In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially 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 on him.
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him.
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
These noble verses tell a unique and remarkable story,
in which a conflict of opposing emotions unfolded
within the soul of a tender youth;
yet good triumphed over evil,
and faith prevailed over disbelief.
As for the hero of this story,
he was a youth among the noblest of Mecca's young men in lineage,
and the most distinguished among them in mother and father.
That youth was Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas,
may Allah be pleased with him and grant him contentment.
When the light of prophethood dawned upon Mecca, Sa'd was
a young man in the prime of his youth,
tender and vigorous,
soft-hearted,
exceptionally dutiful to his parents,
and deeply devoted, in particular, to his mother.
And despite the fact that Sa'd
was then welcoming his seventeenth spring,
he possessed within his modest cloak
much of the sound judgment of mature men and the wisdom of elders.
For instance, he found no pleasure in that which captured
the interest of his peers among various amusements;
rather, he directed all his energy toward fashioning arrows,
mending bows,
and practicing archery,
so much so that it was as though he was preparing himself for a momentous affair.
Nor did he feel at ease with what he found his people engaged in,
with their corrupted beliefs and deplorable condition,
as if he were waiting for there to reach out to them
a firm, resolute, and compassionate hand
to rescue them from the darkness in which they were stumbling.
And while he was in that state,
Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, willed to honor all of humanity
with this compassionate and uplifting hand:
the hand of the master of creation, Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah,
holding within his grasp that divine beacon that never dims:
the Book of Allah.
How swiftly did Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas respond
to the call of guidance and truth,
becoming the third of three men to embrace Islam,
or the fourth of four.
Therefore, he would often say with pride:
"I spent seven days
while being one-third of Islam."
Great was the joy of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
at Sa'd's acceptance of Islam;
for in Sa'd were signs of nobility and early manhood
that heralded that this crescent
would soon become a full moon.
Sa'd also possessed such noble lineage and illustrious standing
as would entice the young men of Mecca to follow his path
and walk in his footsteps.
Moreover, above all that,
Sa'd was one of the maternal uncles of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
for he belonged to the clan of Banu Zuhrah,
and Banu Zuhrah were the kin of Aminah bint Wahb,
the mother of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
And the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
used to take pride in this maternal relationship.
It was narrated that the noble Prophet
was sitting with a group of his Companions,
when he saw Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas approaching,
so he said to those with him:
"This is my maternal uncle;
let any man show me his maternal uncle!"
Yet the acceptance of Islam by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
did not pass easily or smoothly;
rather, the believing youth was subjected
to one of the harshest trials in severity
and the most violent in intensity,
so severe and intense, in fact,
that Allah, Glorified be He, revealed Qur'an concerning it.
Let us leave the floor to Sa'd
to recount to us the story of this extraordinary trial.
Sa'd said:
"Three nights before I embraced Islam, I saw in a dream
as though I were drowning in layers of darkness, one upon another.
And while I was floundering in its depths,
a moon shone for me, so I followed it.
Then I saw a group of men ahead of me who had reached that moon before me:
I saw Zayd ibn Harithah,
'Ali ibn Abi Talib,
and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
So I asked them, 'Since when have you been here?'
They replied, 'Just this hour.'
Then, when morning broke upon me,
word reached me that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
was inviting people to Islam in secret.
Thus I knew that Allah intended good for me,
and willed to bring me out, through him, from darkness into light.
So I hurried to him
until I met him in the valley of Jiyad,
just after he had prayed 'Asr,
and I embraced Islam.
No one had preceded me except that group whom I had seen in the dream."
Then Sa'd continued the narration of his conversion, saying:
"No sooner did my mother hear of my embracing Islam than her fury erupted.
I had always been a dutiful and loving son to her,
so she came to me, saying:
'O Sa'd! What is this religion you have embraced,
that has turned you away from the religion of your mother and father?
By Allah, you will surely abandon your new religion,
or else I shall neither eat nor drink until I die,
so that your heart will be torn with grief over me,
remorse will consume you for what you have done,
and people will reproach you for it for all time.'
I said, 'Do not do this, dear mother,
for I will not forsake my religion for anything.'
Yet she persisted in her threat;
she abstained from food and drink,
and remained days in that state, neither eating nor drinking,
until her body emaciated, her bones grew feeble,
and her strength gave way.
I began coming to her hour after hour,
begging her to take some food
or a little drink,
but she refused vehemently,
swearing that she would neither eat nor drink until she died
or I abandoned my religion.
At that point, I said to her:
'O my mother!
