Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 41 of 93
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (56) - Talha bin Ubaidullah Al-Taymi, may God be pleased with him
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
0:15
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
0:17
to present to you
0:19
"Portraits from the Lives of the Companions"
0:21
by 'Abd al-Rahman
0:23
Ra'fat al-Basha,
0:25
may Allah have mercy on him.
0:30
Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
0:32
al-Taymi,
0:34
may Allah be pleased with him.
0:50
Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
0:52
al-Taymi was traveling with
0:54
a caravan of Quraysh
0:56
on a trade expedition of his to the Levant.
0:58
When the caravan reached
1:00
the city of Busra,
1:02
the senior merchants of Quraysh rushed
1:04
to its bustling market, buying
1:06
and selling.
1:08
And although Talhah was
1:10
a young man who did not possess
1:12
their level of commercial experience,
1:14
he nevertheless possessed
1:16
such sharp intelligence and penetrating insight
1:18
as enabled him to compete with them
1:20
and outstrip them in securing
1:22
the best deals.
1:24
And while Talhah was going to and fro
1:26
throughout the marketplace, which was surging
1:28
with travelers arriving from every corner,
1:30
an event befell him that was destined not only
1:32
to alter the entire course
1:34
of his own life,
1:36
but was also a herald
1:38
of a transformation in the entire course of human history.
1:40
So let us leave the floor to Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
1:42
to recount to us
1:44
his fascinating story.
1:46
Talhah said: "While we were
1:48
in the marketplace of Busra,
1:50
a monk suddenly called out to the people:
1:52
'O assembly of merchants!
1:54
Ask the people of this seasonal gathering:
1:56
Is there anyone among them from the Sacred Sanctuary?'
1:58
I was close to him,
2:00
so I hurried toward him and said:
2:02
'Yes, I am from the people of the Sacred Sanctuary.'
2:04
He asked:
2:06
'Has Ahmad appeared among you?'
2:08
I asked: 'And who is Ahmad?'
2:10
He replied: 'The son of 'Abdullah,
2:12
the son of 'Abd al-Muttalib.
2:14
This is the month wherein he is destined to appear,
2:16
and he is the last
2:18
of the prophets. He will emerge from
2:20
your land, from the Sacred Sanctuary,
2:22
and he will migrate to a land of black volcanic stones,
2:24
date palms, and salty marshland
2:26
that oozes water.
2:28
So beware of letting anyone precede you to him,
2:30
young man!'
2:32
Talhah said: "His words struck
2:34
deeply into my heart,
2:36
so I hastened to my riding beasts and saddled them,
2:38
leaving the caravan behind me,
2:40
and I sped swiftly,
2:42
racing toward Mecca.
2:44
When I reached it, I said
2:46
to my family: 'Did anything new happen
2:48
in Mecca after our departure?'
2:50
They said: 'Yes. Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah has risen up,
2:52
claiming to be a prophet,
2:54
and Ibn Abi
2:56
Quhafah has followed him'—meaning
2:58
Abu Bakr. Talhah said:
3:00
'Now, I knew Abu Bakr well;
3:02
he was an easygoing,
3:04
beloved man of gentle disposition,
3:06
welcoming and approachable. He was
3:08
an upright merchant of noble character,
3:10
and we were fond of his company and loved
3:12
his gatherings because of his vast knowledge of the traditions of Quraysh
3:14
and his mastery of their genealogies.'
3:16
So I went to him
3:18
and said to him: 'Is it true
3:20
what is being said—that Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah
3:22
has declared prophethood,
3:24
and that you have followed him?'
3:26
He said: 'Yes,'
3:28
and he began recounting his story to me
3:30
and encouraging me to join him.
3:32
So I informed him of the monk's account,
3:34
and he was astonished by it, saying:
3:36
'Come along with me to Muhammad,
3:38
so that you may tell him your news,
3:40
listen to what he says,
3:42
and enter into the religion of Allah.'
3:44
Talhah said: 'So I went with him
3:46
to Muhammad,
3:48
and he presented Islam to me,
3:50
recited the Qur'an to me,
3:52
and gave me glad tidings of the good of this world and the Hereafter.
3:54
Thereupon, Allah opened my heart to Islam,
3:56
and I recounted to him the story
3:58
of the monk of Busra,
4:00
and he was delighted by it with a joy
4:02
that shone visibly upon his face.
4:04
Then I proclaimed before him the testimony
4:06
that there is no god but Allah,
4:08
and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
4:10
Thus, I was the fourth of three men
4:12
who embraced Islam at the hands of Abu Bakr."
