Pledged allegiance to the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, under the Tree
Her name and lineage
Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith ibn Al-Haarith ibn Rifaa‘ah ibn Al-Haarith ibn Sawaad ibn Maalik ibn Ghanm ibn Maalik. She is one of Al-Ansaar [the Supporters of the Prophet in Al-Madeenah] from the tribe of Banu An-Najjaar. Her mother is Umm Yazeed bint Qays ibn Za‘waa’ ibn Haraam ibn Jundub ibn ‘Aamir ibn Ghanm ibn ‘Adiyy ibn An-Najjaar. Her father is Mu‘awwith, one of the honorable Companions who participated in the Ghazwah of Badr. Her husband is the respected Companion, Iyaas ibn Bukayr Al-Laythi, who is one of the prominent Emigrants.
Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith has numerous virtues, one of which is that the Prophet visited her on her wedding day. She narrated: “The Prophet entered upon me on my wedding day and sat on my bed just as you are now sitting. Some girls were playing the Duff lamenting the death of their fathers in the Ghazwah of Badr; one of them said: “We have among us a prophet who knows what will happen tomorrow.” The Prophet said: “Do not say so. Just continue what you were saying earlier.” [Al-Bukhari]
The reason why the Prophet told the girls so, is that Allah The Exalted is the Only One who knows the future. None of His creation has the ability to predict the future, as Allah The Exalted Says (what means) :{[He is] Knower of the unseen, and He does not disclose His [knowledge of the] unseen to anyone. * Except whom He has approved of messengers, and indeed, He sends before each messenger and behind him observers.} [Quran 72:26-27]
Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith held many courageous stances in Islamic history that prove her sincere adherence and commitment to Allah The Exalted, to Islam and to all Muslims. She did not fear the blame of a critic and was not afraid of any one who did not implement the orders of Allah The Almighty.
Ar-Rubayyi‘ narrated: "I went to buy perfume from Asmaa’ bint Makhrabah, Abu Jahl’s mother, and she told me: 'Write a piece of paper stating that you owe me money for that perfume.' Ar-Rubayyi‘ replied: 'Yes, I will write you a paper stating that I, Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith, owe you that money.’ Asmaa’ then said: ‘Oh, I hope you would lose someone dear to you and shave your hair mourning him/her. You are the daughter of the man who killed his master.’ Ar-Rubayyi‘ said: ‘Rather, I am the daughter of the man who killed his slave.’ Asmaa’ said: ‘By Allah, I shall not sell you anything.’”
Ar-Rubayyi‘ is the mother of Muhammad ibn Iyaas ibn Al-Bukayr.
A number of the Companions and Taabi‘oon used to come to her to benefit from her knowledge on the rulings of Islam and to ask her about her narrations.
Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith narrated: “The Prophet told the villages of the Ansaar early on the morning of ‘Aashooraa’ (the tenth of Muharram): ‘Whoever is not fasting today should continue the day and whoever is fasting should preserve his fasting.’ She said: “From that time on, we started fasting on the tenth of Muharram. We used to make our little children fast too, and whenever a child felt hungry, we would distract him with a toy made of wool till the time of Iftaar.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The Prophet conferred honor upon Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith and Umm Sunbulah
At-Tabaraani narrated that Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith ibn ‘Afraa’, may Allah be pleased with them, said: My father, Mu‘awwith ibn ‘Afraa’, sent me with a measure of [some] ripe dates and Hisaa` [soup] made of small cucumbers to the Prophet as the Prophet used to love cucumber. There was jewellery that the Prophet had received from Bahrain and he gave me a handful of it.” In another narration, she says: “So he gave me a handful of jewellery or gold.”
This Hadeeth was narrated by Ahmad with this wording and he added in another version:
“The Prophet said to her: 'Adorn yourself with this.' Al-Haythami said that both narrations are Hasan, and At-Tirmithi narrated the brief version.
At-Tabaraani narrated in Al-Awsat that Umm Sunbulah, may Allah be pleased with her, offered the Prophet a gift but his wives refused to accept it. The Prophet ordered them to accept it, so they did. The Prophet granted Umm Sunbulah, may Allah be pleased with her, a piece of land which ‘Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with him, later on bought from Hasan ibn ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with them.
Al-Haythami said that ‘Amr ibn Qaythi is one of the narrators of this narration and he did not know him, and the rest of the narrators are trustworthy. There are numerous narrations on the generosity of the Prophet in giving charity.
Umm Sunbulah, may Allah be pleased with her, died during the Caliphate of Mu‘aawiyah in the 45th year AH. Ar-Rubayyi‘ bint Mu‘awwith, may Allah be pleased with her, died during the Caliphate of ‘Abd Al-Malik ibn Marwaan between the 73rd and the 79th years AH.