The Story of Summaya Bint Al-Khayat - Islam's First Female Martyr

Pre-Islamic Arabia was a hostile place. Tribes and clans fought for generations over petty issues. People worshipped stones, had harsh and unrelenting forms of social justice, and they abused and punished the weak without remorse. 

If you were of noble birth, you had it all: family, status, wealth, honor, and respect. If you were of inferior stock, you had no recourse to family or tribal protection and had to live life as a secondary citizen.

However, when it comes to women, even for women of noble birth, life could be brutal. Women, in general, were considered to be transferable property and a source of pleasure and service to men. They had little control over their marriages and they could not inherit. Female infanticide was common practice and slave women faced the worst forms of treatment imaginable.

Take a moment now to imagine how life would be for a slave in such conditions, having the lowest rank possible in society and no rights whatsoever. How could anyone in such a position dare to speak truth to power or to go against the status quo, especially against the beliefs, practices, and traditions of the tyrannical masters of Makkah?

Summaya Bint Al-Khayat, although she was not a noblewoman in Makkah, was neither weak nor a coward. And she did not just simply embrace Islam; she embraced it and openly announced her faith without being afraid of how the so-called 'noble' disbelievers of the Makkan elite would react to the announcement of her faith.

Here we will tell her story to try to learn a little more about who she was, what she achieved, and why her lesson is a shining example for both women as well as men to follow for all time.

Who was Summaya Bint Al Khayat?

Summaya Bint Al-Khayat was the slave of Abu Huthaifah. He was known to be a decent man and he granted her freedom from slavery and married her to Yasir bin Ammar, a Yemeni who had come to Makkah in search of his missing brother. Together they had a son who was named after Yasir’s father, Ammar.

When the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) first started preaching Islam publicly, there were seven people who accepted Islam. Summaya Bint Al-Khayat, Yasir bin Ammar, and their son were amongst those seven people. Summaya did not hide her faith; she boldly and confidently declared her belief in, and dedication to, Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him).

The treatment of the Quraish

Over time, as the number of converts to Islam increased, the local Makkans (who belonged to the tribe of Quraish), became angered. They considered Islam to be a threat to their own beliefs and way of life because they generated substantial income from pilgrims who would visit Makkah to perform rituals at the site of the Holy Kaabah. 

To deter people from accepting the true faith, the Quraish threatened and tortured the new Muslims so that they would turn their backs on the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and give up their faith. Some of the new converts were of high status and had strong families to protect themselves, while others were not as fortunate. 

Summaya was a former slave and Yasir was a foreigner in Makkah, and they were poor as well, so their family was beaten, tortured, and made to face extreme hardships simply for their beliefs.

Abu Jahal, the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him), was particularly violent and menacing in his treatment of Sumayya and her family. 

He beat and burned them, said terrible things to them, and incessantly threatened and terrorized them. He found the cruelest ways to torture them so that they would leave Islam and return to the worship of stones and idols. However, the more they tortured Summaya and Yasir, the more their faith became stronger. Summaya stood firm on her faith and endured all these hardships for the rewards promised by Allah in the Hereafter.

Enduring the hardship until death

The Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and his companions were not in a position to help them at that time, but whenever he would pass by the suffering family, he would tell them, “Patience, O family of Yasir, you have an appointment in Jannah (Paradise).” 

Abu Jahal continued torturing Summaya and Yasir. Yasir was eventually killed and became one of the first martyrs of Islam. Abu Jahl then proceeded to Summaya and asked her if she would give up Islam, which she adamantly refused to do. This angered Abu Jahl him and he stabbed her, making her the first woman martyr of Islam.

Lessons

Summaya Bint Al-Khayat is a symbol of bravery, strength, courage, and faith. She stood firm on her faith even though Islam permits one to feint apostasy if it would save one's life. 

Allah, may He be exalted, says in the Quran:

"Whoever disbelieved in Allah after his belief, except him who is forced thereto and whose heart is at rest with Faith, but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a great torment." [Quran, chapter 16, verse 106] [1]

Summaya Bint Al-Khayat chose to stay steadfast on her religion rather than to have a longer life. She set an example for Muslims to follow for all time. She stood firm in the face of danger and eventually gave her life for the religion and did not utter even a word of disbelief or say anything against the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him).

