Islamic Values

Speak no ill of the dead After the conquest of Makkah, Umm Hakim bint al Harith ibn Hisham, wife of Ikremah ibn Abu Jahal, became a Muslim. She told the Prophet that her husband had fled to the Yemen in fear of his life, and she begged the Prophet to grant him immunity. He agreed to do so, although Ikremah was still at war with him. Taking her Byzantine slave with her, Umm Hakim went in search of her husband. He had just reached the shores of Tahamah and was about to cross the Red Sea when she caught up with him. She told him that she had just come from seeing the greatest of all men, the Prophet Muhammad. It was not easy to persuade him to return with her, instead of risking his life at sea, but when he heard that the Prophet had guaranteed his safety in Makkah, he fell in with her wishes. When the two were approaching Makkah, the Prophet told his companions that Ikremah was coming to them as an emigrant and a believer: “Do not speak ill of his father, for, although speaking ill of the dead cannot hurt the dead, it hurts those who are alive.” (IBN HISHAM, SIRAH)