Umm Salama bint Ya'qub al-Makhzumi explained

Umm Salama bint Ya'qub
أم سلمة بنت يعقوب المخزومي
Succession:Consort of the Abbasid caliph
Reign:750 – 754
Reign-Type:Tenure
Spouse:
Issue:
Issue-Type:Children
Full Name:Umm Salama bint Ya'qub ibn Salama ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Walid al-Makhzumi
Birth Date:c. 718/720
Birth Place:Medina, Umayyad Caliphate
Death Place:Kufa, Anbar or Damascus, Abbasid Caliphate
House:Banu Makhzum (by birth)
Umayyad and Abbasid (by marriage)
Father:Ya'qub ibn Salama
Religion:Islam

Umm Salama bint Yaʿqūb al-Makhzūmī (Arabic: أم سلمة بنت يعقوب المخزومي) was the principal wife of first Abbasid caliph al-Saffah, the founder of Abbasid dynasty. Umm Salama was the only woman in the Caliphate's history who had relation through marriage with both Caliphal dynasties; Umayyads and Abbasids.

Ancestry

Umm Salama bint Ya'qub ibn Salama ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Walid, was a member of the aristocratic Banu Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe and a fourth-generation descendant of al-Walid ibn al-Walid (the brother of Khalid ibn al-Walid). Her father was Ya'qub ibn Salama, the brother of Ayyub ibn Salama. Her father and uncle were prominent members of the Makhzum.

Biography

Umm Salama spent her early life in Mecca and Medina. She married the Umayyad prince Abd al-Aziz, a son of Caliph al-Walid I, but he died in 728 or 729. She afterward married the Umayyad prince Maslama, a son of Caliph Hisham, and he died in the 740s. She had her son Sa'id from Maslama. Sa'id became an oral transmitter of historical tradition in the early Abbasid period.

After Maslama's death, Umm Salama married the first Abbasid caliph al-Saffah . Al-Saffah married her before becoming the caliph. He admired her considerably and did not have other wives as was the usual case among the caliphs. He consulted with her until he assumed the caliphate. With al-Saffah, she had a son, Muhammad, and a daughter, Rayta. In 761, Caliph al-Mahdi married Rayta as his first wife after his return from Khurasan. Thus, she was also the mother-in-law of al-Mahdi.

After al-Saffah's death in 754, she probably married another Abbasid member.

Family

Ya'qub ibn Salama's daughter Umm Salama, he had familial ties with Caliph Hisham's son Maslama and the first Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah, both of whom were married at one point to Umm Salama and had children from her. Their daughter Rayta married the third Abbasid caliph al-Mahdi and gave birth to his sons Ubaydallah and Ali.

No.Family memberRelation
1Ya'qub ibn SalamaFather
2Ayyub ibn SalamaUncle
3Sa'id ibn MaslamaSon from Maslama
4Muhammad ibn Abdallah al-SaffahSon
5Rayta bint Abdallah al-SaffahDaughter
6Al-MahdiSon-in-law
7Ubaydallah ibn al-MahdiGrandson
8Ali ibn al-MahdiGrandson
9Al-Abbas ibn Abdallah al-SaffahSon or Step-son

See also

Sources