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Musab Ibn Umayr: Background and Early Life

Affluence and Luxury:

• Born into wealth, Musab enjoyed a lavish upbringing in one of Makkah's noble families, providing him access to luxurious resources.

• He typically wore elegant clothing made of the finest fabric, often silk, adorned with intricate embroidery and designs that set him apart. Musab also wore prestigious Yemeni sandals known for their quality and craftsmanship.

• Musab's good looks, intelligence, and unique style not only earned him admiration but also made him a notable figure among the Quraysh nobility, thus solidifying his status among the upper echelons of Makkah society.

Position among Nobility:

• Actively engaged in Quraysh gatherings, Musab was well-versed in Makkah's socio-political landscape, allowing him to navigate the complex societal dynamics effectively. His involvement in these gatherings kept him informed about the political climate and helped him maintain influential connections.

Reaction to Muhammad's Message:

• The emergence of Muhammad, known as al-Amin (the Trustworthy), marked a significant turning point in Makkah's social fabric, as Muhammad began to proclaim divine guidance and the fundamental tenets of Islam.

• Quraysh leaders sought to suppress Muhammad through ridicule, misinformation, and even violence, attempting to maintain their social and political status quo against the rising influence of Islam.

• Musab's curiosity was piqued as he learned of the early Islamic gatherings at al-Arqam's house, an environment that fostered discussions and teachings about the new faith, reflecting his thirst for knowledge and truth amid rising tension in Makkah.

• Upon encountering Muhammad and his companions, he experienced an overwhelming sense of tranquility and clarity, prompting a deep interest in the teachings of Islam.

Conversion to Islam:

• During his first meeting with the Prophet, Musab courageously declared his acceptance of Islam, marking a transformational moment that set the course for his future.

• His natural intelligence, eloquence, and determined nature became a powerful force in the propagation of Islam, as he worked tirelessly to share the message with others in his community.

Concern for Family:

• Despite his newfound faith, Musab was deeply fearful of his mother's strong, traditional beliefs, particularly her expectations regarding loyalty to family and old customs.

• He chose to conceal his conversion to avoid inciting her wrath and fears of familial repercussions, continuing to attend gatherings discreetly under the guise of regular social obligations with his peers.

Increasing Conflict with His Mother:

• His faith was discovered when Uthman ibn Talhah, a relative, spotted Musab at al-Arqam's house and informed influential Quraysh members.

• Musab faced inevitable confrontation from his mother and prominent Quraysh figures who expressed disappointment and anger toward his conversion. He met their accusations with calmness and a staunch declaration of his new beliefs, showcasing his resolve.

• Initially, his mother expressed her disapproval with restrained maternal love, but as tensions escalated, she resorted to binding him within their home to prevent him from attending further Islamic gatherings.

• Despite this confinement, Musab remained steadfast, keeping his resolve and commitment to his faith, openly praying for guidance and strength during this difficult time, reflecting his unwavering dedication.

The Migration to Abyssinia:

• His chance for escape came with news about a group of Muslims migrating to Abyssinia to seek refuge and safety amid the growing persecution in Makkah.

• Demonstrating courage and determination, Musab seized this opportunity and joined fellow Muslims, reflecting his profound commitment to preserving his newfound faith despite the personal risks involved.

Life in Abyssinia:

• According to historical accounts, while life in Abyssinia provided security and refuge from the persecution in Makkah, Musab yearned to return to the Prophet and fellow Muslims, feeling a genuine intrusion between his faith and his longing for community.

• He eventually returned to Makkah, only to find that conditions for Muslims had worsened significantly, leading him to courageously migrate back to Abyssinia for safety once again.

Return to Makkah and Subsequent Challenges:

• Upon returning to Makkah, Musab attempted to contest his mother's insistence on confining him, advocating for what he believed to be a truth deserving of acceptance.

• Their encounters ultimately highlighted a heartbreaking separation, embodying a mother-son relationship fractured by conflicting beliefs, as his mother rejected his conversion completely, leading to estrangement.

Transformation in Appearance:

• Musab underwent a significant transformation from a life of luxury to adopting a life of simplicity and austerity, focusing on serving God and dedicating himself to educating others in matters of faith.

• This transformation was both internal and external, exemplifying his deep commitment to Islamic teachings, which reflected through his actions and attire, emphasizing humility and servitude rather than wealth and status.

Role in the Early Islamic Community:

• Upon reuniting with the Prophet and his companions, Musab discovered a supportive and nurturing community of Muslims who welcomed him warmly despite the hardships he had faced.

• The Prophet acknowledged Musab's extraordinary journey, marking his transition from wealth to the rigors of poverty and the resilience he demonstrated for the sake of his unwavering faith—highlighting the depth of his commitment.

Mission to Yathrib (Madinah):

• Chosen by the Prophet as an ambassador for the Muslim community, Musab assumed the vital role of teaching and preparing Muslims in Yathrib for the upcoming Hijrah (migration) to establish a base for Islam.

• He effectively engaged the Yathribites, facilitating notable conversions, as he utilized his exceptional ability to connect with and inspire others about the core values and teachings of Islam.

Significant Events in Islamic History:

• Conversion of Usayd ibn Khudayr: Usayd, initially confronting Musab about his missionary activities, was ultimately swayed by Musab's persuasive teachings and calm demeanor, resulting in pivotal conversion that significantly contributed to broader acceptance of Islam within Yathrib, showcasing the effectiveness of Musab's mission.

Impact and Legacy:

• Musab played a vital role in the establishment and eventual success of the Muslim community, acting as a foundational figure in creating a supportive base for Islam in Yathrib.

• His initial success as an ambassador was linked to the notable pledge at Aqabah with the Prophet, signaling an increasing sense of loyalty and commitment among the early Muslims to the core tenets of Islam.

Participation in Battles:

• Battle of Badr: During this critical battle, Musab's brother, Abu Aziz, was captured by the opposing forces. Musab instructed their captor to treat him well, emphasizing the Islamic principle of compassion and mercy, even amid conflict. His actions highlighted the strength of faith over kinship ties, showcasing Musab's solid commitment to his beliefs over familial loyalty.

• Battle of Uhud: During the Battle of Uhud, Musab was honored to carry the Muslim standard (flag), leading the charge bravely against the opposing forces. In the heat of battle, he faced intense combat and sustained several severe wounds—first, his right hand was cut off by a spear, yet he persevered and continued to hold the standard with his left hand. Even after his left hand was struck down, he clutched the standard against his chest with whatever strength he had left, continuing to express his steadfastness and shouting affirmations of faith until he finally succumbed to his wounds.

Martyrdom and Remembrance:

• Final Moments: After battling valiantly, Musab ultimately succumbed to his injuries in the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet Muhammad, alongside his companions, mourned Musab's death profoundly, recognizing his sacrifices and contributions to the early Islamic community.

• Musab's story serves as a powerful testament to the dedication to Islam and the immense sacrifices made by early Muslims in their pursuit of faith and truth, solidifying his legacy as a pivotal figure in Islamic history.

Adiyy Ibn Hatim

In the ninth year of the Hijrah, an Arab king made the first positive moves to Islam after years of feeling hatred for it. He drew closer to faith (iman) after opposing and combating it. And he finally pledged allegiance to the Prophet, peace be on him, after his adamant refusal to do so. He was Adiyy, son of the famous Hatim at-Taai who was known far and wide for his chivalry and fabulous generosity. Adiyy inherited the domain of his father and was confirmed in the position by the Tayy people. Part of his strength lay in the fact that a quarter of any amount they obtained as booty from raiding expeditions had to be given to him. When the Prophet announced openly his call to guidance and truth and Arabs from one region after another accepted his teachings, Adiyy saw in his mission a threat to his position and leadership. Although he did not know the Prophet personally, and had never seen him, he developed strong feelings of enmity towards him. He remained antagonistic to Islam for close upon twenty years until at last God opened his heart to the religion of truth and guidance. The way in which Adiyy became a Muslim is a remarkable story and he is perhaps the best person to relate it. He said: "There was no man among the Arabs who detested God's Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, more than I, when I heard about him. I was then a man of status and nobility. I was a Christian. From my people I took a fourth of their booty as was the practice of other Arab kings. When I heard of the Messenger of God, peace be on him, I hated him. When his mission grew in strength and when his power increased and his armies and expeditionary forces dominated east and west of the land of Arabs, I said to a servant of mine who looked after my camels: 'Get ready a fat camel for me which is easy to ride and tether it close to me. If you hear of an army or an expeditionary force of Muhammad coming towards this land, let me know.' One evening, my servant came to me and said: "Yaa Mawlaya! What you intended to do on the approach of Muhammad's cavalry to your land, do it now." 'Why? May your mother lose you!' 'I have seen scouts searching close to the habitations. I asked about them and was told that they belonged to the army of Muhammad,' he said. 'Bring the camel which I ordered you to get ready.' I said to him. I got up then and there, summoned my household (including) my children and ordered them to evacuate the land we loved. We headed in the direction of Syria to join people of our own faith among the Christians and settle among them. We left in too much haste for me to gather together our entire household. When I took stock of our situation, I discovered that part of my family was missing. I had left my own sister in our Najd homelands together with the rest of the Tayy people. I did not have any means to return to her. So I went on with those who were with me until I reached Syria and took up residence there among people of my own religion. As for my sister, what I feared for her happened. News reached me while I was in Syria that the forces of Muhammad entered our habitations and took my sister together with a number of other captives to Yathrib. There she was placed with other captives in a compound near the door of the Masjid. The Prophet, peace be upon him, passed by her. She stood up before him and said: 'Yaa Rasulullah! My father is dead and my guardian is not here. Be gracious to me and God will be gracious to you! 'And who is your guardian?' asked the Prophet. 'Adiyy ibn Hatim.' she said. 'The one who fled from God and His Prophet?' he asked. He then left her and walked on. On the following day, the same thing happened. She spoke to him just as she did the day before and he replied in the same manner. The next day, the same thing happened and she despaired of getting any concession from him for he did not say anything. Then a man from behind him indicated that she should stand up and talk to him. She therefore stood up and said: 'O Messenger of God!

My father is dead and my guardian is absent. Be gracious to me and God will be gracious to you.' I have agreed he said. Turning to those about him, he instructed: likewise `Let her go for her father loved noble ways, and God loves them.' 'I want to join my family in Syria,' she said. "But don't leave in a hurry," said the Prophet, "until you find someone you can trust from your people who could accompany you to Syria. If you find a trustworthy person, let me know." When the Prophet left, she asked about the man who had suggested that she speak to the Prophet and was told that he was Ali ibn Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him. She stayed in Yathrib until a group arrived among whom was someone she could trust. So she went the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of God! A group of my people have come to me and among them is one I can trust who could take me to my family.' The Prophet, peace be on him, gave her fine clothes and an adequate sum of money. He also gave her a camel and she left with the group. Thereafter we followed her progress gradually and waited for her return. We could hardly believe what we heard about Muhammad's generosity towards her in spite of my attitude to him. By God, I am a leader of my people. When I beheld a woman in her hawdaj coming towards us, I said: 'The daughter of Hatim! It's she! It's she!' When she stood before us, she snapped sharply at me and said: 'The one who severs the tie of kinship is a wrongdoer. You took your family and your children and left the rest of your relations and those whom you ought to have protected.' 'Yes, my sister,' I said, 'don't say anything but good.' I tried to pacify her until she was satisfied. She told me what had happened to her and it was as I had heard.

Then I asked her, for she was an intelligent and judicious person: "What do you think of the mission of this man (meaning Muhammad peace be on him)?" "I think, by God, that you should join him quickly." she said. "If he is a Prophet, the one who hastens towards him would enjoy his grace. And if he is a king, you would not be disgraced in his sight while you are as you are." I immediately prepared myself for travel and set off to meet the Prophet in Madinah without any security and without any letter. I had heard that he had said: 'I certainly wish that God will place the hand of Adiyy in my hand.' I went up to him. He was in the Masjid. I greeted him and he said: 'Who is the man? 'Adiyy ibn Hatim,' I said. He stood up for me, took me by the hand and set off towards his home. By God, as he was walking with me towards his house, a weak old woman met him. With her was a young child. She stopped him and began talking to him about a problem. I was standing (all the while). I said to myself: 'By God, this is no king.' He then took me by the hand and went with me until we reached his home. There he got a leather cushion filled with palm fibre, gave it to me said:

'Sit on this!' I felt embarrassed before him and said: 'Rather, you sit on it.' 'No, you,' he said. I deferred and sat on it. The Prophet, peace be on him, sat on the floor because there was no other cushion. said to myself: 'By God, this is not the manner of a king!' He then turned to me and said:

'Yes, Adiyy ibn Hatim! Haven't you been a "Rukusi" professing a religion between Christianity and Sabeanism?' 'Yes,' I replied. 'Did you not operate among your people on the principle of exacting from them a fourth, taking from them what your religion does not allow you?' 'Yes,' I said, and I knew from that he was a Prophet sent (by God). Then he said to me: 'Perhaps, O Adiyy, the only thing that prevents you from entering this religion is what you see of the destitution of the Muslims and their poverty. By God, the time is near when wealth would flow among them until no one could be found to take it. 'Perhaps, O Adiyy, the only thing that prevents you from entering this religion is what you see of the small number of Muslims and their numerous foes. By God, the time is near when you would hear of the woman setting out from Qadisiyyah on her camel until she reaches this house, not fearing anyone except Allah. 'Perhaps what prevents you from entering this religion is that you only see that sovereignty and power rest in the hands of those who are not Muslims. By God, you will soon hear of the white palaces of the land of Babylon opening up for them and the treasures of Chosroes the son of Hormuz fall to their lot.' 'The treasures of Chosroes the son of Hormuz?' I asked (incredulously). 'Yes, the treasures of Chosroes the son of Hormuz,' he said.

