Sayyidah Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays al-Khathʿamiyyah (RA) was among the earliest women to embrace Islam and became known as Ṣāḥibat al-Hijratayn, the “Companion of the…
Sayyidah Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays al-Khathʿamiyyah (RA) was among the earliest women to embrace Islam and became known as Ṣāḥibat al-Hijratayn, the “Companion of the Two Migrations.” She first migrated to Abyssinia with her husband, Sayyiduna Jaʿfar ibn Abi Talib (RA), before later travelling to Madinah. Following Jaʿfar’s martyrdom at the Battle of Muʾtah, she married Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (RA), and after his death she married Sayyiduna ʿAli ibn Abi Talib (RA). She was therefore closely connected to several of the most distinguished households of the Sahabah and Ahl al-Bayt. She was renowned for her faith, intelligence, patience and devotion, and maintained a close relationship with Sayyidah Fāṭimah al-Zahrāʾ (RA). She is also remembered for introducing the covered funeral bier she had seen in Abyssinia, which preserved a woman’s modesty during the funeral procession. A grave within Bāb al-Ṣaghīr Graveyard in Damascus is traditionally attributed to her and stands alongside graves attributed to Sayyidah Maymūnah bint Imam al-Hasan and Sayyidah Hamīdah bint Muslim ibn ʿAqil.