Maryam Amir – Asma bint Umays

Once Asmaa bint, Umes and Hafsa bint, Umar, radila huanma were

sitting together when Umar walked in, when he realized that Asmaa

bintu, umays was the one who had migrated from Abyssinia on the

ship to Medina, he said to her, we got here first, as in him and his

companions, RadiAllahu, anhu, therefore we have more of a right

to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, than you do. This

narration is in Sahih al Bukhari Asmaa, RadiAllahu, anha. She heard

this from Allah, RadiAllahu, anhu, and her reaction was, you have

been with the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. And he's been

feeding you and teaching you while we were far away. And we were only

far away for the sake of God and His Prophet, Muhammad, peace be

upon him. And she swore that by God she wasn't going to eat and

drink until she went to the Prophet Muhammad. Peace be upon

him. She wasn't going to add or subtract anything to what he said.

She was just going to tell it like it is when Asmaa radiAllahu anha

went to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and explained

what happened. The Prophet peace be upon him, responded with his

right is not more than yours. For him and his companions, there's

one migration, but for you, people of the boat, as in the people who

came from Abyssinia, there's two because they migrated twice. When

the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said this, affirming that

the Prophet peace U ham doesn't belong more to Amal RadiAllahu,

Anhu and his companions, Radi Allahu anhu, that the reward was

even greater for those who came from Abyssinia, Abu musalah, Adi,

a great companion, and other companions kept coming back to

Asmaa bint umais, radila huanha, asking And hoping to hear this

narration repeated over and over and over. They drew strength from

hearing this narration. Today, there are so many times when

someone might make us feel like we don't belong, like we don't

deserve to be somewhere, like we don't have more of a right to a

space than someone else. Alma RadiAllahu. Anhu is a great

companion of the Prophet sallallahu, sallam, one of the

people who are promised paradise, someone who we all wish we could

be like girl the Allahu Anhu. And even with that, there could be a

sense of someone being intimidated, someone in a position

of strength, like that, saying something to someone else by

mistake, goldilahu, anhu, subhanAllah, someone could feel

like maybe they don't know how to respond, but Asmaa rodi lahuan Had

she shows us how to reply. Asmaa radila anha could have simply

stated, you're right. She could have just stayed quiet and felt

that frustration internally, but she didn't. She chose to use her

agency of voice, and in doing so, she actually changed policy,

because Rama radi could be seen as a policy maker, but she went to

the Prophet sallallahu, sallam, the ultimate policymaker amongst

the people on earth, And subhanAllah, his words became the

policy so many times, whether we are women or converts or someone

of a different race from a particular community, someone from

a particular background or relationship status, there could

be times where we don't feel like we are as welcome, that we don't

have as much of a space, as much of an investment in a particular

place that we're in. We may feel like we don't belong there. The

example we take from Asmaa Lodi la Juan Ha is that we belong, that we

have as much of a right to a space as anyone else does, and that when

we use our agency of voice to create change, we don't just help

our own selves in our personal experience, but we can self

policy. We can help change the infrastructure to help an entire

community. So when you feel weak or confused or frustrated or hurt

or outcast or isolated, remember Asmaa bids Umesh radila anha, she

had the courage to stand strong and speak up. And it's not always

easy to have that, and I'm not at all suggesting that it's possible

every time, because there are very real systems of oppression in

place, but when you can use your agency of voice, and don't do it

just for yourself, but do it for all the people who identify with

you, like the people of the ship identified with Asmaa Radi Allahu

Anhu.