𝗨𝗠𝗠 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗔, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗛'𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥

Hujayma bint Ḥuyayy – also known as Umm al-Dardā as-Sughra (the Younger Umm Darda), was an illustrious scholar and ascetic of the Tābiʿūn generation. According to some historians, she was the adopted daughter of the Companion Abū al-Dardā al Ansari al Khazraji.

.......................................................

𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘜𝘮𝘮 𝘢𝘭-𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘢, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘣𝘶 𝘢𝘭-𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘢, 𝘜𝘮𝘮 𝘢𝘭-𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘭 𝘒𝘶𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘢. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘜𝘮𝘮 𝘢𝘭-𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘢 𝘢𝘭-𝘚𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘢. .......................................................

In any case, Umm al-Darda studied under the tutelage and guidance of the illustrious scholars of Al-Madinah such as Aisha Bint Abu-Bakr and Salmaan al-Farisi (who was paired with Salam al-Farisi as a brother in faith).

Eventually becoming one of the foremost authorities in Hadith and Fiqh. In fact, during her pre-pubescent years she used to read and study side by side with the male students and would pray shoulder to shoulder with them while inside the mosque itself, though when she became a woman, she discontinued this practice and began to pray with the women – however she continued to teach both men and women for the rest of her life. One of her most prominent students was to become one of the greatest Umayyad Caliphs, Abdul-Malik Ibn al-Marwan – whom she taught the sciences of Jurisprudence and Hadith all the while acting as his personal mentor and guide, long before he had been elected to the post of Caliph.

Abdul-Malik Ibn al-Marwan, during his early days and under the tutelage and guidance of Umm Darda - came to be renowned in Madinah for his tremendous knowledge and rigorous worship (both characteristics and attributes that had certainly been ascribed to Abu Darda, which he conferred onto Umm Darda).

Later on in life, Umm Darda relocated to the Umayyad headquarters of Damascus where she continued to teach and instruct several men and women at the famous Mosque. She had also reportedly spent some time in Jerusalem (at the time when the Umayyads had extended their projects there too), where she also taught the people. Umm Darda remains a very influential and authoritative reference in the fields of Hadith and Fiqh, with Imam Al-Bukhari referring to her as an “Expert Theologian”.

Towards the end of her life, Umm Darda would continue to teach at the Mosque in Damascus where the Caliph (Abdul-Malik Ibn al-Marwan) himself would attend her lessons in person, she would then lean on his shoulder for comfort and support (Reminder: she was a very old woman by this time, furthermore she had practically raised him -so he was more of a mother figure to him than anything else).

Caliph Abdul-Malik Ibn al-Marwan

He was a very knowledgeable and righteous young scholar in Madinah but later on became embroiled in politics to the point of non-recognition. It was said that a Jewish convert named Yusuf used to give Abdul-Malik omens about his eventual stance against Abdullah Ibn Zubair at a time when Abdul-Malik used to denounce Yazeed Ibn Mu'wawiyyah for persecuting Ibn Zubair in Makkah.

Yusuf said to him "Your army against Ibn Zubair will be much greater than Yazeed's"Thus is came to pass when Hajjaj was sent to crush Ibn Zubair under the command of Caliph Abdul-Malik.It has been reported by Ath-Tha'lab (and cited by Ibn Kathir) that upon becoming the Caliph, Abdul Malik Ibn al-Marwan closed a copy of the Qur'an which he had in his room, whereupon he addressed the book and said "Farewell between you and me"The veracity of this narration is subject to critique but the actions that followed his Caliphate were equally good as they were bad.

Allah knows best.