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| Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
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| Abu_Hamza |
| 03/22/04 at 00:42:48 |
| [slm] Subhan Allah! This story tells us why Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr was the great warrior and aabid [worshipper] that he was! ............................................................................................................ [color=black]Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr was in the running for the Caliphate after the death of Yazid ibn Mu'awiyah. The Hijaz, Egypt, Iraq, Khurasan and much of Syria were favourable 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, Asmaa', 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 wordly 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 ageing 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 fo 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 armour plate." "This, my son, ls 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 armour 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 du'aa (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 hundre` years old. Age had not made her infirm nor blunted the keenness of her mind.[/color] |
| Re: Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
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| rkhan |
| 03/22/04 at 02:02:24 |
| [slm] Jazaaakumullaah bro, for posting this. [quote] "I came to seek your advice," he said. "To seek my advice?" she asked in astonishment. "About what?" [/quote] Subhaanallah!! We see so little of this today -- a son asking a mother for advice and actually following it!! As the Prophet SAW prophesied...towards the end of time a man will shun his parents and cultivate his friends. May Allaah swt help the Muslim women of today learn from those who preceded them in Islaam. |
| 03/22/04 at 02:26:06 |
| rkhan |
| Re: Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
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| rkhan |
| 03/22/04 at 02:07:09 |
| [slm] Feeling inspired by the thread ...am posting some biographies of the Prophet SAW's women companions .... may Alllaah swt inspire us to emulate them in spirit, word and and deeds UMM UMARA (RA) Umm Umara belonged to the family of Banu Najjar. She was a woman of extraordinary ability, valour and excellence. She loved the Prophet more than her own self and her family and the Prophet also had a great regard and affection for her. Owing to her extreme love for Allah's Deen (religion) and His Messenger, even the very prominent Companions took a pride in knowing her. She was one of the two women who took part with seventy three men in the Second Covenant of 'Aqabah with the Prophet during the Pilgrimage before the Hijrah (Tabaqat), Ibn Sa'd). She participated in the Battle of Uhud and supplied drinking water to the fighting men and attended the wounded. When the Muslim force was retreating, Umm Umara threw away the water bag, took hold of a sword and shield, and began to defend the Prophet. The polytheists (mushrikun) attacked the Prophet again and again, but she, along with other Companions, defended him very bravely. It was a very delicate moment and very many brave men had lost their spirits but this courageous woman remained firm in her place defending the Prophet against heavy enemy attack. When one enemy, flashing his sword, attacked the Prophet, Umm Umara took it on her shield and then struck the leg of his horse with such force that both the horse and the rider fell to the ground. The Prophet, seeing this, called her son Abdullah to help his mother. He jumped, and killed him with one stroke of his sword. At the same time, another enemy rushed on her son and injured him on the left arm, then went away. In the meantime, the same man who had wounded Abdullah came to attack the Prophet again, and he said, "Umm Umara, be careful. He is the same man who wounded Abdullah. Umm Umara fell on him with vengeance and struck him such a blow with her sword that he fell down in two pieces. The Prophet, seeing this, smiled and said, "Umm Umara, you have well avenged your son." Ibn Qamiyah suddenly attacked the Prophet and his sword fell on the Prophet's armour, causing two links of its chains to pierce the Prophet's cheek and blood came running down from his face. It had happened suddenly. Umm Umara became desperate and rushed forward and stopped Ibn Qamiyah. He was a famous rider of