Heroines of Tawheed: 'Atikah the Wife of Martyrs

I’m sure the name ’Atikah bint Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail sounds familiar to you. Yes, she is the daughter of the great Zaid bin ’Amr bin Nufail, the man who followed the religion of Ibrahim (‘alayhi asalam) shortly before the revelation was brought down to our Prophet (salah allahu ‘alayhi wa salam) and he is to be resurrected ‘as a nation by himself’. Her brother is none other than Sa’eed bin Zaid, one of the ten ‘mubashireen bil Jannah’ or given the glad-tidings of Paradise. ‘Atikah herself is a great Sahabiya, better known as ‘the wife of martyrs’.

‘Atikah (radhiya Allah ‘anha) was known to have such beauty. She was remarkably beautiful, well-mannered, and very pious. She accepted Islam early on and made Hijrah to Madinah. She was first married to 'Abdullah bin Abi Bakr (radhiya Allahu ‘anhu). It is said that ‘Abdullah was so consumed with spending time with her that his father, Abu Bakr, ordered him to divorce her because he was becoming distracted from his worship. However, when he saw how much he loved her, he asked him to reconcile with her again. They loved each other so much to the extent that he gave her a share of his wealth (a garden) and made her vow that she would not marry anyone after him. Shortly after, he was martyred in the battle of Al-Ta’ef and she recited these famous lines in mourning of his death:

آليت لا تنفك نفسي حزينة عليك * ولا ينفك جلديأ غبرا

She vowed that her eye would not dry of his mourning and she would never beautify herself for another man again. However, soon enough, she overcame the incident by one great man’s offer for her hand so she was married to none other than her cousin, the Khalifah, ‘Umar bin Khattab (radhiya Allahu ‘anhu). ’Umar was also martyred soon after. Once she completed her ‘Iddah, the well-known Sahabi Al-Zubair bin Al-Awwam (radhiya Allahu ‘anhu) proposed to her, and they were soon wed. Like his predecessors, he was also granted martyrdom in Wadi Al-Siba‘. Finally, the Prophet’s blessed grandson, Al-Husain bin ‘Ali (radhiya Allahu ‘anhu), married her until he was given martyrdom in Karbala.

Not only were all of ‘Atikah’s husbands elite companions of the Prophet (salah allahu ‘alayih wa salam) but she was honored by Allah that they all died as martyrs during her marriage to them. She was an extremely devout wife and this caused many of the righteous men to seek her in marriage.

It is reported that ‘Abdullah bin ’Umar said, ‘Whoever wants to acquire martyrdom, let him marry ‘Atikah bint Zaid."