Befittingly, we have been highlighting the stories of famous African heroes of Islam. This being the last Saturday in February marking the end of Black History Month, we will round it off by highlighting two highly esteemed and much loved Muslimahs (female Muslims).

Barakah bint Tha’alaba, also known as Umm Ayman, was one of the first women to accept Islam after Muhammad (pbuh) declared prophethood and she was one of the closest and most trusted people to the Prophet (pbuh). Prophet Muhammad considered Barakah as his second mother and introduced her to everyone as “my mother after my mother”. Prophet Muhammad's own mother passed away when he was a child.

Barakah was originally from Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) and was enslaved before Islam. She was living in the household of Abdullah ibn Abdul-Muttalib and Aminah bint Wahb, Prophet Muhammad’s parents. When the Prophet married Khadijah, he arranged for Barakah’s freedom from enslavement.

During her marriage to Ubayd ibn Zaid, she bore a son named Ayman, from which her namesake originates. After Umm Ayman’s husband passed away she continued to live with Prophet Muhammad and Khadijah. She took part in the battle of Uhud, fetching water for the soldiers and treating the injured, and standing her ground when rumours of the Prophet’s death spread.

Baraka was the only person by the side of the Prophet his entire life, from his birth to his death. He loved and trusted her, and constantly sought her advice. She is buried in the Baqi’ graveyard right next to the mosque of the Prophet.

A more contemporary influential Black Muslim woman was the elder sister of our beloved el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz (Malcolm X aka Malcolm Little).

Ella Little-Collins grew up in the American South. She was a successful businesswoman involved in property investment in Boston and New York. As already mentioned, Ella was the elder sister of Malcolm X through their father and embraced orthodox Islam after leaving the Nation of Islam.

Ella was determined to nurture Malcolm X’s potential and invited him to live with her from the ages of 14 to 21. She was described as being a mother figure to him and funded his historical Hajj trip to Makkah. Malcolm X remarked that she was “the first really proud Black woman I had ever seen”.

Ella was passionately involved in education and community projects and was a prominent civil rights activist. She strongly believed in Black Americans establishing their own agency through gaining financial freedom.

These two women are among the many that we should have knowledge of and of course be proud of. They inspire us to reach our potential despite adversities.

Let this Black History Month serve as the jump start for everyone of us to get involved in learning the momentous, invaluable achievements and contributions of Black people. It needs to be common knowledge that the Black race extends before and beyond slavery.

Also people of Bermuda, it would behoove us to make it a point to see the display at the Bacardi International Centre’s lobby of the Mobile African Foundation Timeline created by Mwalimu Melodye Micere Van Putten and so beautifully rendered by Bermudian artist Sumuta Saa (Angela Ming-Bean). The African Foundation Timeline will be on display until March 1, 2024.

The struggle continues and hence Bermuda we must continue to pray for justice and peace for all oppressed peoples of the world. Let there be cease-fire now.

As salaam alaikum (Peace be unto you).

• Linda Walia Ming is a member of the Bermuda Hijab Dawah Team, a group of Muslim women who reside in Bermuda and have a goal of educating the community about the religion of Islam