Umm Khultum Binte Muhammad - Daughters of Muhammad and Khadijah

Daughters of Muhammad and Khadijah

The daughters attributed to Muhammad are;

1. Zainab bint Muhammad, married to her maternal cousin Abu al-Aas ibn al-Rabee before Hijra
2. Ruqayyah bint Muhammad, was first married to Utbah ibn Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan
3. Umm Kulthum bint Muhammad, was first married to Utaybah bin Abu Lahab and then to Uthman ibn Affan after the death of her sister Ruqayyah
4. Fatimah, was married to Ali (Ali ibn Abi Talib)

The famous Sunni scholar Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr says: "His children born of Khadīja are four daughters; there is no difference of opinion about that".

Sunnis do not contest the parentage of Khadijah's daughters and believe that all four were borne to Muhammad.]. from June 2010">citation needed]]] They affirm what the Qur'an states, "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers...".]. from April 2010">citation needed]]]

According to Shia sources, Muhammad and Khadijah only had one daughter, Fatimah. The others were said to have belonged to her sister Halah or were her daughters from a previous marriage. They use the Quran to back up their view, that only the first, second, and third Imams, namely: Ali, Hassan, and Husayn, along with Fatima were the only Ahlul Bayt (family/progeny of the Prophet) during his life. The Quran says:

"But whoever disputes with you in this matter after what has come to you of knowledge, then say: come let us call our sons and your sons and our women and your women and a man exactly like me and a man exactly like you, then let us be earnest in prayer, and pray for the curse of God on the liars." (Quran - 3:61)

The words used over here are all plural. For the "sons" of the Prophet, he brought Hassan and Husayn. For the plural "our women" he brought only one woman, his only daughter: Fatima. Note that this incident, known as Eid al-Mubahila happened in the 9th year of Hijrah, only two years before the demise of the Prophet. Therefore the Prophet had married all of his wives at this point, and had all of his other "daughters" at this point, but the only woman he brought was Fatima. And for the man exactly like the Prophet, he brought his brother Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Thus, the Shia scholar Abu'l-Qasim al-Kufi writes:

"When the Messenger of Allah married Khadijah, then some time thereafter Halah died leaving two daughters, one named Zaynab and the other named Ruqayyah and both of them were brought up by the Prophet and Khadijah and they maintained them, and it was the custom before Islam that a child was assigned to whoever brought him up." (al-lstighathah, p. 69)