(Friday Sermon - August 31, 2018 )
Background
Hazrat Abu Aqell was an Ansari. His father’s name was Abdullah bin Tha‘libah. [Hazrat Abu Aqeel] passed away in 12 AH, during the battle of Yamama. His name was Abdur Rahman bin Irashi bin Abdillah. His original name was Abdul Uzza.
After accepting Islam, the Holy Prophet(sa) named him Abdul Rahman. He was from Banu Unaib, a branch of the Baliyy tribe and he was an ally of Banu Jahjaba bin Kulfah, a family from the Ansar. His filial appellation was Abu Aqeel and was commonly known by this. He fought alongside the Holy Prophet(sa) in the battle of Badr, Uhud and Khandaq. He was martyred during the caliphate of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq(ra) during the battle of Yamamah which occurred in 12 AH. (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 248-249, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996)
Acceptance of Islam
The incident of his acceptance of Islam is narrated in the following manner:
“The Holy Prophet(sa) migrated from Mecca to Medina and one day a young man visited him. He accepted Islam and had the honour of taking the oath of allegiance. Afterwards he expressed immense dislike towards the idols. The Holy Prophet(sa) enquired: ‘What is your name?’ He responded, ‘Abdul Uzza’. The Holy Prophet(sa) said, ‘No! From today your name is Abdur Rahman.’ So he accepted this instruction of the Holy Prophet(sa) and informed everyone that ‘I am no longer Abdul Uzza rather, I am Abdur Rahman.’”
Efforts to give charity and revelation of a verse of the Quran
One of his forefathers was Irasha bin Amir, and so, he was known as Irashi in that regard (Asman Hidaayat ke sattar sitare az Talib Hashmi, pp. 491-492, Al-Badr Publications Urdu Bazar, Lahore). He was one of the companions who would work all night when the Holy Prophet(sa )would instruct [everyone] to offer sadqa [charity] and he would offer whatever he could collect. Hence, it is mentioned in Bukhari:
“Abu Masud narrates that we were instructed to offer sadqa [charity] at a time when we were doing laborious work. Hazrat Abu Aqeel brought forth 1.5 kg to 1.75 kg of dates purchased from the earnings of his labour work. When another person brought more than him, the hypocrites said: ‘God Almighty does not need charity from this person and the other one who offered charity was for mere show.’ Hence, the following verse of the Holy Quran was revealed at that moment:
اَلَّذِیْنَ یَلْمِزُوْنَ الْمُطَّوِّعِیْنَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ فِیْ الصَّدَقٰتِ وَالَّذِیْنَ لَا یَجِدُوْنَ اِلَّا جُھْدَھُمْ فَیَسْخَرُوْنَ مِنْھُمْ۔ سَخِرَ اللہُ مِنْھُمْ وَلَھُمْ عَذَابٌ اَلِیْمٌ ۔
‘Those who find fault with such of the believers as give alms of their own free will and with such as find nothing to give save the earnings of their toil. They thus deride them. Allah shall requite them for their derision, and for them is a grievous punishment.’” (Surah al-Taubah: V.79) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Tafsir, Bab Alladhina Yalmizunal Muttawwi’in…, Vol. 10, p. 371, Hadith 4668, Published in Nizarat Isha’at, Rabwah)
These Companions had astonishing ways of attaining the pleasure of God Almighty and the manner in which they made such endeavours to achieve this. Accepting their endeavours, God Almighty has instructed those who came after them to follow their example.
Narrating this incident in detail, Allama Ibn Hajr Asqalani states, “He was known as Sahib-us-Saa‘ [The one of Saa‘ – Saa‘ is a unit of measurement equivalent to 3-3.5 kg].
The incident is as follows that once Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Auf presented half of his wealth. Amongst the poor Muslims of the Ansar a person stepped forward and said, ‘O Holy Prophet(sa), in exchange for two Saa‘s of dates, I have been pulling out the bucket from the well all night. I have left one Saa‘ for the family and the other Saa‘ is before you.’ In other traditions it is mentioned that he had given half a Saa‘. (That is to say that he had brought half a Saa‘ for the Holy Prophet(sa) and kept the other half for his family.)
