WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:18.219 The Mawaddah Association is pleased 00:00:18.219 --> 00:00:22.219 to present to you *Portraits from the Lives of the Companions* 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:25.219 by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha, 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:27.260 may Allah have mercy on him. 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:36.619 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani, may Allah be pleased with him. 00:00:47.979 --> 00:00:52.979 Here is the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, reaching the outskirts of Yathrib 00:00:52.979 --> 00:00:56.070 after prolonged longing and eager anticipation. 00:00:56.070 --> 00:00:59.070 And here are the people of the fragrant city of Medina, 00:00:59.070 --> 00:01:03.070 crowding into the alleyways and atop the rooftops, 00:01:03.070 --> 00:01:07.069 chanting *tahlil* and *takbir* in sheer joy at meeting the Prophet of Mercy 00:01:07.069 --> 00:01:09.069 and his companion, al-Siddiq. 00:01:09.069 --> 00:01:12.260 And here are the young maidens of Medina, 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:17.260 coming out with tambourines in hand and longing in their eyes, 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:19.260 ululating and singing: 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:21.260 "The full moon has risen over us, 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:24.260 from the valley of Thaniyyat al-Wada'. 00:01:24.260 --> 00:01:26.260 Gratitude is incumbent upon us, 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:28.260 so long as a supplicant calls unto Allah." 00:01:28.260 --> 00:01:32.549 And here is the procession of the noble Messenger moving gracefully through the ranks, 00:01:32.549 --> 00:01:34.549 enveloped by yearning souls, 00:01:34.549 --> 00:01:37.549 surrounded by eager hearts, 00:01:37.549 --> 00:01:42.549 as tears of joy and radiant smiles are showered all around him. 00:01:42.549 --> 00:01:45.900 But 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:49.900 did not witness the procession of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:53.900 nor was he blessed to welcome him alongside those who welcomed him. 00:01:53.900 --> 00:01:58.000 That was because he had gone out into the desert with a small flock of sheep 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:00.000 to graze them there, 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:05.000 after extreme hunger had beset them and he feared their perish, 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.000 and they were all he possessed of worldly belongings. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 Yet the joy that overwhelmed the Radiant Medina 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 soon swept through its near and distant deserts, 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:20.000 shining brightly in every corner of its blessed terrain, 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 and its glad tidings reached 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 while he was with his sheep far off in the wilderness. 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:30.000 So let us leave the narrative to 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.000 to recount to us the story of his meeting with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:37.099 'Uqbah said: 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:41.159 "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, arrived in Medina 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:44.159 while I was tending a small flock of sheep of mine. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:47.159 No sooner had the news of his arrival reached me 00:02:47.159 --> 00:02:51.159 than I left them and rushed to him, paying heed to nothing else. 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.189 When I met him, I said: 00:02:53.189 --> 00:02:56.189 'Will you accept my pledge of allegiance, O Messenger of Allah?' 00:02:56.189 --> 00:02:58.259 He asked: 'Who are you?' 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:02.319 I replied: ''Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani.' 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.319 He said: 'Which is dearer to you: 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:07.319 that you pledge allegiance as a Bedouin, 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:09.319 or the pledge of emigration (Hijrah)?' 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:11.319 I said: 'Rather, the pledge of emigration!' 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:15.319 So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, accepted my pledge 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:18.319 upon that which he took the pledge of the Emigrants (Muhajirun). 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.319 I stayed with him for a night, 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.319 and then I returned to my sheep. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.379 We were twelve men who had embraced Islam, 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:27.379 residing far from Medina 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:30.379 to graze our sheep in its pastures. 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:32.419 So we said to one another: 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:35.419 'There is no good in us if we do not go 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:38.419 to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:03:38.419 --> 00:03:40.419 day after day, 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:42.419 so that he may instruct us in our religion 00:03:42.419 --> 00:03:45.419 and let us hear the heavenly revelation descending upon him. 00:03:45.419 --> 00:03:48.419 So let one of us go each day to Yathrib, 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:50.419 and leave his sheep with us 00:03:50.419 --> 00:03:52.479 so that we may graze them for him.' 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:53.479 I said: 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:56.479 'Go to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:58.479 one after another, 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:01.479 and whoever goes may leave his sheep with me.' 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.479 For I was deeply protective of my little flock 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:06.479 to ever leave them in the care of anyone else. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.580 Then my companions began going, one 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:13.580 after another, to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:16.579 leaving his sheep for me to tend for him. 