Umm Ubays

Umm ʿUbays or Umm ʿUmays was a woman in Arabia who was an early convert to Islam and one of the disciples of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Biography

She was a slave in Mecca who became an early convert to Islam. After 614 she was tortured in an attempt to force her to renounce her faith. Abu Bakr bought and slaves [freed by Abu Bakr|manumitted] her. It was in response to the purchase of these slaves that Abu Bakr's father protested: "I see that you are freeing weak slaves. Why don't you free powerful men who could defend you and protect you?" Abu Bakr replied, "I am only trying to do what I am attempting for God's sake."
Umm Ubays had a sister, Harithah bint al-Muammil.
It is sometimes asserted that Umm Ubays was the daughter of Al-Nahdiah. This is apparently due to the ambiguous wording of Ibn Saad. However, Ibn Ishaq makes it clear that Umm Ubays and Al-Nahdiah's daughter were two different people, both of whom were purchased and manumitted by Abu Bakr.