Umm Jamil

Umm Jamil was the wife of Abu Lahab, the Prophet's ﷺ hostile uncle. Together with her husband, she relentlessly sought to harm the Prophet ﷺ. The Quran designates her as 'the carrier of firewood' — an image of one who fans hatred and spreads evil.

Umm Jamil shared her husband Abu Lahab's hostility towards the Prophet ﷺ. Tradition reports that she would scatter thorns and brambles on the Prophet's ﷺ path to hurt him, and spread slander to stir people against him.

The Quran devotes an entire surah to this couple, al-Masad. After announcing Abu Lahab's ruin, it adds: 'and his wife too, the carrier of firewood, who has around her neck a rope of palm fibre.'

The expression 'carrier of firewood' is understood by commentators in two ways: literally, the one who transported thorns to harm the Prophet ﷺ; figuratively, the one who 'carries firewood' for discord — that is, who fans the fire of hatred and slander among people. Both meanings converge in a single image: a life spent causing harm.

Umm Jamil teaches that hatred and slander turn against the one who carries them. 'Carrying firewood' is feeding the fire of discord — a fire that ends up burning the one who lit it. Her example warns against the backbiting tongue and the heart that persists in causing harm.

وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ

de même que sa femme qui, de ronces, chargée,

111:4

فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِّن مَّسَدٍ

porte autour du cou une corde de fibres tressées.

111:5