Zunaira al-Rumiya: Roman slave girl with unshakeable faith

Zunaira al-Rumiya, also known as Zaneerah the Roman, was among the early coverts to Islam.
The epithet al-Rumiya, suggests that she was either born in Byzantine terri-tory or was of Roman descent, and was brought to Makkah as a slave among the Banu Makhzum.

Accepting Islam during its earliest days – at a time when the early converts faced immense persecution by the pagan Quraysh, Zunaira, a slave without tribal protection, she became a target of harsh treatment by the Qurayshi elite.
She suffered greatly at the hands of Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hisham) – infamous for his cruelty toward Muslims – but she remained firm as a rock and steadfast in her faith.

She suffered daily beatings that she lost her sight. By morning, she had miraculously regained her sight and attributed her healing to Allah, the Al-mighty. However, the pagans said her healing was sheer magic displayed by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

She was liberated by Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, a close companion of the Prophet, as part of his efforts to liberate enslaved Muslims who were being tortured for their faith. He purchased Zunaira’s freedom, along with other early converts like Bilal ibn Rabah and Ammar ibn Yasir’s family.
After buying her, Abubakar freed her along with her companion in slavery Lubaynah.
She lived the rest of her life as a free Muslim woman and a believer in the oneness of Allah. Though historical records about her later life are sparse, her legacy remained alive in the hearts of Muslims.

She died after the great Hijrah (Muslim migration from Makkah to Madinah).
To come to the point in history again where Muslims are being op-pressed not as physically as the early Makkan era yet, but nevertheless its a source of guidance and strengthens our belief in the decree of Allah.

When such people such as these who were just a few in number could stand strong with their faith firm in Allah trusting full well that Allah will deliver them to secu-rity, then surely we, numbering around 2 Billion can have an iota of that be-lief.

These were people who had not read or seen the golden conquest of Islam or the heard the proclamation of Tawhid resounding in the vast Ha-ramain we see today, where they were put to torture. We have read and seen Makkah as it is today. Will we then not have faith that indeed Allah will even-tually and always be victorious.

Yes, today we don’t bear physical tor-ture or oppression but our mind is bom-barded and attacked till it becomes restless regarding the validity of our faith.

In times like these, of utmost im-portance is tarbiyah for our youth and learning to strengthen our aqidah. We need to man up and take pride in our religion. Don’t water it down, wallahi don’t be ashamed. I see Muslim youth today trying to explain away basic te-nets of Islam and that is really scary.