Yet despite this...

Yet despite this, he was regretful and apologized while speaking very highly of her and acknowledging her greatness. He showed her respect and sympathy saying, “Nobody’s poverty is more distressing to me than yours and nobody’s affluence brings me greater joy than yours, but I have heard the Prophet of Allah say: ‘We, the company of Prophets, do not leave behind inheritance and all that remains from us is charity.’”

We would respond to them: This is not evidence for exoneration from oppression or innocence from tyranny. We have seen how many oppressors use guile and ruse when they carry out their plots against their enemies. They use words to mislead people into believing that they are the ones being victimized in order to gain sympathy for themselves and turn the people against those who are truly being oppressed…

Al-Sayyida Umm Salamah is considered one of the best wives of the Prophet of Allah (S), during his lifetime and after he passed away. She never hurt the Prophet with her words or deeds, and never conspired against him with her co- wives, as some of the others had done, like in the case of the maghafir for example, until the verse:

“O Prophet, why do you prohibit [yourself] what Allah has made lawful for you, seeking to please your wives?” (

was revealed. Rather, she was a good companion and spouse to him during his lifetime. After he (S) passed away, she held an honourable position and was respected by the family of the Prophet, and she never turned away from them during the various tumultuous events that befell this pure progeny. She always stood firm in their defence and assisted them while sharing in their pains and sorrows. When al-Sayyida Fatimah (‘a) fell ill, Umm Salamah came to visit her and said, “How do you feel after resting the night, O daughter of the Messenger of Allah?” She (‘a) replied, “I awoke between grief and tribulation: the loss of the Prophet and the oppression of his successor.