Maymuna bint al-Harith was the last woman to join the ranks of Ummahat al-Mu’mineen, mothers of the believers, and became the last wife of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Maymuna bint al-Harith was born to Haris al-Halalia and Hind bint Auf in 594 AD. Her given birth name was “Barra”, which was later changed by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Maymuna’s family tree was quite diverse and intertwined with the Prophet’s (peace be upon him): her sister, Umm al-Fadl Lubaba was the mother of Abdullah ibn Abbas, who was the Prophet’s nephew and her other sister, Salma bint Umays, was married to the Prophet’s uncle, Hamza. She was also the half-sister of Zaynab bint Khuzayma, wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Her Marriage to the Prophet Muhammad
Towards the later part of her life, Maymuna had been yearning to marry the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) for quite a while. Hence, she decided to speak to her sister, Umm al-Fadl, about the matter, who in turn, talked to her husband, Al-Abbas.
Al-Abbas presented the marriage proposal to the Prophet himself, who accepted the offer.
Thereafter, their wedding ceremony took place in the blessed month of Shawwal, in the year 7 AH.
This marriage happened soon after the treaty of Hudaybiyyah had taken place and Muslims living in Madinah were allowed to enter Makkah to perform ‘umrah’ under its terms.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was 60 years old at the time of their marriage, while Maymuna was 36 years old.
A Blessed Woman
Upon their matrimony, the Prophet (peace be upon him) changed her birth name “Barra” to “Maymuna”, which literally meant ‘blessed’. Some believe was due to the blessing of the treaty of Hudaybiya that had been agreed upon a while before.
However, Maymuna spent only three years with the Prophet Muhammad before his demise.
When the Prophet Muhammad passed away, she lived on in the city of Madinah for the next 40 years. Maymuna was a kind natured woman, who cared greatly about maintaining her ties of kinship and looking after the people around her.
Like all other wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Maymuna was known for her piety and was deeply devoted to her worship of Allah.
Moreover, It is also believed that it was in her room, where the Prophet Muhammad felt the onset of the earlier symptoms of his last illness before his death and went on to seek his wives’ permission be moved to Aisha’s house thereafter.
Maymuna was a woman of great knowledge and intellect. She is known to have taught Muslims many of the Sunnah and hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). She is the narrator of around 13 hadiths, some of which can be found in Sahih-Bukhari and Sahih-Muslim.
Her Death
Maymuna bint al-Harith passed on at the age of 80, in the year 51 AH. She was the last wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to die.
Before she died, she had requested to bury her in the place where she had married the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) at Saraf. And her request was fulfilled upon her demise.
There is a consensus amongst the Islamic scholars that it was after the Prophet’s marriage to Maymuna bint al-Harith, his last wife, that Allah revealed the following verse:
It is not lawful for you (O Muhammad, to marry more) women after this, nor to exchange them for other wives, even though their beauty is pleasing to you, except those whom your right hand possesses (as maid servants); and Allah is always watching over everything. (Quran 33:52)
The Messenger of Allah did not take any wife after Maymuna.
All the wives of the Prophet Muhammad did justice to their blessed title of being “Umm al-Mu’mineen”. And they remain, to this day, timeless role-models for the world.
They loved the Prophet (peace be upon him). And they spent their whole life in the service of preserving and propagating Islam. They were chosen as blessed wives of the Prophet because of their outstanding characters and strength of faith.
After the Prophet (peace be upon him), it is his family and companions that pose as a great source of timeless knowledge and guidance for Muslims and non-Muslims throughout the globe.
Source: https://www.islamicfinder.org.