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 on him.
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, may Allah be pleased with him,
was one of the first eight people to embrace Islam,
one of the ten promised Paradise,
one of the six members of the consultative council (Shura) tasked with choosing the caliph after al-Faruq 'Umar,
and one of the small group who used to issue legal verdicts (fatwas) in Medina
while the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was alive and living among the Muslims.
In the pre-Islamic days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah), his name was 'Abd 'Amr,
but when he accepted Islam, the noble Messenger named him 'Abd al-Rahman.
That was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf, may Allah be pleased with him.
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf accepted Islam before the noble Messenger entered the house of al-Arqam,
just two days after the conversion of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.
He endured the same persecution in the cause of Allah that the earliest Muslims faced;
he was patient, just as they were patient,
he stood firm, just as they stood firm,
and he remained true, just as they remained true.
He fled with his faith to Abyssinia, just as many of them fled with theirs.
When the Messenger and his companions were permitted to migrate to Medina,
he was in the vanguard of the emigrants (Muhajirun) who migrated for the sake of Allah and His Messenger.
When the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, established brotherhood between the Muhajirun and the Ansar,
he paired him with Sa'd ibn al-Rabi' al-Ansari, may Allah be pleased with him.
Sa'd said to his brother 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf:
"O my brother, I am the wealthiest among the people of Medina.
I have two orchards and two wives.
Look and see which of the two orchards you prefer so that I may surrender it to you,
and which of my two wives pleases you more so that I may divorce her for you."
'Abd al-Rahman said to his Ansari brother:
"May Allah bless you in your family and your wealth.
Just direct me to the marketplace."
So Sa'd directed him to it, and 'Abd al-Rahman began trading;
he set about buying, selling, making a profit, and saving.
It was not long before he had gathered enough for a woman's dowry, and so he married.
He then came to the Messenger, peace be upon him, wearing traces of perfume.
The Messenger, peace be upon him, asked him:
"Mahyam, O 'Abd al-Rahman?"
— this being a Yemeni word expressing surprise.
He replied: "I have gotten married."
The Prophet asked: "And how much dowry did you give your wife?"
He replied: "The weight of a date stone in gold."
The Prophet said: "Offer a wedding feast (walimah), even if with only a single sheep.
May Allah bless you in your wealth."
'Abd al-Rahman said:
"Then the world opened up to me so abundantly that I felt that if I were to lift a stone,
I would expect to find gold or silver beneath it."
On the day of Badr, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf strove in the cause of Allah with true devotion,
slaying the enemy of Allah, 'Umayr ibn 'Uthman ibn Ka'b al-Taymi.
On the day of Uhud,
he stood firm when feet were shaken,
and held his ground when the defeated fled.
He emerged from the battle bearing more than twenty wounds,
some of them so deep that a man's hand could enter them.
Yet 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf's sacrifice with his person
came to be seen as modest when compared to his striving with his wealth.
For on one occasion, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him,
wished to equip an expedition.
He stood before his Companions and said:
"Give in charity, for I intend to dispatch an expedition."
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf hastened to his home
and quickly returned, saying:
"O Messenger of Allah!
I have four thousand [dirhams]:
two thousand I have lent to my Lord,
and two thousand I have left for my family."
The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
"May Allah bless you in what you have given,
and may Allah bless you in what you have withheld."
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, resolved
to undertake the Expedition of Tabuk —
which was the last campaign he fought in his life —
the need for funds was no less pressing than the need for men.
The Byzantine army was immense in numbers and heavily equipped,
that year in Medina was a year of severe drought,
the journey was long, provisions were scarce,
and riding mounts were scarcer still,
so much so that a group of believers came to the Messenger pleading with deep sorrow that he take them with him,
but he had to turn them away because he could find no mounts for them to ride;
“Nor unto those whom, when they came to thee (asking) that thou shouldst mount them, thou didst tell: I cannot find whereon to mount you. They turned back with eyes flowing with tears, for sorrow that they could not find the means to spend.” (9:92)
they were thus called "the Weepers" (al-Bakka'un),
and that army was named the "Army of Hardship" (Jaysh al-'Usrah).
At that moment, the Messenger, peace be upon him, commanded his Companions to spend in the cause of Allah
and to seek their reward with Allah.
The Muslims rushed to respond to the call of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and in the vanguard of those giving charity was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf.
He gave two hundred ounces (awqiyyahs) of gold in charity.
'Umar ibn al-Khattab said to the Prophet, peace be upon him:
"I fear that 'Abd al-Rahman has committed an error,
for he has left nothing for his family."
The Messenger, peace be upon him, asked:
"Have you left anything for your family, O 'Abd al-Rahman?"
He replied: "Yes, I have left them more and better than what I spent."
The Prophet asked: "How much?"
He said:
"What Allah and His Messenger have promised of provision, goodness, and reward."
The army marched on to Tabuk,
and there, Allah honored 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf
with an honor bestowed upon no other Muslim.
The time for prayer arrived
while the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was absent,
so 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf led the Muslims in prayer.
Scarcely had the first unit of prayer (rak'ah) ended
when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, arrived
and joined the Muslims;
he followed 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf in prayer
and prayed behind him.
