Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 10 of 15
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (10) - Abdullah bin Jahsh, may God be pleased with him
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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Mawaddah Association is pleased
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to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,
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by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
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may Allah have mercy on him.
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Abdullah ibn Jahsh, may Allah be pleased with him:
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the Companion whose account we are listening to now,
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was closely tied to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and was one of the foremost pioneers in Islam.
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He was the maternal cousin of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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as his mother was Umaymah bint Abd al-Muttalib,
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the paternal aunt of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
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He was also a brother-in-law of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
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as his sister, Zaynab bint Jahsh,
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was a wife of the noble Prophet
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and one of the Mothers of the Believers.
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He was the very first person for whom a banner was tied in Islam,
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and after that, he was the first to be called Commander of the Faithful.
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He is Abdullah ibn Jahsh al-Asadi.
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Abdullah ibn Jahsh embraced Islam before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, entered
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Dar al-Arqam,
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so he was among the earliest converts to Islam.
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When the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, permitted
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his Companions to migrate to Medina
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to flee with their religion from the harm of Quraysh,
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Abdullah ibn Jahsh was the second of the emigrants,
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for no one had preceded him in achieving this virtue
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except Abu Salamah. Yet migrating for the sake of Allah
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and parting from family and homeland in His cause
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was not something new to Abdullah ibn Jahsh,
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for he and some of his family members had already migrated
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before that to Abyssinia.
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However, his migration this time was far more comprehensive and complete:
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his entire household and relatives migrated with him,
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including all the children of his father—men and women,
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elderly and young, boys and girls.
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His home was a household of Islam,
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and his clan was a clan of faith.
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No sooner had they departed from Mecca
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than their dwellings appeared somber and desolate,
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becoming entirely empty and deserted,
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as though no dweller had ever lived in them before,
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and no evening gatherers had ever conversed within their grounds.
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Not long after the migration of Abdullah and those with him,
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the leaders of Quraysh went out making the rounds
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through the neighborhoods of Mecca to find out who had departed
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among the Muslims and who remained.
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Among them were Abu Jahl and Utbah ibn Rabi'ah.
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Utbah looked at the homes of
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Banu Jahsh, where the blowing winds
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were howling and their doors were violently
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slamming, and he said, "The homes
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of Banu Jahsh have become empty, weeping for their inhabitants."
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Abu Jahl replied, "And who are these people
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that the homes should weep over them?"
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Then Abu Jahl seized the house of Abdullah ibn Jahsh—
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which was the finest and wealthiest of those houses—
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and began disposing of it and its contents
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just as an owner disposes of his own property.
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When news reached Abdullah ibn Jahsh
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of what Abu Jahl had done to his home,
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he mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to him:
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"Would you not be pleased, O Abdullah,
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that Allah will give you a house in Paradise in exchange for it?"
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He replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!"
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He said, "Then that is yours."
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Thus Abdullah was comforted and his mind was set at ease.
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Hardly had Abdullah ibn Jahsh settled in Medina,
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after enduring such hardship in
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his first and second migrations,
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and hardly had he tasted a bit of rest under the protection of the Ansar,
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after suffering harm at the hands of Quraysh,
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when Allah willed that he face
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one of the most difficult trials he had ever known in his life,
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and undergo the most severe ordeal he had experienced since becoming Muslim.
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Let us lend an ear to the story of that
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harsh and bitter ordeal.
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The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, appointed
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eight of his Companions to carry out
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the very first military expedition in Islam,
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and he said:
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"I will surely appoint over you the most patient of you
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in enduring hunger and thirst."
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He then tied their banner for Abdullah ibn Jahsh,
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making him the first commander appointed over a group of the believers.
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The noble Messenger specified to Abdullah ibn Jahsh
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his destination and gave him a letter,
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instructing him not to read it until after
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traveling for two days. When he had traveled
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for two days with the detachment,
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Abdullah looked at the letter, and found in it:
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"When you read this letter of mine,
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proceed until you encamp at Nakhlah between Al-Ta'if and Mecca.
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There, lie in wait for Quraysh
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and gather news about them for us."
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As soon as Abdullah finished reading the letter, he said:
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"We hear and obey the Prophet of Allah."
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He then said to his companions, "The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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has commanded me to proceed to Nakhlah
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to lie in wait for Quraysh so that I may bring him
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their news. And he has forbidden me
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from compelling any of you to proceed with me.
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So whoever among you seeks martyrdom and desires it,
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let him accompany me; and whoever dislikes that,
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let him return blamelessly."
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The men said, "We hear and obey
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the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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We will proceed with you wherever the Prophet of Allah has commanded you."
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Then the group marched until they reached Nakhlah,
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and they began scouting through the mountain passes
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to gather intelligence on Quraysh.
