Salma bint Amr

Salma bint ‘Amr (Arabic: سلمى بنت عمرو‎‎) was the wife of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, thus the great-grandmother of Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was one of the most influential women of the Banu Khazraj tribe and the daughter of ‘Amr of Banu Najjar clan. She traded and dealt with the caravans on her own behalf.

Hashim ibn ‘Abd Manaf used to pass through Yathrib (Medina) every year and hold a market at Suq al-Nabt; his was attention caught by Salma's jovial and authoritative manner of trading, and began to make tactful inquiries about her. He soon found out she was well-known and respected, and much sought-after – so much so that she had previously chosen husbands and divorced them as she pleased, and she chose only the best. She was a powerful woman who enjoyed her own position and tribal prestige, and had no intention of abandoning her home establishment and family group. She remained in her own household, and formed liaisons with those of the men who sought her out that she admired.

One of Salma's husbands was the warrior-chief Uhayhah ibn Julah of Banu Jahjaba, a leading celebrity in the tribal fighting of the pre-Islamic period, who possessed one of the largest fortresses in Quba on the outskirts of Yathrib, the Utum ad-Dihyan. Salma had two sons by him, Amr and Mabad. Another of her husbands was her relative Malik ibn Adiy of the Banu Najjar, by whom she had two daughters, Mulaykah and Nuwwar. Yet another was Awf ibn Abdu’l Awf ibn Abd ibn Harith ibn Zuhrah, by whom she had the daughter Shifa bint Awf.

Hashim’s own reputation was such that he did not expect Salma to be anything other than honoured and pleased by his proposal. However, he soon discovered to his chagrin that although she was certainly prepared to consider him, she would only marry him on her own terms, the chief being that he consented to let her remain in her own home in Yathrib, controlling her own affairs and business entirely on her own as she was used to, not going with him to Makkah to join his household, and when she bore him a son she kept the boy with her in Yathrib until he was 14 years old or more.

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