Amrah bint Abd Al-Rahman ibn As’ad belonged to the tabieen generation which followed the generation of the Prophet’s companions. In fact, her grandfather, As’ad ibn Zurarah, was one of the very first people from Madinah to accept Islam.
He was one of six people from the Khazraj tribe whom the Prophet met when they came to Makkah for pilgrimage. He spoke to them stating that he was God’s messenger, and a prophet receiving God’s revelations. As’ad and his five friends accepted Islam on that day. The following year he was one of twelve Muslims from Madinah to come to Makkah, meet the Prophet and pledge their loyalty to him. He sent with them his companion Mus’ab ibn Umayr to teach the Qur’an to them and their fellow-Muslims in Madinah, and to call on its people to accept Islam. The following year when a large delegation of Muslims from Madinah came over to Makkah in the pilgrimage season, As’ad was one of them. They agreed with the Prophet that he would migrate to Madinah. He then selected 12 of them to be responsible for the Muslims in their community. As’ad was one of these 12.
Prior to this trip, As’ad was the first to establish the Friday prayer in Madinah, organizing it at a place belonging to Al-Nabeet family. A total of 40 men attended that first Friday prayer in Madinah.
Amrah, then, belonged to a household of very strong commitment to Islam. Furthermore, she grew up under the care of Aishah, the Prophet’s wife, and she learned much from Aishah, particularly her reported Hadiths.
It is well-known that Aishah was one of the most prolific reporters of Hadith among the Prophet’s relatives and companions. Hence, Amrah’s close association with Aishah benefited her so as to become one of the best and most reliable transmitters of Hadiths reported by Aishah. Amrah also transmitted Hadiths reported by Hamnah bint Jahsh, the Prophet’s cousin and sister-in-law, as well as Umm Salamah, the Prophet’s wife, Habeebah bint Sahl, Rafi’ ibn Khadeej, and she also transmitted Hadiths from her half-sister, Umm Hisham bint Harithah. Numerous are the scholars who transmitted Hadiths from her. Among these was Urwah ibn Al-Zubayr, her brother Muhammad ibn Abd Al-Rahman, her grandson Harithah ibn Abu Al-Rajjal, Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm, Amr ibn Dinar and the stalwart of Hadith scholarship at the time, Al-Zuhri. Her standing is such that all Hadith scholars who classified reporters and transmitters according to their reliability rate her very highly. Yahya ibn Maeen says: “Amrah is reliable and authoritative.” Ali ibn Al-Madini describes her in superlative terms: “Amrah is one of the most reliable scholars, and most knowledgeable with regard to Aishah’s reported Hadiths.” Umar ibn Abd Al-Aziz was keen that what she reported must be recorded. Therefore, he wrote to Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad ibn Amr ibn Hazm: “Review whatever is available of the Prophet’s Hadith or recognized Sunnah, as well as Hadiths transmitted by Amrah and record all that. I fear that scholarship might die down when scholars have gone.” He further describes her scholarship, rating her very highly: “None is left who is more knowledgeable in Aishah’s reported Hadiths than Amrah.”
All six major collections of Hadith include a number of what she transmitted. This is a great testimony by all six scholars who made these classifications.
Amrah died in 98 H, corresponding to 717 CE. May God bless her and bestow His grace on her.
Arab News Islam 17 February 2003
