Umm Kulthum bint Ali

Umm Kulthum bint Ali "the Elder" (Arabic: أم كلثوم بنت علي) (630 - before 680) was the granddaughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the daughter of Imam Ali. She was also the wife of Caliph Umar, although many Shi'ite scholars claim it to not be true.

She was born in Medina on 8 July 630 (Gregorian) (Wednesday 18 Rabi'ul-Awwal 9 AH), the fourth child of Ali and of Muhammad’s daughter Fatimah. Her siblings were Hasan, Husayn and Zaynab.

Ali wanted his daughters to marry his brother Ja'far's sons, but Umm Kulthum's hand in marriage was requested by the Caliph Umar, who promised, "No man on the face of the earth will treat her better than I will."

Ali protested that she had not yet reached puberty, but Umar commanded that she be presented to him. Ali gave his daughter a striped garment and instructed her: "Take this to the Commander of the Faithful and tell him: 'My father says, "If you like this garment, keep it; if you don't like it, return it."'" When Umm Kulthum brought this message to Umar, she reported, "He did not undo the garment nor look at anything except at me." He told her that he was pleased, and so Ali consented to the marriage. Umar gave his bride a dower of 40,000 dirhams, and the marriage was consummated in November or December 638 (Dhu'l-Qaada 17 AH).

They had two children, Zayd and Ruqayya.

One story from their married life tells how Umm Kulthum sent a gift of perfume to the Empress of Byzantium. The Empress sent back a "superb" necklace for Umm Kulthum. Umar believed that his wife should not have conducted a private correspondence at the expense of the state postal service, so he reimbursed her for the cost of the perfume and placed the Empress’s necklace in the state treasury. Nevertheless, it was said that Umar treated Umm Kulthum "with extreme honour and respect" because she was Muhammad's granddaughter.

However, some Shia are of the view this marriage with Umar did not happen at all and is a fabrication.

After Umar's death in 644, Umm Kulthum married her young cousin, Ja'far's son Awn for a dower of 4,000 dirhams. Her brother Hasan remarked that he had never seen such passionate love as Umm Kulthum's for Awn. However, Awn died after only a short time.

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Wikipedia