Despite my deep love for you,
my love for Allah and His Messenger is far greater.
By Allah, even if you had a thousand souls,
and they departed from you one after another,
I would never leave this religion of mine for anything.'
When she saw my firm resolve,
she gave in
and ate and drank against her will.
Then Allah, Exalted and Glorious, revealed concerning us His saying..."
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, may Allah be pleased with him, experienced
some of the most benevolent days for the Muslims
and the most abundant in goodness for Islam.
On the Day of Badr,
Sa'd and his brother 'Umayr had an unforgettable stand.
For 'Umayr was then
a tender youth who had barely reached the age of puberty.
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, began
reviewing the Muslim forces before the battle,
'Umayr, Sa'd's brother, hid himself,
fearing that the Messenger would see him
and send him back because of his young age.
But the Messenger, peace be upon him,
caught sight of him and turned him back.
Thereupon, 'Umayr began to weep,
until the Prophet's heart softened for him, and he permitted him to stay.
At that,
Sa'd approached him joyfully
and tied the baldric of his sword in knots because of his small stature,
and the two brothers went forth striving in the cause of Allah
with true devotion.
When the battle ended,
Sa'd returned to Medina alone;
as for 'Umayr,
he left him behind as a martyr on the soil of Badr,
seeking his reward with Allah.
And on the Day of Uhud,
when feet wavered,
and the Muslims were scattered away from the Prophet, peace be upon him,
until none remained with him except a small group
not even numbering ten,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas stood firm,
defending the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, with his bow.
He did not loose an arrow
without striking a pagan fatally.
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, saw him
shooting in such a manner,
he began urging him on, saying to him:
"Shoot, Sa'd! Shoot!
May my father and mother be ransomed for you!"
Sa'd continued to take pride in those words throughout his life,
and would say:
"The Messenger never invoked both his parents for anyone except me,"
referring to when he ransomed him with his father and mother together.
But Sa'd reached the pinnacle of his glory
when al-Faruq resolved to wage a war against the Persians
that would bring down their empire,
topple their throne,
and uproot the vestiges of paganism from the face of the earth.
So he dispatched letters to his governors throughout the provinces:
"Send to me everyone who possesses a weapon or a horse,
valor or sound judgment,
or talent in poetry, oratory, or the like—
anything that would be of benefit to the battle."
Delegations of mujahideen began pouring into Medina from every direction;
and when their ranks were complete,
al-Faruq began consulting the prominent decision-makers
as to whom he should appoint over the great army
and entrust with its command.
They replied with one voice:
the charging lion,
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.
So 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—summoned him
and entrusted him with the army's banner.
When that vast army was ready to depart from Madinah,
'Umar ibn al-Khattab stood to bid it farewell and counsel its commander.
He said: "O Sa'd,
do not let it deceive you before Allah that you are called the maternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah
and the companion of the Messenger of Allah!
For Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not erase evil with evil;
rather, He erases evil deeds with good deeds.
O Sa'd!
Truly, there is no lineage between Allah and anyone save obedience to Him.
All people, the noble and the common among them, are equal before Allah:
Allah is their Lord and they are His servants.
They excel one another only in piety,
and they attain what is with Allah only through obedience.
Look to the matter that you saw the Prophet adhere to, and hold fast to it,
for that is the true path."
And so the blessed army marched forth,
including ninety-nine veterans of Badr,
over three hundred and ten
who had companionship from the Pledge of Ridwan and beyond,
three hundred who had witnessed the Conquest of Makkah with the Messenger of Allah,
and seven hundred sons of the Companions.
Sa'd advanced
and encamped with his army at al-Qadisiyyah.
And when the Day of al-Harir came,
the Muslims resolved to make it the decisive blow.
They encircled their enemy as a shackle encircles a wrist,
penetrating their ranks from every side, proclaiming the oneness and greatness of Allah.
Suddenly, the head of Rustam, the commander of the Persian army,
was raised high upon the spears of the Muslims.
Thereupon, terror and panic crept into the hearts of the enemies of Allah,
to the point that a Muslim would merely beckon to a Persian soldier,
and the soldier would come directly to him to be slain,
often killed with his own weapon.
As for the spoils of war,
speak of them without restriction!
And as for the enemy's slain,
it is enough for you to know that those who perished by drowning alone
numbered thirty thousand.
Sa'd lived a long life,
and Allah bestowed upon him immense wealth.
Yet, when death approached him,
he called for a worn woolen cloak,
and said:
"Shroud me in this,
for in it I faced the polytheists on the day of Badr,
and in it I wish to meet Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as well."