In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,
written by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Mu'adh ibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh
and his brother Mu'awwid, may Allah be pleased with them both.
While the youth Mu'adh ibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh
was among a group of his peers,
playing and enjoying themselves amid the water, shade, and greenery,
the young Meccan preacher came upon them:
Mus'ab ibn 'Umair, may Allah be pleased with him.
He greeted them warmly and gently,
spoke to them with love and affection, and said:
"Will you not sit with me for a short while,
so that I may tell you about what I have?
If you like what you hear, I will continue;
and if it displeases you, I shall stop."
The young boys looked at one another
with expressions filled
with much contentment and reassurance,
and said, "Of course."
They then gathered around him
like the beads of an elegant necklace
arranged around a radiant neck.
Mus'ab turned to them with a cheerful, friendly face
and addressed them with his sweet, luminous eloquence.
He began telling them about the virtues of Islam,
endearing the sweetness of faith to their hearts,
and instilling in them a dislike for disbelief and idol worship.
He had barely finished his words
when the face of Mu'adh ibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh beamed
with the light of faith.
He then looked at him and said,
"What should I do if I wish to enter this religion?"
He replied,
"You go to this well,
purify yourself with its water,
and then bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner,
and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger,
and the seal of His prophets.
Then turn your face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth,
and perform two units of prayer."
Mu'adh said,
"It is as though the beginning of this religion is physical purity through ablution,
and its culmination is spiritual purity through prayer."
Mus'ab ibn 'Umair smiled in admiration of him and said,
"How quickly you have understood, O Mu'adh!"
Then Mu'adh went to the water, purified himself,
uttered the two testimonies of faith,
and performed two units of prayer.
No sooner had his two brothers, Mu'awwid and Khallad, seen him
than they embraced Islam as he had,
did as he had done,
and entered the religion of Allah alongside him.
The father of Mu'adh, 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh, was at that time
an old man advanced in years.
He had an idol called Manah,
which he had crafted from precious wood
and endowed with great luster and splendour.
He rivalled his fellow nobles in its magnificence
and devoted himself to its guardianship.
He would go to it in the morning
and return to it in the evening.
He never ceased perfuming it with the finest fragrances
and offering it his most cherished sacrifices.
Mu'adh realized that there was no way for his father to embrace Islam
unless this idol was removed from his life.
He knew that his elderly father
could not bear to hear a single offensive word about his idol,
and that it was impossible for him to abandon it
after such long companionship
merely due to the blame of critics or the arguments of debaters.
So he resolved to pursue his goal by another path
besides the path of persuasion,
seeking the help of his brothers and his peers.
One night, he, his two brothers Mu'awwid and Khallad,
and some of their young peers from Banu Salimah went to Manah,
removed it quietly from its place,
and took it to a pit behind the houses
where filth was thrown.
They cast it face down into its depths,
retraced their steps,
and then slept along with everyone else,
as though nothing had happened.
When morning came, the old man
went to his idol as was his habit,
but did not find it.
He flew into a rage
and began searching for it everywhere,
until he found it lying face down in the pit.
He pulled it out,
washed it with pure water,
perfumed it with the most expensive scent,
and restored it to its former place.
Mu'adh and his companions repeated their deed with the idol time and again,
while the old man persisted in taking it out of the pit every time,
washing it, and perfuming it.
On the fourth night,
weariness overtook him.
He went to the idol before going to sleep,
took a sharpened sword, hung it around its neck,
and said to it,
"O Manah,
if you are truly a god,
then defend yourself against those who seek to harm you
and treat you ill.
Here is the sword with you,
so do with it as you wish."
When morning came,
he found his idol in that same pit,
bound together with a dead dog.
This time he did not pull it out of its place;
rather, he left it where it was,
and bore witness that there is no god but Allah,
and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Mu'adh and his two brothers were overjoyed by their father's acceptance of Islam,
and their eyes were delighted by his faith.
The faithful household transformed into one of the strongholds of Islam in Yathrib,
after everyone in it embraced the religion of Islam
and all its inhabitants were illuminated by the prophethood of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Not long after Mu'adh ibn 'Amr embraced Islam,
the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived in Medina as an emigrant.
Mu'adh and his brothers turned to him like a thirsty person rushing to cool water,
attaching themselves to him as a mother attaches to her only child,
accompanying him as a devoted lover accompanies his beloved.