the Quraish but Umm Umara, without fear or hesitation, attacked him with courage. As he was wearing two coats of arms, her sword did not do any damage and he had the chance to attack again. This time, Umm Umara received a wound on her shoulder which left a deep hole in it, but Ibn Qamiyah did not dare stand there and rode away swiftly on his horse (Ibn Hisham). Blood was flowing from her wound and the Prophet himself attended to it and applied a bandage and, mentioning many names of his brave Companions, said, "By Allah! Today Umm Umara showed more courage than all of them." Umm Umara asked the Prophet to pray that she should be in his company even in Paradise. The Prophet prayed for her with great humility in these words: "O Allah! Put them in my company in Paradise." Umm Umara was very pleased at this and instantaneously these words were on her tongue, "Now I do not care about any suffering in the world." When the battle was over, the Prophet did not go home until he heard from Abdullah ibn Ka'b that Umm Umara was well. The Prophet used to say that on the day of Uhud, wherever he looked, to the right or to the left, he saw Umm Umara fighting. According to one report, she received twelve wounds in the Battle of Uhud. According to Ibn Sa'd, after the Battle of Uhud, she participated in the Covenant of Ridwan at Hudaibiyah, the Battle of Khaibar, Umrat al-Qada and the Battle of Hunain. According to one report, she also accompanied the Prophet in the Victory of Makkah expedition. In the time of Abu Bakr, Umm Umara took part in the battle of Yamamah against Musailimah Kadhdhab. He had murdered her son Habib in a very brutal and beastly way. When she heard about it, she bore it patiently, but swore that either Musailimah would be killed or she would give her life. In this battle, she saw Musailimah and advanced towards him, receiving wound upon wound, but making headway towards him with her spear. In this struggle, she received twelve wounds and lost one of her arms. Reaching Musailimah, she was about to launch her attack with her spear, when simultaneously, two weapons struck him and he fell in parts on the ground. When she raised her eyes, she found her son Abdullah standing close to her and also saw Wahshi (the killer of Hamza) standing nearby. She then prostrated herself before Allah in thankfulness. Umm Umara loved the Prophet very passionately and was even ready to sacrifice her life or anything else for him. The Prophet also had a deep affection for her and occasionally paid a visit to her in her house. It is reported that once the Prophet went to her house and she offered him some food. The Prophet said, "When something is eaten before a person who is fasting, the angels send darud on him (or her)." Then the Prophet ate in front of Umm Umara (Musnad, Ahmad and Isabah). According to one report, after the Prophet, Abu Bakr Siddiq used to go to Umm Umara's house to enquire about her. Umm Umara has narrated a few ahadith. |
| 03/22/04 at 02:24:55 |
| rkhan |
| Re: Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
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| rkhan |
| 03/22/04 at 02:10:59 |
UMM AIMAN (RA) Umm Aiman was a maid of the Prophet's father and it was she who brought him to Makkah from Madinah after his mother's death when he was only six years old. After the death of her first husband, she married Zaid ibn Harithah. The Prophet loved her as his own mother and had a great regard for her. When the Prophet fell ill after despatching a force under the leadership of Usamah ibn Zaid to avenge the losses in the Battle of Mu'tah, it was Umm Aiman who recognised the symptoms of the coming death of the Prophet and sent a messenger after Usamah informing him of the sad incident and bringing him back. It is narrated in Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd that when Umm Aiman was weeping bitterly at the death of the Prophet, she said, "I know that we are separated from the Prophet, but I weep for this: that the chain of revelation has now ended." Safiyyah bint Abdul Muttalib Safiyah was the aunt of the Prophet and loved him very much. It was Safiyah who killed a Jew who was spying around their castle during the Battle of the Trenches. She was a very brave and fearless woman and the Prophet had great regard for her. When the Muslim force suffered defeat by the mistake of the archers in the Battle of Uhud, and there was some confusion in the Muslim camp, Safiyah left Madinah with a spear in her hand and