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O Allah, Lord of the heavens and the earth, bless and guide the Zohny family, their parents, children, and descendants. Fill their home with love, mercy, steadfast faith, and righteousness, grant them beneficial knowledge, halal provision, and lives filled with barakah. Forgive their sins, accept their repentance, have mercy on those who have passed, grant healing and ease to those who remain, and gather them together among the righteous in the highest levels of Jannah. Ameen.

She buried her first husband before Islam even arrived.

Then her son Ayman (RA), martyred at Hunayn.

Then Zayd ibn Harithah (RA), martyred at Mu'tah.

Then the Prophet (ﷺ).

Then her second son, Usama (RA).

She lived to be a hundred years old. Through the entire khilafah of Abu Bakr (RA). Through the entire khilafah of Umar (RA). She outlived Abu Bakr. And twenty days after Umar (RA) was assassinated, she died.

They buried her in Al-Baqi', the graveyard beside the Prophet's masjid. Ibn Asakir narrates something beautiful: they made sure to bury her directly in line with the grave of the Prophet (ﷺ). Adjacent to him. Facing the qiblah, just as he was.

In life, she never left his side. In death, they kept her close.

There are so many lessons in her story.

The character of the Prophet (ﷺ), for one. He said there's no superiority of Arab over non-Arab, or white over black. Then he lived it. He elevated this woman with no tribe, no wealth, no lineage, an Abyssinian slave into the highest ranks. He called her his mother. He promised her Jannah. Twice. He forced society to see her the way he saw her.

But it's also her commitment. Her sacrifice.

She never complained. Not once. Not about the hardship, not about the service, not about the hijrah in her seventies or the battlefields or burying everyone she loved.

When someone asks how we are, what do we say?

"Muslims are driving me crazy. The masjid is exhausting. Sometimes I want to give it all up."

What did she say?

"I'm good as long as Islam is good."

For the cause I'm dedicated to, I'm okay.

That's the kind of commitment you find in Khadija (RA). That's the kind of commitment you find in Baraka, Umm Ayman (RA).

The woman who held the Prophet (ﷺ) first. The woman who held him until the end.

May Allah be pleased with her and grant us a fraction of her devotion.

On this final Friday of Ramadan, we have a small window to live that same devotion.

Your generosity has already brought our masjid to 95% of its goal. Let’s finish it together today and ensure Islam is "good" for this community for generations to come

Help Finish It

Reflect on this:

The Prophet (ﷺ) elevated a woman society would have ignored. Who around you deserves that kind of honoring?

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