It was then that the hypocrites said: ‘Allah has no need of the charity of the former, and the latter only did it to show off’. Then the following verse was revealed:
اَلَّذِیْنَ یَلْمِزُوْنَ الْمُطَّوِّعِیْنَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِیْنَ فِیْ الصَّدَقٰتِ وَالَّذِیْنَ لَا یَجِدُوْنَ اِلَّا جُھْدَھُمْ
(Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 7, p. 233, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005)
“Those who defame such of the believers who give charity voluntarily, and such who could not find to give charity except what is available to them.”
Killing of Musailma Kazzab and passion to fight in way of Allah until his last breath
Hazrat Abu Aqeel is the companion who finally slayed Musailima Kazzab [the Liar].
Ibn Sa‘d states:
“On the day of the battle of Yamama, Hazrat Abu Aqeel Unaifi was the first to be wounded. An arrow struck him between his shoulder and heart but since it had become bent upon piercing his body, it therefore did not kill him. When the arrow was removed his left side had become extremely weak. This occurred during the early part of the day and he was taken to his camp. When the battle grew intense and the Muslims were being defeated and were driven back behind their camp, at that time Hazrat Abu Aqeel was wounded. He heard the voice of Hazrat Ma‘n bin Adiyy who was calling out to the Ansar, ‘Have faith in Allah! Have faith in Allah! And attack the enemy once again.’ So as to set an example for others, Ma‘n then raced ahead of everyone else, throwing himself directly into the ranks of the opposing army. At that time, the Ansar were saying, ‘Let us Ansar separate from the others’.
Nevertheless, one by one, the Ansar gathered on one side and the purpose behind this was that they would fight with such great zeal and courageously would march forward and attack the enemy and as a result the Muslims would acquire a stronger foothold and their morale would increase.”
Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar states, “At that point, Abu Aqeel(ra) got up, intending to meet up with his Ansari brothers. He was injured and weak, yet he got up. I said to him to him, ‘O Abu Aqeel, what are you doing? You are in no condition to fight’ He replied, ‘The one who made the announcement mentioned me by name.’ I said, ‘He only said, “O people of the Ansar.” He was not referring to injured fighters.’ He replied, ‘I am from the Ansar, and I shall respond, even if I have to crawl.’”
Hazrat Ibn Umar further states, “Hazrat Abu Aqeel then fastened his back and took an unsheathed sword in his right hand. He then started calling, ‘O Ansar! Attack the enemy once more like the battle of Hunain,’
The Ansar regrouped, may Allah have mercy on them, and spearheaded an extremely fierce attack on the enemy, forcing them to retreat to an orchard. The Muslims and the enemy met at close quarters and fought each other with their swords.”
Hazrat Ibn Umar(ra) further states, “I saw the injured arm of Hazrat Abu Aqeel severed from the shoulder and lying on the ground. Hazrat Abu Aqeel sustained fourteen wounds, each of which was fatal. Musailima, the enemy of God, was killed and laid besides him. Hazrat Abu Aqeel was lying on the ground breathing his last. I knelt down and said ‘Abu Aqeel.’ He replied, ‘Labbaik, I am at your service.’ Then in a faint voice he said, ‘Who has won the battle?’ I informed him, ‘Rejoice, for the Muslims have been victorious.’ Then in a loud voice I said, ‘The enemy of God, Musailima Kazzab, has been killed’. Hazrat Abu Aqeel praised God, then raised his finger towards the sky and passed away. May Allah have mercy on him.”
Hazrat Ibn Umar states, “After returning to Medina I informed Hazrat Umar(ra) about the events that transpired, to which Hazrat Umar(ra) stated, ‘May Allah shower His mercy on him. His wish was always to attain martyrdom. As far as I know he was amongst the best of the Holy Prophet’s companions and was one of the early Muslims.’ These were the words of Hazrat Umar(ra).” (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, pp. 249, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996) (Hayat Al-Sahaba az Yusuf Kandhalwi, Vol. 1, pp. 801-803, Maktabatul ‘Ilm, Lahore)
May God Almighty continue to exalt the status of the Companions.