Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Umm Sunbula al-Aslamiyya

أم سنبلة الأسلمية

A Companion of Aslam about whom Aisha related that she brought the Prophet ﷺ milk as a gift; Aisha remarked he had forbidden eating from bedouin, and he said 'They are not bedouin; they are the people of our desert and we are the people of their town, and when we call them they answer.'

Depth

At a glance

Roles
Companion
Counted among
Sunni
Era
The Prophetic Era · The Rashidun Caliphate
Region
Arabia
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Women

Place in the story

  • CompanionTradition

Sunni (transmitted)

Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.

Summary

Umm Sunbula al-Aslamiyya. Ibn Manda said A'isha related from her; Ibn al-Sakan said her hadith is with the people of Medina 1.

The gift hadith

Ibn Manda narrates from Abu Awana's account from A'isha, who said: "Umm Sunbula al-Aslamiyya (may God be pleased with her) gifted milk to the Messenger of God; she entered and did not find him, so I said to her: the Messenger of God has forbidden us to eat what the Bedouin gift. The Messenger of God entered, and Abu Bakr, and he said: Umm Sunbula, what is this with you? She said: milk I gifted to you. He said: pour" — she handed it to him and he drank. A'isha said: "Messenger of God, you had told us you forbade Bedouins' food" — he said: "A'isha, they are not Bedouin — they are the people of our desert and we are the people of their town; when we call them they answer — they are not Bedouin" 1.

Other accounts

Ibn Manda also narrates it from Sulayman ibn Bilal's account, in which he said: "pour and give Abu Bakr — then he said: pour and give A'isha — then he said: pour and give it to me", and he drank; Muhammad ibn Ishaq related it from Salih ibn Kaysan from Urwa from A'isha with its meaning 2. In al-Nasa'i and al-Tabarani's account she brought the Messenger of God a gift and his wives refused to take it; the Messenger of God came and said: "take it, for Umm Sunbula is of our desert's people and we are of her town's people" — al-Tabarani adds that he gave her such-and-such valley 2.

People and things also explored

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· The Arab woman and the international conventions· Family businesses· The woman left unmarried (anus) and the rules on her consent and maintenance· Maleness (dhukura) as a condition in the rulings· The scarcity of female symbols across history· Dyeing the hair (ikhtidab)

Sources

  1. al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba — Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani , p. 2008
  2. al-Isaba fi tamyiz al-sahaba — Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani , p. 2009
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Umm Sunbula al-Aslamiyya”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/umm-sunbula/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

People

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

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband

In the lexicon, adl means to prevent, and the jurists use it of a guardian who prevents his ward's marriage, and in the case of divorce for ransom of a husband who harms his wife so that she will pay him back. In principle it is forbidden for a guardian to prevent a ward's marriage to a suitable husband, and for a husband to harm his wife to force her to ransom herself; a guardian may be permitted to refuse for the woman's own benefit. A guardian is an obstructer when a woman asks for a suitable husband, or a suitable man proposes, and he refuses without a valid reason, whether or not she asks for her proper dower; the Hanafis do not count refusing a dower below the usual amount as obstruction, and the Malikis do not count a compelling father's rejection of suitors as obstruction unless harm is intended. Once obstruction is proven before the judge, he orders the marriage; if the guardian still refuses, guardianship passes to the ruler according to the Hanafis, Shafi'is, most Malikis and one Hanbali narration, or to the next guardian according to the main Hanbali view; if all guardians obstruct, the judge contracts the marriage.