We are in the second year of the Hijrah. Madinah the city of the Prophet is buzzing with activity as the Muslims prepare for  the long march southwards to Badr.

The noble Prophet made a final inspection of the first army to be mobilized under his leadership to wage Jihad against those  who had tormented the Muslims for many years and who were still bent on putting an end to his mission.

A youth, not yet thirteen, walked up to the ranks. He was confident and alert. He held a sword which was as long or possibly  slightly longer than his own height. He went up to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, and said: “I  dedicate myself to you, Messenger of God. Permit me to be with you and to fight the enemies of God under your banner.”

The noble Prophet looked at him with admiration and patted his shoulder with loving tenderness. He commended him for his  courage but refused to enlist him because he was still too young.

The youth, Zayd ibn Thabit, turned and walked away, dejected and sad. As he walked, in slow and measured paces, he stuck  his sword in the ground as a sign of his disappointment. He was denied the honor of accompanying the Prophet on his first  campaign. Behind him was his mother, an-Nawar bint Malik. She felt equally dejected and sad. She had dearly wished to see  her young son go with the army of mujahidin and to be with the Prophet at this most critical time.

One year later, as preparations were underway for the second encounter with the Quraysh which took place at Uhud, a  group of Muslim teenagers bearing arms of various kinds – swords, spears, bows and arrows and shields – approached the  Prophet. They were seeking to be enlisted in any capacity in the Muslim ranks. Some of them, like Rafi ibn Khadij and  Samurah ibn Jundub, who were strong and well-built for their age and who demonstrated their ability to wrestle and handle  weapons, were granted permission by the Prophet to join the Muslim forces. Others like Abdullah the son of Umar and Zayd  ibn Thabit were still considered by the Prophet to be too young and immature to fight. He promised though to consider them  for a later campaign. It was only at the Battle of the Ditch when Zayd was about sixteen years old that he was at last  allowed to bear arms in defence of the Muslim community.

Although Zayd was keen to participate in battles, it is not as a warrior that he is remembered. After his rejection for the Badr  campaign, he accepted the fact then that he was too young to fight in major battles. His alert mind turned to other fields of  service, which had no connection with age and which could bring him closer to the Prophet, peace be on him. He considered  the field of knowledge and in particular of memorizing the Quran. He mentioned the idea to his mother. She was delighted  and immediately made attempts to have his ambition realized. An-Nuwar spoke to some men of the Ansar about the youth’s  desire and they in turn broached the matter with the Prophet, saying: “O Messenger of Allah, our son Zayd ibn Thabit has  memorized seventeen surahs of the Book of Allah and recites them as correctly as they were revealed to you. In addition to  that he is good at reading and writing. It is in this field of service that he desires to be close to you. Listen to him if you will.”

The Prophet, peace be on him, listened to Zayd reciting some surahs he had memorized. His recitation was clear and  beautiful and his stops and pauses indicated clearly that he understood well what he recited. The Prophet was pleased.  Indeed he found that Zayd’s ability exceeded the commendation he had been given by his relatives. The Prophet then set  him a task which required intelligence, skill and persistence.

“Zayd, learn the writing of the Jews for me,” instructed the Prophet. “At your command, Messenger of Allah,” replied Zayd  who set about learning Hebrew with enthusiasm. He became quite proficient in the language and wrote it for the Prophet  when he wanted to communicate with the Jews. Zayd also read and translated from Hebrew when the Jews wrote to the  Prophet. The Prophet instructed him to learn Syriac also and this he did. Zayd thus came to perform the important function of  an interpreter for the Prophet in his dealings with non-Arabic speaking peoples.

Zayd’s enthusiasm and skill were obvious. When the Prophet felt confident of his faithfulness in the discharge of duties and  the care, precision and understanding with which he carried out tasks, he entrusted Zayd with the weighty responsibility of  recording the Divine revelation.

When any part of the Quran was revealed to the Prophet, he often sent for Zayd and instructed him to bring the writing  materials, “the parchment, the ink-pot and the scapula”, and write the revelation.

Zayd was not the only one who acted as a scribe for the Prophet. One source has listed forty-eight persons who used to  write for him. Zayd was very prominent among them. He did not only write but during the Prophet’s time he collected  portions of the Quran that were written down by others and arranged these under the supervision of the Prophet. He is  reported to have said:

“We used to compile the Quran from small manuscripts in the presence of the Prophet.” In this way, Zayd experienced the  Quran directly from the Prophet himself. It could be said that he grew up with the verses of the Quran, understanding well  the circumstances surrounding each revelation. He thus became well-versed in the secrets of the Shariah and at an early age  gained the well-deserved reputation as a leading scholar among the companions of the Prophet.

After the death of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the task fell on this fortunate young man who  specialized in the Quran to authenticate the first and most important reference for the ummah of Muhammad. This became an  urgent task after the wars of apostasy and the Battle of Yamamah in particular in which a large number of those who had  committed the Quran to memory perished.

Umar convinced the Khalifah Abu Bakr that unless the Quran was collected in one manuscript, a large part of it was in danger  of being lost. Abu Bakr summoned Zayd ibn Thabit and said to him: “You are an intelligent young man and we do not suspect  you (of telling lies or of forgetfulness) and you used to write the Divine revelation for Allah’s Messenger. Therefore look for  (all parts of) the Quran and collect it in one manuscript.”

Zayd was immediately aware of the weighty responsibility. He later said: “By Allah, if he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to shift  one of the mountains from its place, it would not have been harder for me than what he had ordered me concerning the  collection of the Quran.”

Zayd finally accepted the task and, according to him, “started locating the Quranic material and collecting it from parchments,  scapula, leafstalks of date palms and from the memories of men (who knew it by heart)”.

It was a painstaking task and Zayd was careful that not a single error, however slight or unintentional, should creep into the  work. When Zayd had completed his task, he left the prepared suhuf or sheets with Abu Bakr. Before he died, Abu Bakr left  the suhuf with Umar who in turn left it with his daughter Hafsah. Hafsah, Umm Salamah and Aishah were wives of the  Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them, who memorized the Quran.

During the time of Uthman, by which time Islam had spread far and wide, differences in reading the Quran became obvious. A  group of companions of the Prophet, headed by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, who was then stationed in Iraq, came to Uthman  and urged him to “save the Muslim ummah before they differ about the Quran”.

Uthman obtained the manuscript of the Quran from Hafsah and again summoned the leading authority, Zayd ibn Thabit, and  some other competent companions to make accurate copies of it. Zayd was put in charge of the operation. He completed the  task with the same meticulousness with which he compiled the original suhuf during the time of Abu Bakr.

Zayd and his assistants wrote many copies. One of these Uthman sent to every Muslim province with the order that all other  Quranic materials whether written in fragmentary manuscripts or whole copies be burnt. This was important in order to  eliminate any variations or differences from the standard text of the Quran. Uthman kept a copy for himself and returned the  original manuscript to Hafsah.

Zayd ibn Thabit thus became one of the foremost authorities on the Quran. Umar ibn al-Khattab once addressed the Muslims  and said: “O people, whoever wants to ask about the Quran, let him go to Zayd ibn Thabit.”

And so it was that seekers of knowledge from among the companions of the Prophet and the generation who succeeded  them, known as the “Tabiun”, came from far and wide to benefit from his knowledge. When Zayd died, Abu Hurayrah said:  “Today, the scholar of this ummah has died.”

When a Muslim holds the Quran and reads it or hears it being recited, surah after surah, ayah after ayah, he should know  that he owes a tremendous debt of gratitude and recognition to a truly great companion of the Prophet, Zayd ibn Thabit, for  helping to preserve for all time to come the Book of Eternal Wisdom. Truly did Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, say: “Surely We  have revealed the Book of Remembrance and We shall certainly preserve it.” (The Quran, Surah al-Hijr, 15:9)

Allah knows the best

Umm Salaamah! What an eventful life she had! Her real name was Hind. She was the daughter of  one of the notables in the Makhzum clan nicknamed “Zad ar-Rakib” because he was well known  for his generosity particularly to travelers. Umm Salamah’s husband was Abdullah ibn Abdulasad  and they both were among the first persons to accept Islam. Only Abu Bakr and a few others, who  could be counted on the fingers of one hand, became Muslims before them.

As soon as the news of their becoming Muslims spread, the Quraysh reacted with frenzied anger.  They began hounding and persecuting Umm Salamah and her husband. But the couple did not  waver or despair and remained steadfast in their new faith.

The persecution became more and more intense. Life in Makkah became unbearable for many of  the new Muslims. The Prophet, peace be upon him, then gave permission for them to emigrate to  Abyssinia. Umm Salamah and her husband were in the forefront of these muhajirun, seekers of  refuge in a strange land. For Umm Salamah it meant abandoning her spacious home and giving up  the traditional ties of lineage and honor for something new, hope in the pleasure and reward of  Allah.

Despite the protection Umm Salamah and her companions received from the Abyssinian ruler, the  desire to return to Makkah, to be near the Prophet and the source of revelation and guidance  persisted.

News eventually reached the muhajirun that the number of Muslims in Makkah had increased.  Among them were Hamzah ibn Abdulmuttalib and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Their faith had greatly  strengthened the community and the Quraysh they heard, had eased the persecution somewhat.  Thus a group of the muhajirun, urged on by a deep longing in their hearts, decided to return to  Makkah.

The easing of the persecution was but brief as the returnees soon found out. The dramatic  increase in the number of Muslims following the acceptance of Islam by Hamzah and Umar only  infuriated the Quraysh even more. They intensified their persecution and torture to a pitch and  intensity not known before. So the Prophet gave permission to his companions to emigrate to  Madinah. Umm Salamah and her husband were among the first to leave.

The hijrah of Umm Salamah and her husband though was not as easy as they had imagined. In  fact, it was a bitter and painful experience and a particularly harrowing one for her.

Let us leave the story now for Umm Salamah herself to tell…

When Abu Salamah (my husband) decided to leave for Madinah, he prepared a camel from me,  hoisted me on it and placed our son Salamah on my lap. My husband then took the lead end went  on without stopping or waiting for anything. Before we were out of Makkah however some men  from my clan stopped us and said to my husband:

“Though you are free to do what you like with yourself, you have no power over your wife. She is  our daughter. Do you expect us to allow you to take her away from us?”

They then pounced on him end snatched me away from him. My husbands clan, Banu Abdulasad,  saw them taking both me and my child. They became hot with rage.

“No! By Allah,” they shouted, “we shall not abandon the boy. He is our son and we have a first  claim over him.” They took him by the hand and pulled him away from me. Suddenly in the space of  a few moments, I found myself alone and lonely. My husband headed for Madinah by himself and  his clan had snatched my son away from me. My own clan, Banu Makhzum, overpowered me and  forced me to stay with them.

From the day when my husband and my son were separated from me, I went out at noon every  day to that valley and sat in the spot where this tragedy occurred. I would recall those terrible  moments and weep until night fell on me.

I continued like this for a year or so until one day a man from the Banu Umayyah passed by and  saw my condition. He went back to my clan and said: “Why don’t you free this poor woman? You  have caused her husband and her son to be taken away from her.” He went on trying to soften  their hearts and play on their emotions. At last they said to me. ‘Go and join your husband if you  wish.”

But how could I join my husband in Madinah and leave my son, a piece of my own flesh and blood,  in Makkah among the Banu Abdulasad? How could I be free from anguish and my eyes be free  from tears were I to reach the place of hijrah not knowing anything of my little son left behind in  Makkah?

Some realized what I was going through and their hearts went out to me. They petitioned the  Banu Abdulasad on my behalf and moved them to return my son. I did not now even want to linger  in Makkah till I found someone to travel with me and I was afraid that something might happen  that would delay or prevent me from reaching my husband. So I promptly got my camel ready,  placed my son on my lap and left in the direction of Madinah .

I had just about reached Tanim (about three miles from Makkah) when I met Uthman ibn Talhah.  (He was a keeper of the Kabah in pre-lslamic times and was not yet a Muslim.)

“Where are you going, Bint Zad ar-Rakib?” he asked.

“I am going to my husband in Madinah.”

“And there isn’t anyone with you?”

“No, by Allah. Except Allah and my little boy here.”