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:18.579 Whenever one returned, 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:20.579 I would take from him what he had heard 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:22.579 and learn from him what he had understood of fiqh. 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:26.579 But soon, I came to my senses and said to myself: 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:27.579 'Woe to you! 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:31.610 Is it for the sake of a few sheep that neither fatten nor satisfy hunger 00:04:31.610 --> 00:04:36.610 that you deprive yourself of the companionship of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:04:36.610 --> 00:04:39.610 and of taking knowledge directly from him without an intermediary?' 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:42.610 So I gave up my little flock of sheep, 00:04:42.610 --> 00:04:45.610 and set out for Medina to reside in the Mosque 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:49.829 in the close company of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him." 00:04:49.829 --> 00:04:53.829 It never crossed the mind of 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani, 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:57.829 when he made this decisive, resolute choice, 00:04:57.829 --> 00:05:03.829 that a decade later he would become one of the greatest scholars among the Companions, 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:05.829 a master Qur'an reciter among the foremost reciters, 00:05:05.829 --> 00:05:09.829 an eminent commander among the leaders of the conquests, 00:05:09.829 --> 00:05:12.829 and a distinguished governor among the rulers of Islam. 00:05:12.829 --> 00:05:15.829 Nor could he ever have imagined, 00:05:15.829 --> 00:05:18.829 as he abandoned his little flock of sheep 00:05:18.829 --> 00:05:20.829 and turned wholly to Allah and His Messenger, 00:05:20.829 --> 00:05:26.829 that he would be at the vanguard of the army that conquered the jewel of the world, Damascus, 00:05:26.829 --> 00:05:31.829 and would build a home for himself amidst its lush gardens near Bab Touma. 00:05:31.829 --> 00:05:34.930 Nor could he ever have conceived 00:05:34.930 --> 00:05:40.930 that he would be one of the commanders who would conquer the green emerald of the world: 00:05:40.930 --> 00:05:41.930 Egypt; 00:05:41.930 --> 00:05:44.930 and that he would become its governor, 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:48.930 laying out a home for himself at the foot of its Mount Mokattam. 00:05:48.930 --> 00:05:53.930 For all these were matters hidden within the unseen, 00:05:53.930 --> 00:05:55.930 known to none but Allah. 00:05:55.930 --> 00:06:01.220 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani stayed attached to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:06:01.220 --> 00:06:04.220 just as a shadow accompanies its master. 00:06:04.220 --> 00:06:07.220 He would hold the reins of his mule wherever he rode, 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:10.220 and walk before him wherever he turned. 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:15.220 The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, would often seat him behind him on his mount, 00:06:15.220 --> 00:06:18.220 until he came to be known as "the Prophet's co-rider." 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:22.220 At times, the noble Prophet would dismount from his mule for him, 00:06:22.220 --> 00:06:24.220 so that 'Uqbah would ride 00:06:24.220 --> 00:06:28.220 while the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would walk. 00:06:28.220 --> 00:06:30.410 'Uqbah narrated, saying: 00:06:30.410 --> 00:06:37.410 "I was leading the mule of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, through one of the woods of Medina, 00:06:37.410 --> 00:06:38.410 when he said to me: 00:06:38.410 --> 00:06:41.410 'O 'Uqbah, will you not ride?' 00:06:41.410 --> 00:06:43.410 I thought of saying no, 00:06:43.410 --> 00:06:47.410 but I feared that doing so might be an act of disobedience to the Messenger of Allah. 00:06:47.410 --> 00:06:50.410 So I said: 'Yes, O Prophet of Allah.' 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:53.410 The Messenger dismounted from his mule and I rode it, 00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:55.410 in compliance with his command, 00:06:55.410 --> 00:06:57.410 while he walked. 00:06:57.410 --> 00:07:00.410 Soon thereafter, I dismounted from it, 00:07:00.410 --> 00:07:03.410 and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, rode. 00:07:03.410 --> 00:07:05.410 Then he said to me: 00:07:05.410 --> 00:07:06.410 'O 'Uqbah, 00:07:06.410 --> 00:07:10.410 shall I not teach you two Surahs the like of which have never been seen?' 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:12.540 I said: 'Certainly, O Messenger of Allah!' 00:07:12.540 --> 00:07:14.600 So he recited to me: 'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of daybreak,' 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:16.600 “Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak” (113:1) 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:18.600 and 'Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.' 00:07:18.600 --> 00:07:20.600 Then the prayer was established, 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:23.600 and he stepped forward and led the prayer reciting both of them. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:24.600 Then he said: 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.600 'Recite them whenever you go to sleep and whenever you wake up.' 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:29.600 'Uqbah said: 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:32.600 'And I never ceased reciting them throughout the span of my life.'" 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:36.759 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani directed 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:38.759 his entire concern toward two pursuits: 00:07:38.759 --> 00:07:40.759 knowledge and jihad. 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:43.759 He devoted himself to them body and soul, 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:45.759 dedicating his utmost effort 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:47.759 in the most generous and noble manner. 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:49.860 As for the realm of knowledge, 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:51.860 he drank deeply from the abundant, 00:07:51.860 --> 00:07:53.860 sweet springs of the Messenger of Allah, 00:07:53.860 --> 00:07:56.860 until he became a master reciter, a scholar of hadith, 00:07:56.860 --> 00:07:58.860 a jurist, an expert in the laws of inheritance, 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:01.860 a man of letters, an eloquent orator, and a poet. 