Asma' Bint Abu Bakr (Great Sahabi; an example of great wife and great mother)
She
was the daughter of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. She was the elder sister of
'Aisha, the mother of the believers. She was the wife of the great
companion az-Zubair Ibn al-`Awâm and the mother of `Abdullah Ibn
az-Zubair. She accepted Islam very early in Mecca. She gave pledge to
the Prophet (pbuh) and firmly believed in him.
Her Noble situations during Hijrah
Asmâ' was called Zât an-Nitâqayn (the possessor of the two scarves)
because she split her scarf into two parts in order to deliver food and
water to the Prophet (pbuh) and her father, Abu Bakr in the Thawr cave
when immigrating to Medina. When the Prophet (pbuh) set out for Medina
accompanied by Asmâ's father, the latter took all what he had of
property and left nothing to his family. Then Abu Quhafa, Asmâ's
grandfather came to her and said, "This man (Abu Bakr) put you in
adversity. He deprived you of himself and property." Asma' bravely
replied, "No, He left so much to us." She covered some stones and
brought them to her blind grand father and said, "This is what he left."
Thereby, the old man said, "There is no blame if left that."
Abu Bakr was the only one accompanied the Prophet during Hijrah. They
concealed themselves in the cave of Thawr three miles from Makka, for
three nights, with the enemy prowling around in great numbers in
fruitless search of them. Asmâ', the daughter of Abu Bakr provided them
with food and water during their stay there. Abu Jahl came furious
and enraged with anger to enforce Asma' to tell him the hidden place of
her father. But she kept silent and faced him bravely. Failing to make
her confess, he slapped her so violently that her necklace fell down.
Then he had nothing to do but to leave enraged with anger. Asmâ’ soon
joined the Muslim community at Medina. No sooner did she arrive there
than she gave birth to her son, Abdullah, the first newborn Muslim in
Medina.
An Example of Good Wife
At the beginning of her
marital life she was so poor that she had to serve her husband,
Az-Zubair ibn al-Awwam, bake the bread, clean the home and feed the
horse.
Narrated Asmâ’ bint Abu Bakr:
When Az-zubair married
me, he had not real property or anything else except a camel, which
drew water from the well, and his horse. I used to feed his horse with
fodder and drew water and sew the bucket for drawing it, and prepare the
dough, but I did not know how to bake bread. So our ansari neighbouress
used to bake bread for me, and they were honorable ladies. I used to
carry the date stones on my head from Zubair’s land to him by Allah’s
Messenger and this land was two third Farsakh (About two miles) from my
house. One day, while I was coming with the date stones on my head, I
met Allah’s Messenger 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 on his camel. I felt shy to travel with the men and
remembered Az- Zubair and his sense of Ghira (being jealous), for he had
the greatest sense of Ghira of all the people. Allah's Messenger (pbuh)
noticed that I felt shy, so he proceeded. I came to Az-Zubair and said,
"I met Allah's Messenger (pbuh) while I was carrying a load of date
stones on my, and he had some companions with him. He made his camel
kneel down so that I might ride, but I felt shy in his presence and
remembered your sense of Ghira. On that Az-Zubair said, "By Allah, your
carrying the date-stones (and you being seen by the Prophet (pbuh) in
such a state) is more shameful to me than your riding with him. (i.e.
You should have obeyed the Prophet).'" (I continued serving in this way)
untill Abu Bakr sent me a servant to look after the horse, whereupon I
felt as if he had set me free."
Later on Az-Zubayr r.a became a
wealthy man. His property was sold after his death for about forty
million dirhams. She was so generous that when felling ill she would
wait until she recovered and then free any slaves.
Her Bravery & Patience
She took part in the battle of Yarmuk and fought bravely. She also kept
a dagger to defend herself when thieves appeared in Medina at the time
of Sa'id Ibn Al-'As. As for her fortitude, it can be represented in
her words to her son, 'Abdullah when consulting her about Al-Hajjaj
siege to Mecca. She was a hundred years old and was blind by then.
'Abdullah addressed her saying, "O mother, the people abandoned me; only
a few of them who still support me. However, they could no longer fight
than an hour on my part." The other party offers to give me whatever I
ask of worldly benefits. What do you see, mother? She replied, "You know
yourself best. If you realized that you are right and calling for the
truth, you would better go on. It is the issue for which your fellows
passed away. Do not surrender your neck to Banu Umayyah to play it. But
if you just wanted a worldly benefit you would be the worst man who
demolished himself and his fellows.' Abdullah said, "By Allah, this is
also my opinion, mother." But I fear to surfer crucifixion after death."
She replied, "Skinning a slaughtered goat does not bring it pain." Off
you go and seek Allah's help."
When approaching to embrace him
she found him wearing a shield. She said; "This is not the behavior of
whoever wants what you want!" Therefore, he took off his shield and went
forward to fight. He kept fighting until he was killed. Al-Hajjaj
issued a command to have him crucified. Then he came to Asmâ' and said,
"O mother, the leader of the believer commended me to treat you well. Do
you want any thing? She replied, "I am not your mother. I am only the
mother of this crucified man." Then she said, I heard the Messenger of
Allah (pbuh) as saying, "There will be in Thaqeef a liar and a
destroyer." We knew the liar and there still you the destroyer. In
another version when Al-Hajjaj came to Asmâ' he said, "How did I punish
your son, Asmâ'!?" She replied quietly, "You spoiled his life (in dunia)
but he spoiled your next life (akhirat).”
Her Death
She (May Allah be pleased with her) died in Mecca shortly after the death of her son, 'Abdullah. May Allah have mercy on her.
