I Would Like to Name My Baby Girl Hayra. Was She a Hadith Narrator?
Answered by Ustadh Farid Dingle
Question
I would like to name my baby girl Hayra. Was she a hadith narrator?
Answer
Thank you for your important question.
I personally could not find a narrator by that name. There is a famous narrator by the name Khayra, who was the first wife of Abu Darda and narrated hadiths.
The name Khayra means a woman of merit and good.
Longer answer:
Mubarak on the baby girl.
Baraka Allahu fi al-mawhub laka, wa shakarta al-Wahib, wa balagha ashuddah, wa ruziqta birrah.
May Allah bless the child you have been given, and may you thank He who gave the child to you. May the child grow strong and healthy, and you be graced with her showing you honour.
Hadith narrators
I personally do not know, nor do I have access to, the names of the all the hadith narrators. To give a picture of just how many hadith narrators there were, Shaykh Akram Nadwi has compiled a forty-volume book on just female hadith narrators alone. (https://www.amazon.com/Al-Muhaddithat-Scholars-Mohammad-Akram-Nadwi/dp/0955454549) So you can imagine that the name Hayra may well be in that extremely long list of names.
I was however able to look in the main sources for names of Sahaba and hadith narrators, and I could not find a narrator by that name. There is a famous narrator by the name Khayra. She was the first wife of Abu Darda. (al-Isaba, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani)
She was a hadith narrator, and a scholar. Ibn Hazm mentions her in his list of jurists of the Sahaba. (Ashab al-Futya min al-Sahaba wa al-Tabi’in, Ibn Hazm, #129).
Her hadith
About five hadiths in total have reached us from her.
One hadith that caught my attention is in Sahih al-Bukhari. The hadith mentions that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) made a pact of brotherhood between Salman al-Farisi and Abu Ad-Darda (her husband). Salman saw her one day and noticing how poor her clothes looked asked her why she looked like that. She replied, ‘Your brother Abu Ad-Darda isn’t interested at all in This World.’
Salman took it upon himself to teach Abu Ad-Darda about moderation in religion. He invited Abu Ad-Darda around one day and made him some food. When he came, Abu Ad-Darda declined to eat because he said he was fasting so Salman forced to break his fast saying that if he didn’t eat, he wouldn’t eat either.
At night when Abu Ad-Darda wanted to pray tahajjud right at the beginning of the night, Salman told him to go to sleep. Later on he got up to pray, and again Salman told him to go back to sleep. When it was the end of the night, he got up again, and Salman told him, ‘Now you can pray.’ So they both prayed.
Salman told him, ‘Your Lord has a certain right over you, you have a certain right over yourself, and your wife has a certain right over you. Give everyone that has a right their rights.’
Abu Ad-Darda mentioned all of this to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and said, ‘Salman spoke the truth.’ (Bukhari)
A hadith that she actually narrated directly from Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) was, ‘The very first thing that will be placed on the Scales [on Judgment Day] will be good character.’ (Tabarani, Ajurri and others)
Conclusion
Hayra is not a name of a hadith narrator that I personally know, but Khayra is. She was the first wife of Abu ad-Darda, and was known for her deep understanding of Islam.
I pray this helps.
[Ustadh] Farid
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years, he has developed a masterful ability to craft lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.
