Biography of the ASMA BINT ABI BAKR (رضي الله عنها)

She is Umm 'Abdillah

Asma bint Abi Bakr bin 'Abdillah bin Abi Quhafah 'Uthman.

Her mother is Qutaylah bint Abdil-Uzza al-Amiriyyah.

She is the mother of the caliph 'Abdullah bin az Zubayr and the sister of the Mother of the Believers 'A'ishah. 

She was the last of the Muhajirun from among the women to die.

She lived to be 100 years old and none of her teeth had fallen out, rather, all her teeth remained healthy.

She was older than 'A'ishah by about 10 years. 

Her Narrations:

Those who narrated from her are:

her sons Abdullah and 'Urwah, her grandson 'Abdullah bin Urwah, and her great grandson 'Abbad bin Abdillah. Likewise, those who narrated from her were Ibn 'Abbas, Abu Waqid al-Laythi, Safiyyah bint Shaybah, Muhammad al-Munkadir, and many others. 

Her Bravery:

She participated in the Battle of Yarmuk with her husband az Zubayr. 

Her Noble Lineage:

Her grandfather, father, and son (Ibn az-Zubayr) were all Companions,

four generations of Companions.

She migrated when she was pregnant with 'Abdullah. 

She was known as "the Owner of the Two Belts.

" Asma said, "I prepared the journey food for the Messenger of Allah in Abu Bakr's house when he intended to migrate to Madinah.

I could not find anything to tie the food container and the waterskin with.

So I said to Abu Bakr,

'By Allah, I do not find anything to tie (these things) with except my waist belt.' He said, 'Cut it into two pieces and tie the waterskin with one piece and the food container with the other."

She did so, and that was the reason for calling her the Owner of the Two Belts. 

Asma' would get headaches,

so she would place her hand on her head and say,

"This is due to my sins, and what Allah has forgiven is more."

Asma Married az Zubayr bin al 'Awam:

Asma bint Abi Bakr said,

"When az Zubayr married me, he had no real property or any slaves or anything else except a camel which drew water from the well, and his horse.

I used to feed his horse with fodder and draw water and patch the bucket for drawing it, and prepare the dough, but I did not know how to bake bread.

So our Ansari neighbors used to bake bread for me, and they were honorable ladies.

I used to carry the datestones on my head from Zubayr's land given to him by the Messenger of Allah, and this land was about two miles from my house.

One day, while I was coming with the datestones on my head, I met the Messenger of Allah along with some Ansari people.

He called me and then, (directing his camel to kneel down) said, 'Ikh! Ikh!'

so as to make me ride behind him on his camel.

I felt shy to travel with the men and remembered az Zubayr and his sense of jealousy, as he was one of those people who had the greatest sense of jealousy.

The Messenger of Allah noticed that I felt shy, so he proceeded. 

"I came to az Zubayr and said,

'I met the Messenger of Allah while I was carrying a load of datestones on my head, and he had some Companions with him.

He made his camel kneel so that I might ride, but I felt shy in his presence and remembered your sense of jealousy.'

Az Zubayr said,

'By Allah, your carrying of the datestones (and you being seen by the Prophet in such a state) is more shameful to me than your riding with him.

'I continued serving in this way until Abu Bakr sent me a servant to look after the horse, whereupon I felt as if he had set me free."

[Sahih Al Bukhari 5224]

The Quranic Verse Sent Down Concerning Her Situation:

Ibn az Zubayr said, "This verse was sent down concerning Asma.

Her mother's name was Qutaylah.

Her mother came to her with a gift, but she did not accept it until she asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. 

"Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes.

Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity."

[Surah al-Mumtahanah 60:8] 

Asma' said: 

قَدِمَتْ عَلَيَّ أُمِّي وَهِيَ مُشْرِكَةٌ، فَاسْتَفْتَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وسلَّمَ، فَقُلْتُ : يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ ، قَدِمَتْ عَلَى أُمِّي، وَهِيَ رَاغِبَةٌ، أَفَأَصِلُ أُمِّي؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، صِلِي أُمَّكِ . 

My mother came to me when she was a pagan.

I consulted the Messenger of Allah and said, "O Messenger of Allah, my mother has come to me, and she is expecting something, should I uphold the ties of kinship with my mother?

"He said, "Yes, uphold the ties of kinship with your mother."

To be continued...

Her Divorce:

'Urwah ('Urwah is the son of az Zubayr and Asma) said,

"Az Zubayr hit Asma,  so she yelled for her son Abdullah.

