The ten promised Paradise | Episode (29) | Saad bin Abi Waqqas, may God be pleased with him

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:03 Mawaddah Association

0:06 presents: The Ten Promised Paradise.

0:10 Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him).

0:17 Loving the Companions and the Prophet's kin is a Sunnah

0:22 by which I shall meet my Lord as long as I live.

0:26 Love for the Companions and the Prophet's kin—

0:30 he was truly a lion in his den,

0:32 the braves of men in battle,

0:34 the first to shoot an arrow in the cause of Allah,

0:38 and the first to advance in Islam;

0:41 one of the Ten Promised Paradise,

0:44 and one of the six members of the Consultative Council

0:47 chosen by 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him);

0:51 among the earliest to embrace Islam and migrate.

0:54 He was the commander, Abu Ishaq,

0:57 Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas al-Qurashi al-Zuhri

1:00 (may Allah be pleased with him),

1:02 from Banu Zuhrah, the clan of Aminah bint Wahb,

1:05 the mother of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

1:09 Thus, he was among the maternal uncles of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

1:13 Whenever the Prophet (peace be upon him)

1:15 saw him, he would say with pride:

1:18 "This is my maternal uncle,

1:20 so let any man show me his maternal uncle!"

1:22 He embraced Islam (may Allah be pleased with him)

1:24 when he was seventeen years old.

1:27 He said of himself:

1:30 "I embraced Islam when there was not a single hair on my face.

1:33 Before accepting Islam, I saw in a dream

1:37 as if I were in total darkness, unable to see anything,

1:40 when suddenly the moon illuminated the night for me.

1:42 So I followed it, and it was as though I saw those who had preceded me to that moon:

1:48 I looked and saw Zayd ibn Harithah,

1:51 'Ali ibn Abi Talib,

1:53 and Abu Bakr.

1:55 I asked them, 'When did you reach this place?'

1:59 They replied, 'Just now.'

2:01 Then news reached me that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

2:05 was calling people to Islam in secret.

2:08 So I met him in the valley of Ajyad

2:11 after he had prayed the 'Asr prayer,

2:13 and I embraced Islam.

2:14 None had preceded me except those three."

2:17 Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was

2:20 among the most devoted of people in dutifulness to his mother;

2:23 he loved her and she loved him,

2:25 and he would never disobey her in anything.

2:29 But when he embraced Islam,

2:31 she became enraged with him

2:33 and swore that she would neither eat nor drink until he renounced his religion,

2:38 thinking that her love in his heart would prevail over the faith he had believed in.

2:44 She said to him: "O Sa'd!

2:46 What is this religion you have introduced?

2:49 You must abandon your religion,

2:52 or else I will not eat or drink until I die, and you will be shamed because of me!"

2:57 Sa'd said to her:

2:59 "Do not do this, my mother,

3:01 for I will never abandon my religion."

3:04 She remained for three days and three nights

3:07 without eating or drinking, until she grew completely exhausted.

3:11 So Sa'd said to his mother:

3:13 "By Allah, if you had a hundred souls

3:16 and they departed one by one,

3:19 I would never abandon this religion of mine for anything!"

3:22 When she saw his resolve,

3:24 she ate and drank.

3:26 Thereupon, Allah Almighty revealed regarding them His saying:

3:29 “But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. Consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me. Then unto Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what ye used to do -” (31:15)

3:36 ﴿And do not obey them.﴾

3:38 “But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. Consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me. Then unto Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what ye used to do -” (31:15)

3:42 “But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. Consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me. Then unto Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what ye used to do -” (31:15)

3:45 “But if they strive with thee to make thee ascribe unto Me as partner that of which thou hast no knowledge, then obey them not. Consort with them in the world kindly, and follow the path of him who repenteth unto Me. Then unto Me will be your return, and I shall tell you what ye used to do -” (31:15)

3:53 Sa'd had magnificent stands

3:56 that demonstrated his steadfastness, courage, and devotion to this religion.

4:01 Among these was that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

4:06 used to disperse in the mountain passes of Makkah

4:09 to perform their prayers secretly from the polytheists before the Migration.

4:14 While Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was with a group of his companions,

4:18 a group of polytheists suddenly came upon them while they were praying.

4:23 They reviled them and fought with them,

4:26 so Sa'd struck one of them with the jawbone of a camel, wounding him.

4:30 That was the first blood shed in Islam.

4:34 When the Prophet (peace be upon him) arrived in Madinah,

4:40 he remained awake one night and could not sleep.

4:43 He said: "If only a righteous man would guard me tonight."

4:48 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

4:51 "While we were in that state, we heard the clanking of weapons.

4:55 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked, 'Who is this?'

5:00 He replied, 'Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.'

5:04 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked, 'What brings you here?'

5:09 Sa'd said, 'Fear for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came over my heart,

5:15 so I came to guard you.'

5:17 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed for his good and then slept."

5:23 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:

5:26 "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) slept so deeply that I heard his snoring."

5:32 One day, Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) fell ill,

5:36 so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to visit him and check on his condition.

