INSPIRATION FOR WOMEN: ASMA BINT ABU BAKR (RA)

Authentic Islam as seen by a woman: Asma, r.a., the daughter of Abu Bakr, r,a.

 “And their Lord has accepted of them, and answered them: ‘Never will I allow to be lost the work of any of you, be ye male or female: You are one body …” [The Qur’an 3:195]

• Islam is a way of life for all people. It is not restricted to some one category. It is for young and old, Arab and non-Arab, men and women.
• Asma, r.a., the daughter of Abu Bakr, r.a., encompasses in her life extremely important aspects of Islam as seen by a woman.
• A THOUGHTFUL AND SPIRITUAL CHILD
• When she was a child, she embraced Islam, right in the beginning of the Prophet’s mission [pbuh]. So it’s not correct to count only Khadija, Zayd, Ali and Abu Bakr [Allah be pleased with them] as the first Muslims. Islam does not disregard serious minded children. Ali, r.a., was only 12 when he accepted Islam. Asma, r.a., was even younger, perhaps. 7 or 8. Very intelligent and involved. So, let’s bring up our children to be serious.
• In his efforts to leave Makka for Madinah, the Prophet, pbuh, with Abu Bakr, r.a., Muhammad, pbuh, took refuge in a cave known as Thaur, going south of Makka. Thus the kuffar were deceived because they thought he would go north to get to Madinah. Deceive the oppressors.
• MOUNTAIN CLIMBING TO AID THE PROPHET PBUH IN HIJRAH
• There was no food or water for the two most blessed people in Islam hiding in the cave. Asma, r.a., brought them the food and water. She had to walk several miles in the desert, then climb a mountain, then slide down over rocks into the cave. To save the water from spilling and the food from falling into the sand, she tore her waistband into two. With one piece she tied up the mouth of the water skin, and with the other she tied up the food. Hence her nickname zaat-un-nataqain [the owner of the two waist bands].
• PHYSICALLY FIT
• She had to be extremely strong, able to walk for miles in the hot sand and climb into the mountain cave. Also, she was fearless knowing that the oppressors had set a bounty of a 100 camels on Muhammad, pbuh [which would be about $100 million today]. Her life was in danger for saving him.
• Asma, r.a., did the hijrah to Madina and took the oath of allegiance [ baiyah] to Muhammad, pbuh.
• She was married to Zubair, r.a.,and gave birth to eight children, 5 boys and 3 girls. Zubair, r.a., was one of the great mujahid sahaba of the Prophet, pbuh.
• AN INSPIRATION TO ALL WORKING WOMEN (MOTHERS)
• Even married, she was a working woman and went out several miles each day to collect dates to bring them back for her husband to take to the market. Thus Islam endorses working women.
• HEYA AND MODESTY WHILE WORKING
• Once she was walking home with a big pile of goods on her head when the Prophet, pbuh, saw her. He made his camel sit down and invited her to sit behind him. There was a group of men with him, so out of HAYA [modesty and shyness], she refused and walked back home alone. Later, her husband was sad that she carried such a burden. She said, she knew Zubair, r.a., was a man of honor and would not have liked her to be with a crowd of men. He replied that she should have accepted the ride and that it is a sin to refuse the Prophet’s invitation.
• Asma’s son Abdullah, was the first child born in the Islamic community after the hijrah. The Prophet, pbuh, loved the baby so much that he kissed him and put his saliva in the baby’s mouth.
• RAISING A GOOD SON:
• Asma, r.a., prepared Abdullah, r.a., to be a great scholar and a great mujahid.
• The khilafate Rashida [the rightly guided caliphate] ended and was followed by Kingship. The tragedy of Kerbala occurred when the grandson of the Prophet, pbuh, was martyred by the tribal army of the king.
• Most of our scholars do not notice that Asma’s son, Abdullah, fought the same dynasty as Hussain, r.a., did and defeated it. He set up an Islamic caliphate and scholars consider it the continuation of the righrly guided caliphate. He was extremely pious and brave and was well guided by the sublime Asma,r.a,
• As more and more wealth came into the Muslim domain, more and more corruption arose. Thus Abdullah, r.a., who was not corrupt lost followers while the tyrant in Syria became stronger.
• Finally a stage came when Abdullah, r.a., was left alone. He was faced with the same choice as Hussain, r.a.,: Accept the king’s corrupt power or go down fighting for Islam. Abdullah, r.a., chose to go down fighting.
• He went to say farewell to his mother, Asma, r.a., who was now 80 plus years old. When she embraced him, she felt the armor under his shirt. She told him: There is no need for this. You are not fighting for the world. You are fighting for shahadat. He took off the armor and fought for a very long time till he was brought down by missiles [arrows] fired by the Ummayeds.
• He was martyred in the Ka’aba, a much holier place than Kerbala. Isn’t it a shame that our sectarians cry over Hussain, r.a., but ignore Abdullah, r.a., when both were fighting the same enemy?
• After Abdullah, r.a., was killed, the king ordered his men to bring Asma, r.a., to his presence even if she had to be dragged by her hair. She refused to go and quoted a hadith that evil would arise from the tribe of the king. The historians do not divulge what happened to her after that. The hadith she quoted is in Sahih Muslim. She passed way soon after her son, in the year 73 after hijrah.
• Dear brothers, tell your mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, aunts, grandmothers the story of Asma.RA
• [Hadith narratives about Asma, r.a., are scattered in the books of authentic Hadith but they were collected by a great scholar, Muhammad ibn Sa’ad, in his monumental work known as the Tabaqat in the year 230 after the hijrah.]