Thereupon, I professed the testimony of truth, and declared my acceptance of Islam." One report says that when Adiyy saw the simplicity of the Prophet's life-style, he said to him: "I testify that you do not seek high office in this world nor corruption," and he announced his acceptance of Islam. Some people observed the Prophet's treatment of Adiyy and said to him: "O Prophet of God! We have seen you do something which you have not done to any other." "Yes," replied the Prophet. "This is a man of stature among his people. If such a person come to you, treat him honorably." Adiyy ibn Hatim, may God be pleased with him, lived for a long time. He later said: "Two of the things (which the Prophet spoke of) came to pass and there remained a third. By God, it would certainly come to pass. "I have seen the woman leaving Qadisiyyah on her camel fearing nothing until she arrived at this house (of the Prophet in Madinah). "I myself was in the vanguard of the cavalry which descended on the treasures of Chosroes and took them. And I swear by God that the third event will be realized." Through the will of God, the third statement of the Prophet, on him be choicest blessings and peace, came to pass during the time of the devout and ascetic Khalifah, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. Wealth flowed among the Muslims so much so that when the town-criers called on people throughout the Muslim domain to come and collect Zakat, no one was found in need to respond

Abu-d Dardaa

Early in the morning, Abu-d Dardaa awoke and went straight to his idol which he kept in the best part of his house. He greeted it and made obeisance to it. Then he anointed it with the best perfume from his large shop and put on it a new raiment of beauti ful silk which a merchant had brought to him the day before from Yemen. When the sun was high in the sky he left his house for his shop. On that day the streets and alleys of Yathrib were crowded with the followers of Muhammad returning from Badr. With them were several prisoners of war. Abu-d Dardaa surveyed the crowds and t hen went up to a Khazraji youth and asked about the fate of Abdullah ibn Rawahah. "He was put through the most severe tests in the battle," "but he emerged safely..." Abu-d Dardaa was clearly anxious about his close friend, Abdullah ibn Rawahah. Everyone in Yathrib knew the bond of brotherhood which existed between the two men from the days of Jahiliyyah, before the coming of Islam to Yathrib. When Islam came to the city, Ibn Rawahah embraced it but Abu-d Dardaa rejected it. This however did not rupture the relationship between the two. Abdullah kept on visiting Abu-d Dardaa and tried to make him see the virtues, the benefits and the excellence of Islam. But with every passing day, while Abu-d Dardaa remained a mushrik, Abdullah felt more sad and concerned. Abu-d Dardaa arrived at his shop and sat cross-legged on a high chair. He began trading-buying and selling and giving instructions to his assistants unaware of what was going on at his house. For at that very time, Abdullah ibn Rawahah had gone to the house determined on a course of action. There, he saw that the main gate was open. Umm ad-Dardaa was in the courtyard and he said to her: "As-salaamu alayki - Peace be unto you, servant of God." "Wa alayka-s salaam - And unto you be peace, O brother of Abu-d Dardaa." "Where is Abu-d Dardaa?" he asked. "He has gone to his shop. It won't be tong before he returns." "Would you allow me to come in?" "Make yourself at home," she said and went about busying herself with her household chores and looking after her children. Abdullah ibn Rawahah went to the room where Abu-d Dardaa kept his idol. He took out an axe which he had brought with him and began destroying the idol while saying: "Isn't everything batil which is worshipped besides Allah?" When the idol was completely smashed, he left the house. Abu-d Dardaa's wife entered the room shortly afterwards and was aghast at what she saw. She smote her cheeks in anguish and said: "You have brought ruin to me, Ibn Rawahah." When Abu-d Dardaa returned home, he saw his wife sitting at the door of the room where he kept his idol. She was weeping loudly and she looked absolutely terrified. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Your brother Abdullah ibn Rawahab visited us in your absence and did with your idols what you see." Abu-d Dardaa looked at the broken idol and was horrified. He was consumed with anger and determined to take revenge. Before long however his anger subsided and thoughts of avenging the idol disappeared. Instead he reflected on what had happened and said to himself: "If there was any good in this idol, he would have defended himself against any injury." He then went straight to Abdullah and together they went to the Prophet, peace be on him. There he announced his acceptance of Islam. He was the last person in his district to become a Muslim. From this time onwards, Abu-d Dardaa devoted himself completely to Islam. Belief in God and His Prophet animated every fibre of his being. He deeply regretted every moment he had spent as a mushrik and the opportunities he had lost to do good. He realized how much his friends had learned about Islam in the preceding two or three years, how much of the Quran they had memorized and the opportunities they had to devote themselves to God and His Prophet. He made up his mind to expend every effort, day and night to try to make up for what he had missed. Ibadah occupied his days and his nights. His search for knowledge was restless. Much time he spent memorizing the words of the Quran and trying to understand the profundity of its message. When he saw that business and trade disturbed the sweetness of his ibadah and kept him away from the circles of knowledge, he reduced his involvement without hesitation or regret. Someone asked him why he did this and he replied: "I was a merchant before my pledge to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. When I became a Muslim, I wanted to combine trade (tijarah) and worship (ibadah) but I did not achieve what I desired. So I abandoned trade and inclined towards ibadah. "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Abu-d Dardaa, what I want to have is a shop near the door of the masjid so that I would not miss any Salat with the congregation. Then I shall sell and buy and make a modest profit every day." "I am not saying," said Abu-d Dardaa to his questioner, "that Allah Great and Majestic is He has prohibited trade, but I want to be among those whom neither trade nor selling distracts form the remembrance of God." Abu-d Dardaa did not only become less involved in trade but he abandoned his hitherto soft and luxurious life-style. He ate only what was sufficient to keep him upright and he wore clothes that were simple and sufficient to cover his body. Once a group of Muslims came to spend the night with him. The night was bitterly cold. He gave them hot food which they welcomed. He himself then went to sleep but he did not give them any blankets. They became anxious wondering how they were going to sleep on such a cold night. Then one of them said: "I will go and talk to him." "Don't bother him," said another. However, the man went to Abu-d Dardaa and stood at the door of his room. He saw Abu-d Dardaa lying down. His wife was sitting near to him. They were both wearing light clothing which could not protect them from the cold and they had no blankets. Abu-d Dardaa said to his guest: "If there was anything we would have sent it to you." During the caliphate of Umar, Umar wanted to appoint Abu-d Dardaa as a governor in Syria. Abu-d Dardaa refused. Umar persisted and then Abu-d Dardaa said: "If you are content that I should go to them to teach them the Book of their Lord and the Sunnah of their Prophet and pray with them, I shall go." Umar agreed and Abu-d Dardaa left for Damascus. There he found the people immersed in luxury and soft living. This appalled him. He called the people to the masjid and spoke to them:

"O people of Damascus! You are my brethren in religion, neighbors who live together and helpers one to another against enemies. "O people of Damascus! What is it that prevents you from being affectionate towards me and responding to my advice while I do not seek anything from you. Is it right that I see your learned ones departing (from this world) while the ignorant among you are not learning. I see that you incline towards such things which Allah has made you answerable for and you abandon what He has commanded you to do. "Is it reasonable that I see you gathering and hoarding what you do not eat, and erecting buildings in which you do not live, and holding out hopes for things you cannot attain." Peoples before you have amassed wealth, made great plans and had high hopes. But it was not long before what they had amassed was destroyed, their hopes dashed and their houses turned into graves. Such were the people of Aad, O people of Damascus.

They filled the earth with possessions and children. "Who is there who will purchase from me today the entire legacy of Aad for two dirhams?" The people wept and their sobs could be heard from outside the masjid. From that day, Abu-d Dardaa began to frequent the meeting places of the people of Damascus. He moved around in their market-places, teaching, answering questions and trying to arouse anyone who had become careless and insensitive. He used every opportunity and every occasion to awaken people, to set them on the right path. Once he passed a group of people crowding around a man.

They began insulting and beating the man. He came up to them and said: "What's the matter?" "This is a man who has committed a grave sin," they replied. "What do you think you would do if he had fallen into a well?" asked Abu-d Dardaa. "Wouldn't you try to get him out?" "Certainly," they said. "Don't insult him and don't beat him. Instead admonish him and make him aware of the consequences of what he had done. Then give praise to God Who has preserved you from falling into such a sin." "Don't you hate him?" they asked Abu-d Dardaa. "I only detest what he had done and if he abandons such practice, he is my brother." The man began to cry and publicly announced his repentance. A youth once came up to Abu-d Dardaa and said: "Give me advice, O companion of the Messenger of God," and Abu-d Dardaa said to him: "My son, remember Allah in good times and He will remember you in times of misfortune. "My son, be knowledgeable, seek knowledge, be a good listener and do not be ignorant for you will be ruined. "My son, let the masjid be your house for indeed I heard the Messenger of God say: The masjid is the house of every God-conscious person and God Almighty has guaranteed serenity, comfort, mercy and staying on the path leading to His pleasure, to those for whom masjids are their houses." On another occasion, there was a group of people sitting in the street, chatting and looking at passers-by. Abu-d Dardaa came up to them and said: "My sons, the monastery of a Muslim man is his house in which he controls himself and lowers his gaze. Beware of sitting in market-places because this fritters away time in vain pursuits." While Abu-d Dardaa was in Damascus, Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, its governor, asked him to give his daughter in marriage to his (Muawiyah's) son, Yazid. Abu-d Dardaa did not agree. Instead he gave his daughter in marriage to a young man from among the poor whose character and attachment to Islam pleased him. People heard about this and began talking and asking: Why did Abu-d Dardaa refuse to let his daughter marry Yazid? The question was put to Abu-d Dardaa himself and he said: "I have only sought to do what is good for ad-Dardaa." That was his daughter's name. "How?" enquired the person. "What would you think of ad-Dardaa if servants were to stand in her presence serving her and if she were to find herself in palaces the glamour of which dazzled the eyes? What would become of her religion then?" While Abu-d Dardaa was still in Syria, the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came on an inspection tour of the region. One night he went to visit Abu-d Dardaa at his home. There was no light in the house.

Abu-d Dardaa welcomed the Caliph and sat him down. The two men conversed in the darkness. As they did so, Umar felt Abu-d Dardaa's "pillow" and realized it was an animal's saddle. He touched the place where Abu-d Dardaa lay and knew it was just small pebbles. He also felt the sheet with which he covered himse lf and was astonished to find it so flimsy that it couldn't possibly protect him from the cold of Damascus. Umar asked him: "Shouldn't I make things more comfortable for you? Shouldn't I send something for you?" "Do you remember, Umar," said Abu-d Dardaa, "a hadith which the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, told us?" "What is it?" asked Umar.

"Did he not say: Let what is sufficient for anyone of you in this world be like the provisions of a rider?" "Yes," said Umar. "And what have we done after this, O Umar?" asked Abu-d Dardaa. Both men wept no doubt thinking about the vast riches that had come the way of Muslims with the expansion of Islam and their preoccupation with amassing wealth and worldly possessions. With deep sorrow and sadness, both men continued to reflect on this situation until the break of dawn.

Abu Hurayrah

“An Abi Hurayrata, radiyallahu anhu, qal.' qala rasul Allahi, sallallahu alayhi wa sailam..." Through this phrase millions of Muslims from the early history of Islam to the present have come to be familiar with the name Abu Hurayrah. In speeches and lectures, in Friday khutbahs and seminars, in the books of hadith and sirah, fiqh and ibadah, the n ame Abu Hurayrah is mentioned in this fashion: "On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may God be pleased with him who said: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said... ". Through his Prodigious efforts, hundreds of ahadith or sayings of the Prophet were transmitted to later generations. His is the foremost name in the roll of hadith transmitters. Next to him comes the names of such companions as Abdullah the son of Umar, Anas the son of Malik, Umm al-Mumininin Aishah, Jabir ibn Abdullah and Abu Said al-Khudri all of whom transmitted over a thousand sayings of the Prophet. Abu Hurayrah became a Muslim at the hands of at-Tufayl ibn Amr the chieftain of the Daws tribe to which he belonged. The Daws lived in the region of Tihamah which stretches along the coast of the Red Sea in southern Arabia. When at-Tufayl returned to his village after meeting the Prophet and becoming a Muslim in the early years of his mission, Abu Hurayrah was one of the first to respond to his call. He was unlike the majority of the Daws who remained stubborn in their old beliefs for a long time. When at-Tufayl visited Makkah again, Abu Hurayrah accompanied him. There he had the honor and privilege of meeting the noble Prophet who asked him: "What is your name?" "Abdu Shams - Servant of a Sun," he replied. "Instead, let it be Abdur-Rahman - the Servant of the Beneficent Lord," said the Prophet. "Yes, Abdur-Rahman (it shall be) O Messenger of God," he replied. However, he continued to be known as Abu Hurayrah, "the kitten man", literally "the father of a kitten" because, like the Prophet, he was fond of cats and since his childhood often had a cat to play with. Abu Hurayrah stayed in Tihamah for several years and it was only at the beginning of the seventh year of the Hijrah that he arrived in Madinah with others of his tribe. The Prophet had gone on a campaign to Khaybar. Being destitute, Abu Hurayrah took up his place in the Masjid with other of the Ahl as-Suffah. He was single, without wife or child. With him however was his mother who was still a mushrik. He longed, and prayed, for her to become a Muslim but she adamantly refused. One day, he invited her to have faith in God alone and follow His Prophet but she uttered some words about the Prophet which saddened him greatly. With tears in his eyes, he went to the noble Prophet who said to him: "What makes you cry, O Abu Hurayrah?" "I have not let up in inviting my mother to Islam but she has always rebuffed me. Today, I invited her again and I heard words from her which I do not like. Do make supplication to God Almighty to make the heart of Abu Hurayrah's mother incline to Islam." The Prophet responded to Abu Hurayrah's request and prayed for his mother. Abu Hurayrah said: "I went home and found the door closed. I heard the splashing of water and when I tried to enter my mother said: "Stay where you are, O Abu Hurayrah." And after putting on her clothes, she said, "Enter!" I entered and she said: "I testify that there is no god but Allah and I testify that Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger." "I returned to the Prophet, peace be on him, weeping with joy just as an hour before I had gone weeping from sadness and said: "I have good news, O Messenger of Allah. God has responded to your prayer and guided the mother of Abu Hurayrah to Islam." Abu Hurayrah loved the Prophet a great deal and found favor with him. He was never tired of looking at the Prophet whose face appeared to him as having all the radiance of the sun and he was never tired of listening to him. Often he would praise God for his good fortune and say: "Praise be to God Who has guided Abu Hurayrah to Islam." Praise be to God Who has taught Abu Hurayrah the Quran." "Praise be to God who has bestowed on Abu Hurayrah the companionship of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace." On reaching Madinah, Abu Hurayrah set his heart on attaining knowledge. Zayd ibn Thabit the notable companion of the Prophet reported : "While Abu Hurayrah and I and another friend of mine were in the Masjid praying to God Almighty and performing dhikr to Him, the Messenger of God appeared. He came towards us and sat among us. We became silent and he said: "Carry on with what you were doing." "So my friend and I made a supplication to God before Abu Hurayrah did and the Prophet began to say Ameen to our dua. "Then Abu Hurayrah made a supplication saying: "O Lord, I ask You for what my two companions have asked and I ask You for knowledge which will not be forgotten." "The Prophet, peace be on him, said: 'Ameen.' "We then said: 'And we ask Allah for knowledge which will not be forgotten, and the Prophet replied: 'The Dawsi youth has asked for this before you." With his formidable memory, Abu Hurayrah set out to memorize in the four years that he spent with the Prophet, the gems of wisdom that emanated from his lips. He realized that he had a great gift and he set about to use it to the full in the service of Islam. He had free time at his disposal.

