Shall a Queen Give Herself To a Commoner?
- philhoraia
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Abu Nu'aym told us, Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghasil told us, from Hamzah bin Abi Usayd, from Abu Usayd--may Allah be pleased with him--, he said: We went out with the prophet [SAW] until we started out for a wall called Al-Shaut, until we ended up at two walls and we sat between them. And the prophet [SAW] said: "Sit here." And he entered and the Jauniyyah was brought and was lodged in the house of Umaymah bt Al-Nu'man bin Sharahil and with her was her wet-nurse, her caregiver, and when the prophet [SAW] entered upon her he said: "Give yourself to me." She said: And shall a queen give herself to a commoner? He said. Then he reached out with his hand to put his hand on her to calm her down. And she said: I take refuge in Allah against you. And he said: "You have taken refuge in a refuge." Then he came out to us, and he said: "Abu Usayd, clothe her with two raziqiyyahs and return her to her family."
The 'wall' is supposed to be a garden. The Jauniyyah means a female of the Banu Jaun tribe. Although the hadith speaks of her wet-nurse, it is understood that she was not suckling the Jauniyyah. In days gone by, a girl or woman might still have her wet-nurse years after her weaning. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet at 14 still has her wet-nurse. Now, the founder of Islam tells the Jauniyyah to give herself to him. The Sunnah.com translation is: "Give me yourself (in marriage) as a gift." There is no mention of marriage in the Arabic. She says to him: "And shall a queen give herself to a commoner?" The translation on that site is: "Can a princess give herself in marriage to an ordinary man?" The word that the translator renders as "an ordinary man" is suqah. Definitions:
سوقَة ( اسم ) :- رَعاع، دَهماء
- the ordinary; disreputable people; ordinary people; common people; non-professionals
- the common people
- the very ordinary people
المختصر
سُوقَة
- commonalty (n); laities (n); mob (n); rabble (n); riffraff (n)
Grok explains the word thus:
Primary Meaning
It refers to the common people, the general populace, the subjects (of a ruler), or the masses — in contrast to rulers, elites, or kings (مَلِك or أهل السلطان).
It is often translated as: commonalty, laity, populace, subjects, or sometimes more negatively as mob, rabble, riffraff, or the lower classes.
Classically, the subjects are called سُوقَة because a king or ruler "drives" (يَسُوق) them like a herd — they are led or compelled to follow. This is the opposite of مَلِك (king/ruler).
Usage in Classical and Modern Arabic
It can refer to the collective (the masses or common people as a group) or sometimes to an individual ("he is a سُوقَة" meaning an ordinary/common person, not of noble or ruling status).
Example from classical sources: The common people (السُّوقة) are those without authority or power, as opposed to those who hold sway. One old poetic usage contrasts those who achieved high status with "these سُوقة" (the ordinary folk).
In dictionaries like Lane's Lexicon or modern ones (e.g., المعجم الوسيط), it denotes الرَّعِيَّة (the subjects/flock) or أوساط الناس (the middle/ordinary ranks of people). It is not literally "market people" (though some laypeople mistakenly think so because of the similar word سُوق = market). The folk etymology linking it to "people of the market" is incorrect in classical Arabic.
Connotations
Neutral: Simply "commoners" or "the general public."
Pejorative: It can imply the unrefined masses, the crowd, or lower social strata — similar to English "the rabble" or "hoi polloi" in a dismissive sense.
It appears in literature, historical texts, and orations (e.g., contrasting a leader on the pulpit with the audience as "سوقة ورعية" — common folk and subjects).
Related Words
سُوق (sūq): Market or marketplace (a different but related sense of the root).
سَاق (sāq): To drive (animals/people); also "leg" or "shank."
رَعِيَّة (raʿiyya): Subjects or flock — often paired with سُوقَة.
In short, سُوقَة is a somewhat archaic or literary term for ordinary/common people viewed as those who are "driven" by those in power. It carries a class distinction and is not commonly used in everyday modern spoken Arabic (where words like عامة الناس or الشعب are more typical), but it still appears in formal writing, historical contexts, or to evoke classical flavor.
End of quote.
How might this have gone down with him who boasted of himself and of his tribe?
Her taking refuge in Allah puts the kibosh on his intention to take her. Instead he gives her two garments called raziqiyyah, which is apparently a linen garment, and sends her back to her family.
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