Excerpt from a Jumma Khutbah given by  Dr. Kaukab Siddique in Masjid Jamaat a-Muslimeen in Baltimore. 

Some points are mentioned here:

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE CRITICIZE THE PROPHET’S (PBUH) COMPANION: ABU HURAIRA R.A.?

FOR “WHO IS ABU HURAIRA ?” PLEASE CLICK HERE……

This beloved companion of the Prophet, pbuh (Abu Huraira) , is under attack by the sectarians and others who wish to divide and weaken the Ummah by causing “doubt” and sowing hatred. Why?

Here are some reasons derived from an analytical study of the objections and investigation into the reliability and authenticity of what they have purported regarding Abu Huraira R.A.:

WHY DO THESE PEOPLE HATE ABU HURAIRA, r.a.?

• For the sectarians there seems to be an element of jealousy (personal and projected) that Abu Huraira, r.a., came into the Islamic struggle in its final years and equalled, if not surpassed, most companions of the Prophet, pbuh, in many ways, and in particular in the narration of the Prophet’s Hadith. In examining the behavior of the companions of the Prophet (pbuh) no such competitive jealousy or negativity is apparent at all.
•  It is thus the base nature of the recent reviewers who have sown their petty feelings of competition in the blessed field of love and devotion that the companions had for each other and for our Prophet pbuh.
• Abu Huraira, r.a., remained neutral in the conflict between Hazrat Ali and Ameer Muawiya as well as in the confrontation between Hazrat Ali and ‘Ayesha Siddiqa, r.a. Like Hasan,r.a., the elder son of Ali, r.a., Abu Huraira opposed the inter-Muslim conflicts.
• The sectarians claim that Hazrat Ali spoke against Abu Huraira, r.a. In reviewing the literature both historical and of the hadith and seerah there is no such evidence. There are a couple of statements which appeared long after the two had passed away which have been erroneously and without sound authenticity attributed to Ali, r.a., against Abu Huraira. On close examination these are fabrications produced much after both Ali and Abu Huraira had passed away.
• In the sectarian attack distributed by Syed Jarchavi, the person named Awan claims that Abu Huraira, r.a., was “hired” by Muawiyya. This is a figment of Awan’s imagination. Most modern readers would not know that during the rule of Ameer Muawiyya there was PEACE AND UNITY in the Muslim realm. Imam Hasan had made peace with Ameer Muawiyya and a spirit of cooperation existed among all segments of society. There was no question of anyone “hiring” Abu Huraira, r.a.

WHY ARE THE ANTI-HADITH PEOPLE AGAINST ABU HURAIRA, r.a.? 

The anti hadith people have a desire to break the Quran from the Sunnah and ride on their whims and inclinations. The Quran warns us of such inclinations and such people who argue against the obedience of Allah and obedience of His Rasool pbuh.

The actions of the anti hadith people may also have stemmed from a desire to create something new in the Deen to give it life by its “fresh interpretation”. Such self-proclaimed “scholars” have a tendency to announce something which has “shock value” just to get attention.

It is most unfortunate, because many others who are not scholars of Deen may be misled by the sensationalism that rides the wave of disrespect of the Quran and the Sunnah. This is at the heart of the problem of criticizing Abu Huraira RA.

OTHER REASONS:

• For the anti-Hadith self-proclaimed scholars, Abu Huraira, r.a., may pose  a problem because he has narrated more Hadith of the Prophet, pbuh., than any other sahabi. 
Targeting him is a way to target most of the ahadiths recorded.
• In their myopic view If Abu Huraira, r.a., could be discredited then a big chunk of Hadith could be discredited.

The anti-Hadith people are dishonest even in their critic of Abu Huraira and the Hadith:

Although they oppose Hadith and claim that they want the “Qur’an alone,” they turn around and relate some Hadith narrations in which they claim that ‘Ayesha, r.a., and Umar, r.a., looked critically at a few of Abu Huraira’s narrations. So they are antihadith but they quote hadith as being authentic to back their opinions.

Those who want to get rid of the Hadith and Sunnah and proclaim their own Sunnah over the Sunnah of the Prophet pbuh are using these couple of instances of discussion on a hadith to cast suspicion on Abu Huraira r.a and the hadith he related.

The impression these anti hadith people want to perpetrate is that ALL of Abu Huraira’s narrations should be suspected. This would in their eyes give them free license to pick whichever practices of our Deen that they desire and discard what they so desire.

 In the final analysis the Fear of Allah has left the hearts of those who manipulate the words of Allah and His Rasool pbuh and deceive and lure others into disobedience by making evil look innocent and vice versa.