Aftermath

After Yasir bin Ammar and Summaya Bint Al-Khayat were martyred, the disbelievers seized their son Ammar and did not let him go until he spoke in favor of their idols and against the Prophet (peace be upon him). They then let him go, after which he went to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and informed him about what happened, so the Prophet asked him what condition he found his heart to be in. 

Ammar replied that it was at rest with faith, so the Prophet told him "If they do that again, do the same again (as you did)."

Abu Jahal was later killed in the Battle of Badr, at which time the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ammar that "Allah has killed your mother’s killer."

Summaya Bint Al-Khayat did not live long enough to see Islam grow and for Muslims to prosper, but she is remembered for her courage, strength, bravery, and her steadfastness on her faith. She set an example for Muslim women that they don’t have to belong to strong and wealthy families to fight for their religion. 

Her choice to stay firm even when she was permitted to utter words of disbelief is proof that Islam is not a religion spread by force and that women chose to follow it by choice even when they were being forced to leave it.

May Allah grant us the same strong faith and strength to stay firm on our beliefs, and may He increase the first woman martyr of Islam in her honor and rank both in this world and the next, and grant her the highest level of Paradise.

References:

[1] https://beta.islamqa.info/en/answers/150748/is-it-permissible-to-speak-words-of-disbelief-in-order-to-save-ones-life-which-is-preferable-to-be-patient-or-to-utter-such-words

[2] https://insideislam.wisc.edu/2012/01/important-figures-sumayyah-bint-khayyat/

[3] http://www.truth-seeker.info/jewels-of-islam/sumayyah-bint-khayyat/

How Does Belief and Religion Intertwine?

I am a Muslim and I have belief in the hereafter. I have faith that God will be merciful to me also. How does the word faith and belief come together in religion in the same line, in the same thought and in the same manner. Belief is faith in the unknown. You cannot see an atom but you know from textbooks they exist. You cannot see God but through faith, you belief that he is.

My sister wrote to me yesterday and we almost came to blows. She told me she could not be Muslims because she heard that Allah or God could not provide salvation as he was a different God than her Christian God. I paused before I answered and I told her, "The word Allah is merely an Arabic word for God." My belief in Islam is that he is the only God and the same God you worship also. So if your God offers you salvation, then so does mine.

It is funny how much people put into their faith in a preacher or a movie star, but not in the thing we cannot see. Sometimes we cannot see the wind, but it is there and it exist and sometimes it manifest itself to everyone and we are so frightened we cry. We beg with everything inside of us for God to free us and save us from the terrible storms approaching. As soon as the storm goes we forget about our promises to God and we go back to our normal ways.

In Islam we live for judgment day. We would always be careful to offend someones heart and we would never want to backbite anyone. Our belief in our Lord is so powerful that when we cry tears of fear of the hellfire, we wipe those tears all over our bodies. This is protection from the hellfire. Our belief in our lord's mercy will save us.

Now I believe in hell and I believe in heaven and I also believe in Angels. Angels are pure and they are everywhere. They roam the earth praying for those who have gone astray and they warn those who are doing bad. God sends angels to perform many things, such as bringing the dead home and to punish those who are bad. I have faith that if God or Allah is angry he would forgive.

Now for those of you who do not have faith or believe in God then I must wonder how you could do that. The blue moon the other day should make all atheist bow down and worship God and they should tremble when the ground shakes and the trees are uprooted and still I must say that everyone has a choice what they believe and where they go.

I am humbled by Allah's mercy and

the many times he saved me. I use to have MS and he cured me. Then the doctor diagnosed me with early onset dementia and again Allah saved me. I am a sinner like you and everyone and not sure why he saved me, but he did. I went to Medina to do worship in Mecca. When I walked in the doors of Medina mosque, I was horribly sick. As I drug myself to pray and to worship my lord, I was sad.

I began to look around the mosque and I saw this huge Angel on the ceiling and he was motioning for me to come. I followed him as I knew he was leading me to my death. He led me to the zam zam water and told me to drink. I drank two glasses of that very holy water and I rose to leave. I started to cry from being in the presence of this marvelous angel and he said to me, "We love you, because you love Allah." I looked shyly at them and said nothing. They told me "Go now Barbara and do not look back. Come back soon, we are waiting for you."

