# Sumayya

Sumeyah (Arabic: سُمَيَّة; c. 550–615), was the first member of the Umma (community) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to become a martyr (Arabic: شهيدة, romanized: shahīda, lit. 'female martyr') shortly after she was martyred, her husband Yasir ibn Amir was also killed for his conversion to Islam, making him the first male martyr (Arabic: شهيد, romanized: shahīd). Her full name is said to be Sumayya bint Khabbat or Sumayya bint Khayyat. Her son was Ammar ibn Yasir.

## Early life

She was a slave of Abu Hudhayfa ibn al-Mughira, a member of the Makhzum clan in Mecca. Her master gave her in marriage to Yasir ibn Amir, who was from the Malik clan of the Madh'hij tribe in Yemen. After coming to Mecca to look for a lost brother, he had decided to settle there under Abu Hudhayfa's protection.$^{:188}$ Sumayyah gave birth to their son Ammar c.566.$^{:188}$ Yasir also had two brothers, Hurth and Abdullah,$^{:189}$
At a later date, Abu Hudhayfa freed both Sumayyah and her son Ammar; but they remained his clients for the rest of his life.$^{:188}$ It is said both that Abu Hudhayfa died "before Islam" and that he was "one of those who mocked the Prophet".

## Conversion to Islam

According to one tradition, Sumayyah was one of the first seven "to display Islam", the other six being Muhammad, Abu Bakr, Bilal, Khabbab, Suhayb and her son Ammar.$^{:178}$ "To display Islam" might refer to something other than conversion since, according to another tradition, Ammar was not converted until after the Muslims had entered the house of al-Arqam "after thirty men".$^{:189}$ Yasir and his son Abdullah also converted "on the rise of Islam",$^{:188–189}$$^{:185}$ but Hurth had been killed by the Dil clan before 610.$^{:189}$
The Quraysh persecuted Muslims of low social rank.$^{:143}$ Sumayyah's family was vulnerable after the death of their patron, and it was other members of the Makhzum clan who tortured them to pressure them to abandon their faith.$^{:145}$ On one occasion she was put inside a pitcher full of water and lifted so that she could not escape. She, Yasir and Ammar were also forced to stand in the sun in the heat of the day dressed in mail-coats.$^{:145}$$^{:178}$
Although described as "a very old and frail woman", Sumayyah remained steadfast and refused to abandon Islam.$^{:145}$

## Death

One evening Amr ibn Hisham (commonly known as Abu Jahl), a chief of the Makhzum clan and permanent enemy to Muslims, began to torture and verbally abuse Sumayyah and Yasir in front of a large crowd, pressuring them to recant their faith. When they refused and continuously praised Allah, he tortured them to the brink of death. Abu Jahl then taunted Sumayyah by saying, "You are probably waiting for Yasir to die so you can marry Muhammad." Despite being barely conscious and severely wounded, she replied: "You are smaller in my eyes than a beetle on the ground I would [accidentally] step on." Infuriated, Abu Jahl impaled her with his spear, killing her and making her the first martyr in Islam. Some sources claim he impaled her through her genitalia, while others state her midsection. Afterwards, her son Ammar was made to stand in the hot sun with the same intention of forcing him to leave Islam.$^{:145}$$^{:178}$
When Abu Jahl was killed in the Battle of Badr, Muhammad said to Ammar, "Allah has killed your mother's killer."$^{:186}$
Al-Tabari mentions an alternative account of Sumayyah's life. He says she married a Byzantine slave named Azraq after Yasir's death. They had a son named Salamah and their bloodline eventually married into the Banu Umayya. Tabari also notes some stories as a case of possible confusion between two Meccan women named Sumayyah.

## Historical references

The earliest reference to the murder of Sumayya is found in Ibn Ishaq's (died 761) biography of Muhammad, Sirat Rasul Allah ("Biography of the Messenger of God").$^{:143}$ Her name Sumayyah is not explicitly mentioned in Ibn Ishaq; it is a deduction from the reference to her son as Ammar "son of" Sumayya.$^{:229}$ However, she is named as Sumayyah in the accounts of Ibn Saad$^{:178,188}$ and Tabari.