aroused a sense of shame and honour among those who were returning from the battlefield and said with anger, "You have left leaving the Messenger of Allah (on the battlefield)." When the Prophet saw Safiyah coming to the battlefront, he asked her brave son Zubair, "Let Safiyah not see the dead body of her brother Hamza." When she came to know of it, she said that she knew her brother's dead body had been mutilated. By Allah! she did not like that but she would patiently bear it. According to Hafiz Ibn Hajar, she recited funeral lament (marthiya) at the martyrdom of Hamza. The Prophet had, in his childhood, received training and rearing in the same house with Safiyah. She therefore had an unusual affection for the Prophet and the Prophet had also a very close relationship with her. She wrote a very sorrowful funeral oration at the death of the Prophet. |
| 03/22/04 at 02:28:28 |
| rkhan |
| Re: Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
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| rkhan |
| 03/22/04 at 02:15:53 |
| ASMA' BINT 'UMAIS KHATHAMIYAH' (R) Asma' was married to three great men one after the other. After the martyrdom of Jafar ibn Abi Talib in the Battle of Mu'tah, she married Abu Bakr Siddiq and, after him, Ali. Once there was an argument between 'Umar Farooq and Asma' about who was closest to Allah's Messenger. 'Umar was insisting that because of their migration (hijrat) to Medinah, he and his people were more entitled to Allah's Messenger's nearness, while Asma' argued that because of their hijrat first to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and then to Madinah, her people held a closer position to Allah's Messenger. When the Prophet heard this, he told Asma': "He is not more entitled to me than you are. 'Umar and his Companions have made one hijrat and you (the people of the boat) have made two hijrat (one from Makkah to Ethiopia and the second from Ethiopia to Medinah). Hearing this from the lips of the Prophet, Asma' was so happy and excited that instantaneously the words of the takbir and tahlil came into her mouth. When this incident was known to the Muhajirun of Ethiopia they came to her in batallions and separately asked her to narrate the whole thing again. Asma' said that to the Muhajirun of Ethiopia there was nothing more pleasing and encouraging than these words of the Prophet. At the death of Jafar in the Battle of Mu'tah, Allah's Messenger went to Asma's house and kissed her children's foreheads and held them to his breast. Asma', seeing the Prophet in tears, became very upset and said: "O Allah's Messenger, my parents be sacrificed for you, why are you grieved? Have you received any news about Jafar?" The Prophet said, "Yes, he has been martyred." Hearing this awful news, Asma' screamed and the neighbouring women came to comfort her. The Prophet went home and advised his household to look after Jafar's family. On the third day after Jafar's martyrdom, Allah's Messenger again went to Asma's house and advised her to bear this shock with patience and perseverance. Afterwards, the Prophet married her to Abu Bakr Siddiq. She was at Makkah on Pilgrimage when her son Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was born. She asked the Prophet, "O Allah's Messenger! What should I do?" The Prophet replied, "Take a bath and put on Ihram for the Pilgrimage." When Abu Bakr Siddiq died in 13 A.H., she married Ali. Asma' is regarded as among the most distinguished of the women Companions who were intelligent, rightly-guided and close to Allah's Messenger. The Prophet was very kind to her and she also loved the Prophet immensely. It is narrated in the Musnad of Ahmad b.Hanbal that she directly benefited (spiritually) from the Prophet. Once the Prophet taught her a supplication (dua') and asked her to read at the time of pain and suffering. The Prophet loved her children very much. It is narrated by Hakim in Mustadrak that once her young son was playing with children when the Prophet passed that way. He lifted him up and made him ride with him. It is narrated that once when the Prophet found Asma's children looking very lean and weak, he asked her why they were like that. She said, "O Allah's Messenger, they are prone to an evil eye very quickly." The Prophet said, "Read something to dispel this." Asma' then read out some special words and told the Prophet that these words were said to be very useful against the evil eye, but should she read them for this purpose? As there