I guess skeptics would laugh at my story of seeing Angels and having them calling me to the sacred water of Mecca to drink. I guess some would laugh because I knew I was going to die, but then I have faith and they do not. The Angels love me, is that not enough reason to have faith in the one I cannot see. Amazing how Allah allowed me to see Angels to help and guide me. I can't see God but I can feel him in my heart, my soul and even next to my breath.

Belief, what is belief? Belief is what Allah has given me, it is the core of my existence and the ultimate glory of my life. I jump for joy at the mention of his name and I become like no one else in his presence. What is belief you say? It is different for each and every one of you, but for me belief is my faith in Allah and the miraculous way he comforts me on this night. For surely my words are from him and he comforts me when I am sad and he loves me when I am bad. Belief is faith and it is in correlation with my lord and my religion.

Defecting From Religion: A New Trend

Religion defection sounds so ominous when in fact it is simply someone who said "enough." Recently President Jimmy Carter said, "Enough" as he left his church of many, many years. I guess you can say a US President has officially defected. His reasons were very simple, the religion was not treating women equally. So him and Rosalind left the church.

According to Carter, "At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities."

Why Does One Defect:

There are many reasons why a person leaves their religion and most of them have little to do with God. Most people leave a religion due to not agreeing with the policy of the church or religion. Like President Carter, he did not agree with the belittling of women. He was a member of a Southern Baptist Church, the same as me when I was young.

I had the advantage of being involved in many religions so I grew up with a lot of knowledge. I was raised in the Southern Baptist Church, switched to being a 4 Square Church member before converting, not defecting to Islam. When I was a teenager I lived with 4 women in an apartment who were Mormons or Latter Day Saints. My mother is presently a 7th Day Adventist and before that she was involved in four or five different Christian Religions from "Holy Rollers" to Presbyterian. My sister was a Jew before, then Muslim and now she is in the 7th Day Adventist.

What I have found is that most people leave over hurt feelings or policy. My mother left many churches because they hurt her feelings and a few insisted she tithe her money, even though she is very poor and most of the time does not have food. I find this very disturbing to say the least.

I left a church once because the minister ridiculed me in church saying that I said I had been baptised, but he doubted that the membership card I produced was legitimate. Yes, this was a Southern Baptist Church. At the time I was hurt, but later joined a 4 Square church and was very happy.

I was happy indeed, but something was missing. There were over 10,000 members at this very beautiful church

and I felt I belonged and I could see myself walking down the aisle married there, but there was a problem. I did not feel God close enough to me. All the right things were there. World renown preacher, wonderful choir and tons of friends, but I was not happy. So I started searching for how to become closer to God.

I Defected Because of Allah:

I was not defecting because of policy, I was defecting because I wanted to know God more. In my desperation I decided to move closer to my church so I could go more often. I was going three times a week as it was, but I wanted to be closer to God. So I quit my job and gave notice at my apartment and went to Van Nuys to live. But funny story, no one would show me a home. Every apartment I went to was not available and even though I tried, the doors were shut.

So I went back to my preacher and said, "What am I doing wrong?" He very profoundly told me, "God doesn't want you to move to Van Nuys, he wants you to say yes." I looked at him and smiled and I said, "Okay, Yes." I went back to Downey and took my apartment back and found solace in God's decision. Not to long after that I found a partner to help me in my real estate business and she gave me a Quran.

Three days after the gift of a Quran, I was a Muslim and I had found Allah. Did I defect from my religion or did I simply find the one thing that would give me happiness? I find words are exactly how we feel and if I was to explain what happened to me, then I must simply say that I found the keys to heaven

Differences Between American Muslims and Middle Eastern Muslims

What is the difference between an American convert and a Muslim born to the religion? Tons and tons for sure. I was a Christian for 40 years and then I took my shahada on November 23, 1993. The best day of my life and the day I started studying the real Islam. In America, when you become Muslim, you immediately go to class. There you learn all the basics of Islam, the real Islam. Starting with how to handle yourself in public, as the whole world will see this Muslim and how she acts. So, if you go into a store and start screaming and the people see you wearing a hijab, they will think bad of Muslims. So, think before you act.

The second thing we learned are the basics of Islam, such as not painting your finger nails and removing all glued nails. When you do 'wudu' you must be clean. . We learned not to hang pictures in our homes or have statues. For an Angel will not enter a home, where these things are present. We learned how to dress and how to wear the hijab and how to treat our children. All the basics of Islam were taught to us.

