Asma bint Yazid

Asma bint Yazid ibn al-Sakan al-Ansariyyah ( CE – CE), was a female companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the Ansar of Medina. Her 81 narrations are preserved in major Sunni hadith collections, Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah. She was among the signatories to the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya.

Biography Asma was born to Yazid bin Sakan Her early life is not widely documented. She was born in c.589 CE. Her father Yazid ibn al-Sakan, her brother Amir ibn Yazid ibn al-Sakan, her sister Hawa bint Yazid Ansariah, and her uncle/brother Ziyad ibn al-Sakan were killed during the Battle of Uhud.

She was the cousin of Muadh ibn Jabal though this attribution was disputed by al-Dhahabi in his book Tajrid Asma’ al-Sahabah.

In Islamic traditions, she is also referred to as awwal muʿtadda fī al-Islām , for being the first Muslim-divorced-woman to observe a waiting period in Islam. She was reportedly divorced during the lifetime of Muhammad at a time when no prescribed waiting period (iddah) existed for divorced women. According to these traditions, Quran surah Al-Baqarah (2:228), concerning the waiting period for divorced women, was subsequently revealed in connection with her divorce. Marloes Janson, professor at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS University of London describes Asma as a figure associated with advocacy for Muslim women's rights in Islamic tradition.

Muhammad praised her speech and replied that a woman who fulfilled her responsibilities toward her husband and household would receive a reward comparable to that earned by men through such acts. Kahf's poem Breaking: Aisha Claims to Be Post-Feminism portrays her as a woman concerned with women's rights and women's roles. The analysis relates her to themes of Muslim women's leadership, activism, and participation in public life.

Death After the Muslim conquest of Syria, Asma remained in the region, where she taught Islam to women. She lived to an advanced age and died in Damascus during the caliphate of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 69 AH at 90. She was buried at the Bab al-Saghir Cemetery in Damascus.

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