The Story of Umm Ma’bad
The most famous miracle associated with the tent of Umm Ma’bad during the migration is the production of milk in the udders of a goat that had no milk. It is said that on the route between Mecca and Medina, there was a tent belonging to a family from the tribe of Khuzā’ah. Umm Ma’bad and Abu Ma’bad, husband and wife, lived in this tent and used to provide rest to travelers. They made their living by raising goats. In the morning, Umm Ma’bad took all the good, milk-producing goats to the pasture. Only the goats without milk remained in the tent. At that moment, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and Hazrat Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, passed by. They asked for some food and drink in exchange for payment, but nothing was available. In one corner of the tent, a goat was seen. The Prophet asked: Umm Ma’bad, what kind of goat is this? She said it could not go with the other goats due to its thinness. Then he asked if it had any milk. She replied that it was incapable of producing milk.
The narrator states that that year there was a drought and people were suffering from famine. The Prophet said that he had permission to milk it. She said, “May my parents be sacrificed for you, if it has milk, then please milk it.” He prayed and, saying Bismillah, touched the udder. Immediately, milk filled its udders. Everyone drank the milk, and some remained. The Prophet’s caravan then moved on. After a while, Abu Ma’bad came and saw milk stored in the house. He asked in surprise, “Where did this milk come from? All the goats were with me.” Umm Ma’bad narrated the entire incident. Abu Ma’bad said, “Describe the appearance of that person.” Umm Ma’bad described in great detail the beauty, features, and appearance of the Prophet. Upon hearing this, Abu Ma’bad said, “By Allah, he seems to be a man from Quraysh, about whom I have heard some news. I wish I could be in his company. And when, God willing, the opportunity arises, I will do so.”
At that time, some verses were heard in Mecca. These verses narrated the incident of Umm Ma’bad. When Hazrat Hassan, may Allah be pleased with him, heard the voice of the caller, he responded with these verses. These response verses are also mentioned in the narration.
Hadith Research:
Syed Suleiman Nadvi (may Allah have mercy on him), commenting on this narration, writes:
This narration is transmitted by Al-Baghawi, Ibn Shaheen, Ibn Sakan, Ibn Manda, Abu Nu’aim, Tabarani, Bayhaqi, and Hakim from the brother of Umm Ma’bad, Habish bin Khalid. Hakim not only declared it authentic but also tried to establish it through other chains. However, Hakim’s claim of authenticity holds no value in the eyes of scholars. Accordingly, Hafiz Dhahabi criticized this narration and clarified that none of these chains meet the conditions of an authentic chain of narration.
Hafiz Dhahabi wrote this briefly. The fact is that this narration is mentioned in other books besides Hakim with the same chain of transmission. The chain is that Hizam narrates from his father Hisham, and Hisham narrates from his father Habish bin Khalid Khuzai. Hizam is unknown. Only this one narration from Habish bin Khalid is mentioned in hadith books. Habish was not present at the time of the actual event. It is unknown from whom he heard it. Therefore, even if this narration is established, it is considered mursal (disconnected).
Hakim transmitted this event through two chains: one through Hizam and Hisham bin Habish, and the other through Har bin Subaah, who narrates from Umm Ma’bad’s husband Abu Ma’bad. In the first chain, Hakim made the mistake of considering Hisham bin Habish, the son of Habish, as the original narrator and companion. Clearly, this increased the discontinuity of the narration (meaning two narrators in the middle were omitted). Hisham’s status as a companion is not proven.
In the second chain, Har bin Subaah is trustworthy, but his hearing from Abu Ma’bad is not established. Ibn Hajar wrote in Tahdhib that Har narrates mursal narrations from Abu Ma’bad (meaning he omits the middle narrator).
This is the condition of the narrators at the top of all these chains. Among the narrators at the bottom, many are unknown. In the narration through Har bin Subaah, there is a person named Muhammad bin Bishr Sukari, whom Azdi called a denier of hadith and Ibn Adi called weak.
Abu Nu’aim narrated this from another companion, Sulayt Abu Suleiman Ansari Badri. Sulayt’s sons Suleiman and from him Muhammad bin Suleiman bin Sulayt Ansari narrate from him. However, Sulayt’s name is included among the companions by some authors of the biographies of the companions only because of this narration. Otherwise, nothing is known about him.
Sulayt Ansari, who is a Badri companion, is Sulayt bin Qais Ansari Khazraji. His son’s name was Abdullah, who left no progeny. His narration is present in Sunan an-Nasa’i. But no other narration exists from Abu Suleiman Sulayt Ansari Badri. Therefore, some authors of Asma al-Rijal and biographers of companions have considered him and Sulayt bin Qais Ansari as the same person. If so, then neither Suleiman was his son nor was Muhammad his grandson. If these are two different persons, then the names of the companions of Badr are all counted. Among them, there is no other Sulayt except Sulayt bin Qais (may Allah be pleased with him), who was Khazraji. They were residents of Medina, and Umm Ma’bad belonged to the tribe of Khuz’a, which lived between Mecca and Medina. It is unknown from whom Sulayt Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) heard. Also, nothing is known about his son Suleiman and grandson Muhammad.
Hafiz Ibn Hajar writes in Lisan al-Mizan about Muhammad bin Suleiman bin Sulayt Ansari:
قال العقيلي مجهول بالنقل روي عن أبيه عن جده فذكر قصة ام معبد وهو واه وقال ليس هذا الطريق محفوظا فى حديث ام معبد قال ابن مندة و هو مجهول .
“Aqili says he is unknown in the chain. He narrates from his father from his grandfather. He mentioned the story of Umm Ma’bad, which is weak. And the chain in the story of Umm Ma’bad is not preserved. Ibn Manda says he is unknown.”
Moreover, the wording of these narrations, the style of address between Umm Ma’bad and the Prophet (peace be upon him), the language of the poetry, and the peculiarities in Abu Ma’bad’s speech are well understood by critics.
It is also strange that the “Caller from the Unseen” composed poetry in Mecca, and Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him), who was not yet Muslim, responded to it while sitting in Medina. There is no evidence of famine or drought around Mecca in the year of Hijra.
I am also hesitant to accept these milk-related narrations at the time of Hijra because in the authentic narration of the events of Hijra from the companion and travel companion of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), mentioned in Sahih Bukhari, there is mention of asking a shepherd for milk and drinking it, but no mention of this miracle in general. In Sahih Bukhari, the story is narrated in these words from Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him):
Suddenly, I saw a shepherd who was driving his goats to pasture. I asked him, “Are you a servant of someone?” He named a man from Quraysh whom I knew. Then I asked, “Do you have milk from your goats?” He said yes. I said, “Milk the udder with your hand and the goat into a bowl.” He milked. Then I took it to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a container and added some water to cool it. He drank it.