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:04.860 He possessed one of the most beautiful voices in reciting the Qur'an. 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:07.860 Whenever the night fell dark 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:09.860 and the universe grew still, 00:08:09.860 --> 00:08:11.860 he would turn to the Book of Allah, 00:08:11.860 --> 00:08:14.860 reciting from its lucid verses, 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:18.860 so that the hearts of the noble Companions would listen intently to his chanting, 00:08:18.860 --> 00:08:20.860 their hearts humbling in reverence, 00:08:20.860 --> 00:08:24.860 and their eyes overflowing with tears out of fear of Allah. 00:08:24.860 --> 00:08:27.860 One day, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab called for him 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:28.860 and said: 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.860 "Recite some of the Book of Allah for me, O 'Uqbah." 00:08:31.860 --> 00:08:33.860 He replied: 00:08:33.860 --> 00:08:35.860 "I hear and obey, O Commander of the Believers." 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:39.860 Then he began to recite what was easy of the verses of the Wise Reminder, 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:41.860 while 'Umar wept 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:44.860 until his tears moistened his beard. 00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:48.860 'Uqbah left behind a copy of the Qur'an written in his own hand, 00:08:48.860 --> 00:08:52.860 and this copy remained until recent times, 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:54.860 preserved in Egypt 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:57.860 in the mosque known as the Mosque of 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir. 00:08:57.860 --> 00:08:59.860 At the end of it, it was inscribed: 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:02.860 "Written by 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani." 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:08.950 This copy of 'Uqbah's was among the oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an found on the face of the earth, 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:12.950 but it was lost along with what has been lost of our precious heritage 00:09:12.950 --> 00:09:15.950 while we remained oblivious of it. 00:09:15.950 --> 00:09:18.080 As for the realm of jihad, 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:22.080 it suffices us to know that 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:28.080 witnessed the Battle of Uhud and the subsequent military expeditions with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:32.080 and that he was one of the valiant, heroic warriors 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.080 who fought with the utmost gallantry on the day Damascus was conquered. 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:41.080 Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah rewarded him for his remarkable valor 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:46.080 by sending him as a bearer of glad tidings to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab in Medina to inform him of the victory. 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.080 So he rode for eight continuous days and nights, 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.080 from Friday to Friday, 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.080 hastening his pace without interruption, 00:09:55.080 --> 00:09:58.080 until he gave al-Faruq the glad tidings of the great victory. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:03.080 Furthermore, he was one of the commanders of the Muslim armies that conquered Egypt, 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.080 so the Commander of the Believers, Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, rewarded him 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:11.080 by appointing him as its governor for three years. 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:14.080 Then he dispatched him to lead the expedition against the island of Rhodes 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.080 in the Mediterranean Sea. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:21.080 Such was 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani's passion for jihad 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.080 that he committed the hadiths of jihad to memory 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.080 and specialized in narrating them to the Muslims; 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.080 he was also dedicated to mastering archery, 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:35.179 to the extent that whenever he sought recreation, he spent it in archery. 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:39.179 When 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir al-Juhani fell terminally ill 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:40.179 while in Egypt, 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:43.179 he gathered his sons, gave them his counsel, and said: 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:48.179 "O my sons, I forbid you from three things, so guard them well: 00:10:48.179 --> 00:10:52.179 Do not accept a hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) 00:10:52.179 --> 00:10:54.179 except from a trustworthy narrator; 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:58.179 do not take on debt, even if you must wear rough cloaks; 00:10:58.179 --> 00:11:00.179 and do not write poetry, 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:03.179 lest it distract your hearts from the Qur'an." 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:06.299 And when death approached him, 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:08.299 they buried him at the foot of Mount al-Muqattam. 00:11:08.299 --> 00:11:11.299 Then they turned to examine his estate, 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:15.299 and found that he had left behind seventy-odd bows, 00:11:15.299 --> 00:11:18.299 each bow accompanied by a quiver and arrows, 00:11:18.299 --> 00:11:22.429 and he had bequeathed them all to be used in the cause of Allah. 00:11:22.429 --> 00:11:28.429 May Allah brighten the face of the Qur'an reciter, the scholar, the warrior, 'Uqbah Ibn 'Amir al-Juhani, 00:11:28.429 --> 00:11:32.429 and reward him on behalf of Islam and the Muslims with the best of rewards.