Asma’ bint al-‘Umays was at first Ja‘far ibn Abi-Talib’s wife and migrated to Abyssinia with him. She helped her husband manage the affairs of Muslim emigrants there. After the martyrdom of Ja‘far in the Battle of Mutah, Asma’ married Abu-Bakr and Muhammad ibn Abu-Bakr was born. This great lady of Islam kept her close relations with ‘Ali’s family, and in particular with Fatimah (‘A), during Abu-Bakr’s caliphate as well. Following Abu-Bakr’s death, she married ‘Ali (‘A) and continued living after his martyrdom for a while.
Since part of Imam ‘Ali’s social and familial behavior can be understood by studying the lives of his wives and children, this paper is an attempt to recount the life of Asma’ bint al-‘Umays through this new biography.
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