Unlike many of the Muhajirin he did not busy himself' in the market-places, with buying and selling.

Unlike many of the Ansar, he had no land to cultivate, nor crops to tend. He stayed with the Prophet in Madinah and went with him on journeys and expeditions. Many companions were amazed at the number of hadith he had memorized and often questioned him on when he had heard a certain hadith and under what circumstances. Once Marwan ibn al-Hakam wanted to test Abu Hurayrah's power of memory. He sat with him in one room and behind a curtain he placed a scribe, unknown to Abu Hurayrah, and ordered him to write down whatever Abu Hurayrah said. A year later, Marwan called Abu Hurayrah again and asked him to recall the same ahadith which the scribe had recorded. It was found that he had forgotten not a single word. Abu Hurayrah was concerned to teach and transmit the ahadith he had memorized and knowledge of Islam in general. It is reported that one day he passed through the suq of Madinah and naturally saw people engrossed in the business of buying and selling. "How feeble are you, O people of Madinah!" he said. "What do you see that is feeble in us, Abu Hurayrah?" they asked. "The inheritance of the Messenger of God, peace be on him, is being distributed and you remain here!

Won't you go and take your portion?" "Where is this, O Abu Hurayrah?" they asked. "In the Masjid," he replied. Quickly they left. Abu Hurayrah waited until they returned. When they saw him, they said: "O Abu Hurayrah, we went to the Masjid and entered and we did not see anything being distributed." "Didn't you see anyone in the Masjid?" he asked. "O yes, we saw some people performing Salat, some people reading the Quran and some people discussing about what is halal and what is haram." "Woe unto you," replied Abu Hurayrah," that is the inheritance of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace." Abu Hurayrah underwent much hardship and difficulties as a result of his dedicated search for knowledge. He was often hungry and destitute. He said about himself: "When I was afflicted with severe hunger, I would go to a companion' of the Prophet and asked him about an ayah of the Quran and (stay with him) learning it so that he would take me with him to his house and give food.

" One day, my hunger became so severe that I placed a stone on my stomach. I then sat down in the path of the companions. Abu Bakr passed by and I asked him about an ayah of the Book of God. I only asked him so that he would invite me but he didn't. "Then Umar ibn al-Khattab passed by me and I asked him about an ayah but he also did not invite me. Then the Messenger of God, peace be on him, passed by and realized that I was hungry and said: "Abu Hurayrah!" "At your command" I replied and followed him until we entered his house. He found a bowl of milk and asked his family:

"From where did you get this?" "Someone sent it to you" they replied. He then said to me: "O Abu Hurayrah, go to the Ahl as-Suffah and invite them." Abu Hurayrah did as he was told and they all drank from the milk. The time came of course when the Muslims were blessed with great wealth and material goodness of every description. Abu Hurayrah eventually got his share of wealth. He had a comfortable home, a wife and child. But this turn of fortune did not change his personality. Neither did he forget his days of destitution. He would "I grew up as an orphan and I emigrated as a poor and indigent person. I used to take food for my stomach from Busrah bint Ghazwan. I served people when they returned from journeys and led their camels when they set out. Then God caused me to marry her (Busrah). So praise be to God who has strengthened his religion and made Abu Hurayrah an imam." (This last statement is a reference to the time when he became governor of Madinah.) Much of Abu Hurayrah's time would be spent in spiritual exercises and devotion to God. Qiyam al-Layl staying up for the night in prayer and devotion - was a regular practice of his family including his wife and his daughter. He would stay up for a third of the night, his wife for another third and his daughter for a third. In this way, in the house of Abu Hurayrah no hour of the night would pass without ibadah, dhikr and Salat. During the caliphate of Umar, Umar appointed him as governor of Bahrain. Umar was very scrupulous about the type of persons whom he appointed as governors. He was always concerned that his governors should live simply and frugally and not acquire much wea lth even though this was through lawful means. In Bahrain, Abu Hurayrah became quite rich. Umar heard of this and recalled him to Madinah. Umar thought he had acquired his wealth through unlawful means and questioned him about where and how he had acquired such a fortune. Abu Hurayrah replied: "From breeding horses and gifts which I received." "Hand it over to the treasury of the Muslims," ordered Umar. Abu Hurayrah did as he was told and raised his hands to the heavens and prayed: "O Lord, forgive the Amir al-Muminin." Subsequently, Umar asked him to become governor once again but he declined. Umar asked him why he refused and he said: "So that my honor would not be besmirched, my wealth taken and my back beaten." And he added: "And I fear to judge without knowledge and speak without wisdom." Throughout his life Abu Hurayrah remained kind and courteous to his mother. Whenever he wanted to leave home, he would stand at the door of her room and say: As-salaamu alaykum, yaa ummataah, wa rahrnatullahi wa barakatuhu, peace be on you, mother, and the mercy and blessings of God." She would reply: "Wa alayka-s salaam, yaa bunayya, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu - And on you be peace, my son, and the mercy and blessings of God." Often, he would also say: "May God have mercy on you as you cared for me when I was small," and she would reply: "May God have mercy on you as you delivered me from error when I was old." Abu Hurayrah always encouraged other people to be kind and good to their parents. One day he saw two men walking together, one older than the other. He asked the younger one: "What is this man to you?" "My father," the person replied. "Don't call him by his name. Don't walk in front of him and don't sit before him," advised Abu Hurayrah. Muslims owe a debt of gratitude to Abu Hurayrah for helping to preserve and transmit the valuable legacy of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace. He died in the year 59 AH when he was seventy-eight years old.

Abdur-Rahman Ibn Awf

He was one of the first eight persons to accept Islam. He was one of the ten persons (al-asharatu-l mubashshirin) who were assured of entering Paradise. He was one of the six persons chosen by Umar to form the council of shura to choose the Khalifah after his death. His name in Jahiliyyah days was Abu Amr. But when he accepted Islam the noble Prophet called him Abdur-Rahman - the servant of the Beneficent God. Abdur-Rahman became a Muslim before the Prophet entered the house of al-Arqam. In fact it is said that he accepted Islam only two days after Abu Bakr as-Siddiq did so. Abdur-Rahman did not escape the punishment which the early Muslims suffered at the hands of the Quraysh. He bore this punishment with steadfastness as they did. He remained firm as they did. And when they were compelled to leave Makkah for Abyssinia because of the continuous and unbearable persecution, Abdur-Rahman also went. He returned to Makkah when it was rumored that conditions for the Muslims had improved but, when these rumors proved to be false, he left again for Abyssinia on a second hijrah. From Makkah once again he made the hijrah to Madinah. Soon after arriving in Madinah, the Prophet in his unique manner began pairing off the Muhajirin and the Ansar. This established a firm bond of brotherhood and was meant to strengthen social cohesion and ease the destitution of the Muhajirin. Abdur-Rahman was linked by the Prophet with Sad ibn ar-Rabi'ah. Sad in the spirit of generosity and magnanimity with which the Ansar greeted the Muhajirin, said to Abdur-Rahman:

"My brother! Among the people of Madinah I have the most wealth. I have two orchards and I have two wives. See which of the two orchards you like and I shall vacate it for you and which of my two wives is pleasing to you and I will divorce her for you." Abdur-Rahman must have been embarrassed and said in reply: "May God bless you in your family and your wealth. But just show me where the suq is.." Abdur-Rahman went to the market-place and began trading with whatever little resources he had. He bought and sold and his profits grew rapidly. Soon he was sufficiently well off and was able to get married. He went to the noble Prophet with the scent of perfume lingering over him. "Mahyarn, O Abdur-Rahman!" exclaimed the Prophet - "mahyam" being a word of Yemeni origin which indicates pleasant surprise. "I have got married," replied Abdur-Rahman. "And what did you give your wife as mahr?" "The weight of a nuwat in gold." "You must have a walimah (wedding feast) even if it is with a single sheep. And may Allah bless you in your wealth," said the Prophet with obvious pleasure and encouragement. Thereafter Abdur-Rahman grew so accustomed to business success that he said if he lifted a stone he expected to find gold or silver under it! Abdur-Rahman distinguished himself in both the battles of Badr and Uhud. At Uhud he remained firm throughout and suffered more than twenty wounds some of them deep and severe. Even so, his physical jihad was matched by his jihad with his wealth. Once the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, was preparing to despatch an expeditionary force. He summoned his companions and said: "Contribute sadaqah for I want to despatch an expedition." Abdur-Rahman went to his house and quickly returned. "O Messenger of God," he said, "I have four thousand (dinars). I give two thousand as a qard to my Lord and two thousand I leave for my family. " When the Prophet decided to send an expedition to distant Tabuk - this was the last ghazwah of his life that he mounted - his need for finance and material was not greater than his need for men for the Byzantine forces were a numerous and well-equipped foe. That year in Madinah was one of drought and hardship. The journey to Tabuk was long, more that a thousand kilometers. Provisions were in short supply. Transport was at a premium so much so that a group of Muslims came to the Prophet pleading to go with him but he had to turn them away because he could find no transport for them. These men were sad and dejected and came to be known as the Bakka'in or the Weepers and the army itself was called the Army of Hardship ('Usrah). Thereupon the Prophet called upon his companions to give generously for the war effort in the path of God and assured them they would be rewarded. The Muslims' response to the Prophet's call was immediate and generous. In the forefront of those who responded was Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. He donated two hundred awqiyyah of gold whereupon Umar ibn al-Khattab said to the Prophet: "I have (now) seen Abdur-Rahman committing a wrong. He has not left anything for his family." "Have you left anything for your family, Abdur-Rahman?" asked the Prophet. "Yes," replied Abdur-Rahman. "I have left for them more than what I give and better." "How much?" enquired the Prophet. "What God and His Messenger have promised of sustenance, goodness and reward," replied Abdur-Rahman. The Muslim army eventually left for Tabuk. There Abdur-Rahman was blessed with an honor which was not conferred on anyone till then. The time of Salat came and the Prophet, peace be on him, was not there at the time. The Muslims chose Abdur-Rahman as their imam. The first rakat of the Salat was almost completed when the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, joined the worshippers and performed the Salat behind Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. Could there be a greater honor conferred on anyone than to have been the imam of the most honored of God's creation, the imam of the Prophets, the imam of Muhammad, the Messenger of God! When the Prophet, peace be on him, passed away, Abdur-Rahman took on the responsibility of looking after the needs of his family, the Ummahaat al-Muminin. He would go with them wherever they wanted to and he even performed Hajj with them to ensure that a ll their needs were met.

This is a sign of the trust and confidence which he enjoyed on the part of the Prophet's family.

Abdur-Rahman's support for the Muslims and the Prophet's wives in particular was well-known.