We know from the Quran that all those who deliberately mislead others because of their inclinations or other reasons will not only suffer for their own disobedience but will be responsible for the disobedience perpetrated due to their misguidance of the Quran and Sunnah.

Allah knows best.

DUA:

courtesy: asqfish.wordpress.com

Astighfirullahi wa Atubu Alaik!

WHO WAS ABU HURAIRA r.a?

Who was Abu Huraira RA? (The lover of cats so much that this became his name)

There can be no doubt that Muhammad Mustafa, the final messenger of Allah, pbuh, loved Abu Huraira, r.a. and in turn Abu Huraira, r.a., loved Muhammad, pbuh, more than anyone or anything in the world.

Here is a short history to this companion of Prophet Muhammad pbuh who was an avid scribe and noted each and every moment with Prophet Muhammad pbuh in as much detail as possible.

HERE ARE SOME FACTS ABOUT HIM:

• Abu Huraira, r.a., along with 70 others from the Banu Dos tribe, embraced Islam and did Hijrah to join forces with Muhammad, pbuh.
• Abu Huraira, r.a., left everything in the world to embrace the Prophet, pbuh. He took his mother and his slave with him on the journey to Madinah leaving everything else behind. When he reached Madinah, he found that the Prophet, pbuh, was in Khaibar, fighting a Jewish tribe.
• Abu Huraira, r.a., joined the Prophet, pbuh, in the final days of the battle at Khaibar, in the 7th year of the Hijrah. His first act on meeting the Prophet, pbuh, was TO FREE HIS SLAVE. Islam teaches the freeing the slaves and Abu Huraira, r.a., started his life with the Prophet, pbuh, by freeing his slave.
• The Prophet, pbuh, took Abu Huraira, r.a., with him on a series of Jihad expeditions immediately after the battle of Khaibar. Some eyewitness narrations of these expeditions by Abu Huraira, r.a., are available in Hadith and in early history books. The purpose was to ward off attacks by Jewish and other tribes, which were moving to attack the Muslims. For instance there is a narration by Abu Huraira about the expedition of Wadi al-Qurra in Tabari’s TARIKH, vol. 3. A very severe expedition was that of Zaat ar-raqa’a. Some details in Bukhari’s Sahih indicate that there was only one camel for six mujahideen. They rode by turns and the rough terrain tore up the feet of the Sahaba. Abu Huraira, r.a., prayed Salatul Khauf with the Prophet, pbuh, on this expedition. 
[Bukhari’s Sahih, vol. 2]
• Abu Huraira, r.a., then took part in major Islamic moves by the Prophet’s, pbuh, army, including the CONQUEST of MAKKA, 8 Hijri, BATTLE of HUNAIN,, and in the expedition of TABOOK, 9 Hijri. Tabook was very difficult and required a journey of 350 miles in severe summer weather, which challenged the Romans for 20 days and foiled their attack plans. 
[See Bukhari’s Sahih, vol. 2, for Abu Huraira’s participation.]
• After these major moves, the Prophet, pbuh, also sent out Abu Huraira, r.a., in smaller raids to stop various threats. On one such occasion, the Prophet, pbuh, said to Abu Huraira, r.a. “I put you under Allah’s Trust and safeguard and He is the one whose Trust is never wasted.” 
[ Sunan of Ibn Maja, vol.2]
• During the Caliphate of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Usman [Allah be pleased with all three], Abu Huraira, r.a., continued to participate in Jihad. One of the HISTORY CHANGING battles in Islamic history was the BATTLE OF YARMOUK, which brought down the power of the Roman Empire. The historian Ibn Asakir in his Tarikh Damishq writes that the Banu Azd, with its sub group of the Banu Dos, with Abu Huraira, r.a., in its core, was on the RIGHT WING of the Islamic army. The huge Roman army attacked and the outnumbered Muslims would have been wiped out but for the leadership of great companions of the Prophet, pbuh, such as Abu Huraira. Ibn Asakir quotes Abu Huraira, r.a., as he rallied the mujahideen. Abu Huraira said:

“O valiant believers! The hoories of Paradise are awaiting you. Prepare yourself to meet them. Prepare to gain the approach to Allah and to be accepted by Allah. At this time, no place is dearer to Allah than the one where you are standing.”

The ferocious Roman onslaught was beaten back. At that point, another 20,000 Romans attacked the small group led by Abu Huraira, r.a. Khalid ibn al-Waleed, r.a., the overall commander of the Islamic army noted the severe pressure on the right wing of his forces. He launched an all out attack on the Romans and routed them. Yarmouk changed the history of the Middle East forever.

Other historians, Ibn Athir, Ibn Kathir, have noted the participation of Abu Huraira in Jihad as far away as Jilan and Jurjan during the Caliphate of ‘Usman, r.a.

WHY DO SOME SECTARIANS ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THIS COMPANION OF OUR RASOOL PBUH? CLICK HERE TO READ……..


[KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS: r.a. = radi Allah unh =Allah be pleased with him.] 
[pbuh = peace be on him. ]