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His appearance was striking. He was slim and tall. His face was bright
and he had a sparse beard. It was pleasing to look at him and refreshing
to meet him. He was extremely courteous and humble and quite shy. Yet
in a tough situation he would become strikingly serious and alert, resembling
the flashing blade of a sword in his severity and sharpness.
He was described as the Amin or Custodian of Muhammad's community. His
full name was Aamir ibn Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah. He was known as Abu Ubaydah.
Of him Abdullah ibn Umar, one of the companions of the Prophet, said:
"Three persons in the tribe of Quraysh were most prominent, had the best
character and were the most modest. If they spoke to you, they would not
deceive you and if you spoke to them, they would not accuse you of Lying:
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Uthman ibn Affan and Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah."
Abu Ubaydah was one of the first persons to accept Islam. He became a
Muslim one day after Abu Bakr. In fact, it was through Abu Bakr that he
became a Muslim. Abu Bakr took him, Abdur Rahman ibn Aut, Uthman ibn Mazun
and al-Arqam ibn Abu al Arqam to the Prophet, upon whom be peace, and
together they declared their acceptance of the Truth. They were thus the
first pillars on which the great edifice of Islam was built.
Abu Ubaydah lived through the harsh experience, which the Muslims went
through in Makkah, from beginning to end. With the early Muslims, he endured
the insults and the violence, the pain and the sorrow of that experience.
In every trial and test he remained firm and constant in his belief in
God and His prophet. One of the most harrowing experiences he had to go
through however, was at the battle of Badr.
Abu Ubaydah was in the vanguard of the Muslim forces, fighting with might
and main and as someone who was not at all afraid of death. The Quraysh
cavalry were extremely wary of him and avoided coming face to face with
him. One man in particular, however, kept on pursuing Abu Ubaydah wherever
he turned and Abu Ubaydah tried his best to keep out of his way and avoid
an encounter with him.
The man plunged into the attack. Abu Ubaydah tried desperately to avoid
him. Eventually the man succeeded in blocking Abu Ubaydah's path and stood
as a barrier between him and the Quraysh. I hey were now face to face
with each other. Abu Ubaydah could not contain himself any longer. He
struck one blow to the man's head. The man fell to the ground and died
instantly.
Do not try to guess who this man was It was, as stated earlier, one of
the most harrowing experiences that Abu Ubaydah had to go through, how
harrowing, it is almost impossible to imagine. The man in Fact was Abdullah
ibn al-Jarrah, the father of Abu Ubaydah!
Abu Ubaydah obviously did not want to kill his father but in the actual
battle between faith in God and polytheism, the choice open to him was
profoundly disturbing but clear. In a way it could be said that he did
not kill his father--he only killed the polytheism in the person of his
father.
It is concerning this event that God revealed the following verses of
the Quran:
"You will not find a people believing in God and the Last Day making
friends with those who oppose God and His messenger even if these were
their fathers, their sons, their brothers or their clan. God has placed
faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He
will cause them to enter gardens beneath which streams flow that they
may dwell therein. God is well pleased with them and they well pleased
with Him. They are the party of God. Is not the party of God the successful
ones?" (Surah al-Mujactilah 58:22)
The response of Abu Ubaydah at Badr when confronted by his father was
not unexpected. He had attained a strength of faith in God, devotion to
His religion and a level of concern for the ummah of Muhammad to which
many aspired.
It is related by Muhammad ibn Jafar, a Companion of the Prophet, that
a Christian delegation came to the Prophet and said, 'O Abu-l Qasim, send
one of your companions with us, one in whom you are well pleased, to judge
between us on some questions of property about which we disagree among
ourselves. We have a high regard for you Muslim people."
"Come back to me this evening," replied the Prophet, "and I will send
with you one who is strong and trustworthy."
Umar ibn al-Khattab heard the Prophet saying this and later said: "I
went to the Zuhr (midday) Prayer early hoping to be the one who would
fit the description of the Prophet. When the Prophet had finished the
Prayer, he began looking to his right and his left and I raised myself
so that he could see me. But he continued looking among us until he spotted
Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah. He called him and said, 'Go with them and judge
among them with truth about that which they are in disagreement." And
so Abu Ubaydah got the appointment."
Abu Ubaydah was not only trustworthy. He displayed a great deal of strength
in the discharge of his trust. This strength was shown on several occasions.