We would gather each week and laugh and have a sweet and discuss how we could be better Muslims. They would take us to seminars on how to be perfect Muslims, not just good Muslims. We had very good examples, as our teachers were perfect in most ways of Islam. Islam is more than just praying and reading the Glorious Quran, it is much more. It is about charity, about going on the pilgrimage, about caring for the sick, about going to funeral prayers and it is so much about the extreme love of our Prophet, peace be upon him and our Lord, Allah.

We must love our Prophet more than our own lives and we must care for our brothers more than we care for ourselves. No one goes hungry in Islam. No one can be abused in Islam and no widow can ever be alone in Islam. Beat the drums and praise Allah, as we are a brotherhood of men and women and we are a brotherhood of love and caring.

I took my shahada in Buena Park, California and the Mosque was way back off the main street. It was hidden almost. On Fridays after the kutba (sermon), we all sat together and had our lunch. We were as one big family and one for all. It was beautiful and it was wonderful. On Sundays we met to study the Quran and on Tuesday we had our religious lesson. The whole community was about Islam. We learned the proper way in everything. From not looking at men, to lowering our gaze and to never honk our horns so as to bring attention to us.

Then when I came to Jordan,

I saw a different Islam. An Islam of culture and local traditions. What does that mean? The people have no entertainment so many, not all, gather to have coffee and the talk turns to haram. I see pictures, all over the place and I see many things that are forbidden. 90 percent of the men smoke here, all haram and forbidden. When I question the people on why they do these things. The same answer, always come, this is what I have been taught. Many are willing to change, when they realize the great harm they are doing. In Islam we must follow only the hadith and look for our proof there.

I also saw brotherhood here and I saw all the families together. A daughter of one of my friends insulted me hugely and yesterday the mother came here and brought me a large gift of money and a watermelon. I questioned her today about this gift and everyone from the family gave me some money. They were so afraid of Allah's anger. This you would never have seen in America. I see many families going without proper food and clothing to send their children to college and to help them get married. I see many homes without much so they can support the children in the best light. This is not normal in America as American love to compete with the Jones. So many differences but one thing in common. The love of Allah, is on both sides and the devotion to salat on both sides.

Too many people follow the culture thinking they will automatically go to heaven, if they are Muslims. No one is guaranteed heaven, just because they are Muslims. We must work for the pleasure of Allah and we must ask for his mercy. Every Muslim, every day sins. If we were perfect, we would be prophets, but we are not perfect. We must seek Allah's forgiveness and we must do more. What we are doing in this life is not enough, we must do more every day. It is not enough to do just zikr. It is not enough to just give zakat. It is not enough to read Quran and pray. My question to you on this day. What are you doing to make sure you have a place in Jannah today?

My Testimony: How I became Muslim

I must remember my own humble beginnings many years ago when I became a Muslim.  I wish I could say it was an extremely simple process, but it was not. If I look back and how Allah had planned my life out to a tee, it is nothing short of a miracle.

I am not sure if you will believe my story, but this is what happened to me. When I was 9 years old my mom sent me to bible school camp and there I met a woman named Janie Arrowood. My camp bed was next to hers and she taught me much. She would take me aside each night and talk about God. I confided in her that I was afraid to die and she gave me this tiny red Bible and told me I am reading to you out of this tiny bible now but when you die God reads to you from this bible. I was so calmed by her words and before the camp was over I was a born again Christian.

I went home and joined the church and even at the age of 9 started teaching Sunday School. I loved my class and the more I learned, the closer to God I became. I could feel him ever so close to me and almost like the power of God was within reaching distance. I became humbled and reverent and the more I read and studied, the more I felt I was being called to be a Missionary. So I prayed to God, if you are truly calling me to be a missionary give me a sign.

Well he gave me a huge sign and to this day I don't talk about what happened to me and I was so frightened by what happened to me that I ran away from God and the church. I was only 9 years old and I just could not handle what was happening to me. My mom had a fit and even the church elders tried to convince me to come back, but I would not.

Eventually after a few months, I did calm down enough and went back to church and teaching, but I was not close to God again like before. I prayed and prayed, but never had that feeling again.

So for years I was trying to get that closeness to God again and just could never get there. Funny when we are called it may not happen again or ever, so we must run like wolves to him when he calls.

