Arwa bint al-Harith

Who is Arwa bint al-Harith?

Arwa binte al-Harith was the daughter of Harith ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.

In Nahj al-Balagha, Ali is quoted as:

I have taught you the Qurʼān, clarified to you arguments, apprised you of what you were ignorant and made you swallow what you were spitting out. Even a blind man would have been able to see, and he who was sleeping would have been awakened. How ignorant of God is their leader Muawiyah and their instructor Ibn an-Nabighah.

"An-Nabighah" is the nickname of the mother of ʻAmr ibn al-ʻĀs. He is called "son of his mother" because of his mother's reputation: once Arwa binte al-Harith ibn Abd ul-Muttalib went to Muawiyah and during their conversation ʻAmr ibn al-ʻĀs intervened. Arwa said to ʻAmr:

"O son of an-Nabighah, you too dare speak, although your mother was known publicly and was a singer of Mecca? That is why five persons claimed you, and when she was asked she admitted that five people had visited her and that you should be regarded as the son of him you resembled most. You must have resembled ʻĀs ibn Waʼil and therefore you came to be known as his son."

These five persons were:

A'as ibn Wa'il

Abu Lahab

Umayah ibn Khalaf

Hisham ibn al-Mughirah