Sheikh Faris Ali Al Mustafa continues his series about exemplary women in Islamic history

Islam is the religion of life. Its heritage is full of strong proofs of the greatness of its message. When God Almighty first graced humanity with its light, the darkness of the misguided had overpowered the world.

Women were oppressed and considered merely as chattel. For those courageous enough to hold aloft the light of Islam, the gloom of oppression was banished by God's truth.

The history of Islam is decorated with many shining deeds of those who have proudly accepted Islam. Women have been many among those saintly believers. In today's article in this series on "Women of Distinction", we shall seek guidance from the edifying tale of the "Girl of Two Belts". Muslims know that we are referring to Asmaa bint Abu Bakr al Siddiq, may God bless her and her father. Asmaa was the half sister of Aisha, one of the wives of Prophet Mohammed, may peace be upon him.

Asmaa was younger than Aisha, and was very young when she embraced the Message recited by the Prophet. How fortunate was she to be the daughter of the courageous Abu Bakr, for that allowed her to witness and participate in some of the greatest events in human history.

The greatest evidence of the respected position of Asmaa is the trust which she gained from the Prophet himself. When the moment was revealed by God for the flight of the early Believers from Meccan persecution, Asmaa was one of the few entrusted with that knowledge. The story developed in the following fashion.

The habit of the Messenger had been to visit his companion Abu Bakr's house either early morning or late evening, to avoid the harsh heat. It happened one day that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), appeared unexpectedly at noon, the hottest hour. When Abu Bakr heard the entrance of Mohammed and saw the expression on his face, he recognised that a very serious turn of events had occurred. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), asked to speak in private, at which Abu Bakr exclaimed that every place in his house was the reserve of the Prophet, as they were all his family.

Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, confided that God had instructed him to migrate from Mecca with only the most trusted of companions. Abu Bakr humbly requested the honour of sharing the terrible risk, and the Prophet accepted. The plan for flight was so closely kept that only Prophet Mohammed's uncle Ali bin Abu Taleb and Abu Bakr and his wife and children knew of the preparations. Upon the frail shoulders of young Asmaa fell the task of supplying the provisions for her father and his leader. Had the persecutors of the Believers discovered the rationale for her purchases in the souks, her fate would have been terrible.

One day during the period when she would surreptitiously visit the cave where the two men had initially secreted themselves, she had difficulty with the bundle of provisions, so along the way she untied her belt to fasten the package more securely. When she arrived at the hideout, the Prophet joyously greeted her with a new name, "Thatun Nitaqain", the Girl with Two Belts. And forever more among the Believers, she was affectionately known by that sobriquet of honour.

Asmaa amply deserved the trust which had been bestowed upon her. When her blind grandfather Abu Quhafah tried to question her about Abu Bakr's disappearance, she held her silence. She even placed stones inside the family's money hoard to convince her grandfather's groping hands that Abu Bakr did not leave his family without money.

Eventually the courageous girl was discovered by the unbelievers to have assisted the escape of Prophet Mohammed, (PBUH). Asmaa was dragged to the house of the chieftain Abu Jahl bin Hisham, who angrily slapped her repeatedly in a vain attempt to force from her the location of the Companions. The young girl held her silence and earned her status as one of the first Believers.

Despite her young age, Asmaa's courage became widely known. Al Zubair requested her hand in marriage and she accepted. Together the newlyweds accompanied the family of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), and members of her own family in their own migration to join the Companions in Medinah.

Asmaa gave birth to a son, Abdullah, who was the first born among the small early community of the Believers. One can only imagine what joy that young baby boy brought amidst their suffering.

The migration was a trial visited upon the Believers by God to test their mettle. The young married couple had nothing, as her husband had neither land nor money nor slaves.

Their one possession of value was a horse, which Asmaa groomed well to keep it healthy to help in the continual work.

One day she herself was carrying some stones from one place to another and she was chanced upon by Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), and a group of his companions. Prophet Mohammed was riding a camel, which he commanded to kneel in the dust so that she could climb up behind him to take her rest. She felt shy and declined, remembering the jealousy of her husband. Al Zubair asked her later why she had refused the kindness of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), which must have been commented upon by many.

When hearing her explanation, he swore that her hard labour was a far worse shame on him than should she ride in proximity with another man.

Thereafter her father Abu Bakr granted her a slave of her own so that she was spared such privation.

Her husband eventually developed a habit of being quite harsh with her.

Asmaa once complained to her father, who advised her to be patient. She did so despite the increasing difficulties. Finally, when her son Abdullah was grown, Al Zubair divorced her and Asmaa went to live in her son's household.

"The Girl of Two Belts" lived then with dignity and respect. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), had the habit of looking after her with his continuous prayers. It came to pass that she developed a tumour on her neck.

Prophet Mohammed stroked the swelling on several occasions and prayed that God protect her from harm. She was miraculously cured! She freed a slave in thanksgiving, and from that time onward, whenever she was sick and then recovered, she freed another of her slaves.

Asmaa lived on until she was one hundred years old. God protected her so that she was strong, and she retained her strong mental power to the end. Asmaa was tested, however, with two crises in her old age. The first was to lose her sight like her grandfather before her, which reduced the self-sufficient woman to a state of dependency on others.

The second test was much more severe. Her son Abdullah was killed by Al Hajjaj of the Thaqeef tribe. At least she was spared the sight of Abdullah's body after he had been cruelly crucified. The old mother's cry when she was brought to the body and touched the feet of her dead son became forever famous among the Believers, "The time will come when this knight will walk again!" Asmaa had herself taken to confront Al Hajjaj, and the blind woman cried out to him in front of his henchmen, "I heard Prophet Mohammed himself, peace be upon him, say that two men would emerge out of the Thaqeef tribe, one of them a liar and the other a tyrant. We have met the liar before, and now you Al Hajjaj we know as the tyrant!" Asmaa died a mere 20 days after her son's death. It was in the year 73 after Hijrah, the flight to Medinah, in which her own role earned Asmaa her golden place in Heaven and in the hearts of the Believers forever after.