Asma bint Yazid ibn al-Sakan al-Ansariyyah al-Awsiyah was
a noble female companion of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known by the kunya
Umm Salamah, and it is also said that she was known as Umm 'Amir. Her husband
was 'Amir ibn Nabi from the Banu Salamah tribe. God blessed her with two sons
from him, 'Amir and Salamah. Her mother was the paternal aunt of the noble
companion Mu'adh ibn Jabal.
She embraced Islam in the first year of the Hijra at the
hands of Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr. She was among the first women to pledge allegiance
to the Prophet, along with Umm Sa'd ibn Mu'adh (Kabshah bint Rafi') and Hawwa'
bint Yazid. She cherished this precedence and took pride in it (as recorded in
Ibn Sa'd's "Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir").
She grew up in a family known for its sacrifice and
participation in jihad. Her father and brother, 'Amir, were martyred at the
Battle of Uhud. It is narrated that her brother 'Amir shielded the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) with his own body. As for her uncle Ziyad ibn
al-Sakan, he was weakened and debilitated by the wounds he sustained at the
Battle of Uhud. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
"Bring him closer to me." He rested his head on the Prophet's foot
and died a martyr, his cheek against the Prophet's foot (peace and blessings be
upon him).
Such was her strength of faith and patience in the face
of adversity that when she heard of their martyrdom at the Battle of Uhud, she
went out to check on the safety of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings
be upon him) as he returned from Uhud. Upon seeing him, she said, "Every
calamity after you is insignificant and easy, O Messenger of Allah."
She witnessed the Battle of the Trench and the Battle of
Khaybar, and she went out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to
the Levant, where she participated in the Battle of Yarmouk. She provided water
to the thirsty and tended to the wounded alongside the Muslim women, and she
joined them in striking those Muslim soldiers who fled the battle.
She absorbed as much of the Holy Quran and the Prophetic
traditions as she could, and she would ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) about the intricacies of her religion. Therefore, she became known
among the women of the Ansar as the orator of the women. It is narrated that
she was the woman with the dark cheeks who questioned the Messenger of God when
he said to women, "You are the majority of the fuel for Hell." The
Prophet replied, "Because you complain excessively and are ungrateful to
your husbands." He then said, "So they began giving charity from
their jewelry, throwing their earrings and rings into Bilal's garment."
(Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah; Source: Sahih Muslim; Hadith classification:
Sahih). It is also said that she may have been the woman who came asking the
Prophet to dedicate a special session to teaching women. (Source: Ibn Hajar).
Asma bint Yazid was one of the narrators of hadith from
the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It is reported that 81
hadiths were narrated from him, and a number of prominent followers of the
Companions narrated from her, as well as the authors of the four Sunan
collections: Abu Dawud, Al-Nasa’i, Al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah. It is narrated
that she said, “The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by me
while I was with some of my peers. He greeted us and said, ‘Beware of being
ungrateful to those who have bestowed blessings upon you! Beware of being
ungrateful to those who have bestowed blessings upon you!’ One of them said,
‘We seek refuge in God, O Prophet of God, from being ungrateful for God’s blessings.’
He said, ‘Yes, indeed. One of you may remain unmarried for a long time, then
become angry and say, “By God, I have never seen a single good thing from him!”
That is ingratitude for God’s blessings, and that is ingratitude to those who
have bestowed blessings upon you. Beware of being ungrateful to those who have
bestowed blessings upon you! Perhaps one of you may remain unmarried from her
parents for a long time, then God will bless her with a husband and a child
from him, and she will become angry and be ungrateful, saying, “I have never
seen a single good thing from you!” (Source: Sahih al-Adab) The singular: the
hadith scholar's conclusion (Al-Albani): authentic without mentioning the
hand). She is the one who narrated on the authority of the Messenger of God,
may God bless him and grant him peace, that he said, “Shall I not inform you of
the best among you?” They said, "Yes, O Messenger of God!" He said,
"The best among you are those who, when seen, remind one of God
Almighty" (Source: Sahih Ibn Majah (Al-Albani); the hadith scholar's
conclusion: authentic due to other evidence).
It is sufficient honor for Asma bint al-Sakan that the
verse concerning the waiting period for divorced women was revealed in her
case. It was narrated that she said, “I was divorced during the time of the
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and there was no waiting period for
divorced women. Then the Almighty’s words were revealed: “And divorced women
shall wait three menstrual periods before remarrying. It is not lawful for them
to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and
the Last Day (Al-Baqarah 2:228). Asma was the first woman to observe a waiting
period in Islam.” (Narrated by Asma bint Yazid; Source: Abu Dawud and
al-Bayhaqi).
She died in 69 AH during the caliphate of Abd al-Malik
ibn Marwan, and her grave is in Damascus at Bab al-Hadid. The young woman, but
her deeds remain a light and a guiding beacon for women seeking guidance amidst
the profound darkness of our time (Siyar A'lam al-Nubala').
تعليقات