Once he sold a piece of land for forty thousand dinars and he distributed the entire amount among the Banu Zahrah (the relatives of the Prophet's mother Aminah), the poor among the Muslims and the Prophet's wives. When Aishah, may God be pleased with her, received some of this money she asked: "Who has sent this money?" and was told it was Abdur-Rahman, whereupon she said: "The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: No one will feel compassion towards you after I die except the sabirin (those who are patient and resolute)." The prayer of the noble Prophet that Allah should bestow barakah on the wealth of Abdur-Rahman appeared to be with Abdur-Rahman throughout his life. He became the richest man among the companions of the Prophet. His business transactions invariably met with success and his wealth continued to grow. His trading caravans to and from Madinah grew larger and larger bringing to the people of Madinah wheat, flour, butter, cloths, utensils, perfume and whatever else was needed and exporting whatever surplus pr oduce they had. One day, a loud rumbling sound was heard coming from beyond the boundaries of Madinah normally a calm and peaceful city. The rumbling sound gradually increased in volume. In addition, clouds of dust and sand were stirred up and blown in the wind. The people of Madinah soon realized that a mighty caravan was entering the city. They stood in amazement as seven hundred camels laden with goods moved into the city and crowded the streets. There was much shouting and excitement as people called to one another to come out and witness the sight and see what goods and sustenance the camel caravan had brought. Aishah, may God be pleased with her, heard the commotion and asked: "What is this that's happening in Madinah?" and she was told: "It is the caravan of Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf which has come from Syria bearing his merchandise." "A caravan making all this commotion?" she asked in disbelief." "Yes, O Umm al-Muminin. There are seven hundred camels." Aishah shook her head and gazed in the distance as if she was trying to recall some scene or utterance of the past and then she said: "I have heard the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, say: I have seen Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl entering Paradise creeping." Why creeping? Why should he not enter Paradise leaping and at a quick pace with the early companions of the Prophet? Some friends of his related to Abdur-Rahman the hadith which Aishah had mentioned. He remembered that he had heard the hadith more than once from the Prophet and he hurried to the house of Aishah and said to her: "Yaa Ammah! Have you heard that from the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace?" "Yes," she replied. "You have reminded me of a hadith which I have never forgotten," he is also reported to have said. He was so over-joyed and added: "If I could I would certainly like to enter Paradise standing. I swear to you, yaa Ammah, that this entire caravan with all its merchandise, I will giver sabilillah." And so he did. In a great festival of charity and righteousness, he distributed all that the massive caravan had brought to the people of Madinah and surrounding areas. This is just one incident which showed what type of man Abdur-Rahman was. He earned much wealth but he never remained attached to it for its own sake and he did not allow it to corrupt him. Abdur-Rahman's generosity did not stop there. He continued giving with both his hands, secretly and openly. Some of the figures mentioned are truly astounding: forty thousand dirhams of silver, forty thousand dinars of gold, two hundred awqiyyah of gold, five hundred horses to mujahidin setting out in the path of God and one thousand five hundred camels to another group of mujahidin, four hundred dinars of gold to the survivors of Badr and a large legacy to the Ummahaat al Muminin and the catalogue goes on. On account of this fabulous generosity, Aishah said: "May God give him to drink from the water of Salsabil (a spring in Paradise)." All this wealth did not corrupt Abdur-Rahman and did not change him. When he was among his workers and assistants, people could not distinguish him from them. One day food was brought to him with which to end a fast. He looked at the food and said: "Musab ibn Umayr has been killed. He was better than me. We did not find anything of his to shroud him with except what covered his head but left his legs uncovered. . Then God endowed us with the (bounties of) the world... I really fear that our reward h as been bestowed on us early (in this world)." He began to cry and sob and could not eat. May Abdur-Rahman ibn Awl be granted felicity among "those who spend their substance in the cause of God and follow up not their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury. For them their reward is with their Lord, on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve". (The Quran, Surah al-Baqarah, 2: 262).

Ubayy Ibn Kab

"O Abu Mundhir! Which verse of the Book of God is the greatest?" asked the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. "Allah and His Messenger know best," came the reply. The Prophet repeated the question and Abu Mundhir replied. "Allah, there is no god but He, the Living the Self-Subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth, ..." and most likely he went on to complete the Verse of the Throne (Ayat al-Kurs i). The Prophet smote his chest with his right hand in approval on hearing the reply and with his countenance beaming with happiness, said to Abu Mundhir. "May knowledge delight and benefit you, Abu Mundhir." This Abu Mundhir whom the Prophet congratulated on the knowledge and understanding which God had bestowed on him was Ubayy ibn Kab, one of his distinguished companions and a person of high esteem in the early Muslim community. Ubayy was one of the Ansar and belonged to the Khazraj tribe. He was one of the first persons of Yathrib to accept Islam. He pledged allegiance to the Prophet at Aqabah before the Hijrah.

He participated in the Battle of Badr and other engagements there after. Ubayy was one of the select few who committed the Quranic revelations to writing and had a Mushaf of his own. He acted as a scribe of the Prophet, writing letters for him. At the demise of the Prophet, he was one of the twenty five or so people who knew the Quran completely by heart. His recitation was so beautiful and his understanding so profound that the Prophet encouraged his companions to learn the Quran from him and from three others. Later, Umar too once told the Muslims as he was dealing with some financial matters of state: "O people! Whoever wants to ask about the Quran, let him go to Ubayy ibn Kab..." (Umar went on to say that anyone wishing to ask about inheritance matters should go to Zayd ibn Thabit, about questions of fiqh to Muadh ibn Jabal and about questions of money and finance, to himself.) Ubayy enjoyed a special honor with regard to the Quran. One day, the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said: "O Ubayy ibn Kab! I have been commanded to show or lay open the Quran to you." Ubayy was elated. He knew of course that the Prophet only received commands from on high. Unable to control his excitement, he asked: "O Messenger of God...Have I been mentioned to you by name?" "Yes," replied the Prophet, "by your own name and by your genealogy (nasab) in the highest heavens." Any Muslim whose name had been conveyed to the heart of the Prophet in this manner must certainly have been of great ability and of a tremendously high stature. Throughout the years of his association with the Prophet, Ubayy derived the maximum benefit from his sweet and noble personality and from his noble teachings. Ubayy related that the Prophet once asked him: "Shall I not teach you a surah the like of which has not been revealed in the Tawrah, nor in the Injil, nor in the Zabur, nor in the Quran?" "Certainly," replied Ubayy. "I hope you would not leave through that door until you know what it is," said the Prophet obviously prolonging the suspense for Ubayy. Ubayy continues: "He stood up and I stood up with him. He started to speak, with my hand in his. I tried to delay him fearing that he would leave before letting me know what the surah is. When he reached the door, I asked: "O Messenger of God! The surah which you promised to tell me..." He replied: "What do you recite when you stand for Salat?" So, I recited for him Fatihatu-l Kitab (the Opening Chapter of the Quran) and he said: "(That's) it! (That's) it! They are the seven oft-repeated verses of which God Almighty has said: We have given you the seven oft-repeated verses and the Mighty Quran." Ubayy's devotion to the Quran was uncompromising. Once he recited part of a verse which the Khalifah Umar apparently could not remember or did not know and he said to Ubayy: "Your have lied," to which Ubayy retorted; "Rather, you have lied." A person who heard the exchange was astounded and said to Ubayy: "Do you call the Amir al-Muminin a liar?" "I have greater honor and respect for the Amir al-Muminin than you," responded Ubayy," but he has erred in verifying the Book of God and I shall not say the Amir al-Muminin is correct when he has made an error concerning the Book of God." "Ubayy is right," concluded Umar. Ubayy gave an idea of the importance of the Quran when a man came to him and said, "Advise me," and he replied: "Take the Book of God as (your) leader (imam). Be satisfied with it as (your) judge and ruler. It is what the Prophet has bequeathed to you. (It is your) intercessor with God and should be obeyed..." After the demise of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Ubayy remained strong in his attachment to Islam and his commitment to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet. He was constant in his ibadah and would often be found in the mosque at night, after the last obligatory Prayer had been performed, engaged in worship or in teaching. Once he was sitting in the mosque after Salat with a group of Muslims, making supplication to God. Umar came in and sat with them and asked each one to recite a dua. They all did until finally Ubayy's turn came. He was sitting next to Umar. He felt somewhat over-awed and became flustered. Umar prompted him and suggested that he say: "Allahumma ighfir lanaa. Allahumma irhamnaa. O Lord, forgive us, O Lord, have mercy on us." Taqwa remained the guiding force in Ubayy's life. He lived simply and did not allow the world to corrupt or deceive him. He had a good grasp of reality and knew that however a person lived and whatever comforts and luxuries he enjoyed, these would all fade away and he would have only his good deeds to his credit. He was always a sort of warner to Muslims, reminding them of the times of the Prophet, of the Muslims' devotion to Islam then, of their simplicity and spirit of sacrifice. Many people came to him seeking knowledge and advice. To one such person he said. "The believer has four characteristics. If he is afflicted by any misfortune, he remains patient and steadfast. If he is given anything, he is grateful. If he speaks, he speaks the truth. If he passes a judgment on any issue, he is just." Ubayy attained a position of great honor and esteem among the early Muslims. Umar called him the "sayyid of the Muslims" and he came to be widely known by this title. He was part of the consultative group (mushawarah) to which Abu Bakr, as Khalifah, referred many problems.

This group was composed of men of good sense and judgment (ahl ar-ray) and men who knew the law (ahl al-fiqh) from among the Muhajirin and Ansar. It included Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur Rahman ibn Awl, Muadh ibn Jabal, Ubayy ibn Kab and Zayd ibn Harith. Umar later consulted the same group when he was Khalifah. Specifically for fatwas (legal judgments) he referred to Uthman, Ubayy and Zayd ibn Thabit. Because of Ubayy's high standing, one might have expected him to have been given positions of administrative responsibility, for example as a governor, in the rapidly expanding Muslim state.

(During the time of the Prophet in fact he had performed the function of a collector of sadaqah.) Indeed, Ubayy once asked "What's the matter with you? Why don't you appoint me as a governor?" "I do not want your religion to be corrupted" replied Umar. Ubayy was probably prompted to put the question to Umar when he saw that Muslims were tending to drift from the purity of faith and self-sacrifice of the days of the Prophet. He was known to be especially critical of the excessively polite and sycophantic attitude of many Muslims to their governors which he felt brought ruin both to the governors and those under them. Ubayy for his part was always honest and frank in his dealings with persons in authority and feared no one but God. He acted as a sort of conscience to the Muslims. One of Ubayy's major fears for the Muslim ummah was that a day would come when there would be severe strife among Muslims. He often became overwhelmed with emotion when he read or heard the verse of the Quran." "Say: He (Allah) has power to send calamities on you, from above and below, or to cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance, each from the other." (Surah al-An'am, 6: 65) He would then pray fervently to God for guidance and ask for His clemency and forgiveness. Ubayy died in the year 29 AH during the caliphate of Uthman.

Suhayb Ar-Rumi

About twenty years before the start of the Prophet's mission, that is about the middle of the sixth century CE, an Arab named Sinan ibn Malik governed the city of al-Uballah on behalf of the Persian emperor. The city, which is now part of Basrah, lay on the banks of the Euphrates River. Sinan lived in a luxurious palace on the banks of the river. He had several children and was particularly fond of one of them who was then barely five years old. His name was Suhayb. He was blond and fair-complexioned. He was active and alert and gave much pleasure to his father. One day Suhayb's mother took him and some members of her household to a village called ath-Thani for a picnic.

What was to be a relaxing and enjoyable day turned out to be a terrifying experience that was to change the course of young Suhayb's life forever. That day, the village of ath-Thani was attacked, by a raiding party of Byzantine soldiers. The guards accompanying the picnic party were overwhelmed and killed. Ali possessions were seized and a large number of persons were taken prisoner. Among these was Suhayb ibn Sinan. Suhayb was taken to one of the slave markets of the Byzantine Empire, the capital of which was Constantinople, there to be sold. Thereafter he passed from the hands of one slave master to another. His fate was no different from thousands of other slaves who filled the houses, the palaces and castles of Byzantine rulers and aristocrats. Suhayb spent his boyhood and his youth as a slave.

For about twenty years he stayed in Byzantine lands. This gave him the opportunity to get a rare knowledge and understanding of Byzantine life and society. In the palaces of the aristocracy, he saw with his own eyes the injustices and the corruption of Byzantine life. He detested that society and later would say to himself: "A society like this can only be purified by a deluge." Suhayb of course grew up speaking Greek, the language of the Byzantine Empire. He practically forgot Arabic. But he never forgot that he was a son of the desert. He longed for the day when he woul d be free again to join his people's folk. At the first opportunity Suhayb escaped from bondage and headed straight for Makkah which was a place of refuge or asylum. There people called him Suhayb "ar-Rumi" or "the Byzantine" because of his peculiarly heavy speech and his blond hair. He became the halif of one of the aristocrats of Makkah, Abdullah ibn Judan. He engaged in trade and prospered. In fact, he became quite rich. One day he returned to Makkah from one of his trading journeys. He was told that Muhammad the son of Abdullah had begun calling people to believe in God alone, commanding them to be just and to do good works and prohibiting them from shameful and reprehen sible deeds. He immediately enquired who Muhammad was and where he stayed. He was told. "(He stays) in the house or' al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam. Be careful however that no Quraysh sees you. If they see you they would do (the most terrible things to you). You are a stranger here and there is no bond of asabiyyahi to protect you, neither have you any clan to help you." Suhayb went cautiously to the house of al-Arqam. At the door he found Ammar ibn Yasir the young son of a Yemeni father who was known to him. He hesitated for a moment then went up to Ammar and said: "What do you want (here), Ammar?" "Rather, what do you want here'?" countered Ammar. "I want to go to this man and hear directly from him what he is saying." "I also want to do that." "Then let us enter together, ala barakatillah (with the blessings of God)." Suhayb and Ammar entered and listened to what Muhammad was saying. They were both readily convinced of the truth of his message. The light of faith entered their hearts. At this meeting, they pledged fealty to the Prophet, declaring that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. They spent the entire day in the company of the noble Prophet. At night, under cover of darkness, they left the house of al-Arqam, their hearts aglow with the light of faith and their faces beaming with ha ppiness. Then the familiar pattern of events followed. The idolatrous Quraysh learnt about Suhayb's acceptance of Islam and began harassing and persecuting him. Suhayb bore his share of the persecution in the same way as Bilal, Ammar and his mother Sumayyah, Kha bbab and many others who professed Islam. The punishment was inhuman and severe but Suhayb bore it all with a patient and courageous heart because he knew that the path to Jannah is paved with thorns and difficulties. The teachings of the noble Prophet had instilled in him and other companions a rare strength and courage. When the Prophet gave permission for his followers to migrate to Madinah, Suhayb resolved to go in the company of the Prophet and Abu Bakr. The Quraysh however found out about his intentions and foiled his plans. They placed guards over him to prevent him from leaving and taking with him the wealth, the gold and the silver, which he had acquired through trade. After the departure of the Prophet and Abu Bakr, Suhayb continued to bide his time, waiting for an opportunity to join them.

