Women of Paradise

In the first issue, we learnt about the Black woman and her love for
Allaah. Once again we will take a trip back in time and visit another
great woman, Asmaa' bint Abi Bakr , one of the Sahabah (female
Companions) of the Prophet . This journey requires that we free our
minds from the ideas of modernists and pay special attention to the
life this blessed companion led, and compare it to our own lives. As
always, we will make this trip through the authentic narration from
the Scholars of Hadith. Brace yourselves as we now journey back in
time to the golden era at the time of the Prophet .
Asmaa' daughter of Abu Bakr said:"az-Zubair (Ibn al-`Awwam, the cousin
ofthe Prophet , through his aunt) married me. He had neither wealth,
slaveor anything else like it, except a camel (to get water) and a
horse. I used to graze his horse, [provide fodder to it and look after
it, and ground dates for his camel. Besides this, I grazed the camel],
made arrangements for providing [it with] water and patched up [his]
leather bucket and kneaded the flour. But I was not proficient in
baking the bread, so my female neighbors used tobake bread for me [and
they were sincere women]. And I used to carry on my head the stones
(seeds) of the d~tes from az-Zubair's land which Allaah's Messenger
had endowed him, and it wasat a distance of two miles(from Madinah).
"As I was one day carrying the stones of dates upon my head I happened
to meet Allaah's Messenger along with a group of hisCompanions. He
called me and said to the camel to sit down so that he should make me
ride behind him. I felt shy to go with men and I remembered az-Zuhair
and his gheerah (1) , and he was the man having the most gheerah. When
the Messenger of Allaah understood my shyness, he left. I came
toaz-Zubair and said: 'The Messenger of Allaah met me as I was
carrying the stones of the dates on my head, and there was with him a
group of his Companions, he said to the camel to sit down so that I
mount it, I felt shy from him, and remembered your gheerah.' Whereupon
he (az-Zubair) said: 'By Allaah, the carrying of dates' stone upon
your head is more severe a burden on me than riding with him.' [And I
led this life of hardship] until Abu Bakr sent afterwards a female
servant who took upon herself the responsibility of looking after the
horseand I felt as if she had emancipated me (2) ." Remember that
Asmaa' was the sister in law of the Prophet !
Asmaa' reported: "I performed the householdduties of az-Zubair and he
had a horse, I used to look after it. Nothing was(more) for me than
looking after the horse. I used to bring grass for it and looked after
it, then Igot a servant as Allaah's Messenger had some prisoners of
war in his possession. He gave me a female servant. She then began to
look after the horse and thus relieved me of this burden. A person
came and he said:'Mother of Abdullah, I am a destitute person and I
intend that I should start business under the shadow of your house.' I
(Asmaa') said: 'If I grant you permission, az Zubairmay not agree to
that, so you come and make a demand of it when az-Zubair is also
present there.'
He came accordingly and said: 'Mother of Abdullah,I am a destitute
person. I intend to start small business in the shadow of your house.
I said: 'Is there not in Madinah (any place for starting the business)
except my house?' Az-Zubair said: 'Why is it that you prohibit the
destitute man to start business here?' So he started business and he
(earned so much) that we sold our slave-girl to him. Az-Zubair came to
me while the money was in my lap. He said: 'Give this to me.' I said:
'(I intend) to spend it in charity.'" [Muslim] Notice how Asmaa' had
been in favorof allowing that person to start business under the
shadow of their house, but she did not like to do anything whichcould
be a source of annoyance or disgust to her husband. She, therefore,
posed a question in order to solicit the opinion of her husband and
when his reaction was found favorable, she agreed to this proposal.
Dear Sister, Allaah (T) has made you a protected jewel in Islam whom
the liberalists are trying to make an object of trade, and the
modernists [among Muslims] are trying to strip you of your modesty and
shyness. Read these ahadith carefully, over and over, and ponder on
them very deeply. They contain a gold mine for both women and men.
Asmaa' had thefollowing credits to her personality (among others):
*. She was one of the most noble women of Arabia at that time.
*. The daughter of the pure and the noble AbuBakr , the leader of his
tribe, and the first Caliph of Islam.
*. The sister-in-law of the best of mankind. Mohammad , who named her
"Thaatun-Nitaaqayn" (the one with two belts), for her heroic act
during the Hijrah [migration] of the Prophet and Abu Bakr , from
Makkah to Madinah.
*. The sister of the most knowledgeable woman, 'Aishah who is among
the only seven Companions of the Prophet who narrated more than a
thousand ahadith.
*. The wife of az-Zubair Ibn al-`Awwaam, one ofthe ten people promised
Paradise by the Messenger of Allaah . Az-Zubair was brave, courageous
and defended the Prophet with his sword.
*. The Mother of ameerul-mu'mineen 'Abdullah Ibn az-Zubair who was
given bay`a inHijaz and was killed by al-Hajjaaj (3) : and
*. the mother of 'Urwah, who when he entered in prayer he would forget
about this life It was 'Urwah who when his leg had to be cut, was told
to drink wine as an anesthesia but refused to drink wine and instead,
gave intructions to cut it while he was in prayer. They did, and he
did not feel anything until he woke up.