4:14
The conversion to Islam
4:16
of this young Qurayshite struck his family and kinsfolk
4:18
like a thunderbolt.
4:20
The most distressed among them over his acceptance of Islam
4:22
was his mother,
4:24
for she had hoped that he would become the chieftain of his people
4:26
on account of his noble
4:28
characteristics and magnificent qualities.
4:30
His people rushed to him
4:32
to dissuade him from his religion,
4:34
but they found him as firm as an unshakeable
4:36
mountain.
4:38
When they despaired of persuading him
4:40
by gentle means,
4:42
they resorted to torturing and tormenting him.
4:44
Mas'ud ibn Kharash narrated,
4:46
saying:
4:48
"While I was performing sa'y between al-Safa and al-Marwah,
4:50
behold, a large crowd of people appeared,
4:52
trailing behind a young man whose hands had been tied
4:54
firmly to his neck.
4:56
They were jogging behind him,
4:58
shoving him in the back
5:00
and striking him on the head,
5:02
while an old woman followed behind him, reviling him and screaming at him.
5:04
I asked:
5:06
'What is the matter with this youth?'
5:08
They replied: 'This is Talhah
5:10
ibn 'Ubayd Allah;
5:12
he has abandoned his religion and followed the Banu Hashim.'
5:15
I asked:
5:17
'And who is this old woman behind him?'
5:19
They said:
5:21
'She is al-Sa'bah bint al-Hadrami,
5:23
the youth's mother.'
5:26
Later, Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid,
5:28
who was nicknamed the Lion of Quraysh,
5:30
went up to Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
5:32
and bound him with a rope,
5:34
tying Abu Bakr
5:36
al-Siddiq alongside him.
5:37
He bound the two of them together
5:39
and handed them over to the foolish ruffians of Mecca
5:41
so that they might inflict the severest torment upon them.
5:43
For this reason, Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
5:45
and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq were called
5:47
'the Two Bound Companions' (al-Qarinan).
5:49
Then days passed,
5:51
and events followed in rapid succession,
5:53
while Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah
5:55
grew ever more noble and steadfast with each passing day.
5:57
His valiant deeds in the cause
5:59
of Allah and His Messenger grew greater
6:01
and more magnificent,
6:03
and his devotion to Islam and the Muslims
6:05
deepened and expanded, until
6:07
the Muslims bestowed upon him the title 'the Living
6:09
Martyr,' and
6:11
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, called him
6:13
'Talhah of Goodness,'
6:15
'Talhah of Generosity,'
6:17
and 'Talhah of Bountiful Giving.'
6:19
Behind each of these titles lies a story
6:21
no less splendid than the others.
6:23
As for the story of his being named
6:25
'the Living Martyr,'
6:27
it took place on the Day of Uhud,
6:29
when the Muslims were routed away from the Messenger of Allah,
6:31
peace be upon him,
6:33
and none remained with him except eleven
6:35
men from the Ansar
6:37
and Talhah ibn 'Ubayd Allah from the Emigrants.
6:39
The Prophet, peace be upon him,
6:41
was ascending the mountain
6:43
with those who were with him,
6:45
when a band of the idolaters caught up with him,
6:47
seeking to kill him.
6:49
Thereupon, he, peace be upon him, said:
6:51
'Who will repel these men from us,
6:53
and he shall be my companion in Paradise?'
6:55
Talhah said:
6:57
'I will, O Messenger of Allah!'
6:59
But he, peace be upon him, said:
7:01
'No, stay where you are.'
7:03
A man from the Ansar then said:
7:05
'I will, O Messenger of Allah!'
7:07
"Yes, you."
7:09
So the Ansari fought until he was killed.
7:11
Then the Messenger,
7:13
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, climbed further with those who were with him,
7:15
and the polytheists caught up with him again.
7:17
He said, "Who will take on
7:19
these attackers?"
7:21
Talhah said, "I will, O Messenger of Allah!"
7:23
But he, peace be upon him, said,
7:25
"No, stay where you are."
7:27
Then a man
7:29
from the Ansar said, "I will, O Messenger of Allah."
7:31
He said, "Yes, you."
7:33
He then fought
7:35
until he was killed as well.
7:37
The Messenger continued his ascent,
7:39
and the polytheists caught up with him again.
7:41
He kept repeating the same call,
7:43
and Talhah kept saying, "I will, O
7:45
Messenger of Allah!" but the Prophet held him back,
7:47
granting permission instead to a man
7:49
from the Ansar, until they were all martyred,
7:51
every single one of them, and none remained
7:53
with him except Talhah.
