Wealth at the Time of the Migration

Hazrat Asma (ra) relates, “When the Holy Prophet (sa) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) left for the migration, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) took all his wealth with him which amounted to five or six thousand dirhams.”

She further relates, “Our grandfather, Abu Quhafah came to us and by that time, he had lost his eyesight. He said, ‘By Allah, he’”, i.e. Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra), “‘has left you in a trial not only on account of himself but also through his wealth.’ Upon this, I stated, ‘O my grandfather! Certainly not, for he has left us with an abundance of wealth.’ I then took some stones and placed them in the ledge of the window where my father would put his money and then placed a cloth over them. I then took hold of my grandfather’s hand and said, ‘Here, place your hand on the wealth.’ He placed his hand on it and then said, ‘if he has left so much wealth behind then he has done well and there is no harm done.’”

Hazrat Asma (ra) further relates, “I swear by Allah, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) did not leave anything behind, but I just wanted to reassure this elderly man through this.”

(Ibn Hisham, Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, p. 345, Hijrat al-Rasul (sa), Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2001)