5:42 Sa'd said: "O Messenger of Allah, my pain has reached its peak,

5:47 and I am a man of wealth. Should I give two-thirds of my property in charity?"

5:52 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "No."

5:57 Sa'd asked: "Half of my property?"

6:01 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "No."

6:05 Sa'd asked: "One-third of my property?"

6:08 The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Yes, one-third, and one-third is much.

6:14 Indeed, to leave your heirs wealthy

6:17 is better than leaving them poor, begging from people."

6:22 Then he placed his hand on his forehead, wiped over his face and abdomen,

6:28 and said: "O Allah, heal Sa'd and complete his Migration for him."

6:33 Sa'd later related this after some time, saying:

6:37 "I can still feel the coolness of his hand on my liver to this day."

6:42 Before the Battle of Uhud,

6:45 Sa'd met 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with them both).

6:50 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh said: "O Sa'd,

6:54 shall we not go and supplicate to Allah Almighty?"

6:57 He replied, "Yes." Sa'd began and supplicated, saying:

7:01 "O Lord, when I meet the enemy tomorrow,

7:05 let me encounter a man of intense strength and fierce valor,

7:10 that I may fight him for Your sake and he fight me;

7:13 then grant me victory over him so that I kill him and take his equipment."

7:18 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh said "Ameen" to his supplication.

7:21 Then 'Abdullah ibn Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with him) supplicated, saying:

7:26 "O Allah, O Lord!

7:28 Grant me tomorrow a man of intense strength and fierce valor,

7:33 that I may fight him for Your sake and he fight me;

7:36 then he kills me and cuts off my nose and my ears.

7:40 When I meet You, O Lord,

7:42 You will ask, 'For whose sake were your nose and ears cut off?'

7:45 And I will answer, 'For Your sake and in Your cause.'

7:48 And You will say, 'You have spoken the truth.'"

7:50 Sa'd said:

7:52 "'Abdullah's supplication was better than mine.

7:55 At the end of the day, I saw him

7:58 with his nose and ears strung together on a cord."

8:03 On the day of battle,

8:06 Sa'd stood defending the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

8:11 fighting the polytheists,

8:13 shooting arrows at them like an expert marksman,

8:17 until his quiver was emptied of arrows.

8:20 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then scattered his own arrows from his quiver for him,

8:26 and instructed the Muslims around him to give their arrows to Sa'd.

8:31 He kept saying to him:

8:33 "Shoot, O Sa'd, shoot!

8:35 May my father and mother be sacrificed for you!

8:37 Shoot, O sturdy young man!"

8:40 (And "hazawwar" means strong, fierce, and tough.)

8:44 Sa'd shot more than a thousand arrows that day

8:48 until he repelled the polytheists from the Prophet (peace be upon him).

8:53 He used to say with pride:

8:56 "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) never mentioned both his parents together for anyone before me."

9:01 His daughter, 'A'ishah bint Sa'd,

9:05 used to boast and take pride in this, saying:

9:08 "I am the daughter of the Emigrant for whom the Messenger of Allah sacrificed both his parents on the day of Uhud."

9:15 There was a man among the polytheists who had caused great harm to the Muslims,

9:19 so the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

9:22 "Shoot him, O Sa'd!"

9:24 Sa'd said: "I drew an arrow that had no arrowhead,

9:29 shot him, and he fell, exposing his private parts.

9:33 The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) laughed until I could see his molar teeth."

9:39 Sa'd even saw the angels on that day.

9:42 He said: "On the day of Uhud, I saw on the right of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)

9:47 and on his left

9:50 two men clad in white garments,

9:53 whom I had never seen before nor ever saw after."

9:56 That is, Gabriel and Michael (peace be upon them).

10:00 Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) endured

10:05 severe hardship and difficult times

10:08 during the foundational era of the first Islamic state.

10:12 He (may Allah be pleased with him) related

10:14 their plight while participating in military expeditions with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him),

10:20 marked by scarcity of provisions and supplies,

10:23 to the extent that they would eat tree leaves (may Allah be pleased with them all).

10:30 One of them would relieve himself as a sheep or camel does,

10:34 with no cohesion to it—

10:36 meaning it would not stick together due to its extreme dryness and crumbling.

10:42 Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) continued to defend Islam and engage in jihad alongside the Muslims,

10:49 spreading Allah's religion and defending its sacred realm,

10:53 during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

10:56 and during the reign of the Caliphs after him.

10:59 When the Persian threat intensified on the borders of the Islamic state,

11:04 the Caliph 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) dispatched to them

11:09 an army led by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him)

11:13 to confront them at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah—

11:17 that monumental battle in which the feet of the Persians were shaken,

11:22 resulting in the deaths of vast numbers of them,

11:25 headed by their commander, Rustam.

11:28 Thus was the great victory for the Muslims on the day of al-Qadisiyyah.

11:33 Nor was this Sa'd's only day in fighting the Persians;

11:39 rather, there was another glorious day for the Muslims under his command

11:44 at the Battle of al-Mada'in,

11:47 where the Persians assembled

11:49 in a final attempt to halt the Muslim advance.

