at last on the outskirts of Yathrib. The good people of the city go
out to meet him. Many crowd the narrow streets. Some stand on
roof-tops chanting La ilaha ilia Allah and Allahu Akbar in sheer joy
at meeting the Prophet of Mercy and his loyal companion, Abu Bakr
as-Siddiq. The small girls of the city come out gaily beating their
daffs and singing the words of welcome:
Tala 'a-l badru alaynaa
Min Thaniyaati-l Wadaa' Wajaba-sh shukru alaynaa
Maa da'aa lillaahi daa' Ayyuha-l mab 'uthu finaa
Ji'ta bi-l amri-l mutaa' Ji'ta sharrafta-l Madinah
Marhaban yaa khayra-d daa'.
"The full moon has come upon us. From beyond the hills of Thaniyaati-l
Wadaa Grateful we must be. For what to God he calls? O you who has
been sent among us? You came with a mission to be obeyed. You came,you
honoured the city; Welcome,O best of those who call (to God).
As the procession of the blessed Prophet wended its way, all around
there were joyful hearts, tears of ecstasy, smiles of sheer happiness.
Far away from these scenes of jubilation and delight was a young man
named Uqbah ibn Aamir al-Juhani. He had gone outto the bawadi, the
open expanses of desert, to graze his flocks of sheep and goats on
thesparse vegetation. He had wandered far in search of fodderfor his
hungry flock. It was difficult to find suitable grazing grounds and he
was constantly afraid that his flock would perish. They were all he
possessed and he did not want to lose them.
The happiness which engulfed Yathrib, henceforth to be knownas the
radiant city of the Prophet, soon spread to the near and distant
bawadi and reached every nook and corner of the land. The good news of
the Prophet's arrival finally reached Uqbah as he tended his flocks
far away in the inhospitable desert. His response to the news was
immediate as he himself relates:"The Prophet, may God bless him and
grant him peace, came to Madinah while I was tending my sheep. When I
heard the news of his coming, I set out to meet him without delay.
When I met him I asked:
'Will you accept my pledge of allegiance, O Messenger of God?' 'And
who are you?' asked the Prophet. 'Uqbah ibn Aamir al-Juhani ,' I
replied. 'Which do you prefer,' he asked, 'the pledge of a nomad or
the pledgeof someone who has migrated?' 'The pledge of someone who has
migrated,' I said. So the Messenger of God took the samepledge from me
as he did from the Muhajirin. I spent the night with him and then went
back to my flock.
There were twelve of us who had accepted Islam but we lived far from
the city tending our sheep and goats in the open country. We came to
the conclusion that it would be good for us if we went to the Prophet
daily, so that he could instruct us in our religion and recite for us
whatever revelationhe had received from on high. I told the others:
'Take turns to go to the Messenger of God, peace be on him. Anyone
going may leave hissheep with me because I am tooworried and concerned
about my own flock to leave them in the care of someone else.'
Each day, one after another of my friends went to the Prophet, leaving
his sheep for me to look after. When each returned, I learnt from him
what he had heard and benefitted from what he had understood. Before
long, however, I returned to my senses and said to myself:
'Woe to you! Is it because of a flock of sheep that you remain thin
and wretched and lose the opportunity to be in the company of the
Prophet and to speak directly to him without anintermediary':' With
this, I left my flock, went to Madinah and stayed in the masjid close
to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace."
Uqbah had no reason to regret having taken this fateful decision.
Within a decade, he had become one of the outstanding scholars among
thecompanions of the Prophet, a competent and beautiful reciter of the
Quran, a military commander and later on one of the eminent Muslim
governors as Islam spread east and west with astonishing rapidity. He
could never have imagined as heleft his flock to follow the teachings
of the noble Prophet, that he would have been amongthe vanguard of the
Muslim forces that liberated fertile Damascus - then known as
the"mother of the universe" and that he would have a house for himself
among its verdant gardens. He could never have imagined that he would
be one of the commanders who liberated Egypt, then known as the
"emerald of the world", and that he would be one of its governors.
The fateful decision however was taken. Alone, without possessions or
relatives, Uqbah came to Madinah from the hawadi. He stayed with
others like him on the Suffah or elevated part of the Prophet's
mosque, near his house. The Suffah was like a reception pointwhere
people like Uqbah would go because they wanted to be close to the
Prophet. They were known as the "Ashab as-Suffah" and the Prophet once
described them as the "guests of Islam".
Because they had no income, theProphet always shared his food with
them and encouraged others to be generous to these"guests". They spent
much of their time studying the Quran and learning about Islam. What a
marvellous opportunity they had! They were in close and regular
contact with the Prophet. He had a special love and concern for them
and took care to educate them and look after them in all respects.
Uqbahgave an example of how the Prophet trained and taught them. He
said:
"One day, the Prophet, may Allahbless him and grant him peace, came
out to us while we were on the Suffah and asked:
'Which of you would like to go out to the open country or a valley
every day and fetch for himself two beautiful, black camels?' (Such
camels were considered prize possessions. )
'Everyone of us would like that, O Messenger of God,' we all replied.
