Asmaa bint Abu
Bakr belonged to a distinguished Muslim family. Her father, Abu Bakr, was a
close friend of the Prophet and the first Khalifah after
his death. Her
halfsister, Aishah, was a wife of the Prophet and one of the Ummahat
al-Mumineen. Her husband, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, was one
of the special
personal aides of the Prophet. Her son, Abdullah ibn az-Zubayr, became well
known for his incorruptibility and his unswerving
devotion to Truth.
Asma a herself was
one of the first persons to accept Islam. Only about seventeen persons including
both men and women became Muslims
before her. She was
later given the nickname Dhat an-Nitaqayn (the One with the Two Waistbands)
because of an incident connected with the
departure of the
Prophet and her father from Makkah on the historic hijrah to Madinah.
Asma a was one of
the few persons who knew of the Prophet's plan to leave for Madinah. The utmost
secrecy had to be maintained because of
the Quraysh plans
to murder the Prophet. On the night of their departure, Asmaa was the one who
prepared a bag of food and a water
container for their
journey. She did not find anything though with which to tie the containers and
decided to use her waistband or nitaq. Abu
Bakr suggested that
she tear it into two. This she did and the Prophet commended her action. From
then on she became known as "the One
with the Two
Waistbands".
When the final
emigration from Makkah to Madinah took place soon aster the departure of the
Prophet, Asmaa was pregnant. She did not let her
pregnancy or the
prospect of a long and arduous journey deter her from leaving. As soon as she
reached Quba on the outskirts of Madinah, she
gave birth to a
son, Abdullah. The Muslims shouted Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) and Laa
ilaaha illa Allah (There is no God but Allah) in
happiness and
thanksgiving because this was the first child to be born to the muhajireen in
Madinah.
Asma a became known
from her tine and noble qualities and for the keenness of her intelligence. She
was an extremely generous person. Her
son Abdullah once
said of her, "I have not seen two women more generous than my aunt Aishah and my
mother Asmaa. But their generosity
was expressed in
different ways. My aunt would accumulate one thing after another until she had
gathered what she felt was sufficient and then
distributed it all
to those in need. My mother, on the other hand, would not keep anything even for
the morrow."
Asma's presence of
mind in difficult circumstances was remarkable. When her father let Makkah, he
took all his wealth, amounting to some six
thousand dirhams,
with him and did not leave any for his family. When Abu Bakr's father, Abu
Quhafah (he was still a mushrik) heard of his
departure he went
to his house and said to Asmaa:
"I understand that
he has left you bereft of money after he himself has abandoned you."
"No, grandfather,"
replied Asmaa, "in fact he has left us much money." She took some pebbles and
put them in a small recess in the wall where
they used to put
money. She threw a cloth over the heap and took the hand of her grandfather--he
was blind--and said, "See how much money
he has left us".
Through this
stratagem, Asmaa wanted to allay the fears of the old man and to forestall him
from giving them anything of his own wealth. This
was because she
disliked receiving any assistance from a mushrikeen if it was her own
grandfather.
She had a similar
attitude to her mother and was not inclined to compromise her honor and her
faith. Her mother, Qutaylah, once came to visit
her in Madinah. She
was not a Muslim and was divorced from her father in pre-Islamic times. Her
mother brought her gifts of raisins, clarified
butter and qaraz
(pods of a species of sant tree). Asma at first refused to admit her into her
house or accept the gifts. She sent someone to
Aishah to ask the
Prophet, peace be upon him, about her attitude to her mother and he replied that
she should certainly admit her to her house
and accept the
gifts. On this occasion, the following revelation came to the Prophet:
"God forbids you
not, with regard to those who do not fight you because of your faith nor drive
you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and
justly with them.
God loves those who are just. God only forbids you with regard to those who
fight you for your Faith, and drive you from your
homes, and support
others in driving you out, from turning to them (for friendship and protection).
It is such as turn to them (in these
circumstances) that
do wrong." (Surah al-Mumtahanah 6O: 8-9).
For Asmaa and
indeed for many other Muslims, life in Madinah was rather difficult at first.
Her husband was quite poor and his only major
possession to begin
with was a horse he had bought. Asma a herself described these early days:
"I used to provide
fodder for the horse, give it water and groom it. I would grind grain and make
dough but I could not bake well. The women of
the Ansar used to
bake for me. They were truly good women. I used to carry the grain on my head
from az-Zubayr's plot which the Prophet had
allocated to him to
cultivate. It was about three farsakh (about eight kilo meters) from the town's
center. One day I was on the road carrying the
grain on my head
when I met the Prophet and a group of Sahabah. He called out to me and stopped
his camel so that I could ride behind him. I
felt embarrassed to
travel with the Prophet and also remembered az-Zubayr's jealousy, he was the
most jealous of men. The Prophet realized
that I was
embarrassed and rode on."
Later, Asmaa
related to az-Zubayr exactly what had happened and he said, "By God, that you
should have to carry grain is far more distressing
to me than your
riding with (the Prophet)".
Asma a obviously
then was a person of great sensitivity and devotion. She and her husband worked
extremely hard together until their situation
of poverty
gradually changed. At times, however, az-Zubayr treated her harshly. Once she
went to her father and complained to him about this.
