asma bint marwan

'' The first cases cited… is that of Asma of the tribe of Aus. She is said to have been a poetess who wrote some verses stating that the Prophet was an upstart who had slain many of their chiefs, referring to the battle of Badr. It is stated that she was brutally murdered for this abuse by a Muslim named ‘Umair, and that the Prophet not only approved of this murder but also praised Umair for the deed. The authorities quoted are Waqidi, Ibn Hisham and Ibn Sa’d. That this is not a reliable record is shown not only by what has been stated above – that the Holy Qur’an never allowed the murder of an abuser – but also by clear directions repeatedly given by the Holy Prophet that no woman was to be killed even though she took part in actual war with the Muslims. No less an authority than Bukhari has a chapter on the ‘Murder of women during war’ (Kitab al-Jihad) in which the following report from Ibn Umar is recorded: ‘A woman was found killed in one of the battles fought by the Holy Prophet, so the Holy Prophet forbade the killing of women and children.’ If the Holy Prophet forbade the killing of women even when they were actually accompanying the enemy forces, how could he approve or applaud the killing of a woman for simply abusing or composing some annoying verses? Even thecompanions of the Holy Prophet were so well aware of his strict orders against the killing of women that when Abul Huqaiq’s wife interposed herselfbetween them and Abul Huqaiq, they had to withhold their raised swords ‘because they remembered that the Holy prophet had forbidden the killing of a woman’ (Fath al-Bari, ch. Killing of Abul Huqaiq). In the face of this clear testimony, none but biased mind can accept as reliable a report which relates that the Holy prophet had ordered and applauded the killing of a woman simply for the offence that she composed annoying verses. This report is undoubtedly a forgery. The fact is this established beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Holy Prophet gave a clear interdiction against the murder of women even in wars. In this connection, a saying of the Holy prophet has been quoted from the most reliable traditionists of Islam, the Imam Bukhari. The heading under which Bukhari quotes this saying is ‘Murder of women during wars,’ thus showing that the interdiction against the murder of women was to be observed even in wars. Bukhari is not alone in reporting the incident and the interdiction; it is contained in all the books of the Sihah Sittah (the six reliable collections) with the exception of only one, and therefore its authenticity is beyond dispute. Moreover, their interdiction is accepted as a basic principle by later jurists. Thus according to Malik and Auza’I, the killing of women and children is not allowed under any circumstances whatsoever, and according to Shafi’I and Kufis, a woman may be killed only when she is a combatant, while according to one authority, even when a woman is a combatant it is not lawful to kill intentionally unless she is about to kill or attack a man with the intention of killing him. (Aun al-Ma’bud, commentary on Abu Dawud, ch. Murder of women). According to Malik and Auza’I, however, as already stated, a woman should not be killed under any condition, so much so that if a fighting force takes the shelter of women an children or takes shelter in a fort or a boat in which there are also women and children with them, it is not lawful to shoot at or set fire to the fort or the boat (Fath al-Bari, ch. Ahl al-dar-I yabitun). In the face of these facts it is simply unthinkable that the Prophet should have ordered the assassination of a woman, under peaceful conditions, for no other fault than singing certain annoying verses


 The story of Asma’s murder has been variously related by the Arabian writers, and the testimonies on which it rests are contradictory and conflicting in themselves. Wakidi, Ibn Sa’d, and Ibn Hisham relate a verse strange thing about it, that she was killed by Omeir the blind at the dead of night. A blind person commits murder in a stranger’s house during nocturnal quietness, and is not arrested by any one! Doctor Weil writes, that Omeir was a former husband of Asma, and the origin of the murder may be traced to a long-brooding and private malice. Ibn Asakar in his history (vide seerat shame) relates that Asma was fruit-seller; some person of her tribe asked her if she had better fruits she said ‘yes,’ and entered her house followed by that man. She stooped down to take something up, the person turned right and left, and seeing that nobody was near, gave a violent blow on her head, an thus dispatched her. The historians even relate that Omeir, being offended at the verses composed by Asma, had volunteered himself of his own free-will to kill her. She might have been a sacrifice to envy or hatred by the sword of her assassin, but Mohammad really had no hand in her death. She had made herself an outlaw by deluding the people of Medina to a breach of treaty with the Moslems, whereby the rights and jurisdictions of Jews and Moslems were definitively settled. Ibn Ishak quitly leaves unnarrated any transaction with regard to Asma. Wakidi and Ibn Sa’d do not affirm that Mohammad, being annoyed at her lampoons, said dejectedly, ‘Who would rid me of that woman?’ On the contrary, Wakidi writes, that Omeir had voluntarily swore to take her life. It is only Ibn Hisham who relates without citing his authority, that Mohammad, hearing Asma’s verses declared: ‘Is there nobody for me (i.e., to rid me) from Bint Marwan?’ This version of the story has no corroborative proofs from the earliest biographers, and we are not inclined to put any faith in itThe story of the killing of Asma' bint Marwan is mentioned by Ibn Sa'd in Kitab At-Tabaqat Al-Kabir[3] and by the author of Kinz-ul-'Ummal under number 44131 who attributes it to Ibn Sa'd, Ibn 'Adiyy and Ibn 'Asaker. What is interesting is that Ibn 'Adiyy mentions it in his book Al-Kamel on the authority of Ja'far Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn As-Sabah on authority of Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ash-Shami on authority of Muhammad Ibn Al-Hajjaj Al-Lakhmi on authority of Mujalid on authority of Ash-Shu'abi on authority of Ibn 'Abbas, and added that
 ..this isnâd (chain of reporters) is not narrated on authority of Mujalid but by Muhammad Ibn Al-Hajjaj and they all (other reporters in the chain) accuse Muhammad Ibn Al-Hajjaj of forging it.[4]

It is also reported by Ibn al-Gawzi in Al-'Ilal[5] and is listed among other flawed reports. 

So according to its isnâd, the report is forged - because one of its reporters is notorious for fabricating hadîth. Hence, such a story is rejected and is better off being put into the trash can ''