Umm Zufar

Umm Zufar, the tall black Abyssinian; her mention is established in Sahih al-Bukhari in Ibn Jurayj's hadith: Ata' told me he saw Umm Zufar, a tall black woman, on the Ka'ba's stair ¹.

Ibn Abbas said to Ata': "shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?" I said: yes. He said: "this black woman came to the Prophet and said: I suffer seizures, and I become uncovered — pray God for me. He said: if you wish, be patient and Paradise is yours; if you wish, I will pray God to heal you. She said: I will be patient — but I become uncovered, so pray God I am not uncovered" — and he prayed for her ¹.

Abd al-Razzaq narrates from Tawus that the mad were brought to the Prophet and he would strike one's chest and he was healed; a madwoman called Umm Zufar was brought, he struck her chest and she was not healed and her demon did not come out — he said: "it afflicts her in this world, and hers in the next is good" ¹. From al-Hasan: the woman used to suffer fits in the mosque; her brothers came to the Prophet complaining of it and he said: "if you wish I will pray God and she is healed; if you wish she stays as she is with no reckoning upon her in the hereafter" — her brothers gave her the choice and she said: "leave me as I am" ¹. Ibn Hajar describes this account as "the trustworthy narrators' account from Ata'" ¹.

Umar ibn Qays related it from Ata' and misprinted her as "Umm Quray'"; Ibn Hajar says the chain to Umar ibn Qays is weak, and that making the hadith Ata' relating from her is anomalous — Ata' related it from Ibn Abbas ². He mentions her name was Sa'ira — or Shaqiqa ².