Asma bint Marwan

Asma bint Marwan was a poetess in medieval Arabia who lived in the Hijaz during while Islam's prophet Muhammad was alive. Her affair was first written in Ibn Ishaq's"Sirat Rasul Allah" (Biography of the Prophet of Allah - see Sira ), the oldest and primary biography of Muhammad . Poetry was the usual medium of political discourse in medieval Arabia, and Asma Marwan wrote a politically charged poem against Muhammad and his army; this poem was preserved in the Sira . Poetry, being the political medium of the time, could have a huge impact on the political landscape. Muhammad decided to silence her by having her assassinated. This story is described in the Sira written by Ibn Ishaq . Following is an excerpt from Guiluame 's translation of Ibn Ishaq's Sira , describes that Muhammad commanded one of his soldiers to murder of Asma Marwan; the assassination squad is described as having murdered Asma while she was sleeping alongside her children. Some Muslims reject the following story as a fabcrication [1] FROM THE SIRAT RASUL ALLAH, by Ibn Ishaq (A. Guilaume's translation "The Life of Muhammad") page 675, 676: "UMAYR B. When Abu Afak had been killed she displayed disaffection. Al-Fudayl from his father said that she was married to a man of B. Blaming Islam and its followers she said: "I despise B. Malik and al-Nabit and Auf and B. al-Khazraj. You obey a stranger who is none of yours, One not of Murad or Madhhij. {1} Do you expect good from him after the killing of your chiefs Like a hungry man waiting for a cook's broth? Is there no man of pride who would attack him by : And cut off the hopes of those who expect aught from him?" Hassan b. Thabit answered her: "Banu Wa'il and B. Waqif and Khatma Are inferior to B. al-Khazrahj. When she called for folly woe to her in her weeping, For death is coming. She stirred up a man of glorious origin, Noble in his going out and in his coming in. Before midnight he dyed her in her blood And incurred no guilt thereby." When the apostle heard what she had said he said, "Who will rid me of Marwan's daughter?" Umayr b. Adiy al-Khatmi who was with him heard him, and that very night he went to her house and killed her. In the morning he came to the apostle and told him what he had done and he [Muhammad] said, "You have helped God and His apostle, O Umayr!" When he asked if he would have to bear any evil consequences the apostle said, "Two goats won't butt their heads about her", so Umayr went back to his people. Now there was a great commotion among B. Khatma that day about the affair of bint [girl] Marwan. She had five sons, and when Umayr went to them from the apostle he said, "I have killed bint Marwan, O sons of Khatma. Withstand me if you can; don't keep me waiting." That was the first day Islam became powerful among B. Khatma; before that those who were Muslims concealed the fact. The first of them to accept Islam was Umayr b. Adiy who was called the "Reader", and Abdullah b. Aus and Khuzayma b. The day after Bint Marwan was killed the men of B. Khatma became Muslims because they saw the power of Islam." {1} The note reads "Two tribes of Yamani origin." END QUOTE Another source that described the death of Asma bint Marwan: FROM IBN SA'D'S "KITAB AL-TABAQAT AL-KABIR", translated by S. "SARIYYAH OF UMAYR IBN ADI" Then (occurred) the sariyyah of Umayr ibn adi Ibn Kharashah al-Khatmi against Asma Bint Marwan, of Banu Umayyah Ibn Zayd, when five nights had remained from the month of Ramadan, in the beginning of the nineteenth month from the hijrah of the apostle of Allah. Asma was the wife of Yazid Ibn Zayd Ibn Hisn al-Khatmi. She used to revile Islam, offend the prophet and instigate the (people) against him. Umayr Ibn Adi came to her in the night and entered her house. Her children were sleeping around her. There was one whom she was suckling. He searched her with his hand because he was blind, and separated the child from her. He thrust his sword in her chest till it pierced up to her back. Then he offered the morning prayers with the prophet at al-Medina. The apostle of Allah said to him: "Have you slain the daughter of Marwan?" He said: "Yes. Is there something more for me to do?" He [Muhammad] said: "No. This was the word that was first heard from the apostle of Allah. The apostle of Allah called him Umayr, "basir" (the seeing). Following is a description of this assassination (as well as the assination of Abu 'Afak by the contemporary Muslim scholar of Islam, Ali Dashti. FROM ALI DASHTI'S "23 YEARS: A STUDY OF THE PROPHETIC CAREER OF MOHAMMAD", (3) page 100: "Abu Afak, a man of great age (reputedly 120 years) was killed because he had lampooned Mohammad. The deed was done by Salem b. Omayr at the behest of the Prophet, who had asked, "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" The killing of such an old man moved a poetess, Asma b. Marwan, to compose disrespectful verses about the Prophet, and she too was assassinated." [END QUOTE] Before listing all the assassinations that Muhammad ordered in his life, Ali Dashti wrote on page 97: "Thus Islam was gradually transformed from a purely spiritual mission into a militant and punitive organization whose progress depended on booty from raids and revenue from the zakat tax." [END QUOTE]¹