7:55
The polytheists caught up with him,
7:57
so he said to Talhah, "Now,
7:59
yes." And indeed,
8:01
the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had already
8:03
had his incisor broken, his forehead gashed,
8:05
his lip split,
8:07
blood streaming down his face,
8:09
and severe exhaustion overcoming him.
8:11
Talhah began repeatedly charging at the polytheists
8:13
to drive them away from
8:15
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
8:17
Then he would return to the Prophet,
8:19
help him climb a little higher
8:21
up the mountain, support him safely
8:23
on the ground, and then charge at
8:25
the polytheists anew.
8:27
He continued doing so until he repelled
8:29
them from him.
8:31
Abu Bakr said: "Abu 'Ubaydah Ibn al-Jarrah and I
8:33
were
8:35
far away from the Messenger of Allah.
8:37
When we reached him wanting to
8:39
tend to him, he said,
8:41
'Leave me and attend to your companion!'—
8:43
meaning Talhah."
8:45
There was Talhah, bleeding profusely,
8:47
bearing over seventy
8:49
wounds from a sword-strike, a thrust
8:51
of a spear, or a shot from an arrow,
8:53
with his hand severed,
8:55
and having fallen into a pit,
8:57
completely unconscious.
8:59
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
9:01
used to say thereafter:
9:03
"Whoever would be pleased to look upon a man
9:05
walking upon the earth who has fulfilled
9:07
his vow of martyrdom, let him look at
9:09
Talhah Ibn 'Ubaydillah."
9:11
And whenever the Battle of Uhud was mentioned, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him,
9:13
would say:
9:15
"That was an entire day
9:17
that belonged to Talhah."
9:19
This is the story of how Talhah
9:21
Ibn 'Ubaydillah was called "The Living Martyr."
9:23
As for his titles "Talhah
9:25
the Good" and "Talhah the Generous,"
9:27
there are countless stories to tell.
9:29
Among them
9:31
is that Talhah was a merchant with vast
9:33
commerce and immense wealth.
9:35
One day, wealth came to him
9:37
from Hadramawt,
9:39
amounting to seven hundred thousand dirhams.
9:41
He spent the entire night filled with dread,
9:43
anxious and deeply distressed.
9:45
His wife came in to see him—
9:47
Umm Kulthum, daughter of Abu Bakr
9:49
al-Siddiq—and asked,
9:51
"What troubles you, O Abu Muhammad?
9:53
Perhaps you have seen something amiss in us?"
9:55
He replied, "No,
9:57
and what an excellent wife to a Muslim man you are!
9:59
Rather,
10:01
I have been reflecting throughout the night, saying to myself:
10:03
'What must a man's expectation
10:05
of his Lord be if he sleeps
10:07
while having all this wealth in his house?'"
10:09
She said, "What makes you so distressed
10:11
about it? What of
10:13
the needy among your people and your
10:15
close companions? When morning comes,
10:17
distribute it among them."
10:19
He said, "May Allah have mercy on you!
10:21
Truly, you are divinely guided."
10:24
When morning broke,
10:26
he placed the wealth into pouches and bowls,
10:28
and distributed it among the poor
10:30
of the Muhajirun and the Ansar.
10:32
It is also related
10:34
that a man came to Talhah
10:36
Ibn 'Ubaydillah asking for financial aid,
10:38
mentioning a kinship that bound him
10:40
to him. Talhah said,
10:42
"This is a kinship that
10:44
no one has ever mentioned to me before.
10:46
I own a piece of land
10:48
for which 'Uthman Ibn 'Affan offered me
10:50
three hundred thousand dirhams.
10:52
If you wish, take the land;
10:54
or if you wish, I will sell it on your behalf to him
10:56
for three hundred thousand and give you
10:58
the price." The man replied,
11:00
"Rather, I will take its price."
11:02
So he gave it to him.
11:05
Blessed indeed is Talhah the Good
11:07
and Generous with this noble title
11:09
bestowed upon him by the Messenger of Allah,
11:11
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
11:13
May Allah be pleased with him
11:15
and illuminate his grave.
11:17
"Whoever would be pleased to look upon
11:21
a man walking upon the earth
11:23
who has fulfilled his vow of martyrdom,
11:25
let him look at Talhah
11:27
Ibn 'Ubaydillah."
11:29
Muhammad
11:31
is the Messenger of Allah.