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Fakhita bint Qaraza

فاختة بنت قرظة

Fakhita bint Qaraza ibn Abd Amr ibn Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy the Qurashite, wife of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan; he carried her with him on the first Cyprus raid of year 28 in fulfilment of Uthman's condition — 'if you sail the sea with your wife aboard, you sail with my leave; else, no'.

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Era
The Rashidun Caliphate
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Overview

Fakhita bint Qaraza al-Qurashiyya, a wife of Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan. 1

The raid on Cyprus

He took her with him on the first raid on Cyprus in the year 28 AH, in keeping with the condition of Uthman that he must sail the sea with his wife, or not at all. 1

The account of al-Mas'udi

Al-Mada'ini reports, in al-Mas'udi, that Muawiya went in to her with a eunuch while she was uncovered, and she covered her head. He asked her about this, and she answered that mutilating a man does not make lawful to him what God has forbidden. After that he did not allow a servant to enter upon his womenfolk. 2

Connections

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Participated in
The First Raid on Cyprus

People and things also explored

The Second Raid on Cyprus· Abu Ayyub al-Ansari· Abu Dharr al-Ghifari· Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan· Ubada ibn al-Samit· Umm Haram bint Milhan· Uthman ibn Affan· Cyprus

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.208
  2. Muruj al-Dhahab — al-Masʼudi , p.610
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Fakhita bint Qaraza”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/fakhita-bint-qaraza/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-17.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

The Second Raid on Cyprus

In al-Baladhuri: in year 32 the people of Cyprus aided the Byzantines against the sea-raiders, giving them vessels, so Mu'awiya raided them in year 33 with five hundred ships, taking Cyprus by force — killing and making captives — then restored them to their treaty, sending there twelve thousand men all of the diwan who built its mosques, and transferring companies from Ba'labakk; he built a city there and they dwelt drawing stipends until Mu'awiya died and his son Yazid succeeded, who disbanded that force and ordered the city demolished — some transmitters place the second raid in year 35, and Muhammad ibn Musaffa was told Yazid was bribed with great wealth to withdraw the Cyprus garrison, whose people then demolished their city and mosques once they had gone; al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik exiled a body of them to Syria on a charge which the people disapproved, and Yazid ibn al-Walid returned them to their land; Hayy ibn Ma'yuf al-Hamdani raided them in al-Rashid's caliphate for an offence and took captives, and when they straightened to the Muslims al-Rashid ordered the captives returned; the people of Cyprus remained on Mu'awiya's treaty until Abd al-Malik added a thousand dinars, which ran until Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz remitted it, Hisham restored it, and Abu Ja'far al-Mansur declared 'we are worthier of being just to them and did not profit by wronging them', returning them to Mu'awiya's treaty.