Juwayriyyah bint al-Harith: Wives of the Prophet ﷺ

Tribe: Banu al-Mustaliq (a clan of Khuza'ah)
Married: 5 or 6 AH (c. 627-628 CE), after the expedition against Banu al-Mustaliq
Before this marriage: Taken captive in the expedition; she had been married before
Children with the Prophet ﷺ: None
Died: About 50 AH (c. 670 CE); some say 56 AH
Buried: Al-Baqi', Madinah

Juwayriyyah bint al-Harith was the daughter of the chief of Banu al-Mustaliq, a clan of Khuza'ah. In the expedition against them the Prophet ﷺ attacked while they were unprepared, their cattle watering at the spring; their fighters were killed and their families were taken captive, and Juwayriyyah was among those taken (Sahih al-Bukhari 2541).

She fell to the share of Thabit ibn Qays and agreed a contract with him to buy her own freedom. Aisha reported that she was a very beautiful woman, and when Juwayriyyah came to the Prophet ﷺ to seek help with her contract, Aisha disliked seeing her at the door, knowing that he would see what she saw. The Prophet ﷺ asked, 'Would you like something better? I will pay your contract and marry you.' She agreed (Sunan Abi Dawud 3931).

When people heard that the Prophet ﷺ had married Juwayriyyah, they released the captives they held, saying, 'They are the in-laws of the Messenger of Allah.' Aisha said: 'I do not know of any woman who was a greater blessing to her people; a hundred households of Banu al-Mustaliq were freed because of her' (Sunan Abi Dawud 3931).

Juwayriyyah was devoted to remembrance. The Prophet ﷺ left her at dawn while she sat at her place of prayer, and when he returned after midmorning she was still there. He taught her words of remembrance which, he said, would outweigh all she had said that morning: 'Glory and praise be to Allah, as many as His creation, as much as pleases Him, as the weight of His Throne and as the ink of His words' (Sahih Muslim 2726a).