As a wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Ramlah acquired the status of mother of the believers. Yet her father continued to be at war with her husband and with the Muslim community. This perturbed her a great deal. She realized that she was not to blame for her father’s actions, but she looked around her and found that two of the Prophet’s wives, Ayesha and Hafsah, were daughters of his two closest companions. Although the Prophet married also daughters of two of his enemies, Juwayriyyah and Safiyyah, their enmity ended before their marriages. She alone was in the unenviable position of having a father who was actively hostile to her husband. Yet there was no doubt about her feelings in the matter. She was most committed to Islam and would not exchange her position as the Prophet’s wife for anything in the world. This is clearly evident from the following incident.
The people of Makkah signed a peace treaty with the Prophet which was to ensure that no war should take place between the two sides for 10 years. Yet two years had not passed when the Quraysh lent active support to an allied tribe in attacking the Khuzaah, a tribe allied to the Prophet and the Muslim community. Realizing the enormity of their action and expecting terrible consequences, the Quraysh sent Abu Sufyan to Madinah to try to sort out the problem and forestall any action the Prophet might be contemplating to take against them.
Like any guilty person who plans to hide his guilt by appearing to do something good, Abu Sufyan was worried lest his efforts should come to nothing. He, therefore, thought of enlisting the support of someone in the Prophet’s own household. That person was his own daughter, Umm Habeebah. Abu Sufyan entered her room and, behaving like any father in his daughter’s house, proceeded to sit down on the Prophet’s mattress. Umm Habeebah was faster than him — she folded the mattress and took it away. Surprised, Abu Sufyan asked: “I am not quite sure, child, whether you think that I am above sitting on your mattress or that it is too good for me.” She put it to him quite frankly: “It is the mattress of God’s Messenger and since you are an idolater you are impure. Hence, I do not like you to sit on the mattress of God’s Messenger.”
That was a totally unexpected blow for Abu Sufyan. He could not have imagined that his own daughter would humiliate him in this way. He said: “I am certain some harm has befallen you since you left me, daughter.”
This is an example of how dear the Prophet was to the Muslims: Dearer than their own parents and children. Such a relationship was totally incomprehensible to the unbelievers.
Yet Umm Habeebah did not stop thinking about her father and his attitude toward Islam. She prayed for him to be guided to the truth. Her prayers were soon to be answered. Before long, Abu Sufyan declared himself a believer. His subsequent actions confirmed that he utterly abandoned his old ways and committed himself to Islam.