11:53 Sa'd realized that time was on the Persians' side,

11:57 so he decided to launch a surprise attack against them.

12:00 Standing between them was the Tigris River,

12:03 which was overflowing at the height of flood season.

12:06 Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) commanded them

12:09 to put their trust in Allah

12:11 and plunge into the river on their horses.

12:14 The horses of the Muslims swam through the river

12:17 and crossed to the opposite bank.

12:20 The clash ensued,

12:22 The Muslims achieved a monumental victory,

12:25 by which Allah granted glory to Islam and its followers,

12:28 humiliated the Persians, and shattered their power.

12:33 Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was

12:35 one whose supplications were always answered,

12:37 for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had prayed for him,

12:40 saying:

12:41 "O Allah, answer Sa'd whenever he calls upon You."

12:45 He had several well-known experiences demonstrating this,

12:48 among which was when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)

12:52 appointed him governor of Kufa.

12:55 Some of its inhabitants complained about him to 'Umar, claiming:

12:58 "He does not even know how to lead the prayer properly,"

13:00 alongside other accusations.

13:03 So 'Umar summoned him and questioned him about it.

13:05 Sa'd replied, "By Allah,

13:08 I used to lead them in prayer exactly as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed,

13:13 without omitting a single thing."

13:16 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said,

13:19 "That is precisely what I expected of you, O Abu Ishaq."

13:22 He then dispatched Muhammad ibn Maslamah (may Allah be pleased with him)

13:26 to inquire among the people of Kufa regarding Sa'd's conduct among them.

13:29 When Muhammad ibn Maslamah arrived in Kufa,

13:33 he visited the various tribes, neighborhoods, and mosques, asking the people about him.

13:37 Everyone spoke well of Sa'd and praised him,

13:41 until he reached the mosque of the Banu 'Abs tribe.

13:44 A man among them called Abu Sa'da stood up

13:48 and said, "Since you ask us about Sa'd,

13:53 he does not divide spoils among us equally,

13:56 nor does he treat his subjects with justice, nor does he lead military expeditions himself."

14:01 Thereupon, Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and supplicated, saying:

14:05 "O Allah, if this servant of Yours is lying,

14:09 standing up only out of ostentation and seeking fame,

14:11 then prolong his life, lengthen his poverty,

14:14 and expose him to trials."

14:16 Afterwards, that man could be seen walking in the streets,

14:19 winking at young girls,

14:21 with his eyebrows drooping over his eyes due to extreme old age.

14:25 Whenever he was asked about his condition, he would say:

14:28 "I am an afflicted old man who was struck by the supplication of Sa'd."

14:32 Among the situations that illustrate his piety and scrupulousness

14:38 is that he withdrew from the civil strife that occurred among the Companions.

14:42 Some of his associates came to him and said,

14:45 "O Sa'd, will you not join us in fighting?"

14:49 He replied, "Not until you bring me a sword that has two eyes and a tongue,

14:55 which can say, 'This is a believer and this is a disbeliever.'"

14:59 And he recited poetry, saying: "Do not mix foul things with pure ones; cast off such garments and seek safety in purity."

15:05 "Strip off those garments, and seek safety in purity."

15:09 His son came to him and said,

15:12 "Have you settled here among your camels and sheep,

15:14 leaving the people to contend for power among themselves?"

15:18 Sa'd struck him on his chest and said,

15:21 "Be silent!

15:23 I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say:

15:27 'Allah loves the servant who is pious, self-sufficient, and devoted in obscurity.'"

15:32 Al-Dhahabi mentioned in his *Siyar*:

15:36 "When Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) was on his deathbed,

15:40 his son Mus'ab said: 'His head was in my lap,

15:44 and I began to weep. He raised his head toward me and asked:

15:48 "O my son, what makes you weep?"

15:51 I replied, "Your condition and what you are suffering."

15:54 He said, "Do not weep, my son,

15:57 for Allah will never punish me,

16:00 and I am among the people of Paradise."'

16:03 Al-Dhahabi remarked, "He spoke the truth, by Allah!

16:06 Glad tidings be to him!"

16:08 Then Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) called for a worn woolen cloak

16:13 and requested to be shrouded in it,

16:15 saying, "I met the polytheists wearing this on the day of Badr,

16:20 and I only saved it for this day."

16:23 He passed away (may Allah have mercy on him) in Al-'Aqiq,

16:26 and was carried on the shoulders of men to Medina,

16:30 where he was buried, becoming the last of the Ten Promised Paradise to pass away,

16:36 and the last surviving member of the Emigrants.

16:39 May Allah be pleased with them all,

16:53 in the Paradise of Eternity.

16:56 Those who were granted elevated honor:

17:00 Talhah,

17:03 Ibn 'Awf,

17:05 Al-Zubayr,

17:07 alongside

17:09 Abu 'Ubaydah,

17:11 the two Sa'ds,

17:13 and the Caliphs.

The ten promised Paradise | Episode (29) | Saad bin Abi Waqqas, may God be pleased with him

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