Asmaa', may Allaah (T) be pleased with her, was one of the most noble
personalities, yet was veiled and shy in front of men. She refused to
be with men, mingle with them, ride among them or go with them; and.
by Allaah, the men being talked about were no ordinary men! They
werethe Messenger of Allaah , and his Companions. She served her
husband as a true wife should, staying at home to take care of her
household. She was very careful at guarding and preserving her honor,
and the honorof her husband. Did she ever pressure az-Zubair by
reminding him of her honorable lineage as the daughter of the noble
Abu Bakr? She was patient for the hardship she went through, and was
loving and respectfultowards her husband. Can a woman be richer than
Asmaa'?
Her father, Abu Bakr , was a rich merchant. Yet, she carried stones of
dates on her head, and walked miles to get water and date seeds. She
also dealtwith horses and camels [which she did not do in her father'
s house], baked bread, pleased herhusband, yet would not takc
decisions without him, even if it were an obvious decision for the
pleasure of Allaah (T).
Dear sister, wake up! Realize that the modernists and liberalistsare
leading you to a pathother than the path of the Believers. Allaah (T)
says (the meaning (of which is): And whoever contends with, and
contradicts the Messenger after guidance has been clearly conveyed to
him, and chooses a path otherthan that of the Faithful Believers, We
shall leave him in the Path he has chosen and land him in Hell, what
an evil refuge!" [an Nisaa 4:115] (4) .
Which path leads you to happiness of this world and the hereafter, to
the pleasure of Allaah (T) andthe company of Asmaa' in Paradise? Is it
the path of tabarruj (5) and .sufoor (6) and Ikhtilaat (7) or the path
of Hijab and Modesty?
Remember the golden words of Asmaa' when she said:"I felt shy to go
with men, and I remembered az-Zubair and his gheerah." Remember also
what the Black woman said: "But I become uncovered, so please invoke
Allaah for me [make du'a to Allaah for me] that I may not become
uncovered." This illustrates what kind of a pure and clean society it
was, and what kind of amazing women they were. They were the followers
of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the Salafthat we are proud to follow. We
ask you to think about this, and pray to Allaah (T) to makeus all
among the pure women and men whom Allaah (T) is pleased with,and whom
the Messengerof Allaah will be pleased and happy to meet in Paradise,
for theyfollowed his Sunnah. though they never met him: and they
followed the practice of his Companions, though theynever met them
either.
Imagine, dear sister. that you are among the blessed ones who
succeeded in passing over the Sirat (8) , and found in front of you
the Hawdh (pool) of the Prophet and you drank from it. Imagine
yourself entering Jannah? and findhlg RasoolAllaah who he ishappy to
see you. Imagine you are among those whom he called"my brethren" (9) .
Imagine yourself among the blessed ones when the veil will be
withdrawn, and the people of the Paradise"will not have known anything
dearer to them than looking upon the Countenance of their Lord."
[Muslim] Indeed, the reward of Allaah (T) isinvaluable; the reward
ofAllaah (T) is Paradise; its price is following and practicing the
Qur'an andthe Sunnah the way that Asmaa' and az-Zubair andall the
Sahabah did (may Allaah (T) be pleased withthem all).
Back home to the fifteenth century Hijrah [twentieth of the Christian era] ...
We hope and pray that after journeying throughthese authentic ahadith
with us, we can put into practice all that we have learnt. We remind
you that our happiness, the pleasure of our eyes and the comfort of
our heartsstart with you by your following of the Qur'an and the
Sunnah and the practice of the Salaf:
We hope to see you insha'Allaah in our next trip to the golden age
through some other ayahs of the Qur'an and the authentic ahadith.
(1) the feeling of honor a man has towards the female members of his family.
(2) al-Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad; additional narration in brackets "[
]"are from Muslim.
(3) Abdullah Ibn az-Zubair (R) sought advice trom his mother Asmaa' in
fighting al Hajjaaj and hisameer AbdulMalik after these two called him
to surrender in peace. She replied: lf you went out [in fighting] to
revive theBook of Allaah (T) and the Sunnah of His Prophet, know that
the goat does not get tortured by slaughtering [i.e. once slain, it
does not feel anything when the skin is removed]. So die on the truth.
But if you went out seeking theworldly life, then there is no goodness
in you alive or dead. My Son! Die withhonor and dignity and do not
surrender. [Musnad al Haiku]. After this meeting with Asmaa'.Abdullah
went out to fight ...he was killed in Makkah ... May Allaah (T) have
Mercy on him and be pleased with him.
(4) The faithful believers are the Sahabah [the companions of the
Prophet ]. Shaikh-ul-lslam Ibn Taymeeyah commented on this verse"All
who contradict and oppose the Messenger after the right path has been
clearly shown to them. have followed other than the Path of the
believers: and all whofollow other than the Path of the believers have
contradicted and opposed the Messenger after the right Path has been
shown to them. If one thinks that he is following the Path of the
Faithful believers and is mistaken, he is in the same position as one
who thinks he is following the Messenger and is mistaken"
(5) Displaying one's beauty
(6) Revealing beauty
(7) Mingling with men
(8) The narrow bridge hanging over hell.
(9) Part of the hadith fromSahih Muslim which continues: '...the
Sahaabah replied "Aren't we your brethren?'' He said: "You are my
companions; my brethrenare people who come later, believe in me (and
obviously follow me), even though they did notsee me."' This hadith
will be the subject of one of our future articles, whereit will be
referenced appropriately. and mentioned in its entirety,insha'Allaah.

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