Sahla bint Suhayl, daughter of Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, was one of the first Muslim women of Mecca: she was in the first group of emigrants to Abyssinia with her husband Abu Hudhayfa ibn ʿUtba, and gave birth there to their son Muhammad. According to some biographers, Sahla was also the name of Umm Sulaym, mother of Anas ibn Malik.
Meaning of the name Sahla
Sahla is the feminine of sahl: flat, soft ground as opposed to the mountain, and then anything easy and smooth. A person is called sahlat al-khuluq, “of an easy, accommodating character”. The root s-h-l appears once in the Quran, for the plains where the people of Thamud built their palaces (7:74). The name evokes gentleness, ease and simplicity.
And remember when He made you successors after the ʿAad and settled you in the land, [and] you take for yourselves palaces from its plains and carve from the mountains, homes. Then remember the favors of Allāh and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption."
