الرحلةThe Journey

سمية بنت خياط

Sumayyah (RA)

Sumayyah bint Khayyat

Also known as: Sumayya, Umm 'Ammar

c. 74 BH – c. 7 BH · c. 550–c. 615 CE

Companions

The first martyr of Islam, mother of 'Ammar ibn Yasir.

Sumayyah was a bondwoman of Abu Hudhayfah ibn al-Mughira of the clan of Makhzum in Makkah. He married her to Yasir, a man from Yemen who had settled in Makkah, and their son 'Ammar was born free. The family were among the first to accept Islam. Having no tribe of their own to protect them, they were tortured by men of Makhzum, who left them in the heat of the sun to make them give up their faith. The Prophet ﷺ passed by them and said, 'Patience, family of Yasir, for your promised meeting is Paradise.'

Sumayyah would not recant, and Abu Jahl killed her with a spear. She is remembered as the first martyr in Islam. Yasir also died under the torture.

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Life journey

  1. c. 550 CE Makkah مكة
    Died c. 615 CE · c. 7 BH
    Lived in Makkah among the clan of Makhzum, and was killed there for her faith.

Places in their life

The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
The Ka'bah in al-Masjid al-Haram, Makkah
Photo: Adli Wahid (minor modifications by Basile Morin), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya
  • Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra
  • Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sahaba
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.
Her birth year is not recorded; she was elderly when she died. Her death is placed in the early years of the call, before the migration to Abyssinia; the year is approximate.