Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqbah: The Quraysh Convert Whose Migration Stopped a Treaty Clause (UK British Muslim Guide)

Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ (RA) is one of the early Muslim women whose individual act of migration was so consequential that the Qur'an itself addressed her case. Her arrival from Makkah at Madinah, her family's demand for her return under the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah, and the divine ruling that exempted Muslim women from the return clause — all turn on her name. This piece tells her story.

Family lineage

Her father was ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ — one of the most hostile Quraysh leaders against the Prophet ﷺ in Makkah. He was personally responsible for some of the worst acts of cruelty against the Prophet ﷺ during the Makkan period, including throwing camel intestines on him while he was in sajdah at the Kaʿbah. ʿUqbah was killed at Badr.

Her brother was al-Walīd ibn ʿUqbah, who later accepted Islam.

Her mother was ʿArwah bint Kurayz — making Umm Kulthūm a maternal sister to ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (RA), the third caliph.

Despite her father's prominent opposition to Islam, Umm Kulthūm accepted Islam early — among the first generation of female converts in Makkah.

The migration

After the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah (6 AH) was signed between the Muslims and the Quraysh, one of its terms required: any Muslim arriving from Makkah to Madinah must be returned to the Quraysh; any Muslim defecting from Madinah to Makkah would not be returned by the Quraysh. The clause favoured the Quraysh and was a cause of considerable distress to Muslims who were still trapped in Makkah.

In the year following the treaty, Umm Kulthūm escaped Makkah alone — a young woman travelling the dangerous route to Madinah, knowing the treaty might require her return. She arrived in Madinah and presented herself to the Prophet ﷺ.

Her two brothers ʿAmmārah and al-Walīd arrived in pursuit, demanding her return under the treaty terms.

The Quranic ruling

Allah revealed Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah 60:10:

"O you who have believed, when the believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them. Allah is most knowing as to their faith. And if you ascertain them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers; they are not lawful [wives] for them, nor are they lawful [husbands] for them. But give them [the disbelievers] what they have spent. And there is no blame upon you if you marry them when you have given them their due compensation."

The ruling: the treaty clause was understood by the Prophet ﷺ to apply only to men. Women migrating to escape disbelief were not to be returned. The Qur'an explicitly distinguished the female migrant from the male.

The Prophet ﷺ examined her faith (the standard process for muhājirāt — female migrants), confirmed her Islam, and refused to return her. Her brothers returned to Makkah without her.

Why this mattered

Three reasons her case is preserved:

1. The first muhājirah after Ḥudaybiyyah — her case set the legal precedent for all subsequent Muslim women fleeing Makkah.
2. Direct Quranic intervention — Allah revealed a verse specifically addressing the question of Muslim women migrants. Few individuals in Islamic history have had a Quranic verse addressed to their case.
3. The dignity of female faith independent of family — Umm Kulthūm chose Islam against her father's leadership of the opposition, against the cultural authority of her brothers, against the diplomatic terms favouring her tribe. Her case affirms that female faith is sovereign.

Marriages in Madinah

Umm Kulthūm married four prominent Companions in succession (each marriage ended by death of the husband):

1. Zayd ibn Ḥārithah (RA) — the freed slave of the Prophet ﷺ; killed at Mu'tah
2. al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām (RA) — one of the ten promised Paradise; she divorced him
3. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (RA) — one of the wealthiest Companions, also of the ten promised Paradise; died during her marriage to him
4. ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (RA) — the famous Companion-general; she died during their marriage

The roster of her husbands — four giants of the early Muslim community — testifies to her standing among the Companions.

What the Qur'an emphasises about her case

1. Female faith is sovereign. A woman's Islam is not subordinate to family or marital status.
2. Migration for faith is recognised — even at significant personal cost.
3. Treaties between Muslims and non-Muslims have limits — they cannot require the return of believing women to disbelief.
4. The compensation principle — the verse instructs paying back the dowry to the disbelieving husbands, preserving fairness.

Lessons for British Muslim families

For converts

Umm Kulthūm's father was the worst of the early Muslim community's opponents. She converted anyway. British Muslim converts whose families have not accepted Islam — or who actively oppose their faith — should know that her example is preserved in the Qur'an. Family hostility does not invalidate or weaken the conversion.

For young Muslim women

She made the journey to Madinah alone. The Qur'an honours her independent action. Female agency in matters of faith is not a modern reform — it is foundational to the Islamic narrative.

For families with mixed religious commitment

The Qur'an explicitly addresses the case of a Muslim woman whose disbelieving husband seeks her return. Faith trumps marriage where the marriage is to disbelief. British Muslim women in mixed-faith situations should consult qualified scholars on the implications.

On the legal framing of treaties

Even in a treaty that benefited the Muslim community in significant ways, Allah revealed a clarification preserving the dignity of believing women. Treaty terms can be revisited when they conflict with foundational principles.

Where her story is in the Qur'an

• Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah 60:10 — the verse revealed about her case
• Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah 60:12 — the bay'ah (pledge) format from women migrants

Pair with related stories

• The Wives of the Prophet ﷺ
• Umm Ḥabība bint Abī Sufyān
• The Migration to Abyssinia

Closing

Umm Kulthūm bint ʿUqbah is the early Muslim woman whose individual act of faith generated a Quranic ruling that protected every female muhājirah after her. Her story is preserved in the Qur'an itself. Read Sūrat al-Mumtaḥanah 60:10. Book a free Eaalim Qur'ān class to study it with a teacher.