Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr (; 595/594 – 692 CE) was one of the companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and half-sister of his third wife Aisha. She is regarded as one of the most prominent Islamic figures, as she helped Muhammad during the Hijrah from Mecca to Medina.
Family
She was Abu Bakr's daughter. Her mother was Qutaylah bint Abd al-Uzza, and she was the full sister of Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr. Her half-sisters were Aisha and Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr, and her half-brothers were Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. She also had a stepmother from the Kinana tribe, Umm Ruman bint Amir, and a stepbrother, al-Tufayl ibn al-Harith al-Azdi. The historians Ibn Kathir and Ibn Asakir cite a tradition that Asma was ten years older than Aisha; but according to Al-Dhahabi, the age difference was thirteen to fifteen years.
Biography
Early life: 603/604–610
Asma's parents were divorced before Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam. Because of this she remained at her father's house.
Islam in Mecca: 610–622
Asma was one of the first to accept Islam, being listed fifteenth on Ibn Ishaq's list of those who accepted Islam at the invitation of Abu Bakr.
When Muhammad and Abu Bakr sought refuge in the cave of Tsur outside Mecca on their migration to Medina in 622, Asma used to carry food to them under cover of dark. When the two men left the cave, Asma tied the goods with the two belts of her cover, and for this ingenuity she received from Muhammad the title Dhat an-Nitaqayn, meaning "She of the Two Belts".
She was married to Zubayr ibn al-Awwam shortly before the Hijra. She joined him in Medina a few months later.
Medina: 623 onwards
Asma found her new neighbours to be "sincere women". She was a poor baker, and they used to make bread for her. She and Al-Zubayr arrived in Medina with "neither property nor slave nor any possession in the earth other than his horse." Asma used to feed the horse, taking it out to graze and grinding date-stones for it. Muhammad gave Al-Zubayr some date-palms in Medina, and Asma used to carry date-stones on her head from the garden to their home, a journey of about two miles. One day she passed Muhammad, who offered her a lift home on his camel, but fearing her husband's jealousy, she modestly refused. Al-Zubayr told her, however, that she should have accepted rather than carry such a heavy load on foot. When Abu Bakr eventually gave them a slave, Asma said that "it was as if he had set me free."
Her mother Qutaylah came to visit her in Medina, bringing gifts of dates, ghee, and mimosa leaves. Asma would not admit her to the house or accept the gifts until she had sent her sister Aisha to consult with Muhammad. Muhammad advised that it was correct for Asma to show hospitality to her mother”
Asma and Al-Zubayr had eight children.
Abd Allah
al-Mundhir. Asim. al-Muhajir. Khadija. Umm al-Hasan. A’isha. Urwah, a major transmitter of ahadith.
Asma was unhappy in her married life, for al-Zubayr was "the most jealous of people" and "hard on her." He took three additional wives in Medina, and "whenever Zubayr was angry with one of us, he used to beat her until the stick broke." She complained to her father, who advised her: “My daughter, be patient. When a woman has a righteous husband and he dies and she does not remarry after him, they will be reunited in the Garden.” Another of al-Zubayr's wives, Umm Kulthum bint Uqba, also complained of his "harshness" and "pestered" him into divorcing her after only a few months.
Al-Zubayr eventually divorced Asma "and took Urwa, who was young at that time."
The Battle of Yarmouk
The Battle of the Yarmuk in 636 is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history. The Muslims were hugely outnumbered by the Byzantines but, with the help of the women and the young boys amongst them, they drove the Byzantine Empire out of Syria.
Women like Hind bint Utbah and Asma bint Abi Bakr were instrumental in the Battle of the Yarmuk. The earliest histories pay great tribute to Asmā's bravery there. Al-Waqidi wrote that the Quraysh women fought harder than the men. Every time the men ran away, the women fought, fearing that if they lost, the Byzantines would enslave them.''