim bint al-Harith al-Makhzumiyya who gave him Fatima.
9. Umm Kulthum bint ʿAli al-Hashimiyya who gave him Ruqayya
and Zayd al-Akbar but Ibn Qutayba in the Maʿarif names them
Fatima and Zayd.
10. Umm Kulthum bint (ʿAmr ibn) Jarwal al-Khuzaʿiyya who gave
him Zayd al-Asghar and ʿUbayd Allah [in Jahiliyya] and whom
al-Waqidi also calls Mulayka bint Jarwal, followed in this by Ibn
Qutayba, Ibn Kathir, and Ibn al-Athir.
11. Zaynab bint Mazʿun al-Jumahi who gave him ʿAbd Allah, Hafsa,
and ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Akbar [in Jahiliyya and Islam].
There are so many that it is mutawatir (mass-transmitted) including from the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt such as Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, from his father.
He is "thiqa thabt" (extremely trustworthy) according to al- Baghawi and al-Khatib while al-Daraqutni, al-Dhahabi, Ibn Hajar and others simply grade him thiqa, which is the highest grade of reliability.
Two: a boy and a girl.
The daughter of ʿAli and Fatima, raghima anfuk.
See the list I gave.
.... Yes, and they assert that he married both....
According to al-Waqidi, yes.
Definitely.
The distinction is clear as day, they were two different persons. Move on.
There were at least nine Companions named Umm Kulthum. Add the Umm Kulthums of Jahiliyya and those of the Tabiʿin. The fact that it was a popular proper noun might be confusing to some.
This fact is undoubted and irrelevant.
Ditto.
Actually, you gave no references to that effect but conjectured the age yourself, which we established was completely inaccurate. However, Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr al-Siddiq might well have been 3 or 4 at the time.
Except that the same sources state that Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr *adamantly rejected* ʿUmar's proposal, after which ʿA'isha supposedly consulted ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAs who supposedly dissuaded ʿUmar from pursuing the matter and supposedly persuaded him to ask for ʿAli's daughter instead.
However, the same sources all agree with the remainder of the sources to the fact that ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab married the daughter of ʿAli and Fatima, Allah be well-pleased with all of them, as referenced above.
Nor is there any contradiction between the two incidents supposing the proposal to Abu Bakr?s daughter actually took place and fell through.
I have not seen this incoherent claim earlier than in the pages of al-Anwar al-ʿAlawiyya wal-Asrar al-Murtadawiyya (p. 436) by an ignoramus named al-Shaykh Jaʿfar al-Naqdi (d. 1370) who had the gall to introduce this fantasy with the words: "I say, I saw in a book whose title I do not remember at the moment, that of the Imams of guidance said, upon them peace....." A lie, no transmission chain, and no source -- Shiʿism in a nutshell.
Rather, as all of the above Sunni and Shiʿi sources already showed, there is no doubt that the wife of ʿUmar was Umm Kulthum the daughter of ʿAli.
In addition:
When ʿAli was struck down by Ibn Muljam, Umm Kulthum said: "Ma li wali- Salat al-ghadat, qutila zawji Amir al-mu'minin salata al-ghadah, wa-qutila abi Salata al-ghadah! - What does the morning prayer want with me? My husband the Commander of the believers was killed at the morning prayer and my father was killed at the morning prayer!"
Narrated from al-Asbagh al-Hanzali by Ibn ʿAsakir in Tarikh Dimashq (42:555) cf. al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam (3:648-649) and Ibn Kathir, Bidaya (8:14).
Perhaps it was another ʿAli, another Ibn Muljam, another Umm Kulthum, another Commander of the believers? Like they come up with another Tabari, another Ibn Qutayba......
Yes, at the time ʿAli himself had sent her to ʿUmar, and that report does state that he had dressed her up. ʿAbd al-Razzaq's version of the same report in his Musannaf (6:163 #10353) specifies that ʿAli had previously told ʿUmar: "I shall send her to you and, if you agree, then she is your wife and I have married her to you."
Narrated in al-Khatib's Tarikh Baghdad (6:182), entry on Ibrahim ibn Mihran ibn Rustum al-Marwazi, with a fair chain according to Dr. Khaldun al-Ahdab in his book Zawa'id Tarikh Baghdad (5:209-214 #901). Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad
[Tue, 02 Mar 2004]
