In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in character and exemplary conduct,
Followed the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
Mawaddah Association
Presents:
"Portraits from the Lives of the Tabi'un"
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy on him.
'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi,
May Allah have mercy on him.
We are now in the fourteenth year after the Hijrah,
And here are the guiding builders among the noble Companions and the leading Tabi'un,
Planning and laying out the city of Basra,
By the command of the Caliph of the Muslims, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him.
For they resolved to make this new city
A base for the Muslim armies campaigning in the lands of Persia,
A stronghold for calling people to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic,
And a beacon for elevating His word in the earth.
And here are the throngs of Muslims,
Migrating to this nascent city from every corner of the Arabian Peninsula—
From Najd, the Hijaz, and Yemen—
To garrison one of the vital frontiers of the Muslims.
Among the migrants who came to it from Najd
Was a young man from Banu Tamim
Named 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi al-'Anbari.
'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah was then a youth in the prime of his early years,
Radiant with fresh vigor and youthful vitality,
Luminous-faced, pure of soul, and pious of heart.
Despite its recent founding, Basra was among the wealthiest of Muslim lands,
And the most abundant in riches,
Due to the spoils of war that poured into it
And the pure, gleaming gold that flowed abundantly through it—
That is, pure, unalloyed gold.
Yet the young Tamimi, 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
Had no desire for any of that at all;
He was thoroughly detached from what was in the hands of people,
Longing earnestly for what is with Allah,
Turning away from this worldly life and its adornments,
Wholly devoted to Allah and seeking His pleasure.
The foremost leader and preeminent figure of Basra in those days was
The illustrious Companion Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him,
May Allah brighten his face in Paradise.
He was the governor of the flourishing city,
The commander of the Muslim armies advancing from it in every direction,
The imam of its people and their teacher,
And their guide to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.
'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah adhered closely to Abu Musa al-Ash'ari in peace and war,
Accompanying him in residence and travel.
From him he received the Book of Allah fresh and vibrant,
Just as it was revealed to the heart of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
He narrated from him the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Authentically and directly connected to the Noble Prophet,
And acquired deep fiqh under his guidance in the religion of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.
When he had acquired all the knowledge he sought,
He divided his life into three distinct parts:
One portion was devoted to circles of remembrance,
In which he taught the people the Qur'an in the Mosque of Basra;
Another portion was spent in secluded worship,
Standing in prayer before Allah
Until his feet grew weary;
And the third portion was dedicated to the arenas of jihad,
Drawing his sword as a warrior in the cause of Allah.
He never left any room in his life for anything else,
To the point that he was called the devout worshiper and ascetic of Basra.
Among the accounts related about 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah
Is a story narrated by one of the men of Basra,
Who said: "I traveled in a caravan in which 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah was present.
When night fell upon us,
We halted near a dense thicket—
A cluster of trees where rainwater collects.
'Amir gathered his belongings,
Tied his horse to a tree,
Lengthened its tether,
Gathered enough grass from the ground to satisfy its hunger,
And placed it before it.
He then entered the thicket and went deep into it.
I said to myself,
'By Allah, I will surely follow him
And see what he does in the depths of the thicket tonight.'
He walked on until he reached a knoll surrounded by dense trees,
Concealed from all eyes.
He faced the Qiblah
And stood upright in prayer.
I have never seen a prayer more beautiful, more complete, or more filled with humility and awe than his.
When he had prayed as much as Allah willed for him to pray,
He began to supplicate Allah and converse intimately with Him.
Among the words he uttered were:
'O my Lord, You created me by Your command,
And You placed me amidst the trials of this world by Your will,
Then You said to me,
"Hold fast!"
So how can I hold fast unless You sustain me with Your gentle grace, O All-Powerful, O Ever-Enduring?
O my Lord,
You know that if this entire world and all it contains belonged to me,
And it were demanded of me for Your pleasure,
I would willingly surrender it to whoever sought it.
So grant me my own soul, O Most Merciful of the merciful!
O my Lord,
I have loved You with a love that has made every calamity easy for me to bear,
And made me well-pleased with all of Your decrees,
So with my love for You, I care not
In what state I greet the morning or enter the evening.'
The man from Basra continued:
'Then drowsiness overcame me,
So I surrendered my eyes to sleep.
I kept waking up and falling back asleep,
While 'Amir remained standing upright where he was,
Continuing his prayer and intimate supplication,
Until the break of dawn.
When dawn became distinct to him,
He performed the obligatory prayer,
Then turned to supplicate, saying:
"O Allah, morning has arrived,
And the people have begun going forth and returning,
Seeking from Your bounty,
And each of them has a need;
But 'Amir's only need with You
Is that You forgive him.
O Allah, fulfill my need and fulfill their needs,
O Most Generous of the generous!
O Allah, I asked You for three things;
You granted me two
And withheld one from me.
O Allah, grant it to me,
So that I may worship You as I love and desire."'
Then he stood up from his place,
And his gaze fell upon me.
He realized that I had been watching him throughout the night,
Which distressed him exceedingly,
And he said to me in sorrow:
'I see you were watching me tonight, O brother of Basra.'
