1 of 2 · c. 2–3 AH · Madinah
Hafsah bint 'Umar رضي الله عنها
A Widow, and a Father's Search
Hafsah, the daughter of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, was married to Khunays ibn Hudhafah al-Sahmi, an early Muslim who had emigrated and fought at Badr. He died in Madinah, leaving her a young widow.
'Umar went looking for a husband for her. He offered her to 'Uthman, who after some days declined. He offered her to Abu Bakr, who said nothing at all — and 'Umar admitted that this silence hurt him more. A few days later the Prophet ﷺ himself proposed, and married her.
Afterwards Abu Bakr explained: he had known the Prophet ﷺ had spoken of her, and he would not reveal his secret; had the Prophet ﷺ left her, he would have accepted her himself (Sahih al-Bukhari 5122).
A father's care for his widowed daughter, and a friend's silence that kept a trust, both ended in honour for her.
When were you hurt by someone's silence that turned out to be loyalty?
- Sahih al-Bukhari 5122 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Sahih al-Bukhari 4005 Sahih · in the two Sahihs
- Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-KubraHistorical report
What the hadith grades mean
- Sahih (authentic): an unbroken chain of trustworthy, precise narrators, free of hidden flaws or contradiction. It is acted upon.
- Hasan (good): like sahih, but a narrator's precision is slightly lighter. It is also accepted and acted upon. "Hasan sahih" means it reaches sahih by its routes.
- Da'if (weak): a break in the chain or a narrator who is not reliable enough. It is not used to establish beliefs or rulings.
- Very weak (munkar, matruk): a seriously flawed chain or a narrator accused of lying. It is not relied on at all.
- Mawdu' (fabricated): falsely attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. It may not be narrated as his words except to warn against it.
- The two Sahihs: every hadith with a full chain in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim is accepted as sahih by the scholars of hadith.
- Historical report: biographies and histories (Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabari) record events with chains that are often incomplete. They are used for the story, not for rulings.
- Hadith scholars grade a narration; the four madhhabs do not. Where a hadith carries a ruling, the page shows which schools act on it.
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