FORTRESS AD-DAHYAN & SALMA BINT AMR
In the footsteps of the Prophet's ﷺ great-grandmother — The secret cradle of Medina.
Before Medina, there was Yathrib
When the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Medina in 622, he was not a stranger. He was returning to the city of his maternal ancestors. The blood of Medina flowed in his veins for four generations, through an exceptional woman: Salma bint Amr — his great-grandmother.
Who was Salma?
Salma bint Amr was the wife of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, thus the great-grandmother of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. She was one of the most influential women of the Banu Khazraj tribe, daughter of Amr from the Banu Najjar clan. She traded on her own account, chose husbands, and left them at her discretion. She was a powerful woman.
The fortress, the night, the rope
Before marrying Hashim, Salma was married to Uhayha ibn al-Julah, chief of the Banu Jahjaba. He owned Al-Mustadhal, Ad-Dahyan, and 99 wells — an empire in the desert.
But one night, Uhayha decided to raid the Banu Najjar — Salma's own tribe. She warned her people, made her child cry to keep her husband awake all night, tied a rope to the top of the fortress Ad-Dahyan, descended into the night, and ran to warn her kin. Nickname: Al-Mutadalliyah — “The One Who Descended.”
The birth of Abd al-Muttalib
Salma gave birth in 497 to a child she named Shayba — “the one with white hair” — for the tuft in the middle of his black hair. Hashim died on a journey to Gaza, leaving his pregnant widow. It is here, on the ground you tread, that the great-grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ was born.
At the age of eight, his uncle al-Muttalib came to take him. In Mecca, he was called Abd al-Muttalib — thinking he was his uncle's slave. The name remained. He would become the grandfather of the Prophet ﷺ.
The hadith that honors the family
The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best families among the Ansar are those of Banu al-Najjar.” (Sahih al-Bukhari)
Upon his arrival in Medina, he said: “I will stay with the Banu al-Najjar, the maternal uncles of Abd al-Muttalib, out of respect.”