Juwayriya bint al-Harith

From Captive to Mother of the Believers

Juwayriya was the daughter of al-Harith, chief of Banu Mustaliq. After the tribe was defeated in the campaign of al-Muraysi (5 AH) she fell among the captives and was allotted to Thabit ibn Qays, who agreed to free her for a ransom of 360 dirhams. She came to the Prophet ﷺ to ask his help with a burden beyond her means; he paid her ransom, set her free, and offered her marriage, which she gladly accepted. 1 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 253 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Juwayriya's capture, the ransom set by Thabit ibn Qays, and the Prophet ransoming, freeing and marrying her in 5 AH. When the Muslims saw that the Prophet ﷺ had married into Banu Mustaliq, they freed all their captives — about a hundred families — saying a tribe honoured by his marriage should not remain enslaved. So her marriage became a mercy to her whole people. Before her capture she had dreamt of the moon coming from Madinah and falling into her lap. 2 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 253–254 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — the freeing of ~100 families of Banu Mustaliq on account of her marriage; her dream of the moon.

Virtues in the Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ found her at her prayer-place absorbed in dhikr, and on returning at midday found her still there; he taught her words greater in weight than all she had said:

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ عَدَدَ خَلْقِهِ وَرِضَا نَفْسِهِ وَزِنَةَ عَرْشِهِ وَمِدَادَ كَلِمَاتِهِ

”Glory be to Allah and His is the praise, as many as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as the weight of His Throne, and as much as the ink of His words.”

Sahih Muslim 2726a · Book 48 (Remembrance, Supplication, Repentance), Hadith 106 · narrated by Juwayriya bint al-Harith

A’isha’s Testimony

A’isha said of her:

“I haven’t seen a woman more beneficial to her people than Juwayriya — a hundred families freed in a day because of her.”

Death & Legacy

Juwayriya died in Rabi al-Awwal, 50 AH at about sixty-five, in Madinah — remembered as the captive whose marriage brought freedom and Islam to her tribe. 3 Stories of the Sahabah · pp. 254 — Zakariyya Kandhlawi — Juwayriya's death in Rabi al-Awwal 50 AH, aged about 65.