He remained unsuccessful. The eyes of his guards were ever alert and watchful. The only way out was to resort to a stratagem. One cold night, Suhayb pretended he had some stomach problems and went out repeatedly as if responding to calls of nature. His captors said one to another: "Don't worry. Al-Laat and al-Uzza are keeping him busy with his stomach." They became relaxed and sleep got the better of them. Suhayb quietly slipped out as if he was going to the toilet. He armed himself, got ready a mount and headed in the direction of Madinah. When his captors awoke, they realized with a start that Suhayb was gone. They got horses ready and set out in hot pursuit and eventually caught up with him. Seeing them approach, Suhayb clambered up a hill. Holding his bow and arrow at the ready, he shou ted: "Men of Quraysh! You know, by God, that I am one of the best archers and my aim is unerring. By God, if you come near me, with each arrow I have, I shall kill one of you. Then I shall strike with my sword." A Quraysh spokesman responded: By God , we shall not let you escape from us with your life and money. You came to Makkah weak and poor and you have acquired what you have acquired.." "What would you say if I leave you my wealth?" interrupted Suhayb. "Would you get out of my way?" "Yes," they agreed. Suhayb described the place in his house in Makkah where he had left the money, and they allowed him to go. He set off as quickly as he could for Madinah cherishing the prospect of being with the Prophet and of having the freedom to worship God in peace. On his way to Madinah, whenever he felt tired, the thought of meeting the Prophet sustained him and he proceeded with increased determination. When Suhayb reached Quba, just outside Madinah where the Prophet himself alighted after his Hijrah, the Prophet saw him approaching. He was over-joyed and greeted Suhayb with beaming smiles. "Your transaction has been fruitful, O Abu Yahya. Your transaction has been fruitful." He repeated this three times.

Suhayb's face beamed with happiness as he said: "By God, no one has come before me to you, Messenger of God, and only JibriI could have t old you about this." Yes indeed! Suhayb's transaction was fruitful. Revelation from on high affirmed the truth of this: "And there is a type of man who gives his life to earn the pleasure of God. And God is full of kindness to His servants." (The Quran, Surah al-Baqarah, 2:2O7). What is money and what is gold and what is the entire world so long as faith remains! The Prophet loved Suhayb a great deal. He was commended by the Prophet and described as preceding the Byzantines to Islam. In addition to his piety and sobriety, Suhayb was also light-hearted at times and had a good sense of humor. One day the Prophet saw him eating dates. He noticed that Suhayb had an infection in one eye. The Prophet said to him laughingly: "Do you eat ripe dates while you have an infection in one eye ?" "What's wrong?" replied Suhayb, "I am eating it with the other eye." Suhayb was also known for his generosity. He used to give all his stipend from the public treasury fi sabilillah, to help the poor and those in distress. He was a good example of the Quranic verse: "He gives food for the love of God to the needy, the orphan and the captive." So generous was he that Umar once remarked: "I have seen you giving out so much food that you appear to be too extravagant." Suhayb replied: "I have heard the Messenger of God say: 'The best of you is the one who gives out food.'" Suhayb's piety and his standing among MusIims was so high that he was selected by Umar ibn al-Khattab to lead the Muslims in the period between his death and the choosing of his successor. As he lay dying after he was stabbed by a Magian, Abu Lulu, while leading the Fajr Salat, Umar summoned six of the companions: Uthman, Ali, Talhah, Zubayr, Abdur Rahman ibn Awl, and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas. He did not appoint anyone of them as his successor, because if he had done so according to one report "there would have been for a short time two Khalifahs looking at each other". He instructed the six to consult among themselves and with the Muslims for three days and choose a successor, and then he sai d: "Wa-l yusalli bi-n nas Suhayb - Let Suhayb lead the people in Salat." In the period when there was no Khalifah, Suhayb was given the responsibility and the honor of leading the Salat and of being, in other words, the head of the Muslim community. Suhayb's appointment by Umar showed how well people from a wide variety of backgrounds were integrated and honoured in the community of Islam. Once during the time of the Prophet, a hypocrite named Qays ibn Mutatiyah tried to pour scorn and disgrace on sections of the community. Qays had come upon a study circle (halqah) in which were Salman al-Farsi, Suhayb ar-Rumi and Bilal al-Habashi, may God be pleased with them, and remarked: "The Aws and the Khazraj have stood up in defence of this man (Muhammad). And what are these people doing with him'?" Muadh was furious and informed the Prophet of what Qays had said. The Prophet was very angry. He entered the mosque and the Call to Prayer was given, for this was the method of summoning the Muslims for an important announcement. Then he stood up, praised and glorified God and said: "Your Lord is One. Your ancestor is one. Your religion is one. Take heed. Arabism is not conferred on you through your mother or father. It is through the tongue (i.e.

the language of Arabic), so whoever speaks Arabic, he is an Arab”

Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah

In giving advice to his companions, the noble Prophet, peace be on him, once said: "Learn the Quran from four persons: Abdullah ibn Masud, Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah, Ubayy ibn Kab and Muadh ibn Jabal." We have read about three of these companions before. But who was this fourth companion in whom the Prophet had so much confidence that he considered him a hujjah or competent authority to teach the Quran and be a source of reference for it? Salim was a slave and when he accepted Islam he was adopted as a son by a Muslim who was formerly a leading nobleman of the Quraysh. When the practice of adoption (in which the adopted person was called the son of his adopted father) was banned, Salim simply became a brother, a companion and a mawla (protected person) of the one who had adopted him, Abu Hudhayfah ibn Utbah. Through the blessings of Islam, Salim rose to a position of high esteem among the Muslims by virtue of his noble conduct and his piety. Both Salim and Abu Hudhayfah accepted Islam early. Abu Hudhayfah himself did so in the face of bitter opposition from his father, the notorious Utbah ibn Rabi'ah who was particularly virulent in his attacks against the Prophet, peace be upon him, and his companions. When the verse of the Quran was revealed abolishing adoption, people like Zayd and Salim had to change their names. Zayd who was known as Zayd ibn Muhammad had to be called after his own natural father. Henceforth he was known as Zayd ibn Harithah. Salim however did not know the name of his father. Indeed he did not know who his father was. However he remained under the protection of Abu Hudhayfah and so came to be known as Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah. In abolishing the practice of adoption, Islam wanted to emphasize the bonds and responsibilities of natural kinship. However, no relationship was greater or stronger than the bond of Islam and the ties of faith which was the basis of brotherhood. The early Muslims understood this very well. There was nobody dearer to anyone of them after Allah and His Messenger than their brethren in faith.

We have seen how the Ansar of Madinah welcomed and accepted the Muhajirin from Makkah and shared with them their homes and their wealth and their hearts. This same spirit of brotherhood we see in the relationship between the Quraysh aristocrat, Abu Hudhayfah, and the lowly slave, Salim.

They remained to the very end of their lives something more than brothers; they died together, one body beside the other one soul with the other. Such was the unique greatness of Islam. Ethnic background and social standing had no worth in the sight of God. Only faith and taqwa mattered as the verses of the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet emphasized over and over again: "The most honorable of you in the sight of God, is the most God-fearing of you," says the Quran. "No Arab has an advantage over a non-Arab except in taqwa (piety)," taught the noble Prophet who also said:

"The son of a white woman has no advantage over the son of a black woman except in taqwa." In the new and just society rounded by Islam, Abu Hudhayfah found honor for himself in protecting the one who was a slave. In this new and rightly-guided society rounded by Islam, which destroyed unjust class divisions and false social distinctions Salim found himself, through his honesty, his faith and his willingness to sacrifice, in the front line of the believers. He was the "imam" of the Muhajirin from Makkah to Madinah, leading them in Salat in the masjid at Quba which was built by the blessed hands of the Prophet himself. He became a competent authority in the Book of God so much so that the Prophet recommended that the Muslims learn the Quran from him. Salim was even further blessed and enjoyed a high estimation in the eyes of the Prophet, peace be on him, who said of him. "Praise be to God Who has made among my Ummah such as you." Even his fellow Muslim brothers used to call him "Salim min as-Salihin - Salim one of the righteous". The story of Salim is like the story of Bilal and that of tens of other slaves and poor persons whom Islam raised from slavery and degradation and 'made them, in the society of guidance and justice - imams, leaders and military commanders. Salim's personality was shaped by Islamic virtues. One of these was his outspokenness when he felt it was his duty to speak out especially when a wrong was committed. A well-known incident to illustrate this occurred after the liberation of Makkah. The Prophet sent some of his companions to the villages and tribes around the city. He specified that they were being sent as du'at to invite people to Islam and not as fighters. Khalid ibn al-Walid was one of those sent out. During the mission however, to settle an old score from the days of Jahiliyyah, he fought with and killed a man even though the man testified that he was now a Muslim. Accompanying Khalid on this mission was Salim and others. As soon as Salim saw what Khalid had done he went up to him and reprimanded him listing the mistakes he had committed.

Khalid, the great leader and military commander both during the days of Jahil iyyah and now in Islam, was silent for once. Khalid then tried to defend himself with increasing fervor. But Salim stood his ground and stuck to his view that Khalid had committed a grave error. Salim did not look upon Khalid then as an abject slave would look upon a powerful Makkan nobleman. Not at all. Islam had placed them on an equal footing. It was justice and truth that had to be defended. He did not look upon him as a leader whose mistakes were to be covered up or justified but rather as an equal partner in carrying out a responsibility and an obligation. Neither did he come out in opposition to Khalid out of prejudice or passion but out of sincere advice and mutual self-criticism which Islam has hallowed. Such mutual sincerity was repeatedly emphasized by the Prophet himself when he said: "Ad-dinu an-Nasihah. Ad-din u an-Nasihah. Ad-din u an-Nasihah." "Religion is sincere advice.

Religion is sincere advice. Religion is sincere advice." When the Prophet heard what Khalid had done, he was deeply grieved and made long and fervent supplication to his Lord. "O Lord," he said, "I am innocent before you of what Khalid has done." And he asked: "Did anyone reprimand him?" The Prophet's anger subsided somewhat when he was told: "Yes, Salim reprimanded him and opposed him." Salim lived close to the Prophet and the believers. He was never slow or reluctant in his worship nor did he miss any campaign. In particular, the strong brotherly relationship which existed between him and Abu Hudhayfah grew with the passing days. The Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, passed away to his Lord. Abu Bakr assumed responsibility for the affairs of Muslims and immediately had to face the conspiracies of the apostates which resulted in the terrible battle of Yamamah. Among the Muslim forces which made their way to the central heartlands of Arabia was Salim and his "brother", Abu Hudhayfah. At the beginning of the battle, the Muslim forces suffered major reverses. The Muslims fought as individuals and so the strength that comes from solidarity was initially absent. But Khalid ibn al-Walid regrouped the Muslim forces anew and managed to achieve an amazing coordination. Abu Hudhayfah and Salim embraced each other and made a vow to seek martyrdom in the path of the religion of Truth and thus attain felicity in the hereafter.

Yamamah was their tryst with destiny. To spur on the Muslims Abu Hudhayfah shouted: "Yaa ahl al-Qu ran - O people of the Quran! Adorn the Quran with your deeds," as his sword flashed through the army of Musaylamah the imposter like a whirlwind. Salim in his turn shouted: "What a wretched bearer of the Quran am I, if the Muslims are attacked from my direction. Far be it from you, O Salim! Instead, be you a worthy bearer and With renewed courage he plunged into the battle. When the standard-bearer of the Muhajirin, Zayd ibn al-Khattab, fell. Salim bore aloft the flag and continued fighting. His right hand was then severed and he held the standard aloft with his left hand while reciting aloud the verse of the glorious Quran: "How many a Prophet fought in God's way and with him (fought) large bands of godly men! But they never lost heart if they met with disaster in God's way, nor did they weaken (in will) nor give in. And God loves those who are firm and steadfast." What an inspiring verse for such an occasion! And what a fitting epitaph for someone who had dedicated his life for the sake of Islam! A wave of apostates then overwhelmed Salim and he fell. Some life remained with him until the battle came to an end with the death of Musaylamah. When the Muslims went about searching for their victims and their martyrs, they found Salim in the last throes of death. As his life-blood ebbed away he asked them: "What has happened to Abu Hudhayfah?" "He has been martyred," came the reply. "Then put me to lie next to him," said Salim. "He is close to you, Salim. He was martyred in this same place." Salim smiled a last faint smile and spoke no more. Both men had realized what they had hoped for. Together they entered Islam. Together they lived. And together they were martyred. Salim, that great believer passed away to his Lord. Of him, the great Umar ibn al-Khattab spoke as he lay dying: "If Salim were alive, I would have appointed him my successor."

Said Ibn Zayd

Zayd the son of Amr stood away from the Quraysh crowd as they celebrated one of their festivals.