His reply to her
was: 'My daughter, have sabr for if a woman has a righteous husband and he dies
and she does not marry after him, they will be
brought together
again in Paradise."
Az-Zubayr
eventually became one of the richest men among the Sahabah but Asmaa did not
allow this to corrupt her principles. Her son,
al-Mundhir once
sent her an elegant dress from Iraq made of fine and costly material. Asmaa by
this time was blind. She felt the material and
said, "It's awful.
Take it back to him".
Al-Mundhir was
upset and said, "Mother. it was not transparent . "
"It may not be
transparent," she retorted, "but it is too tight fitting and shows the contours
of the body."
Al-Mundhir bought
another dress that met with her approval and she accepted it.
If the above
incidents and aspects of Asmaas life may easily be forgotten, then her final
meeting with her son, Abdullah, must remain one of the
most unforgettable
moments in early Muslim history. At that meeting she demonstrated the keenness
of her intelligence, her resoluteness and
the strength of her
faith.
Abdullah was in the
running for the Caliphate after the death of Yazid ibn Muawiyah. The Hijaz,
Egypt, Iraq, Khurasan and much of Syria were
favorable to him
and acknowledged him as the Caliph. The Ummayyads however continued to contest
the Caliphate and to field a massive army
under the command
of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ath-Thaqafi. Relentless battles were fought between the
two sides during which Abdullah ibn
az-Zubayr displayed
great acts of courage and heroism. Many of his supporters however could not
withstand the continuous strain of battle and
gradually began to
desert him. Finally he sought refuge in the Sacred Mosque at Makkah. It was then
that he went to his mother, now an old
blind woman, and
said:
"Peace be on you,
Mother, and the mercy and blessings of God." "Unto you be peace, Abdullah," she
replied. "What is it that brings you here at
this hour while
boulders from Hajjaj's catapults are raining down on your soldiers in the Haram
and shaking the houses of Makkah?"
"I came to seek
your advice," he said.
"To seek my
advice?" she asked in astonishment. "About what?"
"The people have
deserted me out of fear of Hajjaj or being tempted by what he has to offer. Even
my children and my family have left me. There
is only a small
group of men with me now and however strong and steadfast they are they can only
resist for an hour or two more. Messengers
of the Banu Umayyah
(the Umayyads) are now negotiating with me, offering to give me whatever worldly
possessions I want, should I lay down
my arms and swear
allegiance to Abdul Malik ibn Marwan. What do you think?" Raising her voice, she
replied: "It's your affair, Abdullah, and you know yourself better. If however
you think that you are right and that you are
standing up for the
Truth, then persevere and fight on as your companions who were killed under your
flag had shown perseverance. If however
you desire the
world, what a miserable wretch you are. You would have destroyed yourself and
you would have destroyed your men."
"But I will be
killed today, there is no doubt about it."
"That is better for
you than that you should surrender yourself to Hajjaj voluntarily and that some
minions of Banu Umayyah should play with
your head."
"I do not fear
death. I am only afraid that they will mutilate me."
"There is nothing
after death that man should be afraid of. Skinning does not cause any pain to
the slaughtered sheep."
Abdullah's face
beamed as he said: "What a blessed mother! Blessed be your noble qualities! I
have come to you at this hour to hear what I
have heard. God
knows that I have not weakened or despaired. He is witness over me that I have
not stood up for what I have out of love for
this world and its
attractions but only out of anger for the sake of God. His limits have been
transgressed. Here am I, going to what is pleasing to
you. So if I am
killed, do not grieve for me and commend me to God."
"I shall grieve for
you," said the aging but resolute Asmaa, "only if you are killed in a vain and
unjust cause."
"Be assured that
your son has not supported an unjust cause, nor committed any detestable deed,
nor done any injustice to a Muslim or a
Dhimmi and that
there is nothing better in his sight than the pleasure of God, the Mighty, the
Great. I do not say this to exonerate myself. God
knows that I have
only said it to make your heart firm and steadfast. "
"Praise be to God
who has made you act according to what He likes and according to what I like.
Come close to me, my son, that I may smell and
feel your body for
this might be the last meeting with you."
Abdullah knelt
before her. She hugged him and smothered his head, his face and his neck with
kisses. Her hands began to squeeze his body
when suddenly she
withdrew them and asked:
"What is this you
are wearing, Abdullah?"
"This is my armor
plate."
"This, my son, is
not the dress of one who desires martyrdom. Take it off. That will make your
movements lighter and quicker. Wear instead the
sirwal (a long
under garment) so that if you are killed your awrah will not be exposed.
Abdullah took off
his armor plate and put on the sirwal. As he left for the Haram to join the
fighting he said: "My mother, don't deprive me of your
dua (prayer)."
Raising her hands
to heaven, she prayed: "O Lord, have mercy on his staying up for long hours and
his loud crying in the darkness of the night
while people
slept... "O Lord, have mercy on his hunger and his thirst on his Journeys from
Madinah and Makkah while he fasted... "O Lord, bless
his righteousness
to his mother and his father... "O Lord, I commend him to Your cause and I am
pleased with whatever You decree for him. And
grant me for his
sake the reward of those who are patient and who persevere."
By sunset, Abdullah
was dead. Just over ten days later, his mother joined him. She was a hundred
years old. Age had not made her infirm nor
blunted the
keenness of her mind.
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