Part of Pictures from the lives of the Companions (series completed)
· Lesson 11 of 15
Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (11) - Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah, 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 upon him.
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Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, may Allah be pleased with him.
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He was radiant of face,
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splendid of appearance, and slender of build,
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tall in stature,
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with light cheeks.
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The eye found comfort in looking at him,
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the soul felt at ease upon meeting him,
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and the heart felt tranquil in his presence.
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Moreover, he was gentle-natured,
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immensely humble,
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and exceedingly modest.
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Yet, whenever crisis struck and matters grew grave,
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he would become like an attacking lion.
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He resembled the blade of a sword in its luster and splendor,
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and matched it in sharpness and decisiveness.
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Such was the trustworthy custodian of the Ummah of Muhammad:
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'Amir ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Jarrah al-Fihri al-Qurashi,
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kunya-named Abu 'Ubaydah.
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'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, described him saying:
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"Three men of Quraysh are the most radiant of face,
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the best in character, and the most steadfast in modesty:
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if they speak to you, they do not lie to you,
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and if you speak to them, they do not belie you:
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Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,
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'Uthman ibn 'Affan,
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and Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah."
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Abu 'Ubaydah was among the foremost early converts to Islam,
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having embraced Islam the day after Abu Bakr embraced it.
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His acceptance of Islam was at the hands of al-Siddiq himself,
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who went with him, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf,
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'Uthman ibn Maz'un,
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and al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam
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to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and they declared the word of truth before him.
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Thus, they were the first foundations upon which was erected
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the magnificent edifice of Islam.
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Abu 'Ubaydah lived through the harsh ordeal of the Muslims
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in Makkah from its beginning to its end,
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enduring along with the early Muslims
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its violence, ferocity, pain, and grief,
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the likes of which followers of no other religion on the face of the earth had endured.
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Yet he remained steadfast through the trial,
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true to Allah and His Messenger in every situation.
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However, Abu 'Ubaydah's ordeal on the day of Badr
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exceeded in its intensity the calculations of any reckoner
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and surpassed the imagination of any imaginer.
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On the day of Badr, Abu 'Ubaydah set out,
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charging through the ranks
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with the charge of one who fears not death,
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so the polytheists dreaded him.
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He maneuvered with the maneuver of one who takes no caution of death,
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so the horsemen of Quraysh wary of him.
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Whenever they faced him, they turned away from his path.
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But one man among them
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kept confronting Abu 'Ubaydah at every turn.
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Abu 'Ubaydah kept swerving away from his path
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and avoiding an encounter with him,
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yet the man persisted in his attack.
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Abu 'Ubaydah stepped aside repeatedly,
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but the man blocked Abu 'Ubaydah's paths
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and stood as an obstacle between him and fighting the enemies of Allah.
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When Abu 'Ubaydah could endure it no longer,
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he struck his head with a blow of his sword,
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splitting his skull into two pieces,
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and the man fell dead before him.
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Do not try, noble listener,
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to guess who the slain man was.
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Did I not tell you
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that the severity of the ordeal exceeded the calculations of any reckoner
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and surpassed the imagination of any imaginer?
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Your head might split with shock
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when you learn that the slain man
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was 'Abd Allah ibn al-Jarrah,
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Abu 'Ubaydah's own father.
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Abu 'Ubaydah did not kill his father;
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he only killed polytheism in the person of his father.
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Thereupon, Allah, glorified be He, revealed
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concerning Abu 'Ubaydah
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and concerning his father verses of the Qur'an,
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saying, Exalted be He: ◁ You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day loving those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their fathers or their sons or their brothers or their kindred. ▷
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This was not surprising coming from Abu 'Ubaydah,
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for the strength of his faith in Allah,
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his sincerity to His religion,
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and his trustworthiness over the Ummah of Muhammad
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had reached a pinnacle to which great souls aspired in the sight of Allah.
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Muhammad ibn Ja'far narrated,
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saying: A delegation of Christians came
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to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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and said, "O Abu al-Qasim,
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send with us a man from among your Companions
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whom you approve for us, to judge between us
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regarding some property matters
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over which we have differed.
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For, in our view, you—the community of Muslims—
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are trustworthy and acceptable."
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The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said,
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"Come to me this evening, and I shall send with you
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one who is strong and trustworthy."
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'Umar ibn al-Khattab said,
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"I went to the Zuhr prayer early,
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and I never desired leadership
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as much as I desired it that day,
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in the hope that I might be the one so described.
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When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, led us in the Zuhr prayer,
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he began looking to his right and to his left.
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I stretched my neck so that he might see me,
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but he continued turning his gaze among us
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until he saw Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
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He called him and said,
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'Go forth with them, and judge between them with the truth concerning that wherein they differ.'
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I said to myself,
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'Abu 'Ubaydah has attained it.'"
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Abu 'Ubaydah was not merely trustworthy;
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rather, he combined strength with trustworthiness.
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This strength manifested on more than one occasion.
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It manifested on the day the Messenger sent a group of his Companions
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to intercept a caravan belonging to Quraysh,
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appointing Abu 'Ubaydah as their commander, may Allah be pleased with them and with him.
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He provided them with a leather bag of dates,
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finding nothing else for them.