Men were dressed in rich turbans of brocade and expensive Yemeni burdabs. Women and children were also exquisitely turned out in their fine clothes and glittering jewelry. Zayd watched as sacrificial animals, gaily caparisoned were led out to slaughter before the Quraysh idols. It was difficult for him to remain silent. Leaning against a wall of the Kabah, he shouted: "O people of Quraysh! It is God Who has created the sheep. He it is Who has sent down rain from the skies of which they drink and He has caused fodder to grow from the earth with which they are fed. Then even so you slaughter them in names other than His. Indeed, I see that you are an ignorant folk." Zayd's uncle al-Khattab, the father of Umar ibn al-Khattab, seethed with anger. He strode up to Zayd, slapped him on the face and shouted: "Damn you! We still hear from you such stupidity. We have borne it until our patience is exhausted." Al-Khattab then incited a number of violent people to harass and persecute Zayd and make life extremely uncomfortable for him. These incidents which took place before Muhammad's call to Prophethood gave a foretaste of the bitter conflict that was to take place between the upholders of truth and the stubborn adherents of idolatrous practices. Zayd was one of the few men, known as hanifs, who saw these idolatrous practices for what they were. Not only did he refuse to take part in them himself but he refused to eat anything that was sacrificed to idols. He proclaimed that he worshipped the God of Ibrahim and, as the above incident showed, was not afraid to challenge his people in public. On the other hand, his uncle al-Khattab was a staunch follower of the old pagan ways of the Quraysh and he was shocked by Zayd's public disregard for the gods and goddesses they worshipped. So he had him hounded and persecuted to the point where he was forced to leave the valley of Makkah and seek refuge in the surrounding mountains. He even appointed a band of young men whom he instructed not to allow Zayd to approach Makkah and enter the Sanctuary.

Zayd only managed to enter Makkah in secret. There unknown to the Quraysh he met with people like Waraqah ibn Nawfal, Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Uthman ibn al-Harith and Umaymah bint Abdul Muttalib, the paternal aunt of Muhammad ibn Abdullah. They discussed how deeply immersed the Arabs were in their misguided ways. To his friends, Zayd spoke thus: "Certainly, by God, you know that your people have no valid grounds for their beliefs and that they have distorted and transgressed from the religion of Ibrahim. Adopt a religion which you can follow and which can bring you salvation." Zayd and his companions then went to Jewish rabbis and Christian scholars and people of other communities in an attempt to learn more and go back to the pure religion of Ibrahim. Of the four persons mentioned, Waraqah ibn Nawfal became a Christian. Abdullah ibn Jahsh and Uthman ibn al-Harith did not arrive at any definite conclusion. Zayd ibn Amr however had quite a different story. Finding it impossible to stay in Makkah, he left the Hijaz and went as far as Mosul in the north of Iraq and from there southwest into Syria. Throughout his journeys, he always questioned monks and rabbis about the religion of Ibrahim. He found no satisfaction until he came upon a monk in Syria who tol d him that the religion he was seeking did not exist any longer but the time was now near when God would send forth, from his own people whom he had left, a Prophet who would revive the religion of Ibrahim. The monk advised him that should he see this Prophet he should have no hesitation in recognizing and following him. Zayd retraced his steps and headed for Makkah intending to meet the expected Prophet. As he was passing through the territory of Lakhm on the southern border of Syria he was attacked by a group of nomad Arabs and killed before he could set eyes on the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace. However, before he breathed his last, he raised his eyes to the heavens and said: "O Lord, if You have prevented me from attaining this good, do not prevent my son from doing so." When Waraqah heard of Zayd's death, he is said to have written an elegy in praise of him. The Prophet also commended him and said that on the day of Resurrection "he will be raised as having, in himself alone, the worth of a whole people". God, may He be glorified, heard the prayer of Zayd. When Muhammad the Messenger of God rose up inviting people to Islam, his son Said was in the forefront of those who believed in the oneness of God and who affirmed their faith in the prophethood of Muhammad. This is not strange for Said grew up in a household which repudiated the idolatrous ways of the Quraysh and he was instructed by a father who spent his life searching for Truth and who died in its pursuit. Said was not yet twenty when he embraced Islam. His young and steadfast wife Fatimah, daughter of al-Khattab and sister of Umar, also accepted Islam early. Evidently both Said and Fatimah managed to conceal their acceptance of Islam from the Quraysh and especially from Fatimah's family for some time. She had cause to fear not only her father but her brother Umar who was brought up to venerate the Kabah and to cherish the unity of the Quraysh and their religion. Umar was a headstrong young man of great determination. He saw Islam as a threat to the Quraysh and became most violent and unrestrained in his attacks on Muslims. He finally decided that the only way to put an end to the trouble was to eliminate the man who was its cause. Goaded on by blind fury he took up his sword and headed for the Prophet's house. On his way he came face to face with a secret believer in the Prophet who seeing Umar's grim expression asked him where he was going. "I am going to kill Muhammad..." There was no mistaking his bitterness and murderous resolve. The believer sought to dissuade him from his intent but Umar was deaf to any arguments. He then thought of diverting Umar in order to at least warn the Prophet of his intentions. "O Umar," he said, "Why not first go back to the people of your own house and set them to rights?" "What people of my house?" asked Umar. "Your sister Fatimah and your brother-in-law Said. They have both forsaken your religion and are followers of Muhammad in his religion..." Umar turned and made straight for his sister's house. There he called out to her angrily as he approached. Khabbab ibn al-Aratt who often came to recite the Quran to Said and Fatimah was with them then. When they heard Umar's voice, Khabbab hid in a corner of the house and Fatimah concealed the manuscript. But 'Umar had heard the sound of their reading and when he came in, he said to them: "What is this haynamah (gibbering) I heard?" They tried to assure him that it was only normal conversation that he had heard but he insisted: "Hear it I did," he said, "and it is possible that you have both become renegades." "Have you not considered whether the Truth is not to be found in your religion?" said Said to Umar trying to reason with him. Instead, Umar set upon his brother-in-law hitting and kicking him as hard as he could and when Fatimah went to the defence of her husband, Umar struck her a blow on her face which drew blood. "O Umar," said Fatimah, and she was angry. "What if the Truth is not in your religion! I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God." Fatimah's wound was bleeding, and when Umar saw the blood he was sorry for what he had done. A change came over him and he said to his sister: "Give me that script which you have that I may read it." Like them Umar could read, but when he asked for the script, Fatimah said to him: "You are impure and only the pure may touch it. Go and wash yourself or make ablutions." Thereupon Umar went and washed himself, and she gave him the page on which was written the opening verses of Surah Ta-Ha. He began to read it and when he reached the verse, 'Verily, I alone am God, there no deity but me. So, worship Me alone, and be constant in Prayer so as to remember Me, 'he said: "Show me where Muhammad is." Umar then made his way to the house of al-Arqam and declared his acceptance of Islam and the Prophet and all his companions rejoiced. Said and his wife Fatimah were thus the immediate cause which led to the conversion of the strong and determined Umar and this added substantially to the power and prestige of the emerging faith.

Said ibn Zayd was totally devoted to the Prophet and the service of Islam. He witnessed all the major campaigns and encounters in which the Prophet engaged with the exception of Badr. Before Badr, he and Talhah were sent by the Prophet as scouts to Hawra on the Red Sea coast due west of Madinah to bring him news of a Quraysh caravan returning from Syria. When Talhah and Said returned to Madinah the Prophet had already set out for Badr with the first Muslim army of just over three hundred men. After the passing away of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, Said continued to play a major role in the Muslim community. He was one of those whom Abu Bakr consulted on his succession and his name is often linked with such companions as Uthman, Abu Ubaydah and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas in the campaigns that were waged. He was known for his courage and heroism, a glimpse of which we can get from his account of the Battle of Yarmuk. He said: "For the Battle of Yarmuk, we were twenty four thousand or thereabout. Against us, the Byzantines mobilized one hundred and twenty thousand men. They advanced towards us with a heavy and thunderous movement as if mountains were being moved. Bishops and p riests strode before them bearing crosses and chanting litanies which were repeated by the soldiers behind them. When the Muslims saw them mobilized thus, they became worried by their vast numbers and something of anxiety and fear entered theft hearts. Thereupon, Abu Ubaydah stood before the Muslims and urged them to fight. "Worshippers of God" he said, "help God and God will help you and make your feet firm." "Worshippers of God, be patient and steadfast for indeed patience and steadfastness (sabr) is a salvation from unbelief, a means of attaining the pleasure of God and a defence against ignominy and disgrace." "Draw out your spears and protect yourselves with your shields. Don't utter anything among yourselves but the remembrance of God Almighty until I give you the command, if God wills." "Thereupon a man emerged from the ranks of the Muslims and said: "I have resolved to die this very hour. Have you a message to send to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace?" "Yes" replied Abu Ubaydah, "convey salaam to him from me and from the Muslims and say to him: O Messenger of God, we have found true what our Lord has promised us." "As soon as I heard the man speak and saw him unsheathe his sword and go out to meet the enemy, I threw myself on the ground and crept on all fours and with my spear I felled the first enemy horseman racing towards us. Then I fell upon the enemy and God removed from my heart all traces of fear.

The Muslims engaged the advancing Byzantines and continued fighting until they were blessed with victory." Said was ranked by the Prophet as one of the outstanding members of his generation. He was among ten of the companions whom the Prophet visited one day and promised Paradise. These were Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, Abu Ubaydah, Talhah, az-Zubayr, Sad of Zuhrah, and Said the son of Zayd the Hanif. The books of the Prophet's sayings have recorded his great praises of the Promised Ten (al-'asharatu-l mubashshirun) and indeed of others whom on other occasions he also gave good tidings of Paradise

Said Ibn Aamir Al-Jumahi

Sa'id ibn Aamir al-Jumahi was one of thousands who left for the region of Tan'im on the outskirts of Makkah at the invitation of the Quraysh leaders to witness the killing of Khubayb ibn Adiy, one of the companions of Muhammad whom they had captured treacherously. With his exuberant youthfulness and strength, Sa'id jostled through the crowd until he caught up with the Quraysh leaders, men like Sufyan ibn Harb, and Safwan ibn Umayyah, who were leading the procession. Now he could see the prisoner of the Quraysh shackled in his chains, the women and children pushing him to the place set for his death. Khubayb's death was to be in revenge for Quraysh losses in the battle of Badr. When the assembled throng arrived with its prisoner at the appointed place, Sa'id ibn Aamir took up his position at a point directly overlooking Khubayb as he approached the wooden cross. From there he heard Khubayb's firm but quiet voice amid the shouting of women and children. "If you would, leave me to pray two rakaats before my death ." This the Quraysh allowed. Sa'id looked at Khubayb as he faced the Ka'bah and prayed. How beautiful and how composed those two rakaats seemed! Then he saw Khubayb facing the Quraysh leaders. "By God, if you thought that I asked to pray out of fear of death, I would think the prayer not worth the trouble," he said. Sa'id then saw his people set about dismembering Khubayb's body while he was yet alive and taunting him in the process. "Would you like Muhammad to be in your place while you go free?" With his blood flowing, he replied, "By God, I would not want to be safe and secure among my family while even a thorn hurts Muhammad." People shook their fists in the air and the shouting increased. "Kill him.

Kill him!" Sa'id watched Khubayb lifting his eyes to the heavens above the wooden cross. "Count them all, O Lord," he said. "Destroy them and let not a single one escape." Thereafter Sa'id could not count the number of swords and spears which cut through Khubayb's body. The Quraysh returned to Makkah and in the eventful days that followed forgot Khubayb and his death. But Khubayb was never absent from the thoughts of Sa'id, now approaching manhood. Sa'id would see him in his dreams while asleep and he would picture Khubayb in front of him praying his two rakaats, calm and contented, before the wooden cross. And he would hear the reverberation of Khubayb's voice as he prayed for the punishment of the Quraysh. He would become afraid that a thunderbolt from the sky or some calamity would strike him. Khubayb, by his death, had taught Sa'id what he did not realize beforeرthat real life was faith and conviction and struggle in the path of faith, even until death. He taught him also that faith which is deeply ingrained in a person works wonders and performs miracles. He taught him something else too - that the man who is loved by his companions with such a love as Khubayb's could only be a prophet with Divine support. Thus was Sa'id's heart opened to Islam. He stood up in the assembly of the Quraysh and announced that he was free from their sins and burdens. He renounced their idols and their superstitions and proclaimed his entry into the religion of God. Sa'id ibn Aamir migrated to Madinah and attached himself to the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of God be upon him. He took part with the Prophet in the battle of Khaybar and other engagements thereafter. After the Prophet passed away to the protection of his Lord, Sa'id continued active service under his two successors, Abu Bakr and Umar. He lived the unique and exemplary life of the believer who has purchased the Hereafter with this world. He sought the pleasure and blessings of God above selfish desires and bodily pleasures. Both Abu Bakr and Umar knew Sa'id well for his honesty and piety.

They would listen to whatever he had to say and follow his advice. Sa'id once came to Umar at the beginning of his caliphate and said, "I adjure you to fear God in dealing with people and do not fear people in your relationship with God. Let not your actions deviate from your words for the best of speech is that which is confirmed by action. Consider those who have been appointed over the affairs of Muslims, far and near. Like for them what you like for yourself and your family and dislike for them what you would dislike for yourself and your family. Surmount any obstacles to attain the truth and do not fear the criticisms of those who criticize in matters prescribed by God. "Who can measure up to this, Sa'id?" asked Umar. "A man like yourself from among those whom God has appointed over the affairs of the Ummah of Muhammad and who feels responsible to God alone," replied Sa'id. "Sa'id," he said, "I appoint you to be governor of Homs (in Syria)." "Umar," pleaded Sa'id, "I entreat you by God, do not cause me to go astray by making me concerned with worldly affairs." Umar became angry and said, "You have placed the responsibility of the caliphate on me and now you forsake me." "By God, I shall not forsake you," Sa'id quickly responded. Umar appointed him as governor of Homs and offered him a gratuity. "What shall I do with it, O Amir al-Mu'mineen?" asked Sa'id. "The stipend from the bayt al-mal will be more than enough for my needs." With this, he proceeded to Homs. Not long afterwards, a delegation from Homs made up of people in whom Umar had confidence came to visit him in Madinah. He requested them to write the names of the poor among them so he could relieve their needs. They prepared a list for him in which the name Saiid ibn Aamir appeared.