One day the Prophet dispatched a group of his Sahabah to meet a Quraysh
caravan. He appointed Abu Ubaydah as amir (leader) of the group and gave
them a bag of dates and nothing else as provisions. Abu Ubaydah gave to
each man under his command only one date every day. He would suck this
date just as a child would suck at the breast of its mother. He would
then drink some water and this would suffice him for the whole day.
On the day of Uhud when the Muslims were being routed, one of the mushrikeen
started to shout, "Show me Muhammad, show me Muhammad." Abu Ubaydah was
one of a group of ten Muslims who had encircled the Prophet to protect
him against the spears of the Mushrikeen.
When the battle was over, it was found that one of the Prophet's molar
teeth was broken, his forehead was bashed in and two discs from his shield
had penetrated into his cheeks. Abu Bakr went forward with the intention
of extracting these discs but Abu Ubaydah said, "Please leave that to
me."
Abu Ubaydah was afraid that he would cause the Prophet pain if he took
out the discs with his hand. He bit hard into one of the discs. It was
extracted but one of his incisor teeth fell to the ground in the process.
With his other incisor, he extracted the other disc but lost that tooth
also. Abu Bakr remarked, "Abu Ubaydah is the best of men at breaking incisor
teeth!"
Abu Ubaydah continued to be fully involved in all the momentous events
during the Prophet's lifetime. After the beloved Prophet had passed away,
the companions gathered to choose a successor at the Saqifah or meeting
place of Banu Saaadah. The day is known in history as the Day of Saqifah.
On this day, Umar ibn al-Khattab said to Abu Ubaydah, "Stretch forth your
hand and I will swear allegiance to you for I heard the Prophet, peace
be upon him say, 'Every ummah has an amin (custodian) and you are the
amin of this ummah.' "
"I would not," declared Abu Ubaydah, "put myself forward in the presence
of a man whom the Prophet, upon whom be peace, commanded to lead us in
Prayer and who led us right until the Prophet's death." He then gave bayah
(the oath of allegiance) to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. He continued to be a close
adviser to Abu Bakr and his strong supporter in the cause of truth and
goodness. Then came the caliphate of Umar and Abu Ubaydah also gave him
his support and obedience. He did not disobey him in any matter, except
one.
The incident happened when Abu Ubaydah was in Syria leading the Muslim
forces from one victory to another until the whole of Syria was under
Muslim control. The River Euphrates lay to his right and Asia Minor to
his left.
It was then that a plague hit the land of Syria, the like of which people
had never experienced before. It devastated the population. Umar dispatched
a messenger to Abu Ubaydah with a letter saying:
"I am in urgent need of you. If my letter reaches you at night I strongly
urge you to leave before dawn. If this letter reaches you during the day,
I strongly urge you to leave before evening and hasten to me.
When Abu Ubaydah received Umar's letter, he said, "I know why the Amir
al-Mumineen needs me. He wants to secure the survival of someone who,
however, is not eternal." So he wrote to Umar:
"I know that you need me. But I am in an army of Muslims and I have no
desire to save myself from what is afflicting them. I do not want to separate
from them until God wills. So, when this letter reaches you, release me
from your command and permit me to stay on.''
When Umar read this letter tears filled his eyes and those who were with
him asked, "Has Abu Ubaydah died, O Amir al-Mumineen?"
"No," said he, "But death is near to him."
Umar's intuition was not wrong. Before long, Abu Ubaydah became afflicted
with the plague. As death hung over him, he spoke to his army:
"Let me give you some advice which will cause you to be on the path of
goodness always. "Establish Prayer. Fast the month of Ramadan. Give Sadaqah.
Perform the Hajj and Umrah. Remain united and support one another. Be
sincere to your commanders and do not conceal anything from them. Don't
let the world destroy you for even if man were to live a thousand years
he would still end up with this state that you see me in.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of God."
Abu Ubaydah then turned to Muadh ibn Jabal and said, "O Muadh, perform
the prayer with the people (be their leader)." At this, his pure soul
departed. Muadh got up and said:
"O people, you are stricken by the death of a man. By God, I don't know
whether I have seen a man who had a more righteous heart, who was further
from all evil and who was more sincere to people than he. Ask God to shower
His mercy on him and God will be merciful to you. "
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