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While they were doing so, they spotted from afar
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a caravan of Quraysh carrying four men:
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Amr ibn al-Hadrami, Al-Hakam ibn Kaysan,
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Uthman ibn Abdillah,
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and his brother Al-Mughirah.
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The caravan carried leather, raisins, and similar goods
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that Quraysh used to trade.
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At that point, the Companions began deliberating
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among themselves, as that day was the last
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day of the sacred months.
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They said, "If we fight them, we will be fighting them
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during a sacred month, and in that lies
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the violation of the sanctity of this month
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and exposure to the wrath of all the Arabs.
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But if we wait until this day passes, they will enter the sacred territory of Mecca
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and become safe from us."
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They kept consulting until their opinion settled
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on attacking them, killing them,
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and taking what was in their hands as booty.
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Within moments, they killed one of them,
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took two captive, and the fourth escaped from their hands.
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Abdullah ibn Jahsh
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and his companions led the two captives and the caravan back.
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When they came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and he learned of what they had done,
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he denounced it in the strongest terms,
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saying to them: "By Allah, I did not command you
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to fight! I only commanded you to gather
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news of Quraysh and to monitor
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their movements." He detained the two captives until
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their matter could be determined, and he turned away from the caravan,
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taking nothing from it. At that,
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distress fell upon Abdullah ibn Jahsh
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and his companions, and they were certain they were ruined
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for disobeying the command of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
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Their distress was made even more
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severe because their Muslim brothers
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began to blame them heavily
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and turn away from them whenever they passed by them,
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saying, "They disobeyed the command of the Messenger of Allah,
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peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
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Meanwhile, Quraysh
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took this incident
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as a pretext to slander the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and defame him among the tribes,
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saying, "Muhammad
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has violated the sacred month;
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he shed blood in it, seized wealth,
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and took men captive."
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Do not ask about the extent of Abdullah ibn Jahsh's grief,
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nor about their shame before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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for the embarrassment they had caused him.
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When their distress intensified
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and the trial weighed heavily upon them,
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glad tidings came to them announcing
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that Allah Almighty was pleased with their action
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and that He had revealed Qur'an to His Prophet regarding it.
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Do not ask about the extent of their joy!
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People began approaching them,
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embracing them, bringing good news, and congratulating them,
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while reciting what had been revealed regarding their deed
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from the glorious Qur'an.
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For the word of Allah had been revealed to the Prophet detailing His divine honors.
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The heart of the noble Messenger,
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peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was eased;
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he accepted the caravan, accepted ransom for the two captives,
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and was pleased with the deed of Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his companions.
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For that expedition of theirs was a momentous event:
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its booty was the first booty taken in Islam,
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its slain was the first polytheist whose blood was shed by the Muslims,
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its captives were the first two captives
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to fall into the hands of the Muslims,
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its banner was the first banner tied by
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the hand of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and its leader, Abdullah ibn Jahsh,
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was the first to be called Commander of the Faithful.
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Then came the Battle of Badr,
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in which Abdullah ibn Jahsh displayed such noble valor
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as befitted his faith.
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Then came the Battle of Uhud,
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with which Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
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had an unforgettable story.
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So let us leave the floor to Sa'd
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to recount to us his story and the story of his companion.
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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said:
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"On the day of Uhud, Abdullah ibn Jahsh met me
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He said, "Will you not pray to Allah?"
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I replied, "Of course."
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So we stepped aside into a corner, and I prayed, saying:
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"O Lord, when I encounter the enemy,
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pits me against a man of formidable strength
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and fierce courage, that I may fight him and he may fight me,
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then grant me victory over him so that I may kill him
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and take his spoils."
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And 'Abdullah Ibn Jahsh said 'Ameen' to my supplication.
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Then he said, "O Allah, grant me a man
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of fierce courage and formidable strength,
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that I may fight him for Your sake and he may fight me,
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and then he may take me and mutilate my nose and my ear.
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So when I meet You tomorrow, You will ask,
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'For whose sake were your nose and ear mutilated?'
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And I will say, 'For Your sake and the sake of Your Messenger.'
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And You will say, 'You have spoken the truth.'"
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Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas said:
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"The prayer of Ibn Jahsh was better than mine.
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For I saw him at the end of the day,
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slain and mutilated,
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with his nose and ear hanging from a tree by a string."
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Allah answered the supplication of 'Abdullah Ibn Jahsh,
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honoring him with martyrdom,
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just as He had honored his maternal uncle, the Master of Martyrs,
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Hamzah Ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.
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And the noble Messenger buried them together,
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as his pure tears
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soaked their soil, fragrant with the scents of martyrdom.
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'Abdullah Ibn Jahsh
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was the very first person to be called Commander of the Faithful.