I said, 'Yes.'
He said:
'Conceal what you saw of me, may Allah conceal your faults.'
I replied:
'By Allah, you must tell me about those three things you asked of your Lord,
Or else I will inform the people of what I saw of you.'
He said:
'Woe to you, do not do so!'
I said, 'It is just as I have told you.'
When he saw my insistence, he said:
'I will tell you, on condition that you give me the pledge and covenant of Allah
That you will not inform anyone of this.'
I said:
'You have my pledge and covenant with Allah
That I will never disclose your secret as long as you live.'
He said:
'There was nothing I feared more regarding my religion than women,
So I asked my Lord to remove the desire for them from my heart,
And He answered my prayer,
To the extent that I no longer care
Whether I see a woman or a wall.'
I said, 'That is the first;
What is the second?'
He said:
'The second is that I asked my Lord not to let me fear anyone other than Him,
And He answered my prayer,
So that, by Allah, I fear nothing in the earth nor in the heavens besides Him.'
I said, 'And what is the third?'
He said:
'I asked my Lord to take sleep away from me,
So that I might worship Him night and day as I desire,
But He withheld this third one from me.'
When I heard that from him,
I said to him:
'Be gentle with yourself,
For you spend your night standing in prayer
And pass your day fasting.
Paradise can be attained with less than what you do,
And the Fire can be avoided with less hardship than you endure.'
He said:
'I truly fear that I might regret when regret is of no avail.
By Allah, I will strive in worship
As long as I find any way to strive.
If I am saved,
It is by the mercy of Allah;
And if I enter the Fire,
It is due to my own shortcomings.'
Yet 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah
Was not merely a monk of the night;
Rather, he was also a knight of the day.
Whenever a caller summoned to jihad in the cause of Allah,
He was in the forefront of those answering the call.
Whenever he set out for an expedition with the fighters,
He would stand inspecting the men
In order to choose his companions.
When he found a company that suited him,
He would say to them:
'O you people,
I wish to accompany you,
Provided you grant me three conditions from yourselves.'
They would ask, 'What are they?'
And he would say:
'The first is that I be your servant,
And that none of you ever dispute with me over serving;
The second is that I be your caller to prayer,
And that none of you dispute with me over calling to prayer;
And the third is that I spend upon you according to my means.'
If they agreed, then yes, provided they joined them.
Whenever anyone disputed any of that with him,
he would depart from them and go to others.
Indeed, 'Amir was among those warriors
who are numerous in times of panic,
and few in times of greed.
He plunged into the thick of battle
as no one else did,
yet he showed restraint regarding the spoils
like no one else could.
Here is Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
after the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah, taking residence in the White Palace of Khosrow.
He ordered 'Umar ibn Muqarrin
to gather and inventory the spoils of war,
in order to send a fifth to the Treasury of the Muslims
and distribute the rest among the fighters.
Before him were gathered riches, precious artifacts, and valuables
beyond description and too vast to count.
There were large baskets
sealed with lead,
filled with gold and silver vessels
used by the kings of Persia.
And over there were chests of fine wood,
piled high with the garments, sashes,
and armor of Khosrow, encrusted with jewels and pearls.
There were leather hampers filled with exquisite jewelry
and marvelous treasures,
and scabbards containing the swords of the Persian kings,
passed down monarch after monarch,
as well as the swords of kings and commanders
who had submitted to the Persians throughout history.
As the officials were taking inventory of these spoils
in full view and hearing of the Muslims,
a disheveled, dust-covered man approached the people,
carrying a large,
heavy casket
in both his hands.
They looked closely,
and behold, it was a casket
the likes of which their eyes had never seen,
nor had they found among all they had collected
anything that equaled or even approached it.
They looked inside
and found it filled with splendid pearls and jewels.
They asked the man,
"Where did you acquire this precious treasure?"
He replied,
"I took it as spoils in such-and-such battle,
in such-and-such place."
They asked,
"And did you take anything from it for yourself?"
He said,
"May Allah guide you!
By Allah, this casket
and everything the kings of Persia ever owned
are not worth a fingernail clipping to me.
Were it not for the right of the Muslim Treasury to it,
I would not have picked it up from the ground,
nor brought it to you."
They said, "Who are you, may Allah honor you?"
He replied,
"No, by Allah!
I will not tell you so that you praise me,
nor will I tell anyone else so that they commend me—"
meaning, so that they extol him—
"rather, I praise Allah Almighty
and hope for His reward."
He then left them and walked away.
They ordered a man from among them to follow him
and bring back news of who he was.
The man kept walking behind him
without his knowledge,
until he reached his companions.
When he asked them about him,
they said, "Do you not know him?
He is the ascetic of Basra,
'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi."
Yet the life of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
despite what you have learned about him,
was not devoid of hardship,
nor was it free from the harm of people.
For he was subjected to what all truthful proclaimers face
when speaking the word of truth,
denouncing wrongdoing,
and striving to eradicate it.
The direct cause
of the harm that befell him
was that he saw an officer from among the guards
of the chief of police in Basra
seizing by the throat
a non-Muslim protected subject (*dhimmi*)
and dragging him along,
while the *dhimmi* was appealing to the people for help, saying,
"Protect me, may Allah protect you!