So as I went from religion to religion searching, but I just could not find God again. I was an original Southern Baptist and went to a church of 10,000 people called 4 Square Church and we praised God all the time with song and raising our hands in the air. It was uplifting, but not close enough.

So I decided to move close to the church, so I could go more often than ever. I quit my job, gave notice on my apartment and went to seek a new apartment. Funny each and every apartment I went to refuse to even show me the apartment.

So I asked the pastor what was I doing wrong and he said, "God does not want you to move to Van Nuys, he wants you to say yes." So I went back to Downey, took back my job and my apartment and said "yes" to God.

Within 2 weeks I got fired from my job. Now I was stunned, how come I did everything I was told and now I lost my job. I had been working part time in another job and went to my other boss and said what am I going to do and she told me, to work very hard and be a success. So I did that and within 2 months I was the number one sales person and I bought a new white Mercedes. I said yes.

During this process I met a woman who recently came back from Egypt. She knew of my quest to be closer to God and told me that she wanted to give me a present. She handed me the Glorious Quran. I took the Quran to my home and for 3 days read. I read about how Allah, Subhaanahu Wa Ta'ala gave us direct orders on how to live our life and the punishment we would get if we did not lead that life. I read about praying and humbling ourself and when I prayed to Allah, I felt very close. I felt better than I had in those 30 years of searching.

So I told my friend, I want to be a Muslim. So we went and searched for a Mosque. We could not find one, but finally in Orange County we found a Mosque and I went in and talked to the sheik about being a Muslim. He first told my friend to leave the room as she was a Catholic and told me to sit down. He told me all you have to do is sign this "Shahadah" statement.

"ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH".

The English translation is:

"I bear witness that there is no deity worthy to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger."

Ok, I said and I signed. That date was November 23, 1993. I was so happy. I went outside and met a woman named Fatima from India and she took me under her wings. A man was so excited and told me, I want you to come to lunch at my house tomorrow. I was shocked at the tone of this man and frightened. Fatima told me this was a great honor for this was a very good sheik. He wanted to take care of a new Muslim. So she went with me and we had lunch with his family and children.

He gave me my first prayer rug. I was so excited I had a gift. I then went to class to learn how to be a Muslim. It was very much to learn and I found the more I studied the more I had thirst for knowledge. I was happy. I was making all the changes I was supposed to, such as not painting my fingernails anymore and removing all paintings and statues from my home.

They were shocked in how quickly I did everything I was supposed to do. After 3 months they told me that there was a man who wanted to marry me and I refused as I wanted to know more and told her the best Muslim gets the best husband. So again I read the whole Quran and after 6 months they came to me again and said there is another man who wants to marry you and I finally agreed to see the brother.

One week later we were married. We only had 7 years together before he died, but he taught me more in those 7 years than I had learn in 30 years of searching. It is not so much how much Quran we read, but it was about how much we loved Allah, and his most beloved messenger. So real faith comes from the heart. I would watch him daily pray and cry. I would watch him read the Quran over and over and I watched how his whole life was dedicated to his religion.

One day I was watching Amr Khalid on TV about doing Zikr and I told my husband. If I do this zikr and pray and read Quran I can go to heaven. He laughed, "He said not enough. You must do more."  I was shocked, but Amr Khalid said I could go to heaven if I did some simple zikr on my fingers after salat. So through watching him, I begin to realize that the true religion entails many things and much more than just praying.

My late husband died on January 24, 2002 and I never cried. I was sad at his passing, but I always remembered his words to me, "Whatever Allah is happy with I am happy with."

So being happy with our destiny is part of the religion and accepting your destiny is important. So imagine how Allah loved me so much that even at the age of 9 years old he was planning for the day I too would be Muslim. I am humbled and too much in shock to think that out of all the millions in the world Allah, Subhaanahu Wa Ta'ala chose me. None of my family is Muslim and I pray one day they will be.

We must know that life is very short and that maybe unexpectedly we will die. So if you choose life over death, choose to walk with me on this day and to say the Shahadah

"ASH-HADU ANLA ELAHA ILLA-ALLAH WA ASH-HADU ANNA MOHAMMADAN RASUL-ALLAH".

The English translation is:

"I bear witness that there is no deity worthy to be worshiped but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger."