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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,

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by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy on him.

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'Utbah ibn Ghazwan,

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may Allah be pleased with him.

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The Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, retired

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to his bed after the Isha prayer;

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he wished to get some rest

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to help him conduct his night patrol.

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However, sleep eluded the eyes of the Caliph

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because the courier had brought him news

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that the Persian armies defeated before the Muslims—

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whenever his troops were about to finish them off—

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received reinforcements from here and there,

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so they quickly regained their strength and resumed fighting.

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It was said to him

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that the city of al-Ubullah

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was considered one of the most vital sources supplying the defeated Persian armies

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with wealth and men.

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Thus, he resolved to send an army to conquer al-Ubullah

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and cut off its supplies to the Persians.

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But he collided with a shortage of men at his disposal.

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That was because the young, mature, and elderly men among the Muslims

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had already set out across the lands as warriors in the cause of Allah,

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until hardly anyone remained with him in Medina except a very small number.

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So he resorted to his well-known strategy,

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which was compensating for the scarcity of troops with the strength of the commander.

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He emptied his quiver of men before him

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and began testing their strength one after another.

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Before long, he exclaimed,

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"I found him!

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Yes, I found him!"

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Then he proceeded to his bed, saying,

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"He is a true warrior

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known to Badr, Uhud, al-Khandaq, and their sister battles,

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and attested to by al-Yamamah and its stands.

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His sword was never blunted, nor did his spear ever miss its mark.

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Moreover, he performed both migrations,

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and he was the seventh of seven people who embraced Islam on the face of the earth."

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When morning came, he said,

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"Call 'Utbah ibn Ghazwan for me."

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He appointed him commander over three hundred and some dozen men,

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promising to reinforce him successively with whatever men became available.

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As the small army prepared to depart,

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al-Faruq stood to bid farewell to his commander, 'Utbah, advising him.

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He said to him:

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"O 'Utbah,

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I have directed you to the land of al-Ubullah,

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which is one of the enemy's fortresses,

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and I pray to Allah to aid you against it.

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When you arrive there,

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call its people to Allah;

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whoever responds to you, accept it from him,

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and whoever refuses, take the jizyah from him in submission and humility;

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otherwise, put the sword to their necks without relent.

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And fear Allah, O 'Utbah, regarding that over which you have been put in charge,

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and beware lest your soul tempt you to pride that spoils your Hereafter.

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Know that you accompanied the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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and Allah honored you through him after humiliation,

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and strengthened you through him after weakness,

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until you became an authoritative ruler

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and an obeyed commander:

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you speak and you are heard,

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and you command and your order is obeyed.

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What a blessing it is, so long as it does not make you arrogant and deluded,

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driving you down into Hellfire—

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may Allah protect you and me from it!"

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'Utbah ibn Ghazwan set out with his men,

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accompanied by his wife and five other women

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from among the wives and sisters of the soldiers,

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until they camped in a reed-filled land

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not far from the city of al-Ubullah.

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They had nothing with them to eat,

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so when hunger severely pressed upon them,

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'Utbah said to a group of them,

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"Look for something in this land for us to eat."

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They rose to search for whatever might satisfy their hunger.

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They had a curious story regarding the food, which one of them narrated,

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saying:

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"While we were searching for something to eat,

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we entered a thicket and found two large baskets;

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in one of them were dates,

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and in the other were small white grains

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covered with a yellow husk.

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We dragged them until we brought them near the camp.

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One of us looked into the basket containing the grain

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and said, 'This is poison prepared for you by the enemy,

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so do not approach it!'

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We turned to the dates and began eating them.

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While we were doing so,

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a horse broke its tether,

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came over to the basket of grain, and started eating from it.

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By Allah, we were about to slaughter it before it died

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so that we could benefit from its meat,

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but its owner stood up and said to us,

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'Leave it, and I will guard it tonight;

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if I feel it is dying, I will slaughter it.'

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When morning came, we found the horse perfectly healthy,

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with no harm done to it.

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My sister then said,

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'O my brother,

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I heard my father say

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that poison does no harm if placed over fire and cooked thoroughly.'

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She then took some of the grain, placed it in the pot,

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and kindled a fire under it.

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Before long she said,

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'Come and see how its color has reddened!'

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Then its husks began to burst open

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and release its white grains.

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So we poured it into the bowl to eat it,

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and 'Utbah said to us,

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'Mention the name of Allah over it and eat it.'

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We ate it, and it turned out to be exceedingly delicious.

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We learned later that it was called rice."

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Al-Ubullah, toward which 'Utbah ibn Ghazwan had marched with his small army,

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was a fortified city standing on the banks of the Tigris.

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The Persians had turned it into a depot for their weapons

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and made lookout points from its fortress towers to monitor their enemies.

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Yet that did not deter 'Utbah from attacking it,

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despite the scarcity of his men and the meager nature of his weaponry;

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for he had gathered no more than 600 fighters,

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accompanied by a small group of women,

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and he had no weapons other than swords and spears.

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He simply had to employ his intelligence.

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'Utbah prepared banners for the women, mounting them on spear shafts,

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and commanded them to march with them behind the army.

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He said to them, "When we draw near the city,

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stir up the dust behind us until you fill the air with it."

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When they approached al-Ubullah, the Persian troops marched out against them;

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they saw their bold advance upon them,

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looked at the banners fluttering behind them,

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and found dust filling the air in their wake.

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Some of them said to another,

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"They are merely the vanguard of the army,

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and behind them is a massive force kicking up the dust,

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while we are few."

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Panic then crept into their hearts,

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and dread overcame them;

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so they began carrying whatever was light in weight and high in value,

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racing to board the ships anchored in the Tigris,

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and fled in retreat.

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'Utbah entered al-Ubullah without losing a single one of his men,

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then opened the surrounding cities and villages,

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winning spoils beyond count

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and exceeding all estimation.

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In fact, one of his men returned to Medina,

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and the people asked him,

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"How are the Muslims in al-Ubullah?"

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He replied, "What are you asking about?

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By Allah, I left them scooping up gold and silver by the measure!"

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Hearing this, people began riding out to al-Ubullah.

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At that point, 'Utbah ibn Ghazwan realized

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that his soldiers' residing in conquered cities

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would accustom them to a life of ease,

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imbue them with the traits of the inhabitants of those lands,

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and blunt the edge of their resolve to continue fighting.

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So he wrote to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,

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requesting his permission to build Basra,

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describing to him the location he had chosen for it,

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and 'Umar granted him permission.

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'Utbah marked out the new city,

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and the first thing he built was its great mosque.

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And no wonder;

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for the sake of the mosque,

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he and his companions had set out as warriors in the cause of Allah;

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and through the mosque,

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he and his companions were granted victory over the enemies of Allah.

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Then the soldiers competed in allocating land

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and building homes.

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Yet 'Utbah did not build a home for himself;

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rather, he continued to live in a tent made of woven fabric.

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That was because he held a deep concern within his heart.

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'Utbah saw that worldly spoils were pouring upon the Muslims in Basra

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in a manner that might distract a person from their own soul,

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and that his men, who just a short while ago

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knew no finer food than rice boiled in its husk,

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had now tasted the Persian delicacies of faludhaj, lawzinaj, and the like,

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and had developed a penchant for them.

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Thus, he feared for his religion because of his worldly life,

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and he trembled for the eternal over the fleeting present.

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So he gathered the people in the mosque of Basra and delivered a sermon to them,

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saying:

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"O people,

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indeed, this worldly life has announced its end,

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and you are departing from it to an abode that shall never cease;

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so depart to it with the best of your deeds.

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I remember when I was the seventh of seven with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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when we had no food except tree leaves,

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until the sides of our mouths became ulcerated from it.

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I once picked up a cloak,

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split it between myself and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,

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and wrapped half of it around my waist

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while Sa'd wrapped the other half around his.

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Yet today, there is not a single one of us

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who has not become a governor over one of the garrison cities!

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And indeed, I seek refuge in Allah from being great in my own eyes

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...insignificant in the sight of Allah.

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Then he appointed a man from among them as his successor over them,

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bade them farewell, and set out for Medina.

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When he arrived before al-Faruq [Omar],

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he asked to be relieved of his governorship, but Omar refused to relieve him.

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He persisted in his plea,

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yet the Caliph remained firm with him,

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ordering him to return to Basra.

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So he reluctantly submitted to Omar's command,

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mounted his camel, and began praying:

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"O Allah, do not send me back to it!

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O Allah, do not send me back to it!"

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And Allah answered his supplication;

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he had not traveled far from Medina when his camel stumbled,

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and he fell from it, thrown to the ground, and passed away.

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Truly, 'Utbah ibn Ghazwan holds an exalted station in Islam.

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Omar ibn al-Khattab...

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"O poetry,

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aid me that I may pour forth,

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for can praise ever do them justice?"