Umm Salamah was the daughter of Imam Muhammad Ibn 'Ali Ibn al-Husayn (Imam al-Baqir) ('a)1 and the sister of Imam al-Sadiq ('a). She was the wife of Muhammad al-Arqat,2 the son of 'Abdullah al-Bahir3 who was the son of Imam al-Sajjad ('a).

'Allamah Mamqani has said she was a transmitter of traditions and written about her, "There is no doubt that she was a follower of the Imamiyyah sect, and from her son's description of her, it is evident that she was trustworthy."4

She has related traditions from Abu 'Abdullah Ja'far al-Sadiq ('a), and 'Ali Ibn Abi Hamzah has related traditions from her.

Al-Kulayni relates from Muhammad Ibn Yahya, who relying on his own sources quotes Isma'il Ibn al-Arqat about his mother, Umm Salamah, the sister of Abu 'Abdullah Imam al-Sadiq ('a). Isma'il said, "During the month of Ramadan, I became severely ill and was on the verge of death. Banu-Hashim gathered around me during the night, and witnessed that I was dead. My mother was crying when my maternal uncle, Abu 'Abdullah, told her, 'Go to the roof of the house, talk to God under the sky, and pray two cycles of the ritual prayer. After you have finished, say: 'O God, you gave him to me, otherwise he had no existence. O God, I want Thou to return him to me and loan him to me again.' She did as she was told, and I got better. I sat up. They called for porridge to be brought for them in the morning (in preparation for fasting) and ate it. And, I ate it with them (preparing myself to fast as well)."5

• 1. 'Umdat al-Talib, p. 225.
• 2. Arqat means a person whose face is ugly and blotched. Because al-Arqat was rude to Imam al-Sadiq ('a), God made his face look unpleasant and ugly. [A'yan al-Shi'ah, vol. 3, p. 404].
• 3. 'Abdullah was called Bahir due to the beauty and inner light of his face. [Rayahin al­ Shari'ah, vol. 3, p. 298].
• 4. Tanqih al-Maqal, vol. 3, p. 82; Mamqani has written about Isma'il as follows, "It is clear he was a Shi'ite, and there are clear signs of his trustworthiness. In the book Jami' al-Ruwat it is written that 'Abdullah Ibn Waddah and 'Ali Abi Hamzah have related traditions from him from Imam al-Sadiq ('a). [Tanqih al-Maqal, vol. 1, p. 130].
• 5. Al-Kafi, vol. 3, p.478; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 47, p. 304.