1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:12,179 Pause and identify this Companion, scholar, and eminent figure. 2 00:00:12,179 --> 00:00:16,179 A new challenge: who am I? 3 00:00:16,179 --> 00:00:23,579 I am one of the senior Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. 4 00:00:23,579 --> 00:00:27,579 I am among the foremost of the early Muslims. 5 00:00:27,579 --> 00:00:30,579 I am one of the ten promised Paradise. 6 00:00:30,579 --> 00:00:35,700 The Prophet, peace be upon him, titled me "The Trustworthy of the Ummah." 7 00:00:35,700 --> 00:00:43,700 Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, nominated me for the Caliphate after the passing of the Prophet, peace be upon him. 8 00:00:43,700 --> 00:00:47,799 I migrated to Abyssinia and then to Medina. 9 00:00:47,799 --> 00:00:52,799 I witnessed all the battles alongside the Prophet, peace be upon him. 10 00:00:52,799 --> 00:00:57,799 I stood firm with him at the Battle of Uhud and fought against the apostates. 11 00:00:57,799 --> 00:01:01,799 I led the armies for the conquest of the Levant (al-Sham). 12 00:01:03,729 --> 00:01:09,730 The Prophet, peace be upon him, would appoint me to lead certain expeditions and detachments. 13 00:01:09,730 --> 00:01:16,760 Once, the Prophet, peace be upon him, sent a detachment toward the coast. 14 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:21,760 We were three hundred men, and he placed me in command. 15 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:27,760 We set out, but while on the road, our provisions ran low. 16 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,760 I ordered that the remaining food of the army be collected. 17 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,760 I would give them a small amount each day. 18 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:40,760 Eventually, I was giving each man only one date per day. 19 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,760 Until the food ran out and hunger overtook us. 20 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:50,859 We ate tree leaves until our lips became ulcerated. 21 00:01:50,859 --> 00:01:56,859 When we reached the sea, we found a massive whale, like a small mountain. 22 00:01:56,859 --> 00:02:00,859 It was dead on the shore, so I said to my companions: 23 00:02:00,859 --> 00:02:04,859 "This whale is dead, do not eat from it." 24 00:02:04,859 --> 00:02:11,949 Then I said to them, "No, we are the messengers of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him." 25 00:02:11,949 --> 00:02:16,949 "We are in the path of Allah, and you are in a state of necessity, so eat." 26 00:02:16,949 --> 00:02:20,949 We stayed there for a month, eating from it and using its oil. 27 00:02:20,949 --> 00:02:24,949 Until we grew stout and our bodies regained their health. 28 00:02:24,949 --> 00:02:27,979 I took thirteen men, 29 00:02:28,979 --> 00:02:31,979 and seated them inside the socket of the whale's eye. 30 00:02:31,979 --> 00:02:35,979 I took one of its ribs and stood it upright. 31 00:02:35,979 --> 00:02:41,210 Then I led the largest camel we had, and it passed underneath it. 32 00:02:41,210 --> 00:02:44,210 We took supplies of its dried meat with us. 33 00:02:44,210 --> 00:02:47,210 When we arrived in Medina, 34 00:02:47,210 --> 00:02:50,210 we came to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 35 00:02:50,210 --> 00:02:53,210 and told him about that. 36 00:02:53,210 --> 00:02:57,210 He said, "It is a provision that Allah brought forth for you." 37 00:02:57,210 --> 00:03:01,210 "Do you have any of its meat left to feed us?" 38 00:03:01,210 --> 00:03:07,210 So we sent some to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and he ate it. 39 00:03:07,210 --> 00:03:14,139 I was the governor of the people in the Levant during the era of Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him. 40 00:03:14,139 --> 00:03:19,259 The plague struck there, harvesting the people like a scythe. 41 00:03:19,259 --> 00:03:22,259 When the Commander of the Faithful heard of this, 42 00:03:22,259 --> 00:03:26,259 he feared for me, so he wrote to me saying: 43 00:03:26,259 --> 00:03:31,259 "A need for you has arisen in me, and I cannot do without you." 44 00:03:31,259 --> 00:03:34,259 "If my letter reaches you at night," 45 00:03:34,259 --> 00:03:39,259 "I resolve that you do not wait until morning before you ride to me." 46 00:03:39,259 --> 00:03:42,259 "And if my letter reaches you during the day," 47 00:03:42,259 --> 00:03:47,490 "I resolve that you do not wait until evening before you ride to me." 48 00:03:47,490 --> 00:03:49,490 I said to myself, 49 00:03:49,490 --> 00:03:53,490 "I know the need the Commander of the Faithful has mentioned." 