Sumeyah (; ) was the first member of the Ummah (community) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to be killed for her faith, making her the first martyr of Islam, as well as the first female martyr (). Shortly afterward, her husband Yasir ibn Amir was also killed because of his conversion, becoming the first male martyr (). Her full name is given variously as Sumayya bint Khabbat or Sumayya bint Khayyat. She was the mother of Ammar ibn Yasir.
Early life
She was a slave of Abu Hudhayfa ibn al-Mughira, a member of the Makhzum clan in Mecca. Her master gave her in marriage to Yasir ibn Amir, who was from the Malik clan of the Madh'hij tribe in Yemen. After coming to Mecca to look for a lost brother, he had decided to settle there under Abu Hudhayfa's protection. It is said both that Abu Hudhayfa died "before Islam" but Hurayth had been killed by the Dil clan before 610. On one occasion she was put inside a pitcher full of water and lifted so that she could not escape. She, Yasir and Ammar were also forced to stand in the sun in the heat of the day dressed in mail-coats.
Historical references
The earliest reference to the murder of Sumayya is found in Ibn Ishaq's (died 761) biography of Muhammad, Sirat Rasul Allah ("Biography of the Messenger of God"). Her name Sumayyah is not explicitly mentioned in Ibn Ishaq; it is a deduction from the reference to her son as Ammar "son of" Sumayya.