Maymuna bint al-Harith

Maymuna bint al-Harith ibn Hazn al-Hilaliyya, sister of Umm al-Fadl Lubaba. Her name was Barra; the Prophet renamed her Maymuna ¹.

Before the Prophet she was under Abu Ruhm ibn Abd al-Uzza al-Amiri — or it is said under Sukhabra ibn Abi Ruhm, or under Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza (may God be pleased with him), or under his brother Farwa ¹.

The Messenger of God married her in Dhu al-Qa'da of year 7 AH when he performed the umrah of the settlement ¹. It is said he sent Ja'far ibn Abi Talib to ask for her hand, and she authorised al-Abbas, who married her to him; and it is said al-Abbas described her to him, saying she had been widowed from Abu Ruhm, and he married her ¹. Ibn Sa'd relates with a chain containing al-Waqidi that the Messenger of God sent Aws ibn Khawli and Abu Rafi' to al-Abbas to marry Maymuna to him; the two lost their camels for days in the lowland of Rabigh until the Messenger of God arrived, then they came to Mecca — and the Prophet asked al-Abbas for her hand and he married her to him ². Ibn Sa'd says she was the last woman he married — meaning of those he consummated with ².

Al-Zuhri and Qatada mention she was the one who offered herself to the Prophet and in whom the verse descended; it is also said the offerer was another, and it is said they were several — the likelier view ¹.