روي أنه قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: خير نساء ركبن الإبل صالح نساء قريش أحناه على ولد في صغره وأرعاه على زوج في ذات يده.
It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) said: The best among women to have ridden a camel1 are the pious women of Quraysh.2 They are the most caring for a child in his early years and they are the most guarding of a spouse, with regard to his wealth.3
Notes on the Text of the Narrative
This narrative, with some variations, has been reported in Bukhārī Nos. 3251, 4794 and 5050, Muslim Nos. 2527a, b, c, d, e and f, Ahmad ibn Hanbal Nos. 2926, 7637, 7695, 8227, 9102, 9796, 10061, 10532 and 16971, Ibn Hibbān Nos. 6267 and 6268, Nasāi’s Sunan al-Kubrā No. 9134, Bayhaqī No. 14493, Abū Ya‘lā Nos. 2686 and 6673, Humaydi’s No. 1047, ‘Abd al-Razzāq’s Nos. 20603 and 20604 and Ibn Abī Shaybah’s Nos. 32401, 32402 and 32403.
In some narratives, as for instance in Muslim’s No. 2527d, it is reported that the Prophet said these words when he proposed to Umm Hānī and she excused herself on the grounds that she had to look after the infants from her previous husband.
In some narratives, as for instance in Bukhārī No. 3251, the sentence خير نساء ركبن الإبل صالح نساء قريش (the best among women to have ridden a camel are the pious women of Quraysh) has been reported as نساء قريش خير نساء ركبن الإبل (the women of Quraysh are the best of all women to have ridden a camel); in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 2926 this sentence has been reported as خير نساء ركبن أعجاز الإبل صالح نساء قريش (the best among women to have ridden the back of a camel are the pious women of Quraysh); in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 7637 this sentence has been reported as خير نساء ركبن نساء قريش (the best among women to have ridden [a camel] are the women of Quraysh); in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 16971, this sentence has been reported as خير نسوة ركبن الإبل صالح نساء قريش (the best of the womankind to have ridden a camel are the pious women of Quraysh); while in Ibn Abī Shaybah’s No. 32403, this sentence has been reported as خير نساء ركبن الإبل صالحة نساء قريش (the best among women to have ridden a camel are the pious women of Quraysh).
In some narratives, as for instance in Bukhārī No. 3251, the phrase أحناه على ولد في صغره (they are the most caring for a child in his early years) have been reported as أحناه على طفل (they are the most caring for an infant); in Muslim’s No. 2527a, this phrase has been reported as أحناه على يتيم في صغره (they are the most caring for an orphan in his early years’); while in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 9102, the phrase has been reported as أحناه على ولد (they are the most caring for a child).
In some narratives, as for instance in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 8695, the phrase أرعاه على زوج (they are the most guarding of a spouse) has been reported as أرعاه لزوج (they are the most guarding towards a spouse) and in Abu Ya‘lā’s No. 2686, this phrase has been reported as أرعاه على بعل (they are most guarding for a husband).
In Ibn Hibbān’s No. 6268, there is an addition of the words ولم تركب مريم بنت عمران بعيرا قط (and Maryam bint ‘Imrān never rode a camel). However, it is clear from many other narratives, including Bukhārī No. 3251, that this sentence is not a part of the saying of the Prophet (sws), but was actually a clarification given by Abū Hurayrah (rta).
In Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 10061, this narrative has been reported as:
روي أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: خير نساء ركين الإبل أحناه على ولده وأرعاه على زوج في ذات يده يعني نساء قريش.
It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) said: The best among women to have ridden a camel are those who are the most caring for their child and the most guarding of a spouse, with regard to his wealth, he meant the women of Quraysh.
In some narratives, as for instance in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 2926, the background of the saying of the Prophet is given in some detail. The complete report is reproduced below:
روي أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم خطب امرأة من قومه يقال لها سودة وكانت مصبية كان لها خمسة صبية أو ستة من بعل لها مات. فقال لها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ما يمنعك مني؟ قالت والله، يا نبي الله، ما يمنعني منك أن لا تكون أحب البرية الي، ولكني أكرمك أن يضغوا هؤلاء الصبية عند رأسك بكرة وعشية. قال: فهل منعك مني شيء غير ذلك؟ قالت لا، والله. قال لها رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: يرحمك الله ان خير نساء ركبن أعجاز الإبل صالح نساء قريش، أحناه علي ولد في صغر وأرعاه على بعل بذات يد.
It is narrated that the Prophet (sws) proposed to a woman of his tribe, whose name was Sawdah and who had five or six young children from a husband, who had died. So the Prophet (sws) asked her: ‘What stops you from marrying me?” She replied: “By God, Prophet of God, what stops me from marrying you that you may want to do good to me, but I respect you to allow these children to scream around you night and day.” The Prophet (sws) asked her: “Is there anything else that stops you from marrying me?” She replied: “No, by God.” The Prophet (sws) said to her: “God have mercy on you. Indeed the best among women to have ridden the back of a camel are the pious women of Quraysh. They are the most caring for a child in his early years and they are the most guarding of a spouse, with regard to his wealth.”
In Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 7637, the name of the woman to whom the Prophet (sws) proposed was not Sawdah, as has been reported in Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s No. 2926, but was actually Umm Hānī. Al-Albanī has commented that this woman was actually Umm Hānī and not Sawdah (Silsilah al-ahādīth al-sahīhah, vol. 6, 63).
(This write-up is prepared by the Hadith Cell of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi)
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1. Implying the Arab women.
2. According to some of the narratives the Prophet (sws) made this remark when Umm Hānī told him that she could not marry him because she wanted to attend to her young children who required her full attention because of their raw age and because she did not want her children to disturb the Prophet (sws) all through the day.
3. The Prophet has explained why he considers the women of Quraysh to be the best among all women of Arabia. These qualities include being their being the best mothers for their children and the best wives for their husbands. It is clear that from the point of view of a healthy household, the two most important features are a pious and caring mother, who provides the foundation of a pious and a united family unit and a wife that guards against wastage and squandering of the husband’s wealth.