al-ʿAbshamī; the Messenger of Allah’s ﷺ son-in-law, married to his daughter Zaynab, and the father of Ummāmah—the little girl the Prophet would carry in his prayer (1). His personal name was Laqīṭ. Some report that his father’s name was Rabīʿah. He was a nephew of the Mother of the Believers Khadījah. His mother was Hālah bint Khuwaylid, and Abū al-ʿĀṣ was nicknamed Jarw al-Baṭḥāʾ (the whelp of Baṭḥāʾ). He accepted Islam five months before the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyyah.
Al-Miswar ibn Makhramah said: “The Prophet ﷺ praised Abū al-ʿĀṣ for the way he conducted himself as a son-in-law.” He also said, “He spoke to me and was truthful; he promised me and fulfilled it” (2).
Abū al-ʿĀṣ had pledged to the Prophet ﷺ that, after the Battle of Badr, he would return to Mecca and send his daughter Zaynab to him. True to his word, he did so, separating from her despite the depth of his love for her. He was counted among Quraysh’s trustworthy merchants, and I know of no hadith transmitted from him.
(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, 1/487, in “The Screen in Front of the Worshipper,” chapter: “If one carries a small girl on his neck,” and in al-Adab, chapter: “Showing mercy to one’s child and kissing him.” Also by Muslim, no. 543, in “Mosques,” chapter: “The permissibility of carrying children during prayer”; by Malik, 1/170, in “Shortening the Prayer,” chapter: “Comprehensive matters of the prayer”; by Abu Dawud, nos. 917-918, 919, 920, in “Prayer,” chapter: “Acts that may be done during the prayer”; and by al-Nasa’i, 2/45 in “Mosques” and 3/10 in “Forgetfulness.”
Muslim’s wording, through Yahya b. Yahya: “I said to Malik, ‘Did ‘Amir b. Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr relate to you, from ‘Amr b. Sulaym al-Zurqi, from Abu Qatada, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to pray while carrying Umama, daughter of Zaynab (daughter of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ) and of Abu al-As b. al-Rabi; when he stood he would carry her, and when he prostrated he would set her down?’ Yahya said: Malik replied, ‘Yes.’”
(2) Reported by al-Bukhari in “Conditions,” chapter: “Stipulations concerning the dowry at the time of the marriage contract”; no. 3729 in “Virtues of the Companions,” chapter: “Mention of the Prophet’s ﷺ sons-in-law”; and no. 5230 in “Marriage,” chapter: “A man’s defense of his daughter out of protective jealousy.” Also by Muslim, 2449 (95), in “Virtues of the Companions,” chapter: “The virtues of Fatima”; by Abu Dawud, no. 2069, in “Marriage,” chapter: “Women whom it is disliked to marry together”; and by Ibn Majah, no. 1999, in “Marriage,” chapter: “Protective jealousy.”
Muslim’s version reads: “Ahmad b. Hanbal related to me, from Ya‘qub b. Ibrahim, from Abu al-Walid b. Kathir, from Muhammad b. ‘Amr b. Ḥalḥala, that Ibn Shihab reported to him, that ‘Ali b. al-Husayn reported to him, that when they arrived in Madina, …”