"Who is this Sa'id ibn Aamir?" asked Umar. "Our amir," they replied. "Your amir is poor?" said Umar, puzzled. "Yes," they affirmed, "By God, several days go by without a fire being lit in his house." Umar was greatly moved and wept. He got a thousand dinars, put it in a purse and said, "Convey my greetings to him and tell him that the Amir al-Mu'mineen has sent this money to help him look after his needs." The delegation came to Sa'id with the purse. When he found that it contained money, he began to push it away from him, saying, "From God we are and to Him we shall certainly return." He said it in such a way as if some misfortune had descended on him. His alarmed wife hurried to him and asked, "What's the matter, Saiid? Has the Khalifah died?" "Something greater than that." "Have the Muslims been defeated in a battle?" "Something greater than that. The world has come upon me to corrupt my hereafter and create disorder in my house." "Then get rid of it," said she, not knowing anything about the dinars. "Will you help me in this?" he asked. She agreed. He took the dinars, put them in bags and distributed them to the Muslim poor. Not long afterwards, Umar ibn al-Khattab went to Syria to examine conditions there. When he arrived at Homs which was called little Kufah because, like Kufah, its inhabitants complained a lot about their leaders, he asked what they thought of their amir. They complained about him mentioning four of his actions each one more serious than the other. "I shall bring you and him together," Umar promised. "And I pray to God that my opinion about him would not be damaged. I used to have great confidence in him." When the meeting was convened, Umar asked what complaints they had against him. "He only comes out to us when the sun is already high," they said.

"What do you have to say to that, Sa'id?" asked Umar. Sa'id was silent for a moment, then said, "By God, I really didn't want to say this but there seems to be no way out. My family does not have a home help so I get up every morning and prepare dough for bread. I wait a little until it rises and then bake for them. I then make wads and go out to the people." "What's your other complaint?" asked Umar. "He does not answer anyone at night," they said. To this Sa'id reluctantly said, "By God, I really wouldn't have liked to disclose this also, but I have left the day for them and the night for God, Great and Sublime is He." "And what's your other complaint about him?" asked Umar. "He does not come out to us for one day in every month," they said. To this Sa'id replied, "I do not have a home help, O Amir al-Mu'mineen and I do not have any clothes except what's on me. This I wash once a month and I wait for it to dry. Then I go out in the later part of the day." "Any other complaint about him?" asked Umar. "From time to time, he blacks out in meetings," they said. To this Sa'id replied, "I witnessed the killing of Khubayb ibn Adiy when I was a mushrik. I saw the Quraysh cutting him and saying, "Would you like Muhammad to be in your place?" to which Khubayb replied, "I would not wish to be safe and secure among my family while a thorn hurts Muhammad." By God, whenever I remember that day and how I failed to come to his aid, I only think that God would not forgive me and I black out." Thereupon Umar said, "Praise be to God. My impression of him has not been tainted." He later sent a thousand dinars to Sa'id to help him out. When his wife saw the amount she said.

"Praise be to God Who has enriched us out of your service. Buy some provisions for us and get us a home help." "Is there any way of spending it better?" asked Sa'id. "Let us spend it on whoever comes to us and we would get something better for it by thus dedicating it to God." "That will be better," she agreed. He put the dinars into small bags and said to a member of his family, "Take this to the widow of so and so, and the orphans of that person, to the needy in that family and to the indigent of the family of that person." Sa'id ibn Aamir al-Jumahi was indeed one of those who deny themselves even when they are afflicted with severe poverty.