When 'Abdullah approached,

az Zubayr said, 'If you enter, your mother is divorced.'

Abdullah said, 'Will you mother liable for your oath?!'

So he rushed in and set her free.

Thus, she separated from him." 

Hisham bin 'Urwah said,

“Az Zubayr divorced Asma' and he took their son 'Urwah with him, and 'Urwah was young at the time." 

Her Generosity:

Muhammad bin al Munkadir said,

"Asma bint Abi Bakr was a generous soul." 

Ibn az Zubayr said:

مَا رَأَيْتُ امْرَأَتَيْنِ أَجْوَدَ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ، وَأَسْمَاءَ، وَجُودُهُمَا مُخْتَلِفٌ، أَمَّا عَائِشَةُ فَكَانَتْ تَجْمَعُ الشَّيْء إِلَى الشَّيْءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ اجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَهَا قَسَمَتْ، وَأَمَّا أَسْمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ لَا تُمْسِكُ شَيْئًا لِغَدٍ. 

I have never seen anyone more generous than 'A'ishah and Asma, yet their generosity was different.

'A'ishah used to gather things, and after they had been collected together, she would share them.

Asma' would not keep anything for the next day. 

When Asma became sick, she freed every slave she had.

Her Knowledge of Dream Interpretation:

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib was the most proficient at interpreting dreams, and he learned that from Asma, and she learned it from her father. 

Hisham bin 'Urwah said,

"When the thieves increased in Madinah during the era of Sa'id bin al As, Asma procured a dagger and placed it under her pillow.

When asked why she did so, she said,

'If a burglar enters upon me, I will split open his belly.'

And by this time, she was blind." 

The Death of Her Son During the Fitnah of al-Hajjaj:

'Urwah said,

"My brother and I visited my mother days before he was killed, and she was in pain.

Abdullah said, 'How are you?' She replied,

'I am in pain.'

He said, 'Verily, there is relief in death.'

She said, 'Perhaps you are hoping for me to die, don't do that.'

And then she laughed.

She went on to say,

'I swear by Allah, I do not want to die until one of two extremes occurs, either you are killed so I can seek the reward through patience, or you are victorious so I can be happy.

And beware of compromising the truth due to your fear of death." 

'Abdullah bin az Zubayr was killed and crucified in 73 AH.

It was said to Ibn Umar,

"Asma is in the corner of the masjid," and this was when Ibn az Zubayr had been crucified.

He went to her and said,

"These corpses are nothing, the souls are with Allah, so have taqwa of Allah and be patient."

She said, "And what would prevent me from being patient when the head of the prophet Yahya bin Zakariyya Tarikh was given as a gift to a prostitute from the Children of Israel?"

[Stories of the prophets By Ibn Kathir contains the story of the killing of prophet Yahya.]

When al-Hajjaj killed Ibn az-Zubayr,

he visited Asma and said to her,

"O mother, the leader has ordered me to take care of you, so do you have any needs?

"She said, "I am not your mother.

I am the mother of the one who was crucified.

I don't have any needs, but I have some words for you.

I heard the Messenger of Allah say,

"There will appear from (the town of) Thaqif a liar and a destroyer.'

As for the liar, we have seen him (meaning, al-Mukhtar ath-Thaqafi),

as for the destroyer, then it is you."

So he stood up and never returned to her. 

Asma supplicated to Allah that He not allow her to die until she was able to shroud her son.

Allah answered her supplication, as her son was brought to her and she washed him with Zamzam water and shrouded him, and she was blind at this time.

She prayed the funeral prayer for him, and less than a week passed by before Asma died.

She was the last to die of the women who migrated. 

Her Ahadith:

She narrated 58 ahadith.

From those narrations is the well-known narration collected in Al-Bukhari:

Asma said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 

إِنِّي عَلَى الْحَوْضِ حَتَّى أَنْظُرُ مَنْ يَرِدُ عَلَيَّ مِنْكُمْ. 

I will be at the Pond waiting to see which of you will come to me.

[Sahih Al Bukhari 6593]

End...

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Some Notes from the book 📙

Chapter Asma bint Abi Bakr :

- In her story you can read that She participated in the Battle of Yarmuk with her husband az Zubayr.

The Battle of Yarmuk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim army of the Rashidun Caliphate.

The Muslims were victorious. 

- What was the fitna of Al Hajjaj?

Al Hajjaj bin Yusuf ath-Thaqafi was the governor of Iraq known for his oppression and killing.

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