'Now,' he said, 'each one of you should go to the mosque and learn two
ayats (verses) of the Book of God. This is better for him than two
camels; three verses are better than three camels; four verses are
better than four camels (and son)."
In this way, the Prophet tried to bring about a change in attitudes
among those who had accepted Islam, a change from obsession with
acquiring worldly possessions to an attitude of devotion to knowledge.
His simple example provided them with motivation and a powerful
incentive to acquire knowledge.
On other occasions, the Ashab as-Suffah would ask questions ofthe
Prophet in order to understand their religion better.Once, Uqbah said,
he asked the Prophet, "What is salvation?" and he replied: "Control
your tongue, make your house spacious for guests and spurn your
mistakes."
Even outside the mosque, Uqbahtried to stay close to the Prophet. On
journeys, he often took the reins of the Prophet's mule and went
wherever the Prophet desired. Sometimes he followed directly behind
the Prophet, peace be on him, and so came to be called the redif of
the Prophet. On some occasions,the Prophet would descend from his
mount and allow Uqbah to ride while he himself walked. Uqbah described
one such occasion:
"I took hold of the reins of the Prophet's mule while passing through
some palm groves of Madinah.
'Uqbah ,' the Prophet said to me,'don't you want to ride.'?'
I thought of saying 'no' but I feltthere might be an element of
disobedience to the Prophet in such a reply so I said: 'Yes, O Prophet
of God.'
The Prophet then got down from his mule and I mounted in obedience to
his command. He began to walk. Shortly afterwards I dismounted. The
Prophet mounted again and saidto me:
'Uqbah, shall I not teach you twosurahs the like of which has not been
heard before.'?'
'Certainly, O Messenger of God,' I replied. And so he recited to
me"Qul a'udhu bi rabbi-l Falaq" and"Qul a'udhu bi rabbi-n nas" (the
last two surahs of the Quran). I then said the Iqamah for Salat. The
Prophet led the Salat and recited these two surahs. (Afterwards), he
said: 'Read boththese surahs when you go to sleep and whenever you
wake up.'"
The above instances show"continuous education" at its best, at home,
in the mosque, riding, walking in the open school of the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Two objectives occupied Uqbah'sattention throughout his life; the
search for knowledge and jihad in the path of God. He applied his
energies totally to these objectives.
In the field of learning, he drank deeply from the fountain of
knowledge that was the Messenger of God, peace be on him. Uqbah became
a distinguished muqri (reciter of the Quran), a muhaddith (recorder
and narrator of the sayings of the Prophet); a faqih (jurist); a
faradi (expert on the Islamic laws of inheritance); an adib
(literateur); a fasih (orator) and a sha'ir (poet).
In reciting the Quran, he had a most pleasant and beautiful voice. In
the stillness of the night, when the entire universe seems peaceful
and tranquil, he would turn to the Book of God, and recite its
overpowering verses. The hearts of the noble companions would be drawn
to his recitation. Their whole being would be shaken and they would be
moved to tears from the fear of God which his recitation induced.
One day Umar ibn al-Khattab invited him and said:
"Recite for me something from the Book of God, O Uqbah." "At your
command, O Amir al-Muminin," said Uqbah and began reciting. Umar wept
till his beard was wet.
Uqbah left a copy of the Quran written in his own hand. It is said
that this copy of the Quran existed until quite recently in Egypt in
the well-known mosquenamed after Uqbah ibn Aamir himself. At the end
of this text was written: "Uqbah ibn Aamir al-Juhani wrote it." This
Mushaf of Uqbah was one of the earliest copies of the Quran in
existence but it was lost in its entirety with other priceless
documents due to the carelessness of Muslims.
In the field of Jihad, it is sufficient to know that Uqbah fought
beside the Prophet, peace be on him, at the Battle ofUhud and in all
the military engagements thereafter. He wasalso one of the valiant and
daring group of shock troopers who were tested to their maximum during
the battle for Damascus. In recognition for his outstanding services,
the commander of the Muslim forcesthen, Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah,
despatched Uqbah to Madinah toconvey the good news of the liberation
of Damascus to Umar ibn al-Khattab. Uqbah spent eight days and seven
nights, from Friday to Friday, in a continuous forced march to bring
the news to Umar.
Uqbah was one of the commanders of the Muslim forces that liberated
Egypt. For three years he was the Muslim governor of Egypt after which
hereceived orders from the Caliph Muawiyah to mount a naval expedition
to the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean Sea.
An indication of Uqbah's enthusiasm for jihad is the fact that he
committed to memory the sayings of the Prophet on this subject and
became a specialist in narrating them to the Muslims. One of his
favorite pastimes was to practice the skill of spear throwing.
Uqbah was in Egypt when he became fatally ill. He gathered his
children together and gave them his final advise. He said:"My
children, guard against three things: Don't accept; my saying
attributed to the Prophet,peace be on him, except from a reliable
authority. Do not incur debts or take up a loan even if you are in the
position of an imam. Don't compose poetry foryour hearts might be
distracted thereby from the Quran."
Uqbah ibn Aamir al-Juhani, the qari, the alim, the ghazi, died in
Cairo and was buried at the foot of the Muqattam hills.
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And Allah Knows the Best!
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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA
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