Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/380)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

She narrated a considerable number of hadiths. Among those who transmitted from her were her two sons, ʿAbdullāh and ʿUrwah; Ibn ʿAbbās; Fāṭimah bint al-Mundhir; Ibn Abī Mulaykah; Wahb ibn Kaysān; Ibn al-Munkadir; al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbdullāh, and many others.

She herself, her son ʿAbdullāh, her father Abū Bakr, and her grandfather Abū Quḥāfah were all Companions, and in her later years she lost her sight.

Ibn Abī al-Zinād said that she was ten years older than ʿĀʾishah. I (the author) therefore calculate her age to have been ninety-one years. Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, however, asserted that she lived one hundred years, and that not a single tooth of hers ever fell out.

Al-Zubayr had divorced her before his own death, during the caliphate of ʿUthmān. Al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad remarked, “Asmāʾ never set anything aside for the next day.” (1)

It is also reported that she emancipated several slaves. I have presented her full biography in my History of Islam (2).

Among her children was the jurist ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr (3), and among them:

(1) This is not surprising in her case, for she once asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “O Prophet of Allah, I have nothing except what al-Zubayr brings home to me. Am I blameworthy if I give something in charity from what he provides?” He replied: “Give in charity as much as you can, and do not hoard, lest Allah withhold His bounty from you.” Reported by al-Bukhari, 5/160-161, and Muslim, no. 1029. Al-Bukhari also records another wording, 3/238: “Do not withhold, and He will withhold from you.” Meaning: do not store up what you have and refuse to give from it, otherwise Allah may cut off the flow of your sustenance. (2) 3/133, 137; her fuller biography is also given in volume 2 of this work, p. 208. (3) His biography will be presented in volume 4, p. 421.

رَوَتْ عِدَّةَ أَحَادِيْثَ. حَدَّثَ عَنْهَا: أَوْلاَدُهَا؛ عَبْدُ اللهِ، وَعُرْوَةُ، وَابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ، وَفَاطِمَةُ بِنْتُ المُنْذِرِ، وَابْنُ أَبِي مُلَيْكَةَ، وَوَهْبُ بنُ كَيْسَانَ، وَابْنُ المُنْكَدِرِ، وَالمُطَّلِبُ بنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ، وَخَلْقٌ. وَهِيَ وَابْنُهَا عَبْدُ اللهِ، وَأَبُوْهَا أَبُو بَكْرٍ، وَجَدُّهَا أَبُو قُحَافَةَ صَحَابِيُّونَ، أَضَرَّتْ بِأَخَرَةٍ. قَالَ ابْنُ أَبِي الزِّنَادِ: كَانَتْ أَكْبَرَ مِنْ عَائِشَةَ بِعَشْرِ سِنِيْنَ. قُلْتُ: فَعَلَى هَذَا يَكُوْنُ عُمُرُهَا إِحْدَى وَتِسْعِيْنَ سَنَةً. وَأَمَّا هِشَامُ بنُ عُرْوَةَ، فَقَالَ: عَاشَتْ مائَةَ سَنَةٍ، وَلَمْ يَسْقُطْ لَهَا سِنٌّ. وَقَدْ طَلَّقَهَا الزُّبَيْرُ قَبْلَ مَوْتِهِ زَمَنَ عُثْمَانَ. وَقَالَ القَاسِمُ بنُ مُحَمَّدٍ: كَانَتْ أَسْمَاءُ لاَ تَدَّخِرُ شَيْئاً لِغَدٍ (١) . وَقِيْلَ: أَعْتَقَتْ عِدَّةَ مَمَالِيْكَ، وَقَدِ اسْتَوْفَيْتُ تَرْجَمَتهَا فِي (تَارِيْخِ الإِسْلاَمِ (٢)) ﵂. وَمِنْ أَوْلاَدِهَا: عُرْوَةُ بنُ الزُّبَيْرِ الفَقِيْهُ (٣) . وَمِنْهُم:

(١) وليس ذلك بغريب منها، فإنها سألت رسول الله ﷺ، فقالت: يا نبي الله ليس لي شيء إلا ما أدخل علي الزبير، فهل علي جناح أن أرضخ مما يدخل علي، فقال: " ارضخي ما استعطت، ولا توعي فيوعي الله عليك " أخرجه البخاري ٥ / ١٦٠، ١٦١، ومسلم (١٠٢٩) وفي رواية للبخاري ٣ / ٢٣٨ " لا توكي فيوكى عليك " معناه: لا تدخري ما عندك وتمنعي ما في يدك، فيقطع الله عليك مادة الرزق. (٢) ٣ / ١٣٣، ١٣٧، وقد بسط ترجمتها أيضا في الجزء الثاني من هذا الكتاب: ٢٠٨ (٣) سترد ترجمته في الجزء الرابع ص ٤٢١.