In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you "Portraits from the Lives of the Companions,"
by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Our Companion this time
is an Ansari, a participant in al-'Aqabah, and a veteran of Badr.
It is enough distinction that he possessed these three great virtues,
which are badges of honor and nobility in this world,
and testaments of divine pleasure and nearness to Allah in the Hereafter.
As for his father, he was named Al-Samit,
his mother was called Qurrat al-'Ayn,
and people knew him as 'Ubadah.
And who among us, O assembly of Muslims, does not know 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit?
For he is one of the pure and righteous who gave shelter and aid;
he is one of the seventy-three who pledged allegiance at the Pledge of al-'Aqabah;
and he is one of the veterans of Badr, whom Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, looked upon
and said: "Do whatever you wish, for I have forgiven you."
And if you add to that
that he was one of five men who compiled the Qur'an during the lifetime of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
then he truly attained the pinnacle of honors,
reaching the loftiest heights and the most exalted ranks.
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit spent his life as a warrior striving in the cause of Allah, a devout worshipper, and a teacher.
On the battlefields, he was a fearless lion,
in the stillness of the night, he was a deeply devoted and sorrowful worshipper,
and in times of peace,
he taught the Muslims the Book of Allah
and instructed them in the fiqh of Allah's religion.
When Allah granted the Muslims victory and opened the lands of the Levant,
they sought to open minds and hearts
just as they had conquered strongholds and fortresses.
So the governor of Damascus wrote to the Caliph of the Muslims, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, saying:
"The Muslims in the lands of the Levant have grown numerous,
and they are in need of someone to teach them the Qur'an
and instruct them in the fiqh of the religion of Allah.
So assist me, O Commander of the Faithful, with men who can teach them."
Thereupon, 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, summoned
the group of five who had compiled the Qur'an during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him:
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit,
Mu'adh ibn Jabal,
Ubayy ibn Ka'b,
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari,
and Abu al-Darda',
may Allah be pleased with them all,
and may He grant them the most gracious reward on behalf of the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him.
When they stood before him,
he said to them: "Your brethren among the people of the Levant
have asked me to send those who can teach them the Qur'an
and instruct them in what is lawful and unlawful.
So help me, may Allah have mercy upon you, by sending three from among you;
and if you wish, cast lots between yourselves."
They replied: "We would never cast lots, O Commander of the Faithful;
for Abu Ayyub al-Ansari is an elderly shaykh,
Ubayy ibn Ka'b is an ailing man,
and that leaves the three of us."
So 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and them, dispatched them
to the lands of the Levant:
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit settled in Homs,
Abu al-Darda' took up residence in Damascus,
and Mu'adh ibn Jabal stayed in Palestine.
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit,
when he pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,
on the night of al-'Aqabah,
had pledged to hear and obey,
to speak the truth wherever he might be,
and never to fear the blame of any critic for the sake of Allah.
So when he saw from the governor of the Levant,
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him,
something that he could not accept,
he confronted him over what he had observed and denounced it.
But Mu'awiyah did not accept his view
and demanded his compliance.
Thereupon, 'Ubadah became angry and said:
"By Allah, I shall never dwell in the same land as you!"
and he turned around and went back to Medina.
When he came before 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
'Umar asked him: "What has brought you back, O 'Ubadah?"
So he informed him of the disagreement between himself and Mu'awiyah.
'Umar said: "Return to your post!
May Allah dishonor any land in which neither you nor the likes of you reside."
Then he wrote to Mu'awiyah, saying:
"You have no authority over 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit;
he is an authority unto himself."
Later, 'Amr ibn al-'As marched toward Egypt as a conqueror,
which was then under the rule of the Byzantines.
He began liberating its cities and villages
until he was held up by the Fortress of Babylon,
situated on the bank of the Nile,
near modern-day Cairo.
The reason the fortress resisted him was
that the Byzantines had dug a great trench around it,
and had embedded iron caltrops along the roads leading to it
to hinder the advance of infantry and cavalry toward it.
They also packed it with soldiers and equipment,
and brought into it their statesmen
and the notables of the Copts from the people of Egypt,
headed by the Muqawqis,
the Patriarch and ruler of Egypt.
'Amr ibn al-'As besieged the fortress,
hoping that its defenders would grow weary of the siege
and surrender to him.
However, the Nile soon flooded,
so the Byzantines breached the dykes and cut off the bridges,
causing the water to surround the Muslims from every side,
and they were nearly overwhelmed by drowning.
At that point, 'Amr ibn al-'As wrote
to the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
requesting that he support him with reinforcements from his side.
'Umar promptly reinforced him
with four thousand Muslim soldiers,
appointing over every thousand a commander
who equaled a thousand men himself:
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit,
Al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam,
Al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad,
and Maslamah ibn Mukhallad.
The Muqawqis learned of the reinforcements
that had reached the Muslim army,
so he sent to 'Amr ibn al-'As
a delegation of his finest men
to negotiate with them.
