Maymunah bint al-Harith (rha)
The Prophet's ﷺ last wife, wed at Umrat al-Qada; last of the wives to die.
Hijri d. 51 AH CE c. 594 – 671 CE
A Mother of the Believers — the last woman the Prophet ﷺ married, wed during Umrat al-Qada (Dhu al-Qa’dah 7 AH), and the last of the wives to die.
Identity & lineage
Maymunah bint al-Harith al-Hilaliyya, sister of Umm al-Fadl (wife of al-Abbas) and half-sister of Asma & Salma bint Umays. A widow of Abu Rahm ibn Abd al-Uzza, she was already a Muslim and did not wish to remain among the pagans of Makkah.
Role in the Seerah
When the Prophet ﷺ came for Umrat al-Qada, al-Abbas (her walī) proposed the match and conducted the nikah. The marriage triggered a fiqh dispute: Ibn Abbas reports the contract was made in ihram, but the majority — on Maymunah’s own testimony — hold he ﷺ married her out of ihram, in the state of ḥil; consummation was at Sarif, outside Makkah, on the journey home. The Prophet ﷺ used the wedding as a pretext to ask the Quraysh to let him stay longer for a feast — they refused.
Character & lessons
Remembered for her piety and her ties of kinship. Aisha (rha) said of her that she was “among the most God-fearing of us and the most careful of kinship.”
Death
She died in 51 AH at Sarif — the very place her marriage was consummated — the final wife of the Prophet ﷺ to pass away, and is buried there.
Cross-references
Umrat al-Qada · al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (ra) · Muhammad ﷺ · Mecca · Seerah Timeline
Sources
- S010 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 072. The ihram-marriage dispute is in the hadith collections (Bukhari & Muslim), reconciled on Maymunah’s own report; lineage via Ibn Sa’d (Tabaqat).