Protect the covenant of your Prophet, O gathering of Muslims!"
'Amir approached him and asked,
"Have you paid your *jizyah*?"
He replied, "Yes, I have paid it."
'Amir turned to the man holding him by the throat and said,
"What do you want from him?"
He answered,
"I want him to come with me
to sweep the garden of the chief of police"—
meaning, to clean it.
He asked the *dhimmi*,
"Are you willingly agreeable to this work?"
He said, "No,
for it breaks my strength
and diverts me from earning sustenance for my family."
'Amir turned to the man and said, "Let him go."
He replied, "I will not let him go."
Thereupon, 'Amir
threw his cloak
over the *dhimmi* and said,
"By Allah, the protection guaranteed by Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) shall not be violated while I live!"
Then the people gathered
and assisted 'Amir against the man,
rescuing the *dhimmi* by force.
The guards of the chief of police then
accused 'Amir of defying authority
and charged him with dissenting from the Sunnah and the community.
They said,
"He is a man who does not marry women,
does not eat the meat or milk of animals,
and considers himself above attending the gatherings of governors."
They raised his matter to the Commander of the Faithful,
'Uthman ibn 'Affan (may Allah be pleased with him).
The Caliph ordered his governor over Basra
to summon 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah to his council,
question him about what was attributed to him,
and report back to him.
The governor of Basra summoned 'Amir and said,
"The Commander of the Faithful—may Allah prolong his life—
has ordered me to question you regarding matters attributed to you."
He said,
"Ask about whatever the Commander of the Faithful has commanded."
He said,
"Why do you turn away from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
and refuse to marry?"
He replied,
"I did not forego marriage out of aversion to the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
for I bear witness that there is no monasticism in Islam.
Rather, I am a man who realized he has only one soul,
so he dedicated it to Allah Almighty,
and feared that a wife might distract him from Him."
He then asked,
"Why do you not eat meat?"
He replied,
"Indeed I eat it if I crave it and find it.
But if I do not crave it,
or if I crave it and do not find it,
then I do not eat it."
He asked,
"Why do you not eat cheese?"
He replied,
"We live in a region where Zoroastrians make cheese,
and they are a people who do not distinguish between carrion and ritually slaughtered meat.
I fear that the rennet used to make the cheese
might come from an unslaughtered sheep.
Whenever two Muslim witnesses bear witness
that it is cheese made with the rennet of a ritually slaughtered sheep,
I eat it."
He asked,
"And what prevents you from visiting the governors and attending their gatherings?"
He replied,
"At your doors are many seekers of needs,
so call them to you
and fulfill their needs,
and leave alone him who has no need of you."
The statements of 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah were conveyed
to the Commander of the Faithful, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan,
who found in them no defiance of authority
nor any departure from the Sunnah and the community.
However, that did not extinguish the fire of discord,
as gossip and rumor multiplied around 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah,
nearly causing sedition between the man's supporters and his detractors.
So 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that he be relocated to the Levant
to make it his place of residence.
He commended him to his governor over the Levant,
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan,
instructing him to receive him warmly
and uphold his honor.
On the day 'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah resolved
to depart from Basra,
a vast crowd of his brothers and students went out to bid him farewell.
They escorted him until they reached the outskirts of al-Mirbad,
a district on the outer edge of Basra.
There, he said to them,
"I am going to supplicate, so say *amin* to my supplication."
The people craned their necks toward him,
fell completely still,
and fixed their eyes upon him.
He raised his hands and said,
"O Allah, whoever slandered me and lied against me,
and was the cause of my expulsion from my homeland
and the separation between me and my companions—
O Allah, I have forgiven him,
so forgive him,
Grant him well-being in his religious and worldly affairs,
and encompass me, him, and the rest of the Muslims
in Your mercy, Your pardon, and Your benevolence,
O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
Then he turned his mount toward the lands of the Levant
and went on his way.
'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah spent
the remainder of his life in the lands of the Levant.
He chose Jerusalem as his residence,
and he received from the righteousness of the governor of the Levant,
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan,
as well as his veneration and honor, that which he truly deserved.
When he fell terminally ill, his companions entered upon him,
and they found him weeping.
They asked, "What makes you weep, when you were such and such?"
He replied,
"By Allah, I do not weep out of eagerness for this world, nor out of panic over death;
rather, I weep because of the length of the journey and the scantiness of my provisions.
I have reached the evening standing between ascent and descent,
leading either to Paradise or to the Fire,
and I do not know to which of the two I shall go."
Then he breathed his last,
while his tongue was moist with the remembrance of Allah.
And there, at the first of the two qiblahs,
the third of the Two Holy Sanctuaries,
and the place of the Night Journey of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi was laid to rest.
May Allah illuminate 'Amr's grave,
and may He brighten his countenance in the Gardens of Eternity.
Asceticism culminated in eight individuals,
chief among them 'Amr ibn 'Abd Allah al-Tamimi,
as reported by 'Alqamah ibn Marthad.
They filled life with glorious deeds by their actions,
and through them, the world of mankind flourished.