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Abu 'Ubaydah would
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give each man among his companions one date a day.
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Each of them would suck it just as a child sucks his mother's breast,
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then drink water over it,
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and it would suffice him for the day until nightfall.
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On the day of Uhud,
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when the Muslims were routed
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and a caller among the polytheists began shouting,
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"Show me Muhammad!
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Show me Muhammad!"
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Abu 'Ubaydah was one of the ten men
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who surrounded the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
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to shield him with their chests from the spears of the polytheists.
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When the battle ended,
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the Messenger, peace be upon him,
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had had his incisor tooth broken
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and his forehead wounded,
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with two rings from his helmet's visor driven into his cheek.
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Abu Bakr approached him, wanting to extract them from his cheek,
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but Abu 'Ubaydah said to him,
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"I adjure you by Allah to leave that to me!"
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So Abu Bakr stepped aside.
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Abu 'Ubaydah feared that
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if he pulled them out with his hand,
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he would cause pain to the Messenger of Allah.
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So he bit down on the first ring with his central incisor
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with a firm, strong grip
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and extracted it,
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but his own central incisor fell out.
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Then he bit down on the other ring with his second central incisor
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and pulled it out,
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and his second central incisor fell out.
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Abu Bakr said,
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"Abu 'Ubaydah was among the most handsome of men despite his lost teeth."
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Abu 'Ubaydah was present with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, in all the major campaigns,
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from the time he accompanied him
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until certainty came to him upon the Prophet's passing.
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On the day of Saqifah,
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'Umar ibn al-Khattab said to Abu 'Ubaydah,
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"Stretch out your hand so that I may pledge allegiance to you,
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for I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, say:
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'Indeed, every nation has a trustworthy custodian,
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and you are the trustworthy custodian of this nation.'"
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But Abu 'Ubaydah replied,
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"I would never step ahead of a man
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whom the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, commanded
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to lead us in prayer,
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so he led us in prayer until he passed away."
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Allegiance was then pledged to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,
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and Abu 'Ubaydah was his best counselor in truth
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and his most noble helper in good.
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Then Abu Bakr entrusted the Caliphate after him to al-Faruq 'Umar,
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to whom Abu 'Ubaydah rendered obedience,
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never disobeying him in any matter
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except on a single occasion.
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Do you know what matter it was in which Abu 'Ubaydah disobeyed the order of the Caliph of the Muslims?
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That occurred when Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah was in the region of al-Sham,
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leading the Muslim armies from victory to victory,
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until Allah granted conquest at his hands over the entire Syrian lands,
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reaching the Euphrates in the east
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and Asia Minor in the north.
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At that juncture,
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the land of al-Sham was struck by a plague the likes of which people had never known.
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It began harvesting people relentlessly.
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Thereupon, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab
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dispatched an envoy to Abu 'Ubaydah with a letter
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in which he wrote:
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"An urgent need for you has arisen for me from which I cannot be free.
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If my letter reaches you at night,
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I adjure you not to wait until morning before riding to me.
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And if it reaches you by day,
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I adjure you not to wait until evening before riding to me."
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When Abu 'Ubaydah took al-Faruq's letter, he said,
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"I have understood the Commander of the Faithful's need for me,
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yet he wishes to preserve someone who is not bound to remain."
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Then he wrote back to him, saying:
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"O Commander of the Faithful,
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I have understood your need for me,
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but I am currently among an army of the Muslims,
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and I have no desire to spare myself from what afflicts them,
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nor do I wish to leave them
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until Allah executes His decree concerning us all.
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So when this letter of mine reaches you,
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release me from your order
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and grant me permission to remain."
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When Umar read the letter,
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he wept until his eyes overflowed with tears.
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Those present with him asked,
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seeing the intensity of his weeping:
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"Has Abu Ubaydah died, O Commander of the Faithful?"
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He replied, "No,
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but death is near to him."
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And Al-Faruq’s intuition was not wrong,
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for it was not long before Abu Ubaydah was stricken with the plague.
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When death approached him,
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he exhorted his army, saying:
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"I leave you with a counsel;
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if you accept it, you will never cease to be in good standing:
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Establish prayer,
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fast the month of Ramadan,
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give charity,
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perform Hajj and 'Umrah,
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encourage one another to good,
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offer sincere advice to your leaders,
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do not act deceitfully toward them,
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and do not let the worldly life distract you.
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For even if a person were to live a thousand years,
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he would inevitably come to this very end that you now see.
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May peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah."
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Then he turned to Mu'adh Ibn Jabal
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and said:
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"O Mu'adh,
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lead the people in prayer."
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Shortly thereafter, his pure soul departed.
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Thereupon Mu'adh stood up and said:
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"O people,
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you have been afflicted by the loss of a man—
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by Allah, I do not know that I have ever seen a man with a purer heart,
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further removed from malice,
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more deeply concerned for the Hereafter,
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or more sincerely devoted to the common people than him.
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So ask Allah to show mercy upon him, may Allah have mercy upon you."
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Every nation has a trustworthy guardian,
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and the trustworthy guardian of this Ummah
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is Abu Ubaydah.
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Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
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O poetry, flow in praise of their virtues;
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in praising them, are they not the most adorned?