Misplaced Pages

Asiya bint Muzahim (Arabic: آسِيَة بِنْت مُزَاحِم, romanized: Āsiya bint Muzāḥim) was, according to the Qur'an and Islamic tradition, the wife of the Pharaoh of the Exodus and adoptive mother of Moses.

Asiya was the wife of Pharaoh and the adoptive mother of Moses, first mentioned in Surah Al-Qasas in the Quran, identified as Bithiah in the Jewish tradition. She is revered by Muslims as one of the four greatest women of all time, and according to a prophetic narration in Sahih al-Bukhari, the second ever.

She is believed to have secretly accepted monotheism after witnessing the miracle of Moses. The tradition holds that Asiya worshipped Allah in secret and hid her religion from her husband. However, later her faith was revealed and the Pharaoh ordered her execution.

Al-Tha'labi, an Islamic scholar, considered that Moses named the continent Asia after her.

Narrative

And Allah sets forth an example for the believers: the wife of Pharaoh, who prayed, “My Lord! Build me a house in Paradise near You, deliver me from Pharaoh and his ˹evil˺ doing, and save me from the wrongdoing people.”

— Quran 66:11

In Sahih Bukhari, the Prophet said "Many men were completed, and only Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, and Maryam bint Imran, were completed among the women".

Asiya's marriage to the Pharaoh was arranged. Unlike her husband, she was humble and accepted the faith that Moses and Aaron were preaching. Although she had exceeding wealth, she was not arrogant like the Pharaoh. She realized that faith was far more important and was thus exalted by God amongst the women of her generation, and of all time. According to a few hadiths, Muhammad will marry Asiya in Paradise.

Maurice Bucaille commented that the wife of Pharaoh who contended with Moses is the one in Surah At-Tahrim, while another early wife of another Pharaoh is the one who adopted him in Surah Al-Qasas. However, as there are no mentions of there being different wives or Pharaohs, the majority of Muslims and scholars believe Asiya and Pharaoh to be a singular person.

Asiya and her maids found a crate floating in the Nile river. Asiya ordered that the crate be drawn ashore. The maids thought there was a treasure inside, but instead found a baby boy, Moses. Unable to conceive herself, Asiya instantly felt a motherly love towards him. She told the Pharaoh about the baby. The incident has been described in the Qur'an:

And Pharaoh's wife said: A refreshment of the eye to me and to thee – slay him not; maybe he will be useful to us, or we may take him for a son. And they perceived not.

— Quran: Sura Al-Qasas, verse 9

According to Islamic belief, Asiya searched for a wet nurse for the baby Moses, but he rejected every woman that attempted to breastfeed him. Moses' sister, who had been ordered by their mother to watch him from afar, approached Asiya and suggested her mother, although concealing their relationship and guising her as any other wet nurse. Miraculously, Moses began to breastfeed from his biological mother and the two were reconnected. Asiya offered her to live in their household and paid her for her services, unaware of their true relationship.

When she witnessed the death of a believing woman under her husband's torture, Asiya declared her faith before the Pharaoh. He tried to turn her away from Islam, but Asiya refused to reject God and the teaching of Moses. On Pharaoh's orders, she was tortured to death.

Veneration

Asiya is one of the four most respected women of all time, and is highly honored by Muslims. It is said that Asiya was a sincere believer and that she fully submitted herself to Allah, despite being the wife of Pharaoh. According to Hadith, she will be among the first women to enter Paradise because she accepted Moses's monotheism over Pharaoh's beliefs. The Qur'an mentions Asiya as an example to all Muslims. Her supplication is mentioned in the Qur'an:

And Allah citeth an example for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh when she said: "My Lord! Build for me a home with thee in the Garden, and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from evil-doing folk."

— Quran: Sura At-Tahrim, verse 11

Abu Musa Ashaari narrated that once the Islamic prophet, Muhammad stated:

There are many persons amongst men who are quite perfect but there are none perfect amongst women except Mary, daughter of Imran, Asiya wife of Pharaoh, and the excellence of Aisha as compared to women is that of Tharid over all other foods.