was no admixture of shirk (polytheism) in it, the Prophet said that there was no harm in doing so (Muslim). Hafiz Ibn Hajar says that Asma' was expert in the interpretation of dreams and 'Umar often asked her for the interpretation of his dreams (Isabah). Asma' has narrated sixty ahadith from the Prophet. UMM SULAIM (R) Umm Sulaim was the mother of Anas. When the Prophet migrated to Madinah, Umm Sulaim one day came to him with her son, Anas, who was only ten years old, and said, "O Allah's Messenger! this is my son Anas. I would very much like him to serve you and be included among your servants and that you will pray for him." The Prophet greatly appreciated her feeling of sincerity and love and then very kindly took her son close to him and prayed for him (Muslim and Bukhari). She was one of the excellent and devout women Companions of the Prophet and the Prophet often went to her house. After the hijra, when the Prophet established the relation of brotherhood (mwa'khat) between the Muhajirun and the Ansar, it was at the house of Umm Sulaim where the Prophet gathered together all the muhajirun and the Ansar for this historic purpose (Bukhari). Umm Sulaim particiapted in many battles with the Prophet and served the fighters in various ways. In the Battle of Uhud, Umm Sulaim, along with 'A'ishah , provided drinking water to the wounded (Muslim). When the Prophet married Zainab in the year 5 A.H., Umm Sulaim made some paste of wheat flour and sent it to the Prophet by her son Anas and asked him to request the Prophet to accept her humble little gift. (Bukhari). In the year 7 A.H., when the Prophet and some Companions marched to Khaiber, Umm Sulaim, along with some other women Companions, followed them. When the Prophet asked them why they had come, they replied, "O Allah's Messenger, we spin the wool and with this provide assistance in the Way of Allah. We have equipment for the wounded soldiers. We will give arrows to the archers and provide barley drinks to the soldiers." Hearing this, the Prophet allowed them to stay with him in the battlefield. When the Prophet married Safiyah after the battle of Khaibar, it was Umm Sulaim who prepared her as a bride for the Prophet (Muslim). In the Battle of Hunain, when the Muslim army, in disarray and confusion, began retreating, Umm Sulaim and her husband Abu Talha were standing quite close to the Prophet. Umm Sulaim had a dagger in her hand. When the Prophet asked her, "What will you do with it?" She replied, "If any one comes near, I will pierce this through his belly." Hearing this, the Prophet smiled. (Muslim). It is narrated that the Prophet always kept Umm Sulaim and some women of the Ansar with him in battles. They provided drinking water to the soldiers and attended to the sick and wounded. Umm Sulaim loved and respected the Prophet immensely and the Prophet also held her in great esteem. According to some reports, the Prophet visited few women other than Ummahat alMu'minin, but Umm Sulaim was an exception. When people asked about it, the Prophet said, "I feel compassion for her; her brother Haram suffered martyrdom in my company" (Muslim). This bears testimony that the Prophet often went to the house of Umm Sulaim. Umm Sulaim had so much love and respect for the Prophet that whenever he rested in her house, she kept his perspiration and fallen hair in a bottle as a blessing (Bukhari). Sometimes, when the Prophet offered his prayer in her house, she spread a mat for him. Once the Prophet drank water from her leather water bag. She got up and cut the mouth of the bag and kept it with her because the blessed lips of the Prophet had touched it (Muslim). According to Ibn Sa'd when the Prophet had his hair cut at Mina after the Pilgrimage, Umm Sulaim asked her husband Abu Talha to get the hair from the barber; he did so, and Umm Sulaim kept it all in a bottle as a blessing. (Tabaqat). The Prophet had also a great affection for her. When the Prophet was getting ready for the Pilgrimage, he asked Umm Sulaim, "Will you go on the Pilgrimage?" She replied, "O Allah's Messenger! My husband has two mounts, and he, along with his son, have gone to the Pilgrimage on them. I have now no mount." The Prophet made her ride with Ummahat al-Mu'minin and thus took her with him on the Pilgrimage. One day, the Prophet came to the house of Umm Sulaim and found her young son Abu Umair looking very sad. He asked Umm Sulaim, "What is the matter? Today Abu Umair is a bit listless." She replied, "O Allah's