They would go with him whenever he went out,
return with him whenever he returned,
pray behind him whenever the time for prayer arrived,
and attend his exhortations and guidance
whenever he sat to admonish his Companions and teach them the religion of Allah,
until Mu'adh and his brothers became the finest flower among the youth of Yathrib,
and the delight of Islam and its people.
Then the days passed swiftly and smoothly
over the young, righteous youths,
and the Great Battle of Badr took place.
Mu'adh and his brother Mu'awwid had a renowned and memorable stance in it,
which the history of Islam recorded in letters of light on its brightest pages.
Let us listen to the eminent Companion 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Auf, may Allah be pleased with him,
and hear a part of his account concerning the two of them,
for he witnessed from them that which aroused his astonishment and admiration.
'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Auf said:
"While I was standing in the rank on the day of Badr, I looked around me,
and there, to my right and my left,
were two young boys from the youth of the Ansar.
One of them nudged me,
so I leaned close to him and said,
'Are you nudging me, my boy?'
He said, 'Yes.'
I asked, 'And what do you want?'
He said,
'O uncle, do you know Abu Jahl?'
I said, 'Yes.'
He said,
'Point him out to me.'
I said,
'And what do you need with him, my nephew?'
He said,
'I have been informed that he reviles the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him,
and plots to kill him.
By Him in Whose Hand is my soul,
if I see him, I shall attack him,
and I will not part from him until whichever of us is decreed to die first meets his end.'
I looked at him with a smile, full of amazement,
and asked, 'Who are you?'
He said,
'Mu'adh ibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh.'
Then I stood upright in the rank,
and the other boy approached me and nudged me.
I leaned toward him,
and he said to me something similar to what his companion had said.
I asked him, 'Who are you?'
He said,
'Mu'awwid ibn 'Amr.'
I asked,
'And who is this standing to my right?'
He said,
'He is my brother, Mu'adh.'
Nothing could have pleased me more than standing between those two men rather than anyone else,
save the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.
It was not long
before I saw Abu Jahl moving among Quraysh,
so I turned to them and said,
'O my nephews,
do you see that man moving among the people?'
They said, 'Yes.'
I said,
'That is your man whom you were asking about.'
Mu'adh said:
"No sooner had I recognized Abu Jahl
and made sure it was him,
than I headed in his direction.
The polytheists were surrounding him
as though he were in a forest of men.
A man from among the Muslims who was watching me said to me,
'Beware of Abu Jahl, young boy!
Reaching him is a difficult task for you.'
By Allah, his words only increased my resolve and determination.
Then I rushed toward him,
and once I was within reach,
I leaped at him and struck him a blow with my sword
that severed his leg and brought him to the ground.
My brother Mu'awwidh was following closely behind me,
and as soon as he stood over Abu Jahl,
he fell upon him with his sword,
striking him relentlessly,
while the spears of the polytheists tried to push him away
and struck at him from every side,
until his wounds overwhelmed him,
and he fell martyred by his side.
As for me,
his son, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, struck down
upon my shoulder with his sword,
severing my left hand from my shoulder,
though it remained hanging only by a strip of skin at my side.
Yet I continued fighting throughout the entire day,
dragging it behind me as I moved.
When it caused me great pain
and began hindering me from fighting,
I placed its palm on the ground,
stepped firmly on it with my foot,
and kept pulling upward
until I completely severed it from my body,
and cast it to the ground.
When the battle came to an end,
the bearer of glad tidings came to inform the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
of the death of Abu Jahl.
The Prophet asked the bearer of good news,
"By Allah, beside Whom there is no other deity,
has that truly happened?"
He replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah,
he has indeed met his end."
Thereupon, he said,
"Allah is the Greatest! Allah is the Greatest!
All praise is due to Allah, Who fulfilled His promise,
and granted victory to His servant."
To conclude,
Mu'adh ibn 'Amr ibn al-Jamuh continued
defending the sanctuary of Islam with a single hand
during the lifetime of the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and throughout the eras of his two companions, Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them).
Then, during the caliphate of Dhu al-Nurayn 'Uthman ibn 'Affan,
Mu'adh answered the call of his Lord,
his right hand accompanying him,
while his other hand—
he had hoped it had preceded him to the Gardens of Delight.
"I would not have been pleased to stand between any two men other than them,
whoever they might be,
apart from the Messenger, peace be upon him."
— 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf
Source