{Taken from the work of brother Al MuHammadee; May Allah grant him the happiness of both worlds and give him the strenght to serve Masoomen. Amin}

I want to briefly examine here a drop among the merits of one of the righeous mothers of the believers, Umm Salamah. I will be examining a single saheeh hadeeth. However, I will be taking its text slowly, in order to be able to do proper analyses. May Allaah send His eternal blessings upon our pious mother, Umm Salamah (ra).

Imaam al-Haakim records this hadeeth in his al-Mustadrak, vol. 3, p. 129, # 4611:

عمرة بنت عبد الرحمن قالت : لما سار علي إلى البصرة دخل على أم سلمة زوج النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم

Narrated ‘Umrah bint ‘Abd al-Rahmaan:

When ‘Alee was going to al-Basra, he went to Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

This shows the high regard Imaam ‘Alee (as) had for our mother, Umm Salamah . He was going for battle against the rebel army led by ‘Aaishah that had invaded al-Basra. This nullifies the false claims of some Nawaasib who say that Ameer al-Mumineen attacked ‘Aaishah first! As a great show of respect, Ameer al-Mumineen (as) went to Umm Salamah to bid her farewell.

فقالت : سر في حفظ الله و في كنفه
And she (Umm Salamah) said: “Journey under the protection of Allaah.

She wished him well. This confirms absolutely that she was a true believer, in line with the mutawaatir hadeeth: “O ‘Alee, NONE loves you except a believer”. Then, she said:

فو الله إنك لعلى الحق و الحق معك
I swear by Allaah, verily you are upon the Truth, and the Truth is with you.

May Allaah bless our mother, Umm Salamah (ra). She added:

و لولا أني أكره أن أعصى الله و رسوله فإنه أمرنا صلى الله عليه و سلم أن نقر في بيوتنا
If not that I HATED TO DISOBEY ALLAAH AND HIS MESSENGER, because he (the Prophet) ORDERED us to sit in our houses.

Yes, the Messenger of Allaah (pbuh) ordered all his wives to sit in their houses. While ‘Aaishah did not care, Umm Salamah did care. She literally HATED to disobey Allaah and His Messenger . It is as though this verse was revealed about her:

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ۚ لَوْ يُطِيعُكُمْ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ لَعَنِتُّمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الرَّاشِدُونَ
[Shakir 49:7] And know that among you is Allah’s Messenger; should he obey you in many a matter, you would surely fall into distress, but Allah has endeared the faith to you and has made it seemly in your hearts, and He has made hateful to you unbelief and transgression and disobedience; these it is that are the followers of a right way.

Our mother, Umm Salamah (ra) was, with Allaah’s testimony, one of the followers of the right path.

Now, look what she said next:
لسرت معك
I would have journeyed (to war) with you!

She wish to do jihaad, and die as a martyr behind Imaam ‘Alee . Despite being a woman, she felt the pain Ameer al-Mumineen and his Shee’ah were going through because of the treason of the hypocrites. She wanted to help. But, she must obey Allaah and His Messenger . Look what she said next:

و لكن و الله لأرسلن معك من هو أفضل عندي و أعز علي من نفسي ابني عمر
But, by Allaah, I will send with you someone who is better and more honourable in my sight than myself – my son, ‘Umar.

Her son, ‘Umar, would go to battle on the side of Ameer al-Mumineen (as), for her and for himself.

She was prepared to lose her most precious treasure in order to keep Imaam ‘Alee (as) victorious and successful.

Please join me in sending Allaah’s eternal mercies and blessings upon her and son.

Al-Haakim says:
هذه الأحاديث الثلاثة كلها صحيحة على شرط الشيخين و لم يخرجاه
These three ahadeeth are saheeh on the conditions of the two Shaykhs although they did not record it.

Al-Dhahabee says:
على شرط البخاري ومسلم
Saheeh on the conditions of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim.

In other words, this hadeeth is even more authentic than many ahaadeeth in the two Saheehs.

One wonders: why do the Ahl al-Sunnah prefer ‘Aaishah, the Naasibi war criminal, to this pious, rightly guided believer in Allaah and His Messenger (pbuh)?