— Sahih Muslim Hadith 2431

See also

• Iset-nofret, one of the prominent Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses the Great
• Fatimah az-Zahra
• Khadijah bint Khuwaylid
• Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus)

References

1. Avner Gilʻadi (1999). Infants, Parents and Wet Nurses: Medieval Islamic Views on Breastfeeding and Their Social Implications. Brill Publishers. ISBN 9789004112230.
2. Bucaille, Maurice (1994). Written at Tokyo. Moses and Pharaoh: In the Bible, Qur'an and History. Tokyo, Japan: NTT Mediascope, Inc. p. 191. ISBN 9789675062056. For what we know of the position in history of the life of Moses has shown us that the king who reigned at the time of his birth was not the sovereign of Egypt at the time when Moses and Pharaoh were confronting each other before the Exodus. The same is true for the so-called wife of Pharaoh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
3. ^ Ibn Ashur, Muhammad. Tafsir al-Tahrir wa'l-Tanwir | The Book of Liberation and Enlightenment تفسير التحرير والتنوير (in Arabic). ISBN 9973767233. And Asiyah the Pharaoh's wife is the wife of Pharaoh to whom Moses was sent, and not the wife of Pharaoh who adopted Moses when she picked him up from the river, because that happened during the time of Pharaoh Ramesses II, and there were eighty years between the two times. They had no knowledge of religion before Moses was sent to them.
4. "Daughter of Pharaoh: Midrash and Aggadah". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2022-03-19. The midrash calls the daughter of Pharaoh "Bithiah," identifying her with the woman mentioned in I Chron 4:18: "And his Judahite wife bore Jered father of Gedor, Heber father of Soco, and Jekuthiel father of Zanoah.
5. ^ Muhmmad al-Bukhari. Sahih Al-Bukhari Translated into English Prose by Muhammad Muhsin Khan.Hadith 7.329
6. Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. Leidan: Brill, 2001. Print.
7. ^ "Who is Asiya Pharoah's wife". islamqa.com. Hadith of prophet about Asiya
8. Abu ishaq al-Tha'labi. ʿArāʾis al-madjālis fī ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyāʾ Stories of the prophets.
9. Quran 66:11:And Allah sets forth an example for the believers: the wife of Pharaoh, who prayed, “My Lord! Build me a house in Paradise near You, deliver me from Pharaoh and his ˹evil˺ doing, and save me from the wrongdoing people.”
10. Bukhari, Muhammad (10 May 2020). Sahih Al-Bukhari [صحيح البخاري] (in Arabic). Mohee Uddin. ISBN 9798640953879. Hadith number 3411 قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «كَمُلَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ كَثِيرٌ وَلَمْ يَكْمُلْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ إِلَّا آسِيَةُ امْرَأَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ وَمَرْيَمُ بِنْتُ عِمْرَانَ
11. Al-Tabarani, Al Mu’jamul Kabir, Hadith: 5485 and 8006.
12. Ibn Asakir in Al Tarikh
13. Ibn Kathir, Qisas al-Anbiya , p. 381- as cited in Aliah Schleifer's Mary The Blessed Virgin of Islam , p. 64;
14. Lisanul Mizan, vol. 5 pg. 284, Majma’uz Zawaid, vol. 9 pg. 218
15. Bucaille, Maurice; Pannell, Alastair D. (December 1, 1983). The bible the Quran and science. Paris: Fixot / Seghers. p. 191. ISBN 2221012119. The question is also whether the latter—the wife mentioned in sura 66—is the same one who had saved Moses, mentioned in sura 28?For what we know of the position in history of the life of Moses has shown us that the king who reigned at the time of his birth was not the sovereign of Egypt at the time when Moses and Pharaoh were confronting each other before the Exodus. The same is true for the so-called wife of Pharaoh
16. Quran 28:9:(Here is) joy of the eye, for me and for thee: slay him not. It may be that he will be of use to us, or we may adopt him as a son." And they perceived not (what they were doing)
17. Ṭabarī; Brinner, William M. (1991). The children of Israel. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-0688-1.
18. ^ Wheeler, Brannon M. (2002). Prophets in the Quran: an introduction to the Quran and Muslim exegesis. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-4957-3.
19. Renard Although the Quran says that she prayed to God to save her from Pharaoh and some Muslim traditions even say that she was migrated when Moses was delivering the Israelites., John (1998). Windows on the house of Islam: Muslim sources on spirituality and religious life. University of California Press: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-520-21086-7.
20. "4 Women of Paradise". www.muslim.sg. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
21. Renard, John (1998). Windows on the house of Islam: Muslim sources on spirituality and religious life. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21086-7.
22. Turfe, Tallal Alie (1996). Patience in Islam: sabr. TTQ, INC. ISBN 1-879402-32-7.
23. Quran 66:11:And Allah citeth an example for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh when she said: "My Lord! Build for me a home with thee in the Garden, and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from evil-doing folk."

1. The narration states that the Prophet Muhammad mentioned: "Allaah married me to Maryam, mother of Jesus, and Kulthum , sister of Moses, and Asiyah, the wife of Pharaoh, in Jannah. Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri classified the hadith to be authentic, while Ibn Kathir as weak.

• Islam and women
• Executed ancient Egyptian people
• Executed royalty
• Great Royal Wives
• Hebrew Bible people in Islam
• Muslim female saints
• People executed by ancient Egypt
• People of the Quran
• Pharaoh's daughter (Exodus)