The Use of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an One of the uses of ‘Umm’ in...

The Use of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an One of the uses of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to a real mother as in the following verse: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِي وَلَا تَحْزَنِي إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ “So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses: "Suckle (thy child)…” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Qasas 28:7] The second use of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to its basic meaning of root and foundation as in the following verse: هُوَ الَّذِيَ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ “He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical.”[The Holy Qur’an, Al-i-Imran 3:7] The third use of the word ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to the greatest of several things or the central one as in the following verse: لِّتُنذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا “…that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities ^1 and all around her [^2] …” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Shura 42:7] Mecca was the central town in Arabia like the capital cities in the world today.

The wives of the Prophet are also considered the mothers of the believers in the Qur’an as we read in the following verse: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ “The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers…” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Ahzab 33:6] Considering the various meanings mentioned above one can better understand the importance of the rights of the mother.