He instructed them to observe closely
the conditions of the Muslims,
and to bring back a precise
and clear portrait of their way of life,
as though he were seeing it with his own eyes.
The men of the delegation stayed
as guests of the Muslims for three nights.
When they returned,
the Muqawqis asked them
about what they had seen and heard.
They said:
"By Allah, we have seen a people
to whom death is more desirable than life,
and humbleness is dearer than high status.
They sit upon the bare dust
and eat while kneeling on their knees.
Their commander is just like one of them;
their master cannot be distinguished from his subordinate,
nor their nobleman from the commoner.
Whenever the prayer is called,
not a single one of them stays behind;
they wash their limbs and faces with water,
and humble themselves devoutly before their Lord in prayer."
The Muqawqis said:
"By Allah, if these people were to confront the mountains,
they would move them,
and if they were to battle the jinn, they would destroy them."
It was as if the Muqawqis wished
to see with his own eyes
what his men had described to him,
so he wrote to 'Amr ibn al-'As, saying:
"Send envoys from among you
so that we may negotiate and make a treaty with them."
So he sent ten of his men to him,
placing 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit in command over them.
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit was a tall man of imposing stature,
with thick hair and an intensely commanding presence,
filling anyone who looked upon him with awe and veneration.
When he stepped forward to face the Muqawqis,
the Muqawqis was struck with immense awe of him,
and a great fear took hold of his heart.
So he said to the members of the delegation:
"Take this man away from me,
and bring forward someone else to speak to me!"
They replied: "This is our commander,
and 'Amr ibn al-'As instructed us
never to step ahead of him,
nor to disobey any command of his."
The Muqawqis then said to 'Ubadah:
"Come forward, O man,
and speak to me gently,
for your appearance fills me with dread."
'Ubadah said to him:
"I see that you fear me,
but what would you think if you saw my companions?
Among them are a thousand men,
every one of them far stronger and more formidable than I."
The Muqawqis asked him:
"What brought you out of your lands,
and what do you want from us?"
'Ubadah ibn al-Samit said:
"By Allah, we have only set out
seeking the pleasure of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic.
Our Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, charged us
that none of us should seek from this world
anything more than what satisfies his hunger and covers his nakedness;
for the pleasure of this world is no true bliss—
true bliss is only the bliss of the Hereafter."
The Muqawqis said to him:
"I have heard your words,
and by my life, you have only achieved what you achieved
by virtue of what you mentioned;
nor have you triumphed over those you defeated
except because of their love for this world
and your disdain for it.
"However, the Romans have gathered against you
numbers beyond reckoning,
and we know well that you will never overpower them,
given your few numbers and your severe poverty.
Yet, we are willing
to give each man among you two dinars,
your commander a hundred dinars,
and your Caliph a thousand dinars,
provided that you depart from us
before that strikes you which you have no power to bear."
Thereupon, 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit said to him:
"That with which you try to terrify us regarding the Roman multitudes
will never deter us from our ultimate objective!
Indeed, we are utterly certain of attaining
one of the two best outcomes:
for if we triumph over you,
our worldly gain will be immense;
and if you triumph over us,
our reward in the Hereafter will be supreme!
And know that there is not a single man among us
who does not supplicate Allah after every prayer
to grant him martyrdom,
and not to return him to his family disappointed!
Every single one of us
has already entrusted his family and children to Allah's care."
He then presented to al-Muqawqis the three choices:
Islam, the jizyah, or fighting.
But the people of al-Muqawqis refused Islam,
and disdainfully rejected paying the jizyah.
Thus, nothing remained except battle.
At that point, the Muslims resolved to storm the fortress,
no matter how steep the price might be.
Then al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam stood up and declared:
"I dedicate my soul to Allah, the Exalted and Glorious!"
He took a tall ladder to scale the wall of the fortress,
and instructed the Muslim soldiers
to proclaim the takbir in unison after him
as soon as they heard his takbir.
It was only a matter of moments
before that valiant knight
was mounting the ramparts of the fortress,
his sword drawn unsheathed,
as the cry of "Allahu Akbar!"
burst resoundingly from his mouth.
Thousands of throats instantly echoed behind him,
thundering: "Allahu Akbar!"
Its reverberation shook hearts and shattered resolves.
Al-Zubayr threw himself inside the fortress,
and a contingent of the Muslim soldiers followed him,
putting their swords to the necks of the Romans,
who were entirely paralyzed by shock,
and they threw open the gates of the fortress before the Muslims.
Thereupon, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, surged in,
led at the forefront by 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit.
The millstones of a fierce, grinding battle turned between the two sides,
wherein Allah decreed victory for His soldiers,
and the pearl of the world—Egypt—
was joined to the realm of the Qur'an.
"May Allah repudiate any land
in which there is no 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit and his likeness!"
'Umar ibn al-Khattab...
With his companions, the towering edifice was breached.
O poetry, assist in praising them!
Is there anyone to lend aid?