Atikah bint Zayd (rta): The Wife of Many Martyrs

By

Sadaf Azhar – Assistant Editor Hiba Magazine

Atikah means a person who wears a lot of perfume. It was a common name for women at the time of the Prophet (sa). The Prophet (sa) once said: ‘I am the son of the Awatik (the plural of women named Atikah).’

The lineage of the Prophet (sa) had many women named Atikah- Atikah, the mother of Abd Minaf and Atikah, the mother of Hashem.

Who was Atikah bint Zayd (rta)?

Atikah (rta) was the daughter of one of the pre- Islamic monotheists of Makkah, Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl. This was the man who the Prophet (sa) said will stand on the Day of Judgment as an Ummah by himself with two gardens.

Zayd gave his kids the best Tarbiyah by not only rejecting idol worship, but also rejecting alcohol. In addition, he would take those girls that were to be buried in female infanticide, bring them up in his home and arrange for their marriage instead.

She had only one other sibling- Saeed ibn Zayd (rta) who was also an eminent companion, one of the first to embrace Islam.

Her Character

She was a woman with noble lineage, known for not only being an exceedingly beautiful woman, but also an exceedingly eloquent woman.

Atikah was a poet and her biography is full of poetry, lamenting the losses she faced. Ibn Kathir narrates that she was a woman of great Ibadah.

Her first Marriage

Atikah’s first husband was Abu Bakr’s (rta) son, Abdullah (rta). During Hijrah, Abdullah(rta) would bring the news of Makkah to the Prophet (sa).

Abdullah (rta) fell madly in love with Atika (rta), to a point that he held back from spending time in the Masjid or serving alongside the Prophet (sa) because he just wanted to be with his wife.

Abu Bakr (rta) wanted his family to serve Islam and he realized that Abdullah (rta) had developed an unhealthy attachment to his wife. So Abu Bakr (rta) eventually pushed him to divorce her so that he could learn detachment from Duniya and develop an attachment to the Deen.

Abdulllah (rta), heartbroken, authored this poem:

‘Oh Atikah, I will never forget you,

so long as anything appears in the sky during the day,

or any star or any bird flies through the sky at night,

I will never forget you, day or night.

I will always think about you oh, Atikah.

She’s a woman of character, a woman of intelligence,

and I don’t see that someone like me would divorce someone like her on any day.’

Abu Bakr (rta) recognized his pain and stepped back from his orders to divorce her.

During the siege of Taif, however, Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr (rta), was struck by an arrow and deeply wounded. Later Abdullah (rta) passed away in Madinah. Atikah (rta) was devastated and promised:

‘I promise that my eyes will never stop crying for you.

And that my skin will never touch Asfara (a yellow tinted perfume),

my skin will always remain in dust.’

Her second Marriage

In the tribal socio-economic set-up of Arabia, widows usually remarried. Zayd ibn Al-Khattab (rta) one of the earliest converts to Islam and the elder brother of Umar (rta) proposed to Atikah (rta). They got married, however, Zayd ibn Al-Khattab (rta) was martyred in the Battle of Al Yammah. Umar (rta) remarked at his death: ‘You proceeded me to Islam and you proceeded me to martyrdom as well.’

Atikah (rta), upset, again vowed not to remarry but Umar (rta) reprimanded her to not make Haram for herself what Allah (swt) had made Halal.

Her third Marriage

Eventually Umar (rta) himself, proposed to his late brother’s widow. Despite her misgivings about marrying yet again she agreed.  Aisha (rta) visited her on her wedding night and reminded her of the poem that she once recited about her deceased brother Abdullah (rta) but changed the words:

‘I have taken an oath.

I have promised that my eye, will rest after you

And my skin will never touch dust.’

Aisha (rta) meant to remind Atikah (rta) that re-marriage was acceptable and encouraged her.

Atikah (rta) would visit the Masjid regularly in the evenings and even though Umar (rta) disapproved, he didn’t prohibit her because the Prophet (sa) forbade that the women be prohibited from the Masjid.

Umar (rta) became the Caliph and she supported him in his responsibilities. They remained married for over a decade until Umar (rta) was martyred in Fajr prayers. Atikah (rta) was once again bereft, and she cried and recited poetry lamenting her loss.

Her fourth Marriage

Az-Zubair (rta), one of the ten promised paradise, similar to Umar (rta) in both character and stature proposed to her and married her. They lived together for over a decade but the Khawarij Fitnah during the Caliphate of Ali (rta) arose and Az-Zubair (rta) was martyred as he walked away from battlefield of Al-Jamal. Not only was he similar to Umar (rta) in character and stature, but he too was martyred in prayer.

Atikah (rta) now mourned the loss of her fourth husband- she had become the widow of a Shaheed for the fourth time.

Her Last Marriage and Death

Did people attach a bad omen to her? No, the Muslims valued martyrdom. They actually said that if a person wants to be a Shaheed, let them marry Atikah (rta).

None other than Hussein, (rta) whose martyrdom is one of the most tragic in history, married her. But she did not live to see Hussein’s (rta) brutal martyrdom because she died during the Caliphate of Muawiyah (rta) at the age of 72 years and is buried in Madinah.

Allah (swt) decreed honour for Atikah (rta) to be the wife of noble men who embraced martyrdom one after the other by Allah’s (swt) will. Subhan Allah.