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Umar looks for a husband for his daughter
Madinah, in the early years after the Hijrah, after Hafsah was widowed by Khunays's death.
Madinah2–3 AH approximate1 min read
Hafsah's first husband, Khunays ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi, died of a wound, leaving her a widow in Madinah. Umar, her father, went looking for someone to marry her.
He went first to Uthman ibn Affan, whose own wife Ruqayyah — the Prophet's ﷺ daughter — had recently died, and offered him Hafsah. Uthman said he did not wish to marry at present.
Umar then went to Abu Bakr and offered her to him. Abu Bakr said nothing at all. Umar found the silence harder to take than a plain refusal would have been, and stayed upset with him for some time afterwards.
Then the Prophet ﷺ told Umar that Hafsah would marry someone better than Uthman, and that Uthman would in turn marry someone better than Hafsah — meaning that he himself would marry her, and that Uthman would in time marry his daughter Umm Kulthum.
The marriage went ahead. Abu Bakr later explained his silence to Umar: he had known the Prophet ﷺ meant to propose, and had not wanted to say so before it was his to tell.
The account is carried in Sahih al-Bukhari.
In this moment: Umar ibn al-Khattab, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Uthman ibn Affan, The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Quick recall
According to the report in Sahih al-Bukhari, what did the Prophet ﷺ tell Umar about Hafsah's marriage?
Sources & review
Draft content — undergoing reviewThis content was written for SahabaMate and has not yet been checked by a reviewer against the works below. Treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
Sahih al-Bukhariصحيح البخاري
Hadith collection · Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari
As-Sirah an-Nabawiyyahالسيرة النبوية
Classical biography · Ibn Hisham, from the recension of Ibn Ishaq
Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabirالطبقات الكبرى
Classical biography · Ibn Sa'd
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