At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Arabia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
Summary
Amina bint Wahb set out from Mecca for Yathrib to visit her husband's grave. With her were her son Muhammad, then six years old, her servant Umm Ayman, and her guardian Abd al-Muttalib. She stayed a month and then turned back. Sickness struck her early on the way, and she died at al-Abwa between Mecca and Medina 1 2 3.
The journey
Out of loyalty to the memory of her late husband, Amina decided to visit his grave in Yathrib, and she left Mecca on a journey that the author estimates at five hundred kilometres 1 4. With her were her orphaned son Muhammad, her servant Umm Ayman, and her guardian Abd al-Muttalib. She stayed in Yathrib a month 1 2 5.
Death
On her return journey, the illness pursued her and grew severe early on the way, and she died at al-Abwa between Mecca and Medina 1 2 3. Abd al-Muttalib took the boy back to Mecca. The boy had suffered a fresh loss that reopened old wounds, and his grandfather showed him a tenderness he had shown to none of his other children (death of Abd al-Muttalib) 1.
Notes for researchers
- The book does not give the year of her death. The event card derives it from the boy being six in the Year of the Elephant.
- The distance of five hundred kilometres is the author's own estimate.
For young visitors
When the Prophet ﷺ was six years old, his mother Amina took him to Yathrib to visit his father's grave. On the way back she fell ill and died in a place called al-Abwa. His grandfather Abd al-Muttalib then took him back to Mecca.
Connections
- Had participant
- Amina bint Wahb· Muhammad· Umm Ayman (Baraka bint Tha'laba)· Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim
- Occurred at
- al-Abwa
- Part of
- The Prophetic Era
People and things also explored
The Battle of Uhud· Expedition of al-Abwa (Waddan)· The Year of the Elephant and the Prophet's birth· Abdullah ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Mecca· Medina· Amina bint Wahb· Abu Jahl's plan to crush the Prophet's head with a stone
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.57
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham , 1/168
- Talqih Fuhum Ahl al-Athr — Ibn al-Jawzi , p.7
- Muhadarat Tarikh al-Umam al-Islamiyya — Muhammad al-Khudari , 1/63
- Fiqh al-Sira — al-Ghazali , p.50
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The death of Amina at al-Abwa”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/death-of-amina/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-21.