She is the sister of Um Saleem (Mother of Anas bin Malik)  and was among the first women of Madinah to embrace Islam.

The Prophet held Um Haram in high regard and had a close and loving relationship with her family, so much so that it is narrated that he even slept over at their house.

Once the Prophet slept in Um Haram’s house during the day and woke up laughing. Um Haram asked, “What makes you laugh O Apostle of Allah?”

He said: “I saw people from my nation riding like kings the thrones, fighting for the sake of Allah on the Green Sea (modern day Mediterranean Sea).”

So she said, “O Apostle of Allah, ask Allah to put me among them!”

He responded: “You are among the first of them.” (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)

Kharbouch, a mythical personage from the Safi region of Morocco. An Icon of the musical tradition of Aita this Chikha with a fiery temperament is a character out of the ordinary.

Chikha with an acerbic wit, Kharbouch used her unique voice to stand up proudly against the injustice of her fate and that of her own. The Qaid Aïssa Ben Omar who was ruling the law of the French colonizers in the region, was the main target for her songs. She was the only survivor of a massacre carried out by an opposing tribe and decimated all the women of her clan, Kharbouch kept a rage and strength that were expressed in her prose and songs.

By 1900, only the Kingdom of Morocco remained more or less independent of European rule, although European competition for Morocco was intense between Spain, France, and Germany. Between 1899 and 1912, French armies progressively occupied the country using Algeria as a base. In 1912, the French and Spanish protectorates were declared, with the lion’s share of Moroccan territory going to France. Nevertheless, it took France several decades to quell the numerous rural revolts sparked by military occupation.