Hafsah Bint ‘Umar: Who Fasted during the Day and kept Vigil at Night

13/01/2011| IslamWeb

When Zayd ibn Thaabit, may Allah be pleased with him, finished compiling the Noble Quran at the command of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, the scrolls that contained the Quranic text were kept in the house of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, until he died. Then they were moved to the house of ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, until he died, and then to the house of Hafsah bint ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them. After that, they were taken and copied by ‘Uthmaan, may Allah be pleased with him, and then given back to her. They remained with her  until she died.

Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, was born five years before the Prophetic mission of the Messenger of Allah, , in a noble family. Her father is ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab, the Commander of Believers, may Allah be pleased with him; and her mother is Zaynab Bint Math‘oon ibn Habeeb, may Allah be pleased with her.

Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, embraced Islam very early with her husband, Khunays ibn Huthaafah As-Sahmi Al-Qurashi, may Allah be pleased with him, and they both emigrated to Abyssinia, fleeing their homeland for the sake of their religion. After that, they went to Madeenah after the Da‘wah (Islamic propagation) had begun to spread.

Her husband participated in the Battle of Badr, and died in the Battle of Uhud of a fatal wound,  leaving behind him Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, who was still a young woman, no older than twenty-one years.  After she fulfilled the term of her ‘Iddah (waiting period), ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, offered her in marriage to ‘Uthmaan Ibn ‘Affaan, may Allah be pleased with him, and then to Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and neither of them responded to the offer.

Then, ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, went to the Prophet, , and complained to him about how both ‘Uthmaan and Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them, had turned down his offer of marrying his daughter Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, to one of them. On that the Messenger of Allah, , said to him: "Someone who is better than ‘Uthmaan, will marry Hafsah and ‘Uthmaan will marry someone who is better than Hafsah." Then, the Messenger of Allah, , proposed to ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, to marry her and he married her to him. Later on, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, met ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, and said to him, "Do not be angry with me, for [when you offered her to me] the Messenger of Allah had mentioned Hafsah, and I was not to disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allah ;  had he left her, I would have married her." [Ibn Sa‘d]

The Prophet, , consummated the marriage with her in the month of Sha‘baan, in the third year after Hijrah (migration). The Messenger of Allah, , married Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, to honor her and her father, and out of love for them.

One day, the wife of ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him, "How strange you are, O son of Al-Khattaab! You like to quarrel with me [if I express a contrary opinion], while your daughter always argues with the Prophet so much that he remains angered all day." ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, soon went angrily to his daughter, and said to her, "O my daughter! Beware of the punishment of Allah The Almighty and the anger of His Messenger ."

Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, was a submissive worshipper, in the habit of observing night vigil for supererogatory prayers and fasting during the day. For this reason, Allah The Almighty honored her from His bounty, and made her one of the wives of the Prophet, , in Paradise.

Hafsah, may Allah be pleased with her, lived to witness the conquests and expansion of Islam. She narrated sixty of the Hadeeths (narrations) of the Messenger of Allah, .

She died by the time Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them, was given the pledge of allegiance as the Caliph, i.e. in Jumaada Al-Oola, in 41 AH. or in 45 AH.,  according to another opinion.