Messenger, his sparrow with which he used to play has died today; that is why he is grieved." The Prophet called Abu Umair to him and, putting hand kindly on his head, said smilingly, "O Abu Umair, what has your Naghir (the name of the sparrow) done?" Abu Umair laughed in reply and then he became busy in his play. Since then, this sentence of the Prophet has become proverbial. Once the Prophet came to visit Umm Sulaim and she offered him some dates and butter. The Prophet said that he was fasting. After some time, the Prophet offered his prayer and prayed for the family of Umm Sulaim. Umm Sulaim said, "O Allah's Messenger! I love my son Anas, who is now serving you immensely. Offer a special prayer for him." The Prophet raised his hands and prayed for Anas in these words: "O Allah! Give him wealth, and a long life." It was as a result of his prayer that Anas became the richest man among the Ansar and had a long life and many children. Once Abu Talha came home and told Umm Sulaim that the Prophet was hungry and she should send some food to him. She gave a few loaves of bread to her son Anas and asked him to go and feed the Prophet. When Anas reached the Mosque, there was a crowd of people around the Prophet. The Prophet asked Anas, "Has Abu Talha sent you?" He replied that that was so. Then the Prophet asked him, "For food?" and he replied, "Yes." The Prophet, along with all his Companions, came to Umm Sulaim's house. Abu Talha was afraid that the food would not be sufficient for so many men. He asked Umm Sulaim, "Now what should be done so that all the Companions can be fed?" She replied very patiently, "Allah and His Messenger know best." Then whatever was in the house they put before the Prophet and his Companions. With Allah's Blessing, they all ate with full satisfaction. Once a man came to the Prophet in a very bad state and asked for food. It so happened that on that day there was nothing in the Prophet's house, so he looked towards his Companions and said, "Is there anyone who can take him as his guest?" Hearing this, Abu Talha stood up and told the Prophet that he would take him as his guest. When he came home with his guest and asked Umm Sulaim about food, she told him that there was only enough food for the children, and nothing else in the house. So they put the children to sleep and placed the food before the guest and Umm Sulaim, pretending to adjust the candle, put it out, and the guest ate the food while Abu Talha and Umm Sulaim sat with him pretending to be eating with him. Thus they and their children remained hungry that night but fed the guest of Allah's Messenger. Next morning, when Abu Talha went to the Prophet, he was reciting this verse: "But give them preference over themselves even though poverty was their (own) lot." [Qur'aan 59:9] Then the Prophet, turning to Abu Talha, said, "Your treatment last night of your guest is greatly liked by Allah." Umm Sulaim possessed great virtues. She had such a strong faith that she embraced Islam in spite of her first husband's opposition, and he became angry and went to Syria. Later on, Abu Talha wanted to marry her, but she refused and told him that she would only marry him if he embraced Islam and that his acceptance of Islam would be her marriage dowry. Abu Talha accepted Islam and married Umm Sulaim (Isabah, Ibn sa'd). UMM HARAM BINT MILHAN (R) Umm Haram was a woman of great excellence and reputation. Umm Sulaim was her sister. In the Battle of Uhud, she lost both her husband and son, but bore this shock with patience and perseverance. She had another terrible shock when her dear brother Haram ibn Milhan was brutally murdered by the enemies of Islam in the famous incident of Bi'r Ma'una. Umm Haram was overtaken by grief but submitted patiently to the Will of Allah. The Prophet also felt this brutal murder of Haram very much. The Prophet had a great regard for Umm Haram and her sister Umm Sulaim and he often visited their houses and took meals with them. One day, after the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet went to Quba' and visited Umm Haram in her house and had a meal and then rested there. Umm Haram began to comb his hair with her fingers when he went to sleep. But after a while, he woke up and said smilingly, "I saw in a dream some people of my Ummah on a sea journey in the Way of Allah." She said, "O Allah's Messenger! Pray that I also may have the honour to be in the company of those people." The Prophet prayed and again went to sleep. After some time, he woke up smiling and narrated the same dream. She again requested the same prayer. The Prophet said that she was with this party (Zurqani and Isaba). Umm Haram was very pleased at this news, which was fulfilled in 28 Hijrah when Mu'awiyah invaded Cyprus with a fleet of ships and Umm Haram accompanied the Muslim force. She fell from her mount and died. She was buried in that island (Usd al-Ghabah; Zurqani; Bukhari and Ibn Athir). A few ahadith are narrated from Umm Haram and among her narrators are famous people like Anas ibn Malik and Ubadah ibn Samit. |