50 00:03:53,490 --> 00:03:58,550 "He wishes to keep someone who is not destined to remain." 51 00:03:58,550 --> 00:04:00,620 So I wrote back to him: 52 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:02,620 "O Commander of the Faithful," 53 00:04:02,620 --> 00:04:05,620 "I have understood your need for me." 54 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:08,620 "I am among the soldiers of the Muslims," 55 00:04:08,620 --> 00:04:11,620 "and I find in myself no desire to be apart from them." 56 00:04:11,620 --> 00:04:18,620 "I do not wish to leave them until Allah executes His command and decree regarding me and them." 57 00:04:18,620 --> 00:04:22,709 "So release me from your resolve, O Commander of the Faithful." 58 00:04:22,709 --> 00:04:24,709 "And leave me with my soldiers." 59 00:04:24,709 --> 00:04:28,000 When the Caliph read my letter, 60 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 his eyes overflowed and he wept. 61 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,000 Those with him asked, 62 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,000 "O Commander of the Faithful," 63 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:37,000 "Has the governor of the Levant died?" 64 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:41,000 He said, "No, but it is as if he has." 65 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,189 Meaning, he is on the verge of death. 66 00:04:44,189 --> 00:04:46,189 Then, not long after, 67 00:04:46,189 --> 00:04:49,189 the plague struck me, 68 00:04:49,189 --> 00:04:52,089 and my soul departed. 69 00:04:52,089 --> 00:04:54,089 When I passed away, 70 00:04:54,089 --> 00:04:57,089 Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up, 71 00:04:57,089 --> 00:04:59,089 led the people in prayer, 72 00:04:59,089 --> 00:05:01,089 and then addressed them, saying: 73 00:05:01,089 --> 00:05:03,089 "O people," 74 00:05:03,089 --> 00:05:05,089 "you have been afflicted by the loss of a man," 75 00:05:05,089 --> 00:05:09,089 "by Allah, you have never seen among the servants of Allah," 76 00:05:09,089 --> 00:05:12,089 "anyone less resentful, or with a purer heart," 77 00:05:12,089 --> 00:05:14,089 "or more free from malice," 78 00:05:14,089 --> 00:05:17,089 "or more concerned for the Hereafter," 79 00:05:17,089 --> 00:05:20,089 "or more sincere to the common people than him." 80 00:05:20,089 --> 00:05:22,089 "So pray for mercy upon him." 81 00:05:22,089 --> 00:05:25,089 "Then come out to pray over him." 82 00:05:25,089 --> 00:05:29,089 "For by Allah, you will never have anyone like him to lead you again." 83 00:05:29,089 --> 00:05:32,120 Then he stepped forward and led the funeral prayer for me. 84 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,180 When they placed me in my grave, 85 00:05:35,180 --> 00:05:37,180 and cast the earth over me, 86 00:05:37,180 --> 00:05:40,180 Mu'adh, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 87 00:05:40,180 --> 00:05:42,180 "I will praise you," 88 00:05:42,180 --> 00:05:44,180 "and I will not speak falsehood," 89 00:05:44,180 --> 00:05:47,180 "for I fear that if I did, the wrath of Allah would befall me." 90 00:05:48,730 --> 00:05:50,730 "You were, by Allah, as far as I knew," 91 00:05:50,730 --> 00:05:53,730 "among those who remember Allah frequently," 92 00:05:53,730 --> 00:05:56,730 "and among those who walk upon the earth humbly," 93 00:05:56,730 --> 00:05:59,730 "and when the ignorant address them," 94 00:05:59,730 --> 00:06:01,730 "they say words of peace." 95 00:06:01,730 --> 00:06:03,730 "And among those who, when they spend," 96 00:06:03,730 --> 00:06:06,730 “And those who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor grudging; and there is ever a firm station between the two;” (25:67) 97 00:06:06,730 --> 00:06:09,730 “And those who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor grudging; and there is ever a firm station between the two;” (25:67) 98 00:06:09,730 --> 00:06:12,790 "And you were, by Allah, among the humble," 99 00:06:12,790 --> 00:06:14,790 "the modest," 100 00:06:14,790 --> 00:06:17,790 "and among those who show mercy to the orphan and the needy," 101 00:06:17,790 --> 00:06:21,790 "and who despise the treacherous and the arrogant." 102 00:06:21,790 --> 00:06:23,790 "May Allah have mercy upon you." 103 00:06:23,790 --> 00:06:26,180 So, who am I?