“By Allah. I shall never abandon you until you reach Madinah,” he vowed.

He then took the reins of my camel and led us on. I have, by Allah, never met an Arab more  generous and noble than he. When we reached a resting place, he would make my camel kneel  down, wait until I dismounted, lead the camel to a tree and tether it. He would then go to the  shade of another tree. When we had rested he would get the camel ready and lead us on.

This he did every day until we reached Madinah. When we got to the village near Quba (about two  miles from Madinah) belonging to Banu Amr ibn Awf, he said, “Your husband is in this village. Enter  it with the blessings of God. “

He turned back and headed for Makkah. Their roads finally met after the long separation. Umm  Salamah was overjoyed to see her husband and he was delighted to see his wife and son.

Great and momentous events followed one after the other. There was the battle of Badr in which  Abu Salamah fought. The Muslims returned victorious and strengthened. Then there was the battle  of Uhud in which the Muslims were sorely tested. Abu Salamah came out of this wounded very  badly. He appeared at first to respond well to treatment, but his wounds never healed completely  and he remained bedridden.

Once while Umm Salamah was nursing him, he said to her: “I heard the Messenger of God saying.  Whenever a calamity afflicts anyone he should say, “Surely from Allah we are and to Him we shall  certainly return.” And he would pray, ‘O Lord, give me in return something good from it which only  You Exalted and Mighty, can give.”

Abu Salamah remained sick in bed for several days. One morning the Prophet came to see him.  The visit was longer than usual. While the Prophet was still at his bedside Abu Salamah passed  away. With his blessed hands, the Prophet closed the eyes of his dead companion. He then raised  these hands to the heavens and prayed:

“O Lord, grant forgiveness to Abu Salamah. Elevate him among those who are near to You. Take  charge of his family at all times. Forgive us and him, O Lord of the Worlds. Widen his grave and  make it light for him.”

Umm Salamah remembered the prayer her husband had quoted on his deathbed from the Prophet  and began repeating it, “O Lord, with you I leave this my plight for consideration . . .” But she  could not bring herself to continue . . . “O Lord give me something good from it”, because she kept  asking herself, “Who could be better than Abu Salamah?” But it did not take long before she  completed the supplication.

The Muslims were greatly saddened by the plight of Umm Salamah. She became known as “Ayyin  al-Arab”– the one who had lost her husband. She had no one in Madinah of her own except her  small children, like a hen without feathers.

Both the Muhajirun and Ansar felt they had a duty to Umm Salamah. When she had completed the  Iddah (three months and ten days), Abu Bakr proposed marriage to her but she refused. Then  Umar asked to marry her but she also declined the proposal. The Prophet then approached her  and she replied:

“O Messenger of Allah, I have three characteristics. I am a woman who is extremely jealous and I  am afraid that you will see in me something that will anger you and cause Allah to punish me. I am  a woman who is already advanced in age and I am a woman who has a young family.”

The Prophet replied: “Regarding the jealousy you mentioned, I pray to Allah the Almighty to let it  go away from you. Regarding the question of age you have mentioned. I am afflicted with the  same problem as you. Regarding the dependent family you have mentioned, your family is my  family.”

They were married and so it was that Allah answered the prayer of Umm Salamah and gave her  better than Abu Salamah. From that day on Hind al Makhzumiyah was no longer the mother of  Salamah alone but became the mother of all believers, Umm al-Mumineen.

Allah knows the best

Umayr Ibn Saad became an orphan at an early age. His father died leaving him and his mother poor and destitute. His mother  eventually married again, to one of the richest men in Madinah. His name was Julas ibn Suwayd who was from the powerful  tribe of al-Aws.

Umayr was well looked after by Julas and loved him as a son would love a father. Indeed he began to forget that he was an  orphan. As Umayr grew older, Julas fondness and love for him grew. Julas would marvel at the intelligence he displayed in  everything he did and at the honesty and trustworthiness which characterized his behavior.

When he was barely ten years old, Umayr became a Muslim. Faith found in his tender heart a secure niche and penetrated  deeply into his being. In spite of youthfulness, he would never delay in the performance of salat behind the noble Prophet.  Often he would be found in the first row of worshippers, hoping for the thawab promised those who attend mosques early  and sit in the foremost rows. His mother was particularly pleased whenever she saw him going to and coming from the  mosque, sometimes with her husband and sometimes alone.

Umayr’s days passed in this fashion with no major disturbance to upset his calm and contentment. This idyllic state, however,  could not last forever. Umayr was soon to face a most difficult test for a boy of his age, a test which shook the peaceful and  loving atmosphere of his home and challenged the steadfastness of his faith.

In the ninth year after the Hijrah, the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be on him, announced his intention to lead an  expedition to Tabuk against the Byzantine forces. He ordered the Muslims to get themselves ready and make the necessary  preparations.

Usually when the Prophet wanted to go on a military campaign he would not give precise details of his objective or he would  set off in a direction opposite to his intended destination. This was for security purposes and to confound the enemy’s  intelligence service. This he did not do in announcing the expedition to Tabuk. This was perhaps because of the great  distance of Tabuk from Madinah, the enormous difficulties expected and the overwhelming strength of the enemy.

The preparations needed for this expedition had to be extensive. In spite of the fact that summer had set in and the intense  heat produced languor and listlessness, and in spite of the fact that the date crops needed harvesting, the Muslims  responded enthusiastically to the call of the Prophet and busied themselves in preparing for the arduous campaign ahead.

There was however a group of munafiqun or hypocrites who outwardly had declared their acceptance of Islam but inwardly  did not believe in it. They were critical of the expedition and tried to weaken the resolve of the Muslims. They even ridiculed  the Prophet in their private gatherings. Disbelief and hatred remained in their hearts.

One day, shortly before the army was due to set out, the young Umayr ibn Sad returned home after performing Salat in the  mosque. He was all agog with excitement. He had just witnessed the great generosity and the spontaneous spirit of sacrifice  which the Muslims displayed in preparing for the expedition. He had seen women of the Muhajirin and the Ansar donating  their jewellery and their ornaments to buy provisions and equipment for the army. He had seen Uthman ibn Affan handing  over a purse containing a thousand gold dinars to the Prophet and Abdur Rahman ibn Awl carrying on his shoulders two  hundred awqiyyah of gold and placing it before the noble Prophet. Indeed he had even seen a man trying to sell his bed in  order to purchase a sword for himself.

At home, he recalled these moving and inspiring scenes. He was surprised however that Julas was so slow in preparing for  the expedition with the Prophet and at his delay in contributing especially since he was quite rich and could afford to give  generously. Umayr felt that he had to arouse his ardor or stir his sense of generosity and manliness. So with great  enthusiasm he related what he had seen and heard at the mosque particularly the case of those believers who, with great  fervor, had come to enlist themselves in the army and were turned away by the Prophet because there was not sufficient  means of transport. He related how sad and disappointed these people were at not realizing their desire to go on the path  of Jihad and sacrifice for the sake of Islam. Julas’ response was sharp and shocking.

“If Muhammad is true in claiming that he is a Prophet ,” he shouted angrily, “then we are all worse than donkeys.”

Umayr was flabbergasted. He could not believe what he had heard. He did not think that a man as intelligent as Julas could  have uttered such words, words which put him instantly outside the pale of faith.

A host of questions paced through his mind and he immediately began to consider what action he should take. He saw in  Julas’ silence and his tardiness to respond to the Prophet’s call, clear signs of a traitor to God and His Prophet, who wanted  to bring harm to Islam in just the same way as the munafiqun who were plotting and conspiring against the Prophet. At the  same time he saw a man who had treated him as a father and who was kind and generous to him, who had taken him as an  orphan and had saved him from poverty.

Umayr had to choose between preserving this close relationship with Julas on the one hand and dealing with his treachery  and hypocrisy on the other. The choice was painful but his decision was swift. He turned to Julas and said:

“By God, O Julas, there is no one on the face of the earth, after Muhammad ibn Abdullah, dearer to me than you. You are the  closest of men to me and you have been most generous to me. But you have uttered words which, if I should mention them  will expose and humiliate you. If I conceal them, however, I will be a traitor to my trust and destroy myself and my religion. I  will, therefore, go to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, and tell him what you have said. It is up to you to clarify  your position.”

The young Umayr went to the mosque and told the Prophet what he had heard from Julas. The Prophet asked him to stay  with him and sent one of his companions to summon Julas.

Julas came, greeted the Prophet and sat in front of him. The Prophet, peace be upon him straightaway asked him: “What did  you say that Umayr ibn Sad heard?” and he mentioned what Umayr had reported to him.

“He has lied against me, O Messenger of God, and has fabricated this. I have not uttered anything of the sort” asserted  Julas.

The companions of the Prophet looked alternately at Julas and Umayr hoping to detect on their faces what their hearts  concealed. They began to mutter among themselves. One of those in whose hearts was the disease of hypocrisy asserted:

“The youth is a nuisance. He is bent on defaming someone who has been good to him.” Others replied: “Not at all. He is a  youth who grew up in obedience to God. The expressions on his face attest to his truthfulness.”

The Prophet, peace be on him, turned to Umayr and saw his flushed face and the tears streaming down his cheeks. Umayr  prayed:

“O Lord, send down a revelation on Your Prophet to verify what I have told him.” Julas meanwhile continued to defend what  he had said: “What I have told you, O Messenger of God, is certainly the truth. If you wish, make us swear an oath in your  presence. I swear by God that I did not say anything of the sort that Umayr reported to you.”

As the companions turned to Umayr to hear what he had to say, they saw the Prophet come under a special mood of  serenity and they realized that he was being inspired. Immediately there was complete silence as they gazed intently at the  Prophet in anticipation.

At this point, fear and terror gripped Julas and he began to look tremulously at Umayr. The Prophet, having received the  revelation, recited the words of God:

“(The hypocrites) swear by God that they have said (nothing wrong); yet most certainly they have uttered a saying which is  a denial of the truth, and have thus denied the truth after having professed their self-surrender to God; for they were aiming  at something which was beyond their reach. And they could find no fault (with the Faith) save that God had enriched them  and (caused) His Apostle to enrich them out of His bounty. Hence, if they repent, it will be for their own good; but if they turn  away, God will cause them to suffer a grievous suffering in this world and in the life to come and they will find no helper on  earth, and none to give them succour.” (The Quran, Surah at-Tawbah, 9:74).

Julas trembled with fear at what he heard and in his anguish, could hardly speak. Finally, he turned to the Prophet and said:  “I do repent, O Messenger of God. I do repent. Umayr told the truth and I lied. I beseech God to accept my repentance…”

The Prophet turned to the young Umayr. Tears of joy moistened his youthful face, radiant with the light of faith. With his  noble hand, the Prophet tenderly took his ear and said:

“Young man, your ear has been true in what it heard and your Lord has confirmed the truth of what you said.” Julas returned  to the fold of Islam and was a good and faithful Muslim thereafter. The companions realized that by his generosity and good  treatment of Umayr, he had reformed. Whenever Umayr was mentioned, Julas would say:

“My God reward Umayr with goodness on my behalf. He certainly saved me from kufr and preserved my neck from the fire of  hell.”

Umayr grew up and distinguished himself in later years with the same devotion and firmness which he had shown in early  life.

During the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab, the people of Hims in Syria complained much and bitterly of the governors  appointed to the city even though Umar in particular used to pay special attention to the type of men he chose as his  provincial governors. In selecting a governor, Umar would say: “I want a man who when he is among the people and is not  their amir, should not behave as their amir, and when he is among them as an amir, he should behave as one of them.

“I want a governor who will not distinguish himself from the people by the clothes he wears, or the food he eats or the  house he lives in.”

“I want a governor who would establish Salat among the people, treat them equitably and with justice and does not close  his door when they come to him in need.”

In the light of the complaints of the people of Hims and going by his own criteria for a good governor, Umar ibn al-Khattab  decided to appoint Umayr ibn Sad as governor of the region. This was despite the fact that Umayr at that time was at the  head of a Muslim army traversing the Arabian peninsula and the region of great Syria, liberating towns, destroying enemy  fortifications, pacifying the tribes and establishing masjids wherever he went. Umayr accepted the appointment as governor  of Hims reluctantly because he preferred nothing better than Jihad in the path of God. He was still quite young, in his early  twenties.

When Umayr reached Hims he called the inhabitants to a vast congregational prayer. When the prayer was over he  addressed them. He began by praising and giving thanks to God and sending peace and blessings on His Prophet  Muhammad. Then he said:

“O people! Islam is a mighty fortress and a sturdy gate. The fortress of Islam is justice and its gate is truth. If you destroy  the fortress and demolish the gate you would undermine the defences of this religion.

“Islam will remain strong so long as the Sultan or central authority is strong. The strength of the Sultan neither comes from  flogging with the whip, nor killing with the sword but from ruling with justice and holding fast to truth.”

Umayr spent a full year in Hims during which, it is said, he did not write a single letter to the Amir al-Muminin. Nor did he send  any taxes to the central treasury in Madinah, neither a dirham nor a dinar.

Umar was always concerned about the performance of his governors and was afraid that positions of authority would corrupt  them. As far as he was concerned, there was no one who was free from sin and corrupting influences apart from the noble  Prophet, peace be upon him. He summoned his secretary and said:

“Write to Umayr ibn Sad and say to him: “When the letter of the Amir al-Muminin reaches you, leave Hims and come to him  and bring with you whatever taxes you have collected from the Muslims.”

Umayr received the letter. He took his food pouch and hung his eating, drinking and washing utensils over his shoulder. He  took his spear and left Hims and the governorship behind him. He set off for Madinah on foot.

As Umayr approached Madinah, he was badly sunburnt, his body was gaunt and his hair had grown long. His appearance  showed all the signs of the long and arduous journey. Umar, on seeing him, was astonished. What’s wrong with you,  Umayr?” he asked with deep concern.

“Nothing is wrong with me, O Amir al-Muminin,” replied Umayr. “I am fine and healthy, praise be to God, and I carry with me  all (my) worldly possessions.”

“And what worldly possessions have you got?” asked Umar thinking that he was carrying money for the Bayt al-mal or  treasury of the Muslims.”

“I have my pouch in which I put my food provisions. I have this vessel from which I eat and which I use for washing my hair  and clothes. And I have this cup for making wudu and drinking…” “Did you come on foot?” asked Umar. “Yes, O Amir  al-Muminin.” “Weren’t you given from your amirship an animal to ride on?” “They did not give me one and I did not ask them.”

“And where is the amount you brought for the Baytalmal?”

“I didn’t bring anything.”

“And why not?”

“When I arrived at Hims,” said Umayr, “I called the righteous persons of the town to a meeting and gave them the  responsibility of collecting the taxes. Whenever they collected any amounts of money I would seek their advice and spent it  (all) on those who were deserving among them.”

At this point, Umar turned to his secretary and said:

“Renew the appointment of Umayr to the governorship of Hims.” “Oh, come now,” protested Umayr. “That is something  which I do not desire. I shall not be a governor for you nor for anyone after you, O Amir al-Muminin.”

With that Umayr asked the Khalifah’s permission to go to his village on the outskirts of Madinah to live there with his family.  This Umar granted.

A long time passed since Umayr had gone to his village and Umar decided to put him through a test to make sure of his  circumstances. He said to one of his trusted aides called al-Harith:

“Harith, go to Umayr ibn Sad and stay with him as though you were a guest. If you see on him any signs of luxury or good  living, return quietly as you went. If, however, you find him in straitened circumstances give him these dinars.” Umar handed  Harith a bag with a hundred dinars.

Al-Harith set our for Umayr’s village and found his home after making enquiries.

“As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah,” he greeted Umayr.

“Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,” replied Umayr and asked, “From where have you come?”

“From aI-Madinah.”

“How arr the Muslims there?”

“Fine.”

“How is the Amir al-Muminin?”

“He is fine and doing well.”

“Has he applied the hudud laws?”

“Yes. He carried out the sentence of punishment on his own son for committing the crime of adultery. His son died as a result  of the punishment.” Al-Harith continued: “O Allah, help Umar. I only know that he has a great love for you.”

Al-Harith stayed as Umayr’s guest for three nights. On each night he was given only a small flat piece of barley bread. On the  third day a local man said to Harith:

“Umayr and his family are suffering great hardship. They only have these loaves which they have given you in preference to  themselves. They are hungry and in great distress. Harith went to Umayr and gave him the bag of money.

“What is this?” asked Umayr.

“The Amir al-Muminin sent it to you.”

“Return it to him. Give him my greetings of peace and tell him that Umayr has no need of it.”

“Take it, O Umayr,” shouted his wife who was listening to the conversation between her husband and his guest. “If you  need it, you can spend it. If not, you can spend it in other appropriate ways, for those in need here are many.”

When al-Harith heard what she had said, he placed the dinars in front of Umayr and left. Umayr took the money and placed it  in a small bag. He only went to sleep that night after he had distributed the money to those in need and especially to the  children of those who had been martyred.

Al-Harith returned to Madinah and was questioned by Umar al-Faruq.

“What have you seen, Harith?”

“A very distressing situation, O Amir al-Muminin.”

“Did you give him the dinars?”

“Yes, O Amir al-Muminin.”

“What did he do with them?”

“I don’t know. But I think that he did not keep a single dirham of it for himself.”

Al-Faruq wrote to Umayr: “When you receive this letter, I do not put it down until you come to me.”

Umayr proceeded straightaway to Madinah. Umar greeted and welcomed him and proceeded to question him.

“What did you do with the dinars, Umayr?” “You have no responsibility for the money after you have donated it to me.”

“I adjure you to tell me what you did with it.”

“I stored it away for myself so that I could benefit from

it a day when neither wealth nor children will be of any avail.” Tears came to Umar’s eyes as he said:

“I swear that you are one of those who are hard against themselves even when they are in dire need.” And he ordered a  camel load of food and two garments to be given to Umayr who protested:

“About the food, we do not need it, O Amir al-Mumineen. I left two saas of barley with my family and when we have finished  that, Allah- Great and Exalted is He – will provide. As for the two garments, I will take them for (my wife). Her dress is now in  tatters and she is almost naked.”

Not long after that meeting with Umar al-Faruq, Umayr ibn Sad passed away to his Lord. He was not weighted down with the  cares and burdens of the world and he was concerned to provide plenty of provisions for the hereafter. Umar received the  news of his death with a heavy heart and said in deep sorrow: “I have wished to have men like Umayr ibn Sad whose help I  could seek in dealing with the affairs of Muslims.”

Allah knows the best

“O Abu Mundhir! Which verse of the Book of God is the greatest?” asked the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant  him peace. “Allah and His Messenger know best,” came the reply. The Prophet repeated the question and Abu Mundhir  replied.

“Allah, there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs  whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth, …” and most likely he went on to complete the Verse of the Throne  (Ayat al-Kursi).

The Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing the reply and with his countenance beaming with  happiness, said to Abu Mundhir. “May knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu Mundhir.”

This Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and understanding which God had bestowed on him  was Ubayy ibn Kab, one of his distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim community.

Ubayy was one of the Ansar and belonged to the Khazraj tribe. He was one of the first persons of Yathrib to accept Islam. He  pledged allegiance to the Prophet at Aqabah before the Hijrah. He participated in the Battle of Badr and other engagements  thereafter. Ubayy was one of the select few who committed the Quranic revelations to writing and had a Mushaf of his own.  He acted as a scribe of the Prophet, writing letters for him. At the demise of the Prophet, he was one of the twenty five or so  people who knew the Quran completely by heart. His recitation was so beautiful and his understanding so profound that the  Prophet encouraged his companions to learn the Quran from him and from three others. Later, Umar too once told the  Muslims as he was dealing with some financial matters of state:

“O people! Whoever wants to ask about the Quran, let him go to Ubayy ibn Kab…” (Umar went on to say that anyone  wishing to ask about inheritance matters should go to Zayd ibn Thabit, about questions of fiqh to Muadh ibn Jabal and about  questions of money and finance, to himself.)

Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Quran. One day, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace,  said: “O Ubayy ibn Kab! I have been commanded to show or lay open the Quran to you.”

Ubayy was elated. He knew of course that the Prophet only received commands from on high. Unable to control his  excitement, he asked:

“O Messenger of God…Have I been mentioned to you by name?” “Yes,” replied the Prophet, “by your own name and by your  genealogy (nasab) in the highest heavens.”

Any Muslim whose name had been conveyed to the heart of the Prophet in this manner must certainly have been of great  ability and of a tremendously high stature.

Throughout the years of his association with the Prophet, Ubayy derived the maximum benefit from his sweet and noble  personality and from his noble teachings. Ubayy related that the Prophet once asked him:

“Shall I not teach you a surah the like of which has not been revealed in the Tawrah, nor in the Injil, nor in the Zabur, nor in  the Quran?” “Certainly,” replied Ubayy.

“I hope you would not leave through that door until you know what it is,” said the Prophet obviously prolonging the  suspense for Ubayy. Ubayy continues: “He stood up and I stood up with him. He started to speak, with my hand in his. I  tried to delay him fearing that he would leave before letting me know what the surah is. When he reached the door, I asked:  “O Messenger of God! The surah which you promised  to tell me…” He replied:

“What do you recite when you stand for Salat?” So, I recited for him Fatihatu-l Kitab (the Opening Chapter of the Quran) and  he said: “(That’s) it! (That’s) it! They are the seven oft-repeated verses of which God Almighty has said: We have given you  the seven oft-repeated verses and the Mighty Quran.”

Ubayy’s devotion to the Quran was uncompromising. Once he recited part of a verse which the Khalifah Umar apparently  could not remember or did not know and he said to Ubayy: “Your have lied,” to which Ubayy retorted; “Rather, you have  lied.”

A person who heard the exchange was astounded and said to Ubayy: “Do you call the Amir al-Muminin a liar?” “I have  greater honor and respect for the Amir al-Muminin than you,” responded Ubayy,” but he has erred in verifying the Book of  God and I shall not say the Amir al-Muminin is correct when he has made an error concerning the Book of God.” “Ubayy is  right,” concluded Umar.

Ubayy gave an idea of the importance of the Quran when a man came to him and said, “Advise me,” and he replied: “Take  the Book of God as (your) leader (imam). Be satisfied with it as (your) judge and ruler. It is what the Prophet has  bequeathed to you. (It is your) intercessor with God and should be obeyed…”

After the demise of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Ubayy remained strong in his attachment to Islam  and his commitment to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was constant in his ibadah and would often be found in  the mosque at night, after the last obligatory Prayer had been performed, engaged in worship or in teaching. Once he was  sitting in the mosque after Salat with a group of Muslims, making supplication to God. Umar came in and sat with them and  asked each one to recite a dua. They all did until finally Ubayy’s turn came. He was sitting next to Umar. He felt somewhat  over-awed and became flustered. Umar prompted him and suggested that he say: “Allahumma ighfir lanaa. Allahumma  irhamnaa. O Lord, forgive us, O Lord, have mercy on us.”

Taqwa remained the guiding force in Ubayy’s life. He lived simply and did not allow the world to corrupt or deceive him. He  had a good grasp of reality and knew that however a person lived and whatever comforts and luxuries he enjoyed, these  would all fade away and he would have only his good deeds to his credit. He was always a sort of warner to Muslims,  reminding them of the times of the Prophet, of the Muslims’ devotion to Islam then, of their simplicity and spirit of sacrifice.  Many people came to him seeking knowledge and advice. To one such person he said.

“The believer has four characteristics. If he is afflicted by any misfortune, he remains patient and steadfast. If he is given  anything, he is grateful. If he speaks, he speaks the truth. If he passes a judgment on any issue, he is just.”

Ubayy attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early Muslims. Umar called him the “sayyid of the Muslims”  and he came to be widely known by this title. He was part of the consultative group (mushawarah) to which Abu Bakr, as  Khalifah, referred many problems. This group was composed of men of good sense and judgment (ahl ar-ray) and men who  knew the law (ahl al-fiqh) from among the Muhajirin and Ansar. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur Rahman ibn Awl, Muadh  ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Kab and Zayd ibn Harith. Umar later consulted the same group when he was Khalifah. Specifically for  fatwas (legal judgments) he referred to Uthman, Ubayy and Zayd ibn Thabit.

Because of Ubayy’s high standing, one might have expected him to have been given positions of administrative  responsibility, for example as a governor, in the rapidly expanding Muslim state. (During the time of the Prophet in fact he  had performed the function of a collector of sadaqah.) Indeed, Ubayy once asked

“What’s the matter with you? Why don’t you appoint me as a governor?” “I do not want your religion to be corrupted”  replied Umar. Ubayy was probably prompted to put the question to Umar when he saw that Muslims were tending to drift  from the purity of faith and self-sacrifice of the days of the Prophet. He was known to be especially critical of the excessively  polite and sycophantic attitude of many Muslims to their governors which he felt brought ruin both to the governors and  those under them. Ubayy for his part was always honest and frank in his dealings with persons in authority and feared no  one but God. He acted as a sort of conscience to the Muslims.

One of Ubayy’s major fears for the Muslim ummah was that a day would come when there would be severe strife among  Muslims. He often became overwhelmed with emotion when he read or heard the verse of the Quran.” “Say: He (Allah) has  power to send calamities on you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of  mutual vengeance, each from the other.” (Surah al-An’am, 6: 65)

He would then pray fervently to God for guidance and ask for His clemency and forgiveness. Ubayy died in the year 29 AH  during the caliphate of Uthman.

Allah knows the best

Thabit Ibn Qays was a chieftain of the Khazraj and therefore a man of considerable influence in Yathrib. He was known for  the sharpness of his mind and the power of his oratory. It was because of this that he became the khatib or the spokesman  and orator of the Prophet and Islam.

He became a Muslim at the hands of Musab ibn Umayr whose cool and persuasive logic and the sweetness and beauty of his  Quran recital proved irresistible.

When the Prophet arrived in Madinah after the historic Hijrah, Thabit and a great gathering of horsemen gave him a warm  and enthusiastic welcome. Thabit acted as their spokesman and delivered a speech in the presence of the Prophet and his  companion, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. He began by giving praise to God Almighty and invoking peace and blessings on His Prophet  and ended up by saying:

“We give our pledge to you, O Messenger of God, that we would protect you from all that we protect ourselves, our children  and our wives. What would then be our reward for this?”

The speech was reminiscent of words spoken at the second Pledge of Aqabah and the Prophet’s reply as then was the  same: “Al-Jannah – Paradise!”

When the Yathribites heard the word “al-Jannah” their faces beamed with happiness and excitement and their response  was: “We are pleased, O Messenger of God! We are pleased, O Messenger of God .”

From that day on the Prophet, peace be on him, made Thabit ibn Qays his Khatib, just as Hassan ibn Thabit was his poet.  When delegations of Arabs came to him to show off their brilliance in verse and the strength of their oratory skills which the  Arabs took great pride in, the Prophet would call upon Thabit ibn Qays to challenge their orators and Hassan ibn Thabit to  vaunt his verses before their poets.

In the Year of the Delegations, the ninth after the Hijrah, tribes from all over the Arabian peninsula came to Madinah to pay  homage to the Prophet, either to announce their acceptance of Islam or to pay jizyah in return for the protection of the  Muslim state. One of these was a delegation from the tribe of Tamim who said to the Prophet:

“We have come to show our prowess to you. Do give  permission to our Shaif and our Khatib to speak.” The Prophet, peace be on him, smiled and said: “I permit your Khatib. Let  him speak.”

Their orator, Utarid ibn Hajib, got up and held forth on the greatness and achievements of their tribe and when he was  finished the Prophet summoned Thabit ibn Qays and said: “Stand and reply to him.” Thabit arose and said:

“Praise be to God Whose creation is the entire heavens and the earth wherein His will has been made manifest. His Throne  is the extent of His knowledge and there is nothing which does not exist through His grace.

“Through His power He has made us leaders and from the best of His creation He has chosen a Messenger who is the most  honorable of men in lineage, the most reliable and true in speech and the most excellent in deeds. He has revealed to him a  book and chosen him as a leader of His creation. Among all creation, he is a blessing of God.

“He summoned people to have faith in Him. The Emigrants from among his people and his relations who are the most  honorable people in esteem and the best in deeds believed in him. Then, we the Ansar (Helpers) were the first people to  respond (to his call for support). So we are the Helpers of God and the ministers of His Messenger.”

Thabit was a believer with a profound faith in God. His consciousness and fear of God was true and strong. He was especially  sensitive and cautious of saying or doing anything that would incur the wrath of God Almighty. One day the Prophet saw him  looking not just sad but dejected and afraid. His shoulders were haunched and he was actually cringing from fear.

“What’s wrong with you, O Abu Muhammad?” asked the Prophet. “I fear that I might be destroyed, O Messenger of God,” he  said. “And why?” asked the Prophet. “God Almighty,” he said, “has prohibited us from desiring to be praised for what we did  not do but I find myself liking praise. He has prohibited us from being proud and I find myself tending towards vanity.” This  was the time when the verse of the Quran was revealed: “Indeed, God does not love any arrogant boaster.”

The Prophet, peace be on him, then tried to calm his anxieties and allay his fears and eventually said to him: “O Thabit,  aren’t you pleased to live as someone who is praised, and to die as a martyr and to enter Paradise?”

Thabit’s face beamed with happiness and joy as he said: “Certainly, O Messenger of God.” “Indeed, that shall be yours,”  replied the noble Prophet.

There was another occasion when Thabit became sad and crest-fallen, when the words of the Quran were revealed:

“O you who believe! Raise not your voices above the voice of the Prophet and neither speak loudly to him as you would  speak loudly to one another, lest all your deeds come to naught without your perceiving it.”

On hearing these words, Qays kept away from the meetings and gatherings of the Prophet in spite of his great love for him  and his hitherto constant presence in his company. He stayed in his house a/most without ever leaving it except for the  performance of the obligatory Salat. The Prophet missed his presence and evidently asked for information about him. A man  from the Ansar volunteered and went to Thabit’s house. He found Thabit sitting in his house, sad and dejected, with his head  bowed low.

“What’s the matter with you?” asked the man. “It’s bad,” replied Thabit. “You know that I am a man with a loud voice and  that my voice is far louder than that of the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. And you know what  has been revealed in the Quran. The only result for me is that my deeds will come to naught and I will be among the people  who go to the fire of hell.”

The man returned to the Prophet and told him what he had seen and heard and the Prophet instructed him to return to  Thabit and say: “You are not among the people who will go to the fire of hell but you will be among the people of Paradise.”

Such was the tremendously good news with which Thabit ibn Qays was blessed. The incidents showed how alive and  sensitive he was to the Prophet and the commands of Islam and his readiness to observe the letter and the spirit of its laws.  He subjected himself to the most stringent self-criticism. His was a God-fearing and penitent heart which trembled and shook  through the fear of God.

Allah knows the best

Returning to Makkah in haste after a trading trip to Syria, Talhah asked his family: “Did anything happen in Makkah since we  left?” “Yes,” they replied. “Muhammad ibn Abdullah emerged alleging that he is a Prophet and Abu Quhafah (Abu Bakr) has  followed him.”

“I used to know Abu Bakr,” said Talhah. “He is an easy-going, amiable, gentle man. He was an honest and upright trader.  We were quite fond of him and loved sitting in his company because of his knowledge of Quraysh history and genealogy.”

Later, Talhah went to Abu Bakr and asked: “Is it true what they say, that Muhammad ibn Abdullah has appeared as a  Prophet and that you follow him.” “Yes,” replied Abu Bakr and went on to tell Talhah about Muhammad and what a good  thing it would be if he too followed him. Talhah in turn told Abu Bakr the story of his strange recent encounter with an ascetic  in the market-place of Busra in Syria. The ascetic is said to have told Talhah that someone called “Ahmad” would appear in  Makkah about that time and that he would be the last of the Prophets. He also told Talhah, so the story goes, that the  Prophet would leave the sacred precincts of Makkah and migrate to a land of black soil, water and palm trees…

Abu Bakr was astonished by the story and took Talhah to Muhammad. The Prophet, peace be on him, explained Islam to  Talhah and recited some portions of the Quran to him. Talhah was enthusiastic. He related to the Prophet his conversation  with the ascetic of Busra. There and then, Talhah pronounced the Shahadah – that there is no god but Allah and that  Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. He was the fourth person who had been introduced to Islam by Abu Bakr.

The Quraysh were astounded by the young Talhah’s acceptance of Islam. The one who was most dismayed and unhappy  was his mother. She had hoped that he would one day be a leader in his community because of his noble character and his  outstanding virtues. Some of the Quraysh, anxious and worried, went to Talhah as soon as they could to wean him away  from his new religion but found him firm and unshakable as a rock. When they despaired of using gentle persuasion to  achieve their aim, they resorted to persecution and violence. The following story is related by Masud ibn Kharash:

“While I was making saiy between as-Safa and al-Marwa, there appeared a crowd of people pushing a young man whose  hands were tied behind his back. As they rushed behind him, they rained down blows on his head. In the crowd was an old  woman who lashed him repeatedly and shouted abuses at him. I asked: ‘What’s the matter with this young man?’ ‘This is  Talhah ibn Ubaydullah. He gave up his religion and now follows the Banu Hashim man.’ ‘And who is the woman behind him?’ I  asked. ‘She is as-Sabah bint al-Hadrami, the young man’s mother,’ they said.

The Quraysh did not stop there. Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, nicknamed the ‘lion of the Quraysh” bound Talhah with a rope and  with the same rope he tied up Abu Bakr and then handed them over to the mindless and violent mob of Makkah to be beaten  and tortured. The shared experience no doubt drew Talhah and Abu Bakr closer together!

Years passed and events of great significance took place. Talhah grew in stature as he bore the pain and suffering of being  tested in the path of God and His Prophet. He gained the unique reputation among Muslims of being called the “living  martyr”. The Prophet, peace be on him, also called him “Talhah the Good” and “Talhah the Generous”.

The name of the “living martyr” was earned during the Battle of Uhud. Talhah had missed the Battle of Badr. He and Said ibn  Zayd had been sent outside Madinah on a mission by the Prophet and when they returned, the Prophet and his companions  were already on the way back from Badr. They were both sad at having missed the opportunity of taking part in the first  campaign with the Prophet but were tremendously pleased when he told them they would get the same reward as those  who actually fought.

At the Battle of Uhud, when the Muslims fell into disarray at the beginning of hostilities the Prophet became dangerously  exposed. There were about eleven men of the Ansar at his side and one Muhajir – Talhah ibn Ubaydullah. The Prophet  clambered up the mountain hotly pursued by some mushrikin. The Prophet, peace be on him, shouted:

“The one who repulses these people from us will be my companion in Paradise.” “I, O Messenger of god,” shouted Talhah.

“No, stick to your position,” replied the Prophet. A man from the Ansar volunteered and the Prophet agreed. He fought until  he was killed. The Prophet went further up the mountain with the mushrikin still in close pursuit. “Isn’t there someone to  combat these?”

Talhah again volunteered but the Prophet ordered him to maintain his position. Another person immediately came forward,  fought and was killed. This happened until all who stood by the Prophet were martyred except Talhah.

“Now, yes,” signalled the Prophet and Talhah went into battle. By this time, the Prophet’s teeth had been broken, his  forehead had been slashed, his lips had been wounded and blood was streaming down his face. He was drained of energy.  Talhah plunged into the enemy and pushed them away from the Prophet. He turned back to the Prophet and helped him a  little further up the mountain and put him to lie on the ground. He then renewed his attack and successfully repulsed the  enemy. About this occasion Abu Bakr said:

“At that moment, Abu Ubayd ibn al-Jarrah and I were far from the Prophet. When we came close to him to render assistance  to him, the Prophet said: ‘Leave me and go to your companion (meaning Talhah).”

There was Talhah, bleeding profusely. He had numerous wounds, from sword, spear and arrow. His foot had been cut and  he had fallen into a hollow where he lay unconscious.

Thereafter, the Prophet, peace be on him, said: “Whoever is pleased to see a man still walking on earth who had completed  his span (of life), let him look at Talhah ibn Ubaydallah.”

And, whenever Uhud was recalled, As-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, would say: “That day, that entire day, belonged  to Talhah.”

That was the story of how Talhah became to be called the “living martyr”. There were unnumerabIe incidents which led to  him being called “Talhah the Good” and “Talhah the Generous”.

Talhah was an astute and successful merchant who travelled widely to the north and south of the Arabian peninsula. It is  said that after one of his trips to Hadramawt, he had profits amounting to some seven hundred thousand dirhams. His nights  would be anxious and worried on account of this vast wealth. On one such night, his wife, Umm Kulthum the daughter of Abu  Bakr, said to him:

“What’s wrong with you, O father of Muhammad? Perhaps I have done something to hurt you.’?” “No ,” replied Talhah. “You  are a wonderful wife for a Muslim man. But I have been thinking since last night: How can a man think of his Lord and  Sustainer when he goes to sleep with this wealth in his house?”

“Why should it bother you so much ,” remarked Umm Kulthum. “What about all the needy ones in your community and all  your friends? When you get up in the morning share it out among them.”

“God bless you. You are really marvellous, the daughter of a marvellous man,” said Talhah to his wife. In the morning, Talhah  gathered up the money in bags and distributed it among the poor Muhajirin and Ansar.

It is related that a man came up to Talhah requesting help and also mentioning some common family connection between  them.

“This family connection someone has mentioned to me before,” said Talhah who was in fact known for his generosity to all  members of his clan. Talhah told the man that he had just sold a piece of land to Uthman ibn Allan for several thousand  dirhams. The man could have the money or the land which could be re-purchased from Uthman. The man opted for the  money and Talhah gave it all to him.

Talhah was well-known for helping persons who had debt problems, heads of families who experienced hardship, and  widows. One of his friends, as-Saib ibn Zayd, said of him: “I accompanied Talhah ibn Ubaydallah on journeys and I stayed  with him at home and I have not found anyone who was more generous with money, with clothes and with food than  Talhah.”

No wonder he was called “Talhah the Good” and “Talhah the Generous”.

The name Talhah is also connected with the first fitnah or civil war among Muslims after the death of the prophet, peace be  on him.

The seeds of trouble were sown during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan. There were many complaints and accusations  against him. Some mischief-makers were not content with accusations only but were determined to finish him off. In the year  35 AH (656 CE) a group of insurgents stormed Uthman’s house and murdered him while he was reading the Quran. It was  one of the most shocking events in the early history of Islam.

Ali was persuaded to accept the responsibility of the Caliphate and all Muslims swore allegiance to him, including Talhah and  Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. Talhah and Zubayr were deeply shocked by the murder of Uthman. They were horrified and felt  strongly that the murderers should be punished and that justice should be done. But the punishment of the murderers was  not an easy task in as much as the crime was not just the work of a few individuals but involved a large number of persons.

Talhah and Zubayr sought Ali’s permission to go to Makkah to perform Umrah. They met Aishah the wife of the Prophet. She  was greatly shocked when she heard of the assassination of Uthman. From Makkah, Talhah, Zubayr and Aishah set off for  Basrah where large numbers were gathering to seek revenge for the death of Uthman.

The forces gathered at Basrah seemed to present an open challenge to Ali. As the caliph of the Muslims and the head of the  entire Muslim State, he could not tolerate any insurrection or armed revolt against the State. But what a difficult and  awesome task he faced! To deal with the revolt, he had to confront his brothers, his companions and his friends-followers of  the Prophet and his religion, those who often fought side by side with him against the forces of shirk, those whom he  respected and loved.

The forces clamoring for vengeance for Uthman and those supporting Ali met at a place called Kuraybah, near Basrah. Ali  desired to avoid war and settle matters by peaceful means. He used every means at his disposal to achieve peace. He clung  to every hope of avoiding confrontation. But the dark forces at work against Islam and how numerous were these, were  determined that matters should come to a terrible and bloody end.

Ali wept. He wept bitterly when he saw Aishah, the “Mother of the Believers” in her hawdaj or palanquin astride a camel at  the head of the army which now emerged to fight him. And when he saw Talhah and Zubayr, two close companions of the  Prophet, in the midst of the army, he shouted to them to come out to him. They did and Ali said to Talhah:

“O Talhah, have you come with the wife of the Messenger of Allah to fight along with her…?” And to Zubayr he said:

“O Zubayr, I implore you, by God, do you remember the day when the Prophet. peace be on him, passed by you and we  were in such and such a place and he asked you: ‘Do you love Ali?’ and you said: ‘Why shouldn’t I love my cousin and one  who follows my religion…?’”

Ali continued talking to them reminding them of the bonds of brotherhood and faith. In the end both Talhah and Zubayr  withdrew from participation in this civil war. They withdrew immediately when they saw the situation in a different light. But  they paid for that withdrawal with their lives.

As they withdrew, a man named Amr ibn Jarmouz followed Zubayr and cowardly murdered him while he performed Salat.  Talhah was killed by an arrow allegedly shot by Marwan – a cousin of Uthman who was too blinded by rage and the desire to  seek revenge for his kinsman to respond to the possibility of avoiding war and bloodshed among Muslims.

The murder of Uthman had become Talhah’s tryst with destiny. He did not participate in the fighting and killing that followed  that came to be known in history as the “Battle of the Camel”. Indeed, if he had known that the fitnah would have  degenerated into such insane hatred and bitterness and resulted in such a bloody outcome, he would have resisted it. He  was not keen to fight Ali. He was simply appalled by the murder of Uthman and wanted to see justice done. Before the  beginning of the battle he had said in a voice choked with emotion:

“O Lord, for the sake of Uthman, take from me this day until You are pleased.” Then when Ali faced him and Zubayr, they saw  the correctness of his position and withdrew from the field of battle. Yet, in these difficult circumstances, martyrdom was  reserved for them.

The Battle of Camel came to an end. Aishah, the mother of the believers, realized that she had precipitated matters and left  Basrah for the Sacred Mosque and then to Madinah distancing herself from the conflict. Ali provided well for her journey  giving her all the comfort and honor due to her.

When the numerous dead from the battle were brought together, Ali led the funeral prayer for them all, those who were with  him and those who were against him. And when he had finished burying Talhah and Zubayr he bade farewell to them with a  heavy heart, a heart filled with tenderness and love.

“I really hope,” he said in simple and sublime words, “that Talhah, az-Zubayr, Uthman and I will be among those of whom  God has said: ‘And We shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury and rancor; they will be brothers joyfully  facing each other on thrones of dignity.’ “(The Quran, Surah al-Hijr, 15:47)

Then he looked tenderly and sorrowfully on the graves of his brothers in faith and said: “I have heard with these two ears of  mine the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saying: “Talhah and az-Zubayr are my companions in  Paradise!”

Allah knows the best

In giving advice to his companions, the noble Prophet, peace be on him, once said: “Learn the Quran from four persons:  Abdullah ibn Masud, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah, Ubayy ibn Kab and Muadh ibn Jabal.”

We have read about three of these companions before. But who was this fourth companion in whom the Prophet had so  much confidence that he considered him a hujjah or competent authority to teach the Quran and be a source of reference for  it?

Salim was a slave and when he accepted Islam he was adopted as a son by a Muslim who was formerly a leading nobleman  of the Quraysh. When the practice of adoption (in which the adopted person was called the son of his adopted father) was  banned, Salim simply became a brother, a companion and a mawla (protected person) of the one who had adopted him, Abu  Hudhayfah ibn Utbah. Through the blessings of Islam, Salim rose to a position of high esteem among the Muslims by virtue of  his noble conduct and his piety.

Both Salim and Abu Hudhayfah accepted Islam early. Abu Hudhayfah himself did so in the face of bitter opposition from his  father, the notorious Utbah ibn Rabi’ah who was particularly virulent in his attacks against the Prophet, peace be upon him,  and his companions.

When the verse of the Quran was revealed abolishing adoption, people like Zayd and Salim had to change their names. Zayd  who was known as Zayd ibn Muhammad had to be called after his own natural father. Henceforth he was known as Zayd ibn  Harithah. Salim however did not know the name of his father. Indeed he did not know who his father was. However he  remained under the protection of Abu Hudhayfah and so came to be known as Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah.

In abolishing the practice of adoption, Islam wanted to emphasize the bonds and responsibilities of natural kinship.  However, no relationship was greater or stronger than the bond of Islam and the ties of faith which was the basis of  brotherhood. The early Muslims understood this very well. There was nobody dearer to anyone of them after Allah and His  Messenger than their brethren in faith.

We have seen how the Ansar of Madinah welcomed and accepted the Muhajirin from Makkah and shared with them their  homes and their wealth and their hearts. This same spirit of brotherhood we see in the relationship between the Quraysh  aristocrat, Abu Hudhayfah, and the despised and lowly slave, Salim. They remained to the very end of their lives something  more than brothers; they died together, one body beside the other one soul with the other. Such was the unique greatness  of Islam. Ethnic background and social standing had no worth in the sight of God. Only faith and taqwa mattered as the  verses of the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet emphasized over and over again:

“The most honorable of you in the sight of God, is the most God-fearing of you,” says the Quran.

“No Arab has an advantage over a non-Arab except in taqwa (piety),” taught the noble Prophet who also said: “The son of a  white woman has no advantage over the son of a black woman except in taqwa.”

In the new and just society rounded by Islam, Abu Hudhayfah found honor for himself in protecting the one who was a slave.

In this new and rightly-guided society rounded by Islam, which destroyed unjust class divisions and false social distinctions  Salim found himself, through his honesty, his faith and his willingness to sacrifice, in the front line of the believers. He was  the “imam” of the Muhajirin from Makkah to Madinah, leading them in Salat in the masjid at Quba which was built by the  blessed hands of the Prophet himself. He became a competent authority in the Book of God so much so that the Prophet  recommended that the Muslims learn the Quran from him. Salim was even further blessed and enjoyed a high estimation in  the eyes of the Prophet, peace be on him, who said of him.

“Praise be to God Who has made among my Ummah such as you.”

Even his fellow Muslim brothers used to call him “Salim min as-Salihin – Salim one of the righteous”. The story of Salim is like  the story of Bilal and that of tens of other slaves and poor persons whom Islam raised from slavery and degradation and  ‘made them, in the society of guidance and justice – imams, leaders and military commanders.

Salim’s personality was shaped by Islamic virtues. One of these was his outspokenness when he felt it was his duty to speak  out especially when a wrong was committed.

A well-known incident to illustrate this occurred after the liberation of Makkah. The Prophet sent some of his companions to  the villages and tribes around the city. He specified that they were being sent as du’at to invite people to Islam and not as  fighters. Khalid ibn al-Walid was one of those sent out. During the mission however, to settle an old score from the days of  Jahiliyyah, he fought with and killed a man even though the man testified that he was now a Muslim.

Accompanying Khalid on this mission was Salim and others. As soon as Salim saw what Khalid had done he went up to him  and reprimanded him listing the mistakes he had committed. Khalid, the great leader and military commander both during the  days of Jahiliyyah and now in Islam, was silent for once.

Khalid then tried to defend himself with increasing fervor. But Salim stood his ground and stuck to his view that Khalid had  committed a grave error. Salim did not look upon Khalid then as an abject slave would look upon a powerful Makkan  nobleman. Not at all. Islam had placed them on an equal footing. It was justice and truth that had to be defended. He did  not look upon him as a leader whose mistakes were to be covered up or justified but rather as an equal partner in carrying  out a responsibility and an obligation. Neither did he come out in opposition to Khalid out of prejudice or passion but out of  sincere advice and mutual self-criticism which Islam has hallowed. Such mutual sincerity was repeatedly emphasized by the  Prophet himself when he said:

“Ad-dinu an-Nasihah. Ad-din u an-Nasihah. Ad-din u an-Nasihah.” “Religion is sincere advice. Religion is sincere advice.  Religion is sincere advice.”

When the Prophet heard what Khalid had done, he was deeply grieved and made long and fervent supplication to his Lord.  “O Lord,” he said, “I am innocent before you of what Khalid has done.” And he asked: “Did anyone reprimand him?”