Is there any honor greater or any virtue higher
than for a person to serve as the imam for the master of creation
and the leader of the prophets, Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah?
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, passed away
to the Highest Companion,
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf undertook to look after the affairs of the Mothers of the Believers.
He would attend to their needs,
traveling with them whenever they traveled,
performing the Hajj with them whenever they performed it,
placing protective mantles over their camel-litters,
and pitching their camps in places that pleased them.
That was one of the noble merits of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf
and a mark of the trust the Mothers of the Believers placed in him,
an honor in which he had every right to take pride.
Such was the extent of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf's benevolence
toward the Muslims and the Mothers of the Believers
that he once sold a plot of land belonging to him for forty thousand dinars
and distributed the entire sum among the clan of Banu Zuhrah,
the poor among the Muslims and the Muhajirun,
and the wives of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
When he sent to the Mother of the Believers 'A'ishah,
may Allah be pleased with her, the share allotted to her from that money,
she asked: "Who sent this money?"
She was told: "'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf."
She said:
"The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
'None will show compassion to you after me except the truly patient.'"
The supplication of the Messenger, peace be upon him,
for 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf
that Allah bless his wealth
continued to shelter him throughout his entire life,
until he became the wealthiest of all the Companions
and the most affluent among them.
His commerce continually flourished and expanded,
and his caravans moved back and forth, departing from Medina and returning to it,
bringing its residents wheat, flour, cooking oil,
garments, utensils, perfume,
and everything else they needed,
while transporting away whatever surplus produce exceeded their needs.
One day,
a caravan belonging to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf arrived in Medina,
consisting of seven hundred laden camels —
yes, seven hundred camels! —
bearing on their backs provisions, merchandise,
and all that the people needed.
No sooner had it entered Medina than the ground trembled beneath it,
and a tremendous clamor and commotion were heard.
'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, asked:
"What is this commotion?"
She was told: "A caravan belonging to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf;
seven hundred camels carrying wheat, flour, and food."
'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, remarked:
"May Allah bless him in what He has given him in this world,
but the reward of the Hereafter is far greater!
For I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:
''Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf will enter Paradise crawling.'"
Before the camels had even knelt down,
a bearer of good tidings rushed to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf
and conveyed what the Mother of the Believers had said, congratulating him on the promise of Paradise.
No sooner had this glad tiding reached his ears
than he flew swiftly to 'A'ishah and asked:
"O Mother, did you hear that from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?"
She replied: "Yes."
Overjoyed, he exclaimed:
"If I am able, I shall surely enter it standing!
I call you to witness, O Mother,
that this entire caravan, with its loads, saddles, and gear,
is dedicated in the cause of Allah."
From that luminous and blessed day
on which 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf was given the glad tidings of entering Paradise,
his devotion to giving and spending his wealth increased immensely.
He began disbursing it with both hands, right and left,
secretly and openly.
He gave forty thousand silver dirhams in charity,
followed by forty thousand gold dinars,
and then donated two hundred ounces of gold.
He subsequently mounted fighters in the cause of Allah upon five hundred horses,
and provided mounts for yet other fighters upon one thousand five hundred camels.
When death approached 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf,
he emancipated a great number of his slaves,
and bequeathed to every surviving veteran of Badr
four hundred dinars of gold,
all of which they received;
and they numbered one hundred men.
He also bequeathed a vast amount of wealth to each of the Mothers of the Believers,
such that the Mother of the Believers 'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
would frequently pray for him, saying:
"May Allah give him to drink from the waters of Salsabil."
Then, after all of that,
he left behind for his heirs wealth that could scarcely be counted:
leaving one thousand camels,
as well as a hundred horses
and three thousand sheep.
He had four wives,
and each one's share—a fourth of the eighth—amounted to eighty thousand dinars.
He also left behind gold and silver
that had to be chopped with axes to be divided among his heirs,
to the point that the men's hands blistered from cleaving it.
All of this was by virtue of the supplication of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
who prayed that Allah bless him in his wealth.
Yet all that vast wealth
never seduced 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Awf, nor did it change him.
Whenever people saw him among his servants,
they could not tell him apart from them.
One day, food was brought to him while he was fasting,
so he looked at it and said:
"Mus'ab Ibn 'Umayr was killed,
and he was better than me,
yet we could find nothing to shroud him in except a single garment;
if it covered his head, his feet were exposed,
and if it covered his feet, his head was exposed.
Then the riches of this world were showered upon us as they were,
and I truly fear that our rewards have been hastened to us in this life."
Then he began to weep and sob until he lost all appetite for the food.
Blessed indeed is 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Awf, and worthy of all envy!
For the truthful and trusted Muhammad Ibn 'Abdullah gave him the glad tidings of Paradise,
and his bier was carried by the maternal uncle of the Messenger of Allah,
Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas;
the funeral prayer over him was led by Dhu al-Nurayn,
'Uthman Ibn 'Affan;
and he was escorted to his grave by the Commander of the Faithful, whose countenance was honored by Allah,
'Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
who said:
"You attained its purity
and outran its falsehood; may Allah have mercy on you!"
May Allah bless what you have given,
and may Allah bless what you have withheld,
as in the supplication of the Messenger.
You have scaled a lofty edifice, O poetry,
and in praising them, can there ever be enough?