First Marriage

According to the custom prevalent in those days, Rasulullah ﷺ got two of his daughter’s Ruqayyah radiyallahu ‘anha and Umm Kulthum radiyallahu ‘anha married to the sons of his uncle, Abu Lahab, viz. ‘Utbah and ‘Utaybah. The marriages were only contracted and were not consummated.

The era of Islam began, and revelation came to Rasulullah ﷺ and the verses of Tawheed were revealed. The despicability of kufr and shirk was announced, right until Surah al Lahab was revealed. Due to this, the animosity of the kuffar towards the Muslims reached its peak and the anger and rage of Abu Lahab tore the borders of character.

فلما بعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم و انزل اللّٰه تَبَّتْ یَدَآ اَبِیْ لَهَبٍ وَّ تَبَّ قال له ابوه ابو لهب راسى من راسك حرام ان لم تطلق ابنته ففارقها و لم يكن دخل بها

When Allah sent Rasulullah ﷺ (with nubuwwah) and revealed, “May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined and ruined is he,” his father (Abu Lahab) warned his son: “If you do not divorce the daughter of Muhammad, I will not show you my face nor will I look at you.” He thus divorced her prior to consummation of the marriage.

The divorce was at that time an unseen honour for these daughters. It was the decree of the Almighty that these chaste girls should not go to ‘Utbah and ‘Utaybah. Because of the warning of their father, ‘Utbah and ‘Utaybah divorced the pure daughters of Rasulullah ﷺ. This relation was severed only due to animosity and hatred for Islam.

There was no error or mistake on the part of Ruqayyah radiya llahu ‘anha and Umm Kulthum radiyallahu ‘anha. Only due to them being the children of Rasulullah ﷺ were they treated in this harsh way. For a woman to be divorced without any valid reason is a source of great pain and they are usually emotionally scarred. However, these chaste pure women bore all of these for the sake of Allah and His Deen. Nonetheless, in this divorce was hidden their honour and physical protection from being handed over to the kuffar. May Allah Ta’ala be pleased with them.

It is further narrated in the books of Hadith that after the divorce, one of the sons of Abu Lahab fell upon a curse of Nabi ﷺ.

و اما رقية فتزوجها عتبة بن ابى لهب فطلقها قبل ان يدخل بها و لحقها منه اذى فقال النبى صلى الله عليه و سلم اللهم سلط على عتبة كلبا من كلابك فتناوله الاسد من بين اصحابه

‘Utbah ibn Abi Lahab married Ruqayyah but then divorced her prior to consummation of the   marriage. Due to this unbecoming behaviour of ‘Utbah, Ruqayyah was very hurt. Thus, Rasulullah ﷺ cursed ‘Utbah, “O Allah! Let one of Your beasts loose on ‘Utbah (who would tear him to pieces).” The curse of Rasulullah ﷺ was accepted. Once, ‘Utbah was with his comrades. A lion came and tore ‘Utbah ibn Abi Lahab to pieces.

In reality, these were the emotional scars of Ruqayyah radiyallahu ‘anha which were articulated in the form of a curse on the tongue of Rasulullah ﷺ which was accepted by the All-Powerful.

At this juncture, we find it necessary to clarify as to which son of Abu Lahab was killed by the beast. Our ‘ulama’ have mentioned the following which will clarify this matter. Hafiz Ibn Hajar al ‘Asqalani rahimahullah and other ‘ulama’ have written that on the day of the Conquest of Makkah, ‘Utbah ibn Abi Lahab and his brother Mu’attab ibn Abi Lahab ran away from Makkah due to fear and went somewhere else. Rasulullah ﷺ enquired from ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abdul Muttalib as to the whereabouts of his nephews who replied that out of fear, they absconded. Rasulullah ﷺ ordered that they be called. Thus, ‘Abbas went in search of them and brought both ‘Utbah and Mu’attab. Both of them came into the presence of Rasulullah ﷺ and accepted Islam. It is even recorded that after the Conquest of Makkah, these brothers participated in the Battle of Hunayn and were awarded with booty. ‘Ulama’ also write that these were among those who remained steadfast in the Battle of Hunayn. Thereafter, both of them lived in Makkah.

We learn from this that if the incident of the beast is true (as mentioned by some ‘ulama’) then it happened to ‘Utaybah who died prior to the Conquest of Makkah and did not embrace Islam. It is not regarding ‘Utbah. And Allah knows the truth.