science

Salma bint Amr

Salma bint Amr is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Salma bint Amr rather than just read about it. In short: Salmā bint ʿAmr (Arabic: سلمى بنت عمرو) was the wife of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, thus the great-grandmother of Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was one of the most influential women of the Banu Khazraj tribe and the daughter of ‘Amr of Banu Najjar clan, one of the tribes in Medina.

Key takeaways

Salma bint Amr belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Salma bint Amr to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Salma bint Amr from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Salmā bint ʿAmr (Arabic: سلمى بنت عمرو) was the wife of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, thus the great-grandmother of Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was one of the most influential women of the Banu Khazraj tribe and the daughter of ‘Amr of Banu Najjar clan, one of the tribes in Medina. She traded and dealt with the caravans on her own behalf.

Lineage Her paternal lineage is: Salma bint Amr ibn Zayd ibn Labeed Khudash ibn Amr ibn Ghanam ibn Adi ibn Al-Mu'tazz (An-Najjar) ibn Tha'laba ibn Amr ibn Al-Khazraj ibn Haritha ibn Tha'laba ibn Amr ibn Amir ibn Haritha ibn Imru al-Qays ibn Tha'laba ibn Mazin ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Azd ibn Al-Ghawth ibn Nabt ibn Malik ibn Zayd ibn Kahlan ibn Saba ibn Yashjub ibn Ya'rub ibn Qahtan Al-Najjari Al-Khazraji Al-Azdi Her maternal lineage is: Amirah bint Sakhr ibn Habib ibn Al-Harith ibn Ghanam ibn Tha'laba ibn Malik ibn Al-Mu'tazz (An-Najjar) ibn Tha'laba ibn Amr ibn Al-Khazraj ibn Haritha ibn Tha'laba ibn Amr ibn Amir ibn Haritha ibn Imru al-Qays ibn Tha'laba ibn Mazin ibn Abdullah ibn Al-Azd ibn Al-Ghawth ibn Nabt ibn Malik ibn Zayd ibn Kahlan ibn Saba ibn Yashjub ibn Ya'rub ibn Qahtan Al-Najjari Al-Khazraji Al-Azdi

Marriage Hashim ibn ‘Abd Manaf used to pass through Yathrib (Medina) every year and hold a market at Suq al-Nabt; his attention was caught by Salma's jovial and authoritative manner of trading, and began to make tactful inquiries about her. He soon found out she was well-known and respected, and much sought-after – so much so that she had previously chosen husbands and divorced them as she pleased, and she chose only the best. She was a powerful woman who enjoyed her own position and tribal prestige, and had no intention of abandoning her home establishment and family group. She remained in her own household, and had marriages with those of the men who sought her out. One of Salma's husbands was the warrior-chief Uhayhah ibn Julah of Banu Jahjaba, a leading celebrity in the tribal fighting of the pre-Islamic period, who possessed one of the largest fortresses in Quba on the outskirts of Yathrib, the Utum ad-Dihyan. Salma had two sons by him, Amr and Mabad. Another of her husbands was her relative Malik ibn Adiy of the Banu Najjar, by whom she had two daughters, Mulaykah and Nuwwar. Yet another was Awf ibn Abdu’l Awf ibn Abd ibn Harith ibn Zuhrah, by whom she had the daughter Shifa bint Awf. Hashim's own reputation was such that he did not expect Salma to be anything other than honoured and pleased by his proposal. However, he soon discovered to his chagrin that although she was certainly prepared to consider him, she would only marry him on her own terms, the chief being that he consented to let her remain in her own home in Yathrib, controlling her own affairs and business entirely on her own as she was used to, not going with him to Makkah to join his household, and when they had a son, she kept the boy with her in Yathrib until he was 14 years old or more. Hashim accepted, and the wedding took place, with the arrangement that both of them should continue to conduct their lives as before, but Hashim would visit and stay in her house whenever he came to Yathrib, the arrangement suited both of them. He spent some time with her then he left for As-Sham (present day Syria) again while she was pregnant.

Children Salma gave birth to ‘Abdul-Muttalib in 497 CE and named him Shaiba meaning ‘the ancient one’ or ‘white-haired’ for the streak of white hair amidst his jet-black hair on his head. Once again, discussions took place. Her husband longed to have their son with him in Makkah as soon as he was weaned, but Salma neither wished to be parted from him, nor for herself to go and live in his household, so she insisted that his education should remain her responsibility, and that he should stay in the Yathrib oasis to be brought up in her father's house. Once again, Hashim consented. None of Hashim's family in Makkah learned of his birth at the time. Shortly after this Salma bore Hashim a second child, a daughter, Ruqaiyyah. Her husband died after falling ill on a journey returning from a business tour to Syria in Gaza, and Holy Land. Her brother-in-law Mutallib went to see Shaiba when he was about eight years old and asked Salma to entrust Shaiba in his care. Salma was unwilling to let her son go and the boy refused to leave his mother without her consent. Mutallib then pointed out that the possibilities Yathrib had to offer were incomparable to Makkah. Salma was impressed with his arguments, so she agreed to let him go.

Her important descendants

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Salma bint Amr

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Salma bint Amr claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Salma bint Amr before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Salma bint Amr ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Salma bint Amr

In research: Salma bint Amr appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Salma bint Amr in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Salma bint Amr is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 5th-century Arab people, 5th-century Arab women, 5th-century businesspeople, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Salma bint Amr outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Salma bint Amr in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Salma bint Amr means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Salma bint Amr out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Salma bint Amr in simple terms?

Why does Salma bint Amr matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Salma bint Amr?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Salma bint Amr.