| 03/22/04 at 02:31:31 |
| rkhan |
| Re: Asmaa' bint Abu Bakr (radiAllahu anhumaa) |
|---|
| rkhan |
| 03/22/04 at 02:17:34 |
| ASMA' BINT ABI BAKR (R) Asma' is one of the Sabiqun al-Awwalun and is considered eighteenth in the order of acceptance of Islam. When the Prophet was ordered to migrate to Madinah, he went to Abu Bakr's house to tell him. Asma' prepared food for them for two or three days and put it in a bag. As there was nothing to tie it up with, she at once tore her waist belt into two pieces and tied up the ends of the bag with one piece and with the other tied up the mouth of the water-carrier. From then, she had the title of that alnitaqain. (Bukhari). In some narrations she is called that al-nitaq. (Bukhari). When the Prophet and Abu Bakr Siddiq quietly left Makkah, Abu Jah'l, enraged by their escape, came to Abu Bakr's house and shouted at Asma', and said, "Where is your father, girl?" She replied, How do I know?" Infuriated by this reply, he struck Asma' in her face, which broke her ear-ring, and then went away. Asma' quietly bore this punishment and went inside. It is reported that she also went at night to the mountain of Thaur, with her brother Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, taking fresh food for the Prophet and her father. After the Hijrah, when the first Muslim child, Abdullah ibn Zubair, was born, Asma' took him to the Prophet . He took him in his lap and chewed one date in his mouth and then put its paste into the mouth of the baby. Then he prayed for the child. 'A'ishah Siddiqa took the title of Umm Abdullah after her nephew Abdullah. Asma' spent the first few years at Madinah in very straitened circumstances. She had to work hard on the farm, which was about two or three miles from Medinah. Every day, she went to the farm and brought date-stones on her head for the camel. She ground these date-stones for the camel and supplied grass to the horse, and brought water in the water carrier from the well for them. (Ibn Hajar Asqalani and Tabarani). Asma' was a very pious, patient and truthful woman and there are not very many examples in history of courage such as hers. She even broke the pride of a tyrant ruler like Hajjaj ibn Yusuf but did not bend. In spite of this she was humble, unpretentious and modest. She performed the Pilgrimage many times, the first time with the Prophet . (Muslim). Her piety and courage was well known. People often asked her to say a prayer for them. Whenever any woman had a fever and came for a prayer (dua'), she sprinkled cold water on her and told them that the Prophet said, "Fever is from the heat of hell; cool it with water." (Bukhari). She was very generous and gave everything in charity. According to Abdullah ibn Zubair, "I have not seen anyone more generous than my mother." Zubair was a bit harsh, so one day Asma' asked the Prophet , "O Allah's Messenger, can I give something to the orphans and the destitute from the wealth of Zubair without his permission?" The Prophet told her that she could. Once the Prophet advised his Companions to give as much charity (sadaqa) in the Way of Allah as they could. The Companions acted on this advice of the Prophet with great enthusiasm, vying with one another. Women Companions took off their ornaments and jewellery and gave them in charity. Asma' had one maid; she sold her and took the money. When Zubair came home and asked for the money, she said that she had given it in charity (sadaqa). Zubair was silent, for he also sought the Pleasure of Allah and His Messenger. It is reported that she took part in the Battle of Yarmuk and did great service to the soldiers in many ways. Asma' narrated fifty-six hadith from the Prophet , which were transmitted by Bukhari, Muslim and Sunnan and other very eminent Companions. [Info taken from www.prophetmuhammad.org] |
| 03/22/04 at 02:20:52 |
| rkhan |
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