Najma Khatun

Priority: b, Quality: b
From wikishia
Najma Khatun
Wife of Imam al-Kazim (a)
Mashraba Umm Ibrahim, Medina
Mashraba Umm Ibrahim, Medina
TeknonymUmm al-Banin
Well-known AsSamana, Tuktam and Khayzuran
Religious AffiliationShi'a
Well-known RelativesImam al-Rida (a) (son)
Place of ResidenceMedina
Burial PlaceMashraba Umm Ibrahim, Medina
EraAbbasid
Known forMother of Imam al-Rida (a)


Najma Khātūn (Arabic:نَجمَة خاتون) was the wife of Imam al-Kazim (a) and the mother of Imam al-Rida (a) and Lady Fatima al-Ma'suma (a). She was a maidservant bought by Hamida, Imam al-Sadiq's (a) wife and was gifted to Imam al-Kazim (a).

Origin and Lineage

She was a maidservant of non-Arab nobility who was born among Arabs.[1] Some sources have mentioned that she was originally from Nubih in north Africa and some considered her from Marseille, south of France.[2] Therefore, she is also known as Marsiyyeh and Shaqra'.[3]

Names and Titles

Her most famous name is Najma Khatun, but other names of Sakan Nubiyya Arwa,[4] Samana, Tuktam and Khayzuran[5] have been mentioned for her.

Her title was Shaqra' and her teknonym was Umm al-Banin.[6] According to a report by al-Shaykh al-Saduq, when Najma was gifted to Imam Musa al-Kazim (a), he (a) named her Tuktam[7] and after she gave birth to Imam al-Rida (a), he (a) named her Tahira.[8]

Marriage

The date of marriage between Najma Khatun and Imam al-Kazim (a) is not known. It is narrated that Hamida, mother of Imam al-Kazim (a) saw, in a dream, the Holy Prophet (s) who ordered her to prepare the marriage of Najma with her son, Musa and gave her the good news that soon, she will deliver best of children. And thus, she did as she was ordered.[9]

Position

Hamida, wife of Imam al-Sadiq (a) told Imam al-Kazim (a), "I have seen no maidservant more meritorious than her and there is no doubt that soon, God Almighty will reveal her descendants."[10]

According to a report, the one from whom they bought Najma said that a woman of the Book foretold the news of the birth of a great child from this maidservant.[11]

Al-Shaykh al-Saduq also narrated a hadith from Ali b. Maytham, in which he mentioned a dream of Hamida Khatun, in which she saw the Prophet (s) told her, "O Hamida, gift Najma to your son, Musa, because she will give birth to the best of people on the earth." Following this dream, Hamidah gifted Najma to her son, and she was a virgin by then.[12] Imam al-Kazim (a) as well mentioned buying Najma as a follow-up of the order of the Prophet (s).[13]

Worshipping

In a hadith from Imam al-Rida (a), it has been said that during her pregnancy, Najma Khatun did not feel the weight of bearing, and when sleeping, she heard the sound of praising of her child.[14]

It is mentioned in another report that, Najma requested a babysitter for Imam al-Rida (a) and she mentioned her wish for spending time for prayer and worshiping as her reason for that request.[15]

Demise and Place of Burial

There is no report about the time of her demise. Still, the place of her burial, according to some reports, is beside the grave of Hamida, the wife of Imam al-Sadiq (in Mashraba Umm Ibrahim) located in al-'Awali area in the east of Baqi' cemetery.[16]

Notes

  1. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 24.
  2. Qāʾimī, Dār maktab-i ʿālim-i āl-i Muḥammad, p. 30.
  3. Irbilī, Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 259.
  4. Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 486; Mujmal al-tawārīkh wa al-qaṣaṣ, p. 457.
  5. Mujmal al-tawārīkh wa al-qaṣaṣ, p. 457.
  6. Qummī, Tārīkh-i Qom, p. 199.
  7. Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 14.
  8. Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 15.
  9. Muzaffarī, Mādarān-i chāhārdah maʿṣūm, p. 185.
  10. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 24.
  11. Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 18.
  12. Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 26; Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 2, p. 24.
  13. Masʿūdī, Ithbāt al-waṣīyya, p. 202.
  14. Qāʾimī, Dār maktab-i ʿālim-i āl-i Muḥammad, p. 34.
  15. Ṣadūq, ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 1, p. 15.
  16. Ḥusaynī Jalālī, Fadak wa al-ʿwālī, p. 55.

References

  • Ḥusaynī Jalālī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Fadak wa al-ʿwālī aw al-ḥawāyit al-sabʿa fī al-kitāb wa al-sunna wa al-tārīkh wa al-adab. Mashhad: Kungira-yi Mīrāth-i ʿIlmī wa Maʿnawī-yi Ḥaḍrat-i Fāṭima Zahrā, 1426 AH.
  • Irbilī, ʿAlī b. ʿĪsā al-. Kashf al-ghumma fī maʿrifat al-aʾimma. Edited by Sayyid Hāshim Rasūlī Maḥallātī. Tabriz: Intishārāt-i Banī Hāshimī, 1381 AH.
  • Masʿūdī, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Ithbāt al-waṣīyya. 3rd edition. Qom: Muʾassisat Anṣārīyān, 1426 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. 3rd edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1367 Sh.
  • Mujmal al-tawārīkh wa al-qaṣaṣ. Unknown Author. Edited by Malik al-Shuʿarā Bahār. Tehran: Kalāla Khāwar, [n.d].
  • Muzaffarī, Ḥaydar. Mādarān-i chāhārdah maʿṣūm. 1st Edition. Qom: Markaz-i Jahānī-yi ʿUlūm-i Islāmī, 1382 Sh.
  • Qāʾimī, ʿAlī. Dār maktab-i ʿālim-i āl-i Muḥammad. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Amīrī, 1378 Sh.
  • Qummī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Tārīkh-i Qom. Translated to Farsi by Ḥasan b. Alī b. Ḥasan Abd al-Malik Qummī. Edited by Sayyid Jalāl al-Dīn Tehrānī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Ṭūs, 1361 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Translated to Farsi by Kūh Kamaraʾī. Tehran: Kitābkhāna-yi Islāmīya, 1362 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1404 AH.