The Prophet’s anger subsided somewhat when he was told:

“Yes, Salim reprimanded him and opposed him.” Salim lived close to the Prophet and the believers. He was never slow or  reluctant in his worship nor did he miss any campaign. In particular, the strong brotherly relationship which existed between  him and Abu Hudhayfah grew with the passing days.

The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, passed away to his Lord. Abu Bakr assumed responsibility for the  affairs of Muslims and immediately had to face the conspiracies of the apostates which resulted in the terrible battle of  Yamamah. Among the Muslim forces which made their way to the central heartlands of Arabia was Salim and his “brother”,  Abu Hudhayfah.

At the beginning of the battle, the Muslim forces suffered major reverses. The Muslims fought as individuals and so the  strength that comes from solidarity was initially absent. But Khalid ibn al-Walid regrouped the Muslim forces anew and  managed to achieve an amazing coordination.

Abu Hudhayfah and Salim embraced each other and made a vow to seek martyrdom in the path of the religion of Truth and  thus attain felicity in the hereafter. Yamamah was their tryst with destiny. To spur on the Muslims Abu Hudhayfah shouted:  “Yaa ahl al-Quran – O people of the Quran! Adorn the Quran with your deeds,” as his sword flashed through the army of  Musaylamah the imposter like a whirlwind. Salim in his turn shouted:

“What a wretched bearer of the Quran am I, if the Muslims are attacked from my direction. Far be it from you, O Salim!  Instead, be you a worthy bearer of the

With renewed courage he plunged into the battle. When the standard-bearer of the Muhajirin, Zayd ibn al-Khattab, fell. Salim  bore aloft the flag and continued fighting. His right hand was then severed and he held the standard aloft with his left hand  while reciting aloud the verse of the glorious Quran:

“How many a Prophet fought in God’s way and with him (fought) large bands of godly men! But they never lost heart if they  met with disaster in God’s way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. And God loves those who are firm and steadfast.”  What an inspiring verse for such an occasion! And what a fitting epitaph for someone who had dedicated his life for the sake  of Islam!

A wave of apostates then overwhelmed Salim and he fell. Some life remained with him until the battle came to an end with  the death of Musaylamah. When the Muslims went about searching for their victims and their martyrs, they found Salim in the  last throes of death. As his life-blood ebbed away he asked them: “What has happened to Abu Hudhayfah?” “He has been  martyred,” came the reply. “Then put me to lie next to him,” said Salim.

“He is close to you, Salim. He was martyred in this same place.” Salim smiled a last faint smile and spoke no more. Both men  had realized what they had hoped for. Together they entered Islam. Together they lived. And together they were martyred.

Salim, that great believer passed away to his Lord. Of him, the great Umar ibn al-Khattab spoke as he lay dying: “If Salim  were alive, I would have appointed him my successor.”

Allah knows the best

We are now in a small town in a narrow valley. There is no vegetation, no livestock, no gardens, no rivers. Desert after  desert separates the town from the rest of the world. During the day the heat of the sun is unbearable and the nights are  still and lonely. Tribes flock to it like animals in the open country flock to a water-hole. No government rules. There is no  religion to guide people except one which promotes the worship of stone idols. There is no knowledge except priestcraft and  a love for elegant poetry. This is Makkah and these are the Arabs.

In this town lies a young man who has not yet seen twenty summers. He is short and well-built and has a very heavy crop of  hair. People compare him to a young lion. He comes from a rich and noble family. He is very attached to his parents and is  particularly fond of his mother. He spends much of his time making and repairing bows and arrows and practising archery as  if preparing himself for some great encounter. People recognize him as a serious and intelligent young man. He finds no  satisfaction in the religion and way of life of his people, their corrupt beliefs and disagreeable practices. His name is Sad ibn  Abi Waqqas.

One morning at about this time in his life the genial Abu Bakr came up and spoke softly to him. He explained that Muhammad  ibn Abdullah the son of his late cousin Aminah bint Wahb had been given Revelations and sent with the religion of guidance  and truth. Abu Bakr then took him to Muhammad in one of the valleys of Makkah. It was late afternoon by this time and the  Prophet had just prayed Salat al-Asr. Sad was excited and overwhelmed and responded readily to the invitation to truth and  the religion of One God. The fact that he was one of the first persons to accept Islam was something that pleased him  greatly.

The Prophet, peace be on him, was also greatly pleased when Sad became a Muslim. He saw in him signs of excellence. The  fact that he was still in his youth promised great things to come. It was as if this glowing crescent would become a shining  full moon before long. Perhaps other young people of Makkah would follow his example, including some of his relations. For  Sad ibn Abi Waqqas was in fact a maternal uncle of the Prophet since he belonged to the Bani Zuhrah, the clan of Aminah  bint Wahb, the mother of the Prophet, peace be upon him. For this reason he is sometimes referred to as Sad of Zuhrah, to  distinguish him from several others whose first name was Sad.

The Prophet is reported to have been pleased with his family relationship to Sad. Once as he was sitting with his  companions, he saw Sad approaching and he said to them: “This is my maternal uncle. Let a man see his maternal uncle!”

While the Prophet was delighted with Sad’s acceptance of Islam, others including and especially his mother were not. Sad  relates: “When my mother heard the news of my Islam, she flew into a rage. She came up to me and said:

“O Sad! What is this religion that you have embraced which has taken you away from the religion of your mother and  father…? By God, either you forsake your new religion or I would not eat or drink until I die. Your heart would be broken with  grief for me and remorse would consume you on account of the deed which you have done and people would censure you  forever more.’

‘Don’t do (such a thing), my mother,’ I said, ‘for I would not give up my religion for anything.’

However, she went on with her threat… For days she neither ate nor drank. She became emaciated and weak. Hour after  hour, I went to her asking whether I should bring her some food or something to drink but she persistently refused, insisting  that she would neither eat nor drink until she died or I abandoned my religion. I said to her:

‘Yaa Ummaah! In spite of my strong love for you, my love for God and His Messenger is indeed stronger. By God, if you had a  thousand souls and one soul after another were to depart, I would not abandon this my religion for anything.’ When she  saw that I was determined she relented unwillingly and ate and drank.”

It was concerning Sad’s relationship with his mother and her attempt to force him to recant his faith that the words of the  Quran were revealed: “And we enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents. In pain upon pain did his mother bear him and  his weaning took two years. So show gratitude to Me and to your parents. To Me is the final destiny.

“But if they strive to make you join in worship with Me things of which you have no knowledge, obey them not. Yet bear them  company in this life with justice and consideration and follow the way of those who turn to Me. In the end, the return of you  all is to Me and I shall tell you (the truth and meaning of) all that you used to do.” (Surah Luqman, 31: 14-15).

In these early days of Islam, the Muslims were careful not to arouse the sensibilities of the Quraysh. They would often go out  together in groups to the glens outside Makkah where they could pray together without being seen. But one day a number  of idolaters came upon them while they were praying and rudely interrupted them with ridicule. The Muslims felt they could  not suffer these indignities passively and they came to blows with the idolaters. Sad ibn Abi Waqqas struck one of the  disbelievers with the jawbone of a camel and wounded him. This was the first blood shed in the conflict between Islam and  kufr – a conflict that was later to escalate and test the patience and courage of the Muslims.

After the incident, however, the Prophet enjoined his companions to be patient and forbearing for this was the command of  God: “And bear with patience what they say and avoid them with noble dignity. And leave Me alone to deal with those who  give the lie to the Truth, those who enjoy the blessings of life (without any thought of God) and bear with them for a little  while.” (The Quran, Surah al Muzzammil, 71: 1O).

More than a decade later when permission was given for the Muslims to fight. Sad ibn Abi Waqqas was to play a  distinguished role in many of the engagements that took place both during the time of the Prophet and after. He fought at  Badr together with his young brother Umayr who had cried to be allowed to accompany the Muslim army for he was only in  his early teens. Sad returned to Madinah alone for Umayr was one of the fourteen Muslim martyrs who fell in the battle.

At the Battle of Uhud, Sad was specially chosen as one of the best archers together with Zayd, Saib the son of Uthman ibn  Mazun and others. Sad was one of those who fought vigorously in defence of the Prophet after some Muslims had deserted  their positions. To urge him on, the Prophet, peace be on him, said: “Irmi Sad…Fidaaka Abi wa Ummi ” Shoot, Sad …may my  mother and father be your ransom.”

Of this occasion, Ali ibn Abi Talib said that he had not yet heard the Prophet, peace be on him, promising such a ransom to  anyone except Sad. Sad is also known as the first companion to have shot an arrow in defence of Islam. And the Prophet  once prayed for him:

“O Lord, direct his shooting and respond to his prayer.” Sad was one of the companions of the Prophet who was blessed  with great wealth. Just as he was known for his bravery, so he was known for his generosity. During the Farewell Pilgrimage  with the Prophet, he fell ill. The Prophet came to visit him and Sad said:

“O Messenger of God. I have wealth and I only have one daughter to inherit from me. Shall I give two thirds of my wealth as  sadaqah?” “No,” replied the Prophet. “Then, (shall I give) a half?.” asked Sad and the Prophet again said ‘no’.

“Then, (shall I give) a third?’ asked Sad.

“Yes,” said the Prophet. “The third is much. Indeed to leave your heirs well-off’ is better than that you should leave them  dependent on and to beg from people. If you spend anything seeking to gain thereby the pleasure of God, you will be  rewarded for it even if it is a morsel which you place in your wife’s mouth.”

Sad did not remain the father of just one child but was blessed thereafter with many children.

Sad is mainly renowned as the commander-in-chief of the strong Muslim army which Umar despatched to confront the  Persians at Qadisiyyah. Umar wanted nothing less than an end to Sasanian power which for centuries had dominated the  region.

To confront the numerous and well-equipped Persians was a most daunting task. The most powerful force had to be  mustered. Umar sent despatches to Muslim governors throughout the state to mobilize all able-bodied persons who had  weapons or mounts, or who had talents of oratory and other skills to place at the service of the battle.

Bands of Mujahidin then converged on Madinah from every part of the Muslim domain. When they had all gathered, Umar  consulted the leading Muslims about the appointment of a commander-in-chief over the mighty army. Umar himself thought of  leading the army but Ali suggested that the Muslims were in great need of him and he should not endanger his life. Sad was  then chosen as commander and Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl, one of the veterans among the Sahabah said:

“You have chosen well! Who is there like Sad?” Umar stood before the great army and bade farewell to them. To the  commander-in-chief he said:

“O Sad! Let not any statement that you are the uncle of the Messenger of God or that you are the companion of the  Messenger of God distract you from God. God Almighty does not obliterate evil with evil but he wipes out evil with good.

“O Sad! There is no connection between God and anyone except obedience to Him. In the sight of God all people whether  nobleman or commoner are the same. Allah is their Lord and they are His servants seeking elevation through taqwa and  seeking to obtain what is with God through obedience. Consider how the Messenger of God used to act with the Muslims  and act accordingly…”

Umar thus made it clear that the army was not to seek conquest for the sake of it and that the expedition was not for  seeking personal glory and fame.

The three thousand strong army set off. Among them were ninety nine veterans of Badr, more than three hundred of those  who took the Pledge of Riffwan (Satisfaction) at Hudaybiyyah and three hundred of those who had participated in the  liberation of Makkah with the noble Prophet. There were seven hundred sons of the companions. Thousands of women also  went on to battle as auxiliaries and nurses and to urge the men on to battle.

The army camped at Qadisiyyah near Hira. Against them the Persians had mobilized a force of 12O,OOO men under the  leadership of their most brilliant commander, Rustum.

Umar had instructed Sad to send him regular despatches about the condition and movements of the Muslim forces, and of  the deployment of the enemy’s forces. Sad wrote to Umar about the unprecedented force that the Persians were mobilizing  and Umar wrote to him:

“Do not be troubled by what you hear about them nor about the (forces, equipment and methods) they would deploy  against you. Seek help with God and put your trust in Him and send men of insight, knowledge and toughness to him (the  Chosroes) to invite him to God… And write to me daily.”

Sad understood well the gravity of the impending battle and kept in close contact with the military high command in Madinah.  Although commander-in-chief, he understood the importance of shura.

Sad did as Umar instructed and sent delegations of Muslims first to Yazdagird and then to Rustum, inviting them to accept  Islam or to pay the jizyah to guarantee their protection and peaceful existence or to choose war if they so desired.

The first Muslim delegation which included Numan ibn Muqarrin was ridiculed by the Persian Emperor, Yazdagird. Sad sent a  delegation to Rustum, the commander of the Persian forces. This was led by Rubiy ibn Aamir who, with spear in hand, went  directly to Rustam’s encampment. Rustam said to him:

“Rubiy! What do you want from us? If you want wealth we would give you. We would provide you with provisions until you  are sated. We would clothe you. We would make you become rich and happy. Look, Rubiy! What do you see in this assembly  of mine? No doubt you see signs of richness and luxury, these lush carpets, fine curtains, gold embroidered wails, carpets of  silk…Do you have any desire that we should bestow some of these riches which we have on you?”

Rustum thus wanted to impress the Muslim and allure him from his purpose by this show of opulence and grandeur. Rubiy  looked and listened unmoved and then said:

“Listen, O commander! Certainly God has chosen us that through us those of His creation whom He so desires could be  drawn away from the worship of idols to Tawhid (the affirmation of the unity of God), from the narrow confines of  preoccupation with this world to its boundless expanse and from the tyranny of rulers to justice of Islam.

“Whoever accepts that from us we are prepared to welcome him. And whoever fights us, we would fight him until the  promise of God comes to pass.” “And what is the promise of God to you?” asked Rustum. “Paradise for our martyrs and  victory for those who live.”

Rustum of course was not inclined to listen to such talk from a seemingly wretched person the likes of whom the Persians  regarded as barbaric and uncivilized and whom they had conquered and subjugated for centuries.

The Muslim delegation returned to their commanderin-chief. It was clear that war was now inevitable. Sad’s eyes filled with  tears. He wished that the battle could be delayed a little or indeed that it might have been somewhat earlier. For on this  particular day he was seriously ill and could hardly move. He was suffering from sciatica and he could not even sit upright for  the pain.

Sad knew that this was going to be a bitter, harsh and bloody battle. And for a brief moment he thought, if only… but no!  The Messenger of God had taught the Muslims that none of them should say, “If…..” To say “If…..” implied a lack of will and  determination and wishing that a situation might have been different was not the characteristic of a firm believer. So, despite  his illness, Sad got up and stood before his army and addressed them. He began his speech with a verse from the glorious  Quran:

“And indeed after having exhorted (man), We have laid it down in all the books of Divine wisdom that My righteous servants  shall inherit the earth.” Surah al-Anbiyaa, 21:1O5).

The address over, Sad performed Salat az-Zuhr with the army. Facing them once again, he shouted the Muslim battle cry  “Allahu Akbar” four times and directed the fighters to attack with the words:

“Hayya ala barakatillah Charge, with the blessings of God.” Standing in front of his tent, Sad directed his soldiers and  spurred them on with shouts of Allahu Akbar (God is Most Great) and La hawla wa la quwwata ilia billah (there is no power  or might save with God). For four days the battle raged. The Muslims displayed valor and skill. But a Persian elephant corps  wrought havoc in the ranks of the Muslims. The ferocious battle was only resolved when several renowned Muslim warriors  made a rush in the direction of the Persian commander. A storm arose and the canopy of Rustam was blown into the river. As  he tried to flee he was detected and slain. Complete confusion reigned among the Persians and they fled in disarray.

Just how ferocious the battle was can be imagined when it is known that some thirty thousand persons on both sides fell in  the course of four days’ fighting. In one day alone, some two thousand Muslims and about ten thousand Persians lost their  lives.

The Battle of Qadisiyyah is one of the major decisive battles of world history. It sealed the fate of the Sasanian Empire just  as the Battle of Yarmuk had sealed the fate of the Byzantine Empire in the east.

Two years after Qadisiyyah, Sad went on to take the Sasanian capital. By then he had recovered his health. The taking of  Ctesiphon was accomplished after a brilliant crossing of the Tigris river while it was in flood. Sad has thus gone down in the  annals of history as the Hero of Qadisiyyah and the Conqueror of Ctesiphon.

He lived until he was almost eighty years old. He was blessed with much influence and wealth but as the time of death  approached in the year 54 AH, he asked his son to open a box in which he had kept a course woolen jubbah and said:  “Shroud me in this, for in this (jubbah) I met the Mushrikin on the day of Badr and in it I desire to meet God Almighty.”

Allah knows the best

Muadh Bin Jabal was a young man growing up in Yathrib as the light of guidance and truth began to spread over the Arabian  peninsula. He was a handsome and imposing character with black eyes and curly hair and immediately impressed whoever  he met. He was already distinguished for the sharpness of his intelligence among young men of his own age.

The young Muadh became a Muslim at the hands of Musab ibn Umayr, the daiy (missionary) whom the Prophet had sent to  Yathrib before the hijrah. Muadh was among the seventy-two Yathribites who journeyed to Makkah, one year before the  hijrah, and met the Prophet at his house and later again in the valley of Mina, outside Makkah, at Aqabah. Here the famous  second Aqabah Pledge was made at which the new Muslims of Yathrib, including some women, vowed to support and defend  the Prophet at any cost. Muadh was among those who enthusiastically clasped the hands of the blessed Prophet then and  pledged allegiance to him.

As soon as Muadh returned to Madinah from Makkah, he and a few others of his age formed a group to remove and destroy  idols from the houses of the mushrikeen in Yathrib. One of the effects of this campaign was that a prominent man of the city,  Amr ibn al-Jumuh, became a Muslim.

When the noble Prophet reached Madinah, Muadh ibn Jabal stayed in his company as much as possible. He studied the  Quran and the laws of Islam until he became one of the most well-versed of all the companions in the religion of Islam.

Wherever Muadh went, people would refer to him for legal judgments on matters over which they differed. This is not  strange since he was brought up in the school of the Prophet himself and learnt as much as he could from him. He was the  best pupil of the best teacher. His knowledge bore the stamp of authenticity. The best certificate that he could have received  came from the Prophet himself when he said: “The most knowledgeable of my ummah in matters of Halal and haram is  Muadh ibn Jabal.”

One of the greatest of Muadhs contributions to the ummah of Muhammad was that he was one of the group of six who  collected the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Whenever a group of companions met and Muadh  was among them, they would look at him with awe and respect on account of his knowledge. The Prophet and his two  Khalitahs after him placed this unique gift and power in the service of Islam .

After the liberation of Makkah, the Quraysh became Muslims en masse. The Prophet immediately saw the need of the new  Muslims for teachers to instruct them in the fundamentals of Islam and to make them truly understand the spirit and letter of  its laws. He appointed Attab ibn Usay as his deputy in Makkah and he asked Muadh ibn Jabal to stay with him and teach  people the Quran and instruct them in the religion.

Sometime after the Prophet had returned to Madinah, messengers of the kings of Yemen came to him announcing that they  and the people of Yemen had become Muslims. They requested that some teachers should be with them to teach Islam to  the people. For this task the Prophet commissioned a group of competent duat (missionaries) and made Muadh ibn Jabal  their amir. He then put the following question to Muadh:

“According to what will you judge?”

“According to the Book of God,” replied Muadh.

“And if you find nothing therein?”

“According to the Sunnah of the Prophet of God.”

“And if you find nothing therein?”

“Then I will exert myself (exercise ijtihad) to form my own judgment.”

The Prophet was pleased with this reply and said: “Praise be to God Who has guided the messenger of the Prophet to that  which pleases the Prophet.”

The Prophet personally bade farewell to this mission of guidance and light and walked for some distance alongside Muadh as  he rode out of the city. Finally he said to him:

“O Muadh, perhaps you shall not meet me again after this year. Perhaps when you return you shall see only my mosque and  my grave.” Muadh wept. Those with him wept too. A feeling of sadness and desolation overtook him as he parted from his  beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of God be on him.

The Prophet’s premonition was correct. The eyes of Muadh never beheld the Prophet after that moment. The Prophet died  before Muadh returned from the Yemen. There is no doubt that Muadh wept when he returned to Madinah and found there  was no longer the blessed company of the Prophet.

During the caliphate of Umar, Muadh was sent to the Banu Kilab to apportion their stipends and to distribute the sadaqah of  their richer folk among the poor. When he had done his duty, he returned to his wife with his saddle blanket around his neck,  empty handed, and she asked him:

“Where are the gifts which commissioners return with for their families?” “I had an alert Supervisor who was checking over  me,” he replied. “You were a trusted person with the messenger of God and with Abu Bakr. Then Umar came and he sent a  supervisor with you to check on you!’ she exclaimed. She went on to talk about this to the women of Umar’s household and  complained to them about it. The complaint eventually reached Umar, so he summoned Muadh and said:

“Did I send a supervisor with you to check on you?”

“No, Amir al-Mumineen,” he said, “But that was the only reason I could find to give her.” Umar laughed and then gave him a  gift, saying, “I hope this pleases you.”

Also during the caliphate of Umar, the governor of Syria, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan sent a message saying:

“O Amir al-Mumineen! The people of Syria are many. They fill the towns. They need people to teach them the Quran and  instruct them in the religion.”

Umar thereupon summoned five persons who had collected the Quran in the lifetime of the Prophet, peace be upon him.  They were Muadh ibn Jabal, Ubadah ibn asSamit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Ubayy ibn Kab and Abu adDardaa. He said to them:

“Your brothers in Syria have asked me to help them by sending those who can teach them the Quran and instruct them in  the religion. Please appoint three among you for this task and may God bless you. I can select three of you myself if you do  not want to put the matter to the vote.”

“Why should we vote?” they asked. “Abu Ayyub is quite old and Ubayy is a sick man. That leaves three of us.” “All three of  you go to Homs first of all. If you are satisfied with the condition of the people there, one of you should stay there, another  should go to Damascus and the other to Palestine.”

So it was that Ubadah ibn as-Samit was left at Homs, Abu ad-Dardaa went to Damascus and Muadh went to Palestine. There  Muadh fell ill with an infectious disease. As he was near to death, he turned in the direction of the Kabah and repeated this  refrain: “Welcome Death, Welcome. A visitor has come after a long absence . . .” And looking up to heaven, he said: “O Lord,  You know that I did not desire the world and to prolong my stay in it . . . O Lord, accept my soul with goodness as you would  accept a believing soul…”

He then passed away, far from his family and his clan, a daiy in the service of God and a muhajir in His path.

Allah knows the best

If you wish you may consider yourself among the Muhajirin or, if you wish, you may consider yourself one of the Ansar.  Choose whichever is dearer to you.”

With these words, the Prophet, peace be upon him, addressed Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman when he met him for the first time in  Makkah. How did Hudhayfah come to have this choice’?

His father, al-Yaman was a Makkan from the tribe of Abs. He had killed someone and had been forced to leave Makkah. He  had settled down in Yathrib, becoming an ally (halif) of the Banu al-Ash-hal and marrying into the tribe. A son named  Hudhayfah was born to him. The restrictions on his returning to Makkah were eventually lifted and he divided his time  between Makkah and Yathrib but stayed more in Yathrib and was more attached to it.

This was how Hudhayfah had a Makkan origin but a Yathribite upbringing. When the rays of Islam began to radiate over the  Arabian peninsula, a delegation from the Abs tribe, which included al-Yaman, went to the Prophet and announced their  acceptance of Islam. That was before the Prophet migrated to Yathrib.

Hudhayfah grew up in a Muslim household and was taught by both his mother and father who were among the first persons  from Yathrib to enter the religion of God. He therefore became a Muslim before meeting the Prophet, peace be upon him.

Hudhayfah longed to meet the Prophet. From an early age, he was keen on following whatever news there was about him.  The more he heard, the more his affection for the Prophet grew and the more he longed to meet him.

He eventually journeyed to Makkah, met the Prophet and put the question to him, “Am I a muhajir or am I an Ansari, O  Rasulullah?”

“If you wish you may consider yourself among the muhajirin, or if you wish you may consider yourself one of the Ansar.  Choose whichever is dearer to you,” replied the Prophet. “Well, I am an Ansari. O Rasulullah,” decided Hudhayfah.

At Madinah, after the Hijrah, Hudhayfah became closely attached to the Prophet. He participated in all the military  engagements except Badr. Explaining why he missed the Battle of Badr, he said: “I would not have missed Badr if my father  and I had not been outside Madinah. The disbelieving Quraysh met us and asked where we were going. We told them we  were going to Madinah and they asked whether we intended to meet Muhammad. We insisted that we only wanted to go to  Madinah. They allowed us to go only after they extracted from us an undertaking not to help Muhammad against them and  not to fight along with them.

“When we came to the Prophet we told him about our undertaking to the Quraysh and asked him what should we do. He  said that we should ignore the undertaking and seek God’s help against them.”

Hudhayfah participated in the Battle of Uhud with his father. The pressure on Hudhayfah during the battle was great but he  acquitted himself well and emerged safe and sound. A rather different fate, however, awaited his father.

Before the battle, the Prophet, peace be on him, left alYaman, Hudhayfah’s father, and Thabit ibn Waqsh with the other  non-combatants including women and children. This was because they were both quite old. As the fighting grew fiercer,  al-Yaman said to his friend: “You have no father (meaning you have no cares). What are we waiting for? We both have only  a short time to live. Why don’t we take our swords and join the Messenger of God, peace be on him? Maybe, God will bless  us with martyrdom beside His Prophet.”

They quickly prepared for battle and were soon in the thick of the fighting. Thabit ibn Waqsh was blessed with shahdah at  the hands of the mushrikin. The father of Hudhayfah, however was set upon by some Muslims who did not recognize who he  was. As they flayed him, Hudhayfah cried out: “My father! My father! It’s my father!”

No one heard him. The old man fell, killed in error by the swords of his own brothers in faith. They were filled with pain and  remorse. Grieved as he was, Hudhayfah said to them: “May God forgive you for He is the most Merciful of those who show  mercy.”

The Prophet, peace be on him, wanted diyah (compensation) to be paid to Hudhayfah for the death of his father but  Hudhayfah said: “He was simply seeking shahadah and he attained it. O Lord, bear witness that I donate the compensation  for him to the Muslims.”

Because of this attitude, Hudhayfah’s stature grew in the eyes of the Prophet, peace be on him. Hudhayfah had three  qualities which particularly impressed the Prophet: his unique intelligence which he employed in dealing with difficult  situations; his quick wittedness and spontaneous response to the call of action, and his ability to keep a secret even under  persistent questioning.

A noticeable policy of the Prophet was to bring out and use the special qualities and strengths of each individual companion  of his. In deploying his companions, he was careful to choose the right man for the right task. This he did to excellent  advantage in the case of Hudhayfah.

One of the gravest problems the Muslims of Madinah had to face was the existence in their midst of hypocrites (munafiqun)  particularly from among the Jews and their allies. Although many of them had declared their acceptance of Islam, the change  was only superficial and they continued to plot and intrigue against the Prophet and the Muslims.

Because of Hudhayfah’s ability to keep a secret, the Prophet, peace be on him, confided in him the names of the munafiqin. It  was a weighty secret which the Prophet did not disclose to any other off his companions. He gave Hudhayfah the task of  watching the movements of the munafiqin, following their activities, and shielding the Muslims from the sinister danger they  represented. It was a tremendous responsibility. The munafiqin, because they acted in secrecy and because they knew all  the developments and plans of the Muslims from within presented a greater threat to the community than the outright  hostility of the kuffar.

From this time onwards. Hudhayfah was called “The Keeper of the Secret of the Messenger of Allah”. Throughout his life he  remained faithful to his pledge not to disclose the names of the hypocrites. After the death of the Prophet, the Khalifah often  came-to him to seek his advice concerning their movements and activities but he remained tight-lipped and cautious.

Umar was only able to find out indirectly who the hypocrites were. If anyone among the Muslims died, Umar would ask:

“Has Hudhayfah attended his funeral prayer?”

If the reply was ‘yes’, he would perform the prayer. If the reply was ‘no’, he became doubtful about the person and refrained  from performing the funeral prayer for him.

Once Umar asked Hudhayfah: “Is any of my governors a munafiq?” “One,” replied Hudhayfah. “Point him out to me,” ordered  Umar. “That I shall not do,” insisted Hudhayfah who later said that shortly after their conversation Umar dismissed the  person just as if he had been guided to him.

Hudhayfah’s special qualities were made use of by the Prophet, peace be on him, at various times. One of the most testing  of such occasions, which required the use of Hudhayfah’s intelligence and his presence of mind, was during the Battle of the  Ditch. The Muslims on that occasion were surrounded by enemies. The seige they had been placed under had dragged on.  The Muslims were undergoing severe hardship and difficulties. They had expended practically all their effort and were utterly  exhausted. So intense was the strain that some even began to despair.

The Quraysh and their allies, meanwhile, were not much better off. Their strength and determination had been sapped. A  violent wind overturned their tents, extinguished their fires and pelted their faces and eyes with gusts of sand and dust.

In such decisive moments in the history of warfare, the side that loses is the one that despairs first and the one that wins is  the one that holds out longer. The role of army intelligence in such situations often proves to be a crucial factor in  determining the outcome of the battle.

At this stage of the confrontation the Prophet, peace be on him, felt he could use the special talents and experience of  Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman. He decided to send Hudhayfah into the midst of the enemy’s positions under cover of darkness to  bring him the latest information on their situation and morale before he decided on his next move.

Let us now leave Hudhayfah to relate what happened on this mission fraught with danger and even death.

“That night, we were all seated in rows. Abu Sufyan and his men – the mushrikun of Makkah – were in front of us. The Jewish  tribe of Banu Qurayzah were at our rear and we were afraid of them because of our wives and children. The night was  stygian dark. Never before was there a darker night nor a wind so strong. So dark was the night that no one could see his  fingers and the blast of the wind was like the peel of thunder.

“The hypocrites began to ask the Prophet for permission to leave, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed to the enemy.’ Anyone  who asked the Prophet’s permission to leave was allowed to go. Many thus sneaked away until we were left with about  three hundred men.

“The Prophet then began a round of inspection passing us one by one until he reached me. I had nothing to protect me from  the cold except a blanket belonging to my wife which scarcely reached my knees. He came nearer to  me as I lay crouching on the ground and asked: ‘Who is this?’ ‘Hudhayfah,’ replied. ‘Hudhayfah?’ he queried as I huddled  myself closer to the ground too afraid to stand up because of the intense hunger and cold. ‘Yes, O Messenger of God,’ I  replied. ‘Something is happening among the people (meaning the forces of Abu Sufyan). Infiltrate their encampment and  bring me news of what’s happening,’ instructed the Prophet.

“I set out. At that moment I was the most terrified person of all and felt terribly cold. The Prophet, peace be on him, prayed:  ‘O Lord, protect him from in front and from behind, from his right and from his left, from above and from below.’

“By God, no sooner had the Prophet, peace be on him, completed his supplication than God removed from my stomach all  traces of fear and from my body all the punishing cold. As I turned to go, the Prophet called me back to him and said:  ‘Hudhayfah, on no account do anything among the people (of the opposing forces) until you come back to me.’

‘Yes,’ I replied.

“I went on, inching my way under cover of darkness until I penetrated deep into the mushrikin camp and became just like  one of them. Shortly afterwards, Abu Sufyan got up and began to address his men:

‘O people of the Quraysh, I am about to make a statement to you which I fear would reach Muhammad. Therefore, let every  man among you look and make sure who is sitting next to him…’

“On hearing this, I immediately grasped the hand of the man next to me and asked, ‘Who are you?’ (thus putting him on the  defensive and clearing myself). “Abu Sufyan went on:

‘O people of the Quraysh, by God, you are not in a safe and secure place. Our horses and camels have perished. The Banu  Qurayzah have deserted us and we have had unpleasant news about them. We are buffered by this bitterly cold wind. Our  fires do not light and our uprooted tents offer no protection. So get moving. For myself, I am leaving.’

“He went to his camel, untethered and mounted it. He struck it and it stood upright. If the Messenger of God, peace be on  him, had not instructed me to do nothing until I returned to him, I would have killed Abu Sufyan then and there with an  arrow.

“I returned to the Prophet and found him standing on a blanket performing Salat. When he recognized me, he drew me close  to his legs and threw one end of the blanket over me. I informed him of what had happened. He was extremely happy and  joyful and gave thanks and praise to  Hudhayfah. He lived in constant dread of evil and corrupting influences. He felt that goodness and the sources of good in this life  were easy to recognize for those who desired good. But it was evil that was deceptive and often difficult to perceive and  combat.

He became something of a great moral philosopher. He always warned people to struggle against evil with all their faculties,  with their heart, hands and tongue. Those who stood against evil only with their hearts and tongues, and not with their  hands, he considered as having abandoned a part of truth. Those who hated evil only in their hearts but did not combat it  with their tongues and hands forsook two parts of truth and those who neither detested nor confronted evil with their  hearts, tongues or hands he considered as physically alive but morally dead.

Speaking about ‘hearts’ and their relationship to guidance and error, he once said: “There are four kinds of hearts. The heart  that is encased or atrophied. That is the heart of the kafir or ungrateful disbeliever. The heart that is shaped into thin layers.  That is the heart of the munafiq or hypocrite. The heart that is open and bare and on which shines a radiant light. That is the  heart of the mumin or the believer.

Finally there is the heart in which there is both hypocrisy and faith. Faith is like a tree which thrives with good water and  hypocrisy is like an abscess which thrives on pus and blood. Whichever flourishes more, be it the tree of faith or the abscess  of hypocrisy, wins control of the heart.”

Hudhayfah’s experience with hypocrisy and his efforts to combat it gave a touch of sharpness and severity to his tongue. He  himself realized this and admitted it with a noble courage: “I went to the Prophet, peace be on him and said: ‘O Messenger  of God, I have a tongue which is sharp and cutting against my family and I fear that this would lead me to hell-fire.’ And the  Prophet, peace be upon him, said to me: ‘Where do you stand with regard to istighfar – asking forgiveness from Allah? I ask  Allah for forgiveness a hundred times during the day. “

A pensive man like Hudhayfah, one devoted to thought, knowledge and reflection may not have been expected to perform  feats of heroism in battlefields. Yet Hudhayfah was to prove himself one of the foremost Muslim military commanders in the  expansion of Islam into Iraq. He distinguished himself at Hamadan, ar-Rayy, ad-Daynawar, and at the famous Battle of  Nihawand.

For the encounter at Nihawand against the Persian forces, Hudhayfah was placed second in command by Umar over the  entire Muslim forces which numbered some thirty thousand. The Persian forces outnumbered them by five to one being some  one hundred and fifty thousand strong. The first commander of the Muslim army, an-Numan ibn Maqran, fell early in the  battle. The second in command, Hudhayfah, immediately took charge of the situation, giving instructions that the death of  the commander should not be broadcast. Under Hudhayfah’s daring and inspiring leadership, the Muslims won a decisive  victory despite tremendous odds.

Hudhayfah was made governor of important places like Kufa and Ctesiphon (al-Madain). When the news of his appointment  as governor of Ctesiphon reached its inhabitants, crowds went out to meet and greet this famous companion of the Prophet  of whose piety and righteousness they had heard so much. His great role in the conquests of Persia was already a legend.

As the welcoming party waited, a lean, somewhat scrawny man with dangling feet astride a donkey approached. In his hand  he held a loaf of bread and some salt and he ate as he went along. When the rider was already in their midst they realized  that he was Hudhayfah, the governor for whom they were waiting. They could not contain their surprise. What manner of  man was this! They could however be excused for not recognizing him for they were used to the style, the pomp and the  grandeur of Persian rulers.

Hudhayfah carried on and people crowded around him. He saw they were expecting him to speak and he cast a searching  look at their faces. Eventually, he said: “Beware of places of fitnah and intrigue.” “And what,” they asked, “are places of  intrigue?” He replied: “The doors of rulers where some people go and try to make the ruler or governor believe lies and  praise him for (qualities) he does not possess.”

With these words, the people were prepared for what to expect from their new governor. They knew at once that there was  nothing in the world that he despised more than hypocrisy.

Allah knows the best