Fatimah was the fifth child of Muhammad and Khadijah. She was born at a time when her noble father had begun to spend long periods in the solitude of mountains around Makkah, meditating and reflecting on the great mysteries of creation. This was the time, before the Bithah, when her eldest sister Zaynab was married to her cousin, al-Aas ibn ar Rabiah. Then followed the marriage of her two other sisters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum, to the sons of Abu Lahab, a paternal uncle of the Prophet. Both Abu Lahab and his wife Umm Jamil turned out to be flaming enemies of the Prophet from the very beginning of his public mission. The little Fatimah thus saw her sisters leave home one after the other to live with their husbands. She was too young to understand the meaning of marriage and the reasons why her sisters had to leave home. She loved them dearly and was sad and lonely when they left. It is said that a certain silence and painful sadness came over her then. Of course, even after the marriage of her sisters, she was not alone in the house of her parents. Barakah, the maid-servant of Aminah, the Prophet's mother, who had been with the Prophet since his birth, Zayd ibn Harithah, and Ali, the young son of Abu Talib were all part of Muhammad's household at this time. And of course there was her loving mother, the lady Khadijah. In her mother and in Barakah, Fatimah found a great deal of solace and comfort. in Ali, who was about two years older than she, she found a "brother" and a friend who Fatimah bint Muhammad Login somehow took the place of her own brother al-Qasim who had died in his infancy. Her other brother Abdullah, known as the Good and the Pure, who was born after her, also died in his infancy. However in none of the people in her father's household did Fatimah find the carefree joy and happiness which she enjoyed with her sisters. She was an unusually sensitive child for her age. When she was five, she heard that her father had become Rasul Allah, the Messenger of God. His first task was to convey the good news of Islam to his family and close relations. They were to worship God Almighty alone. Her mother, who was a tower of strength and support, explained to Fatimah what her father had to do. From this time on, she became more closely attached to him and felt a deep and abiding love for him. Often she would be at Iris side walking through the narrow streets and alleys of Makkah, visiting the Kabah or attending secret gatherings off, the early Muslims who had accepted Islam and pledged allegiance to the Prophet. One day, when she was not yet ten, she accompanied her father to the Masjid al- Haram. He stood in the place known as al-Hijr facing the Kabah and began to pray. Fatimah stood at his side. A group of Quraysh, by no means well-disposed to the Prophet, gathered about him. They included Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, the Prophet's uncle, Uqbah ibn Abi Muayt, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and Shaybah and Utbah, sons of Rabi'ah. Menacingly, the group went up to the Prophet and Abu Jahl, the ringleader, asked: "Which of you can bring the entrails of a slaughtered animal and throw it on Muhammad?" Uqbah ibn Abi Muayt, one of the vilest of the lot, volunteered and hurried off. He returned with the obnoxious filth and threw it on the shoulders of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, while he was still prostrating. Abdullah ibn Masud, a companion of the Prophet, was present but he was powerless to do or say anything. Imagine the feelings of Fatimah as she saw her father being treated in this fashion. What could she, a girl not ten years old, do? She went up to her father and removed the offensive matter and then stood firmly and angrily before the group of Quraysh thugs and lashed out against them. Not a single word did they say to her. The noble Prophet raised his head on completion of the prostration and went on to complete the Salat. He then said: "O Lord, may you punish the Quraysh!" and repeated this imprecation three times. Then he continued: Login "May You punish Utbah, Uqbah, Abu Jahl and Shaybah." (These whom he named were all killed many years later at the Battle of Badr) On another occasion, Fatimah was with the Prophet as he made; tawaf around the Kabah. A Quraysh mob gathered around him. They seized him and tried to strangle him with his own clothes. Fatimah screamed and shouted for help. Abu Bakr rushed to the scene and managed to free the Prophet. While he was doing so, he pleaded: "Would you kill a man who says, 'My Lord is God?'" Far from giving up, the mob turned on Abu Bakr and began beating him until blood flowed from his head and face. Such scenes of vicious opposition and harassment against her father and the early Muslims were witnessed by the young Fatimah. She did not meekly stand aside but joined in the struggle in defence of her father and his noble mission. She was still a young girl and instead of the cheerful romping, the gaiety and liveliness which children of her age are and should normally be accustomed to, Fatimah had to witness and participate in such ordeals. Of course, she was not alone in this. The whole of the Prophet's family suffered from the violent and mindless Quraysh. Her sisters, Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum also suffered. They were living at this time in the very nest of hatred and intrigue against the Prophet. Their husbands were Utbah and Utaybah, sons of Abu Lahab and Umm Jamil. Umm Jamil was known to be a hard and harsh woman who had a sharp and evil tongue. It was mainly because of her that Khadijah was not pleased with the marriages of her daughters to Umm Jamil's sons in the first place. It must have been painful for Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum to be living in the household of such inveterate enemies who not only joined but led the campaign against theft father. As a mark of disgrace to Muhammad and his family, Utbah and Utaybah were prevailed upon by their parents to divorce their wives. This was part of the process of ostracizing the Prophet totally. The Prophet in fact welcomed his daughters back to his home with joy, happiness and relief. Fatimah, no doubt, must have been happy to be with her sisters once again. They all wished that their eldest sister, Zaynab, would also be divorced by her husband. In fact, the Quraysh brought pressure on Abu-l Aas to do so but he refused. When the Quraysh leaders came up to him and promised him the richest and most beautiful woman as a wife should he divorce Zaynab, he replied: Login "I love my wife deeply and passionately and I have a great and high esteem for her father even though I have not entered the religion of Islam." Both Ruqayyah and Umm Kulthum were happy to be back with their loving parents and to be rid of the unbearable mental torture to which they had been subjected in the house of Umm Jamil. Shortly afterwards, Ruqayyah married again, to the young and shy Uthman ibn Allan who was among the first to have accepted Islam. They both left for Abyssinia among the first muhajirin who sought refuge in that land and stayed there for several years. Fatimah was not to see Ruqayyah again until after their mother had died. The persecution of the Prophet, his family and his followers continued and even became worse after the migration of the first Muslims to Abyssinia. In about the seventh year of his mission, the Prophet and his family were forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in a rugged little valley enclosed by hills on all sides and defile, which could only be entered from Makkah by a narrow path. To this arid valley, Muhammad and the clans of Banu Hashim and al-Muttalib were forced to retire with limited supplies of food. Fatimah was one of the youngest members of the clans -just about twelve years old - and had to undergo months of hardship and suffering. The wailing of hungry children and women in the valley could be heard from Makkah. The Quraysh allowed no food and contact with the Muslims whose hardship was only relieved somewhat during the season of pilgrimage. The boycott lasted for three years. When it was lifted, the Prophet had to face even more trials and difficulties. Khadijah, the faithful and loving, died shortly afterwards. With her death, the Prophet and his family lost one of the greatest sources of comfort and strength which had sustained them through the difficult period. The year in which the noble Khadijah, and later Abu Talib, died is known as the Year of Sadness. Fatimah, now a young lady, was greatly distressed by her mother's death. She wept bitterly and for some time was so grief-striken that her health deteriorated. It was even feared she might die of grief. Although her older sister, Umm Kulthum, stayed in the same household, Fatimah realized that she now had a greater responsibility with the passing away of her mother. She felt that she had to give even greater support to her father. With loving tenderness, she devoted herself to looking after his needs. So concerned was she for his welfare Login that she came to be called "Umm Abi-ha the mother of her father". She also provided him with solace and comfort during times of trial, difficulty and crisis. Often the trials were too much for her. Once, about this time, an insolent mob heaped dust and earth upon his gracious head. As he entered his home, Fatimah wept profusely as she wiped the dust from her father's head. "Do not cry, my daughter," he said, "for God shall protect your father." The Prophet had a special love for Fatimah. He once said: "Whoever pleased Fatimah has indeed pleased God and whoever has caused her to be angry has indeed angered God. Fatimah is a part of me. Whatever pleases her pleases me and whatever angers her angers me." He also said: "The best women in all the world are four: the Virgin Mary, Aasiyaa the wife of Pharoah, Khadijah Mother of the Believers, and Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad." Fatimah thus acquired a place of love and esteem in the Prophet's heart that was only occupied by his wife Khadijah. Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, was given the title of "az-Zahraa" which means "the Resplendent One". That was because of her beaming face which seemed to radiate light. It is said that when she stood for Prayer, the mihrab would reflect the light of her countenance. She was also called "al-Batul" because of her asceticism. Instead of spending her time in the company of women, much of her time would be spent in Salat, in reading the Quran and in other acts of ibadah. Fatimah had a strong resemblance to her father, the Messenger of God. Aishah. the wife of the Prophet, said of her: "I have not seen any one of God's creation resemble the Messenger of God more in speech, conversation and manner of sitting than Fatimah, may God be pleased with her. When the Prophet saw her approaching, he would welcome her, stand up and kiss her, take her by the hand and sit her down in the place where he was sitting." She would do the same when the Prophet came to her. She would stand up and welcome him with joy and kiss him. Fatimah's fine manners and gentle speech were part of her lovely and endearing personality. She was especially kind to poor and indigent folk and would often give all the food she had to those in need even if she herself remained hungry. She had no craving for the ornaments of this world nor the luxury and comforts of life. She lived Login simply, although on occasion as we shall see circumstances seemed to be too much and too difficult for her. She inherited from her father a persuasive eloquence that was rooted in wisdom. When she spoke, people would often be moved to tears. She had the ability and the sincerity to stir the emotions, move people to tears and fill their hearts with praise and gratitude to God for His grace and His inestimable bounties. Fatimah migrated to Madinah a few weeks after the Prophet did. She went with Zayd ibn Harithah who was sent by the Prophet back to Makkah to bring the rest of his family. The party included Fatimah and Umm Kulthum, Sawdah, the Prophet's wife, Zayd's wife Barakah and her son Usamah. Travelling with the group also were Abdullah the son of Abu Bakr who accompanied his mother and his sisters, Aishah and Asma. In Madinah, Fatimah lived with her father in the simple dwelling he had built adjoining the mosque. In the second year after the Hijrah, she received proposals of marriage through her father, two of which were turned down. Then Ali, the son of Abu Talib, plucked up courage and went to the Prophet to ask for her hand in marriage. In the presence of the Prophet, however, Ali became over-awed and tongue-tied. He stared at the ground and could not say anything. The Prophet then asked: "Why have you come? Do you need something?" Ali still could not speak and then the Prophet suggested: "Perhaps you have come to propose marriage to Fatimah." "Yes," replied Ali. At this, according to one report, the Prophet said simply: "Marhaban wa ahlan - Welcome into the family," and this was taken by Ali and a group of Ansar who were waiting outside for him as indicating the Prophet's approval. Another report indicated that the Prophet approved and went on to ask Ali if he had anything to give as mahr. Ali replied that he didn't. The Prophet reminded him that he had a shield which could be sold. Ali sold the shield to Uthman for four hundred dirhams and as he was hurrying back to the Prophet to hand over the sum as mahr, Uthman stopped him and said: "I am returning your shield to you as a present from me on your marriage to Fatimah." Fatimah and Ali were thus married most probably at the beginning of the second year after the Hijrah. She was about nineteen years old at the time and Ali was about twenty one. The Prophet himself performed the marriage ceremony. At the walimah. the Login guests were served with dates, figs and hais ( a mixture of dates and butter fat). A leading member of the Ansar donated a ram and others made offerings of grain. All Madinah rejoiced. On her marriage. the Prophet is said to have presented Fatimah and Ali with a wooden bed intertwined with palm leaves, a velvet coverlet. a leather cushion filled with palm fibre, a sheepskin, a pot, a waterskin and a quern for grinding grain. Fatimah left the home of her beloved father for the first time to begin life with her husband. The Prophet was clearly anxious on her account and sent Barakah with her should she be in need of any help. And no doubt Barakah was a source of comfort and solace to her. The Prophet prayed for them: "O Lord, bless them both, bless their house and bless their offspring." In Ali's humble dwelling, there was only a sheepskin for a bed. In the morning after the wedding night, the Prophet went to Ali's house and knocked on the door. Barakah came out and the Prophet said to her: "O Umm Ayman, call my brother for me." "Your brother? That's the one who married your daughter?" asked Barakah somewhat incredulously as if to say: Why should the Prophet call Ali his "brother"? (He referred to Ali as his brother because just as pairs of Muslims were joined in brotherhood after the Hijrah, so the Prophet and Ali were linked as "brothers".) The Prophet repeated what he had said in a louder voice. Ali came and the Prophet made a du'a, invoking the blessings of God on him. Then he asked for Fatimah. She came almost cringing with a mixture of awe and shyness and the Prophet said to her: "I have married you to the dearest of my family to me." In this way, he sought to reassure her. She was not starting life with a complete stranger but with one who had grown up in the same household, who was among the first to become a Muslim at a tender age, who was known for his courage, bravery and virtue, and whom the Prophet described as his "brother in this world and the hereafter". Fatimah's life with Ali was as simple and frugal as it was in her father's household. In fact, so far as material comforts were concerned, it was a life of hardship and deprivation. Throughout their life together, Ali remained poor because he did not set Login great store by material wealth. Fatimah was the only one of her sisters who was not married to a wealthy man. In fact, it could be said that Fatimah's life with Ali was even more rigorous than life in her father's home. At least before marriage, there were always a number of ready helping hands in the Prophet's household. But now she had to cope virtually on her own. To relieve theft extreme poverty, Ali worked as a drawer and carrier of water and she as a grinder of corn. One day she said to Ali: "I have ground until my hands are blistered." "I have drawn water until I have pains in my chest," said Ali and went on to suggest to Fatimah: "God has given your father some captives of war, so go and ask him to give you a servant." Reluctantly, she went to the Prophet who said: "What has brought you here, my little daughter?" "I came to give you greetings of peace," she said, for in awe of him she could not bring herself to ask what she had intended. "What did you do?" asked Ali when she returned alone. "I was ashamed to ask him," she said. So the two of them went together but the Prophet felt they were less in need than others. "I will not give to you," he said, "and let the Ahl as-Suffah (poor Muslims who stayed in the mosque) be tormented with hunger. I have not enough for their keep..." Ali and Fatimah returned home feeling somewhat dejected but that night, after they had gone to bed, they heard the voice of the Prophet asking permission to enter. Welcoming him, they both rose to their feet, but he told them: "Stay where you are," and sat down beside them. "Shall I not tell you of something better than that which you asked of me?" he asked and when they said yes he said: "Words which Jibril taught me, that you should say "Subhaan Allah- Glory be to God" ten times after every Prayer, and ten times "AI hamdu lillah - Praise be to God," and ten times "Allahu Akbar - God is Great." And that when you go to bed you should say them thirty-three times each." Login Ali used to say in later years: "I have never once failed to say them since the Messenger of God taught them to us." There are many reports of the hard and difficult times which Fatimah had to face. Often there was no food in her house. Once the Prophet was hungry. He went to one after another of his wives' apartments but there was no food. He then went to Fatimah's house and she had no food either. When he eventually got some food, he sent two loaves and a piece of meat to Fatimah. At another time, he went to the house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and from the food he was given, he saved some for her. Fatimah also knew that the Prophet was without food for long periods and she in turn would take food to him when she could. Once she took a piece of barley bread and he, said to her: "This is the first food your father has eaten for three days." Through these acts of kindness she showed how much she loved her father; and he loved her, really loved her in return. Once he returned from a journey outside Madinah. He went to the mosque first of all and prayed two rakats as was his custom. Then, as he often did, he went to Fatimah's house before going to his wives. Fatimah welcomed him and kissed his face, his mouth and his eyes and cried. "Why do you cry?" the Prophet asked. "I see you, O Rasul Allah," she said, "Your color is pale and sallow and your clothes have become worn and shabby." "O Fatimah," the Prophet replied tenderly, "don't cry for Allah has sent your father with a mission which He would cause to affect every house on the face of the earth whether it be in towns, villages or tents (in the desert) bringing either glory or humiliation until this mission is fulfilled just as night (inevitably) comes." With such comments Fatimah was often taken from the harsh realities of daily life to get a glimpse of the vast and far-reaching vistas opened up by the mission entrusted to her noble father. Fatimah eventually returned to live in a house close to that of the Prophet. The place was donated by an Ansari who knew that the Prophet would rejoice in having his daughter as his neighbor. Together they shared in the joys and the triumphs, the sorrows and the hardships of the crowded and momentous Madinah days and years. In the middle of the second year after the Hijrah, her sister Ruqayyah fell ill with fever and measles. This was shortly before the great campaign of Badr. Uthman, her husband, stayed by her bedside and missed the campaign. Ruqayyah died just before Login her father returned. On his return to Madinah, one of the first acts of the Prophet was to visit her grave. Fatimah went with him. This was the first bereavement they had suffered within their closest family since the death of Khadijah. Fatimah was greatly distressed by the loss of her sister. The tears poured from her eyes as she sat beside her father at the edge of the grave, and he comforted her and sought to dry her tears with the corner of his cloak. The Prophet had previously spoken against lamentations for the dead, but this had lead to a misunderstanding, and when they returned from the cemetery the voice of Umar was heard raised in anger against the women who were weeping for the martyrs of Badr and for Ruqayyah. "Umar, let them weep," he said and then added: "What comes from the heart and from the eye, that is from God and His mercy, but what comes from the hand and from the tongue, that is from Satan." By the hand he meant the beating of breasts and the smiting of cheeks, and by the tongue he meant the loud clamor in which women often joined as a mark of public sympathy. Uthman later married the other daughter of the Prophet, Umm Kulthum, and on this account came to be known as Dhu-n Nurayn - Possessor of the Two Lights. The bereavement which the family suffered by the death of Ruqayyah was followed by happiness when to the great joy of all the believers Fatimah gave birth to a boy in Ramadan of the third year after the Hijrah. The Prophet spoke the words of the Adhan into the ear of the new-born babe and called him al-Hasan which means the Beautiful One. One year later, she gave birth to another son who was called al-Husayn, which means "little Hasan" or the little beautiful one. Fatimah would often bring her two sons to see their grandfather who was exceedingly fond of them. Later he would take them to the Mosque and they would climb onto his back when he prostrated. He did the same with his little granddaughter Umamah, the daughter of Zaynab. Login In the eighth year after the Hijrah, Fatimah gave birth to a third child, a girl whom she named after her eldest sister Zaynab who had died shortly before her birth. This Zaynab was to grow up and become famous as the "Heroine of Karbala". Fatimah's fourth child was born in the year after the Hijrah. The child was also a girl and Fatimah named her Umm Kulthum after her sister who had died the year before after an illness. It was only through Fatimah that the progeny of the Prophet was perpetuated. All the Prophet's male children had died in their infancy and the two children of Zaynab named Ali and Umamah died young. Ruqayyah's child Abdullah also died when he was not yet two years old. This is an added reason for the reverence which is accorded to Fatimah. Although Fatimah was so often busy with pregnancies and giving birth and rearing children, she took as much part as she could in the affairs of the growing Muslim community of Madinah. Before her marriage, she acted as a sort of hostess to the poor and destitute Ahl as-Suffah. As soon as the Battle of Uhud was over, she went with other women to the battlefield and wept over the dead martyrs and took time to dress her father's wounds. At the Battle of the Ditch, she played a major supportive role together with other women in preparing food during the long and difficult siege. In her camp, she led the Muslim women in prayer and on that place there stands a mosque named Masjid Fatimah, one of seven mosques where the Muslims stood guard and performed their devotions. Fatimah also accompanied the Prophet when he made Umrah in the sixth year after the Hijrah after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. In the following year, she and her sister Umm Kulthum, were among the mighty throng of Muslims who took part with the Prophet in the liberation of Makkah. It is said that on this occasion, both Fatimah and Umm Kulthum visited the home of their mother Khadijah and recalled memories of their childhood and memories of jihad, of long struggles in the early years of the Prophet's mission. In Ramadan of the tenth year just before he went on his Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet confided to Fatimah, as a secret not yet to be told to others: " Jibril recited the Quran to me and I to him once every year, but this year he has recited it with me twice. I cannot but think that my time has come." Login Support Our Initiatives On his return from the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet did become seriously ill. His final days were spent in the apartment of his wife Aishah. When Fatimah came to visit him, Aishah would leave father and daughter together. One day he summoned Fatimah. When she came, he kissed her and whispered some words in her ear. She wept. Then again he whispered in her ear and she smiled. Aishah saw and asked: "You cry and you laugh at the same time, Fatimah? What did the Messenger of God say to you?" Fatimah replied: "He first told me that he would meet his Lord after a short while and so I cried. Then he said to me: 'Don't cry for you will be the first of my household to join me.' So I laughed." Not long afterwards the noble Prophet passed away. Fatimah was grief-striken and she would often be seen weeping profusely. One of the companions noted that he did not see Fatimah, may God be pleased with her, laugh after the death of her father. One morning, early in the month of Ramadan, just less than five month after her noble father had passed away, Fatimah woke up looking unusually happy and full of mirth. In the afternoon of that day, it is said that she called Salma bint Umays who was looking after her. She asked for some water and had a bath. She then put on new clothes and perfumed herself. She then asked Salma to put her bed in the courtyard of the house. With her face looking to the heavens above, she asked for her husband Ali. He was taken aback when he saw her lying in the middle of the courtyard and asked her what was wrong. She smiled and said: "I have an appointment today with the Messenger of God." Ali cried and she tried to console him. She told him to look after their sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn and advised that she should be buried without ceremony. She gazed upwards again, then closed her eyes and surrendered her soul to the Mighty Creator. She, Fatimah the Resplendent One, was just twenty nine years old

Khabbab Ibn Al-Aratt

A woman named Umm Anmaar who belonged to the Khuza'a tribe in Makkah went to the slave market in the city. She wanted to buy herself a youth for her domestic chores and to exploit his labour for economic gains. As she scrutinized the faces of those who were displayed for sale, her eyes fell on a boy who was obviously not yet in his teens. She saw that he was strong and healthy and that there were clear signs of intelligence on his face. She needed no further incentive to purchase him. She paid and walked away with her new acquisition. On the way home, Umm Anmaar turned to the boy and said: "What's your name, boy?" "Khabbab." "And what's your father's name?" "Al-Aratt." "Where do you come from?" "From Najd." "Then you are an Arab!" "Yes, from the Banu Tamim." "How then did you come into the hands of the slave dealers in Makkah?" "One of the Arab tribes raided our territory. They took our cattle and captured women and children. I was among the youths captured. I passed from one hand to another until I ended up in Makkah . . ." Umm Anmaar placed the youth as an apprentice to one of the blacksmiths in Makkah to learn the art of making swords. The youth learnt quickly and was soon an expert at the profession. When he was strong enough, Umm Anmaar set up a workshop for him with all the necessary tools and equipment for making swords. Before long he was quite famous in Makkah for his excellent craftsmanship. People also liked dealing with him because of his honesty and integrity.

Umm Anmaar gained much profit through him and exploited his talents to the full. In spite of his youthfulness, Khabbab displayed unique intelligence and wisdom. Often, when he had finished work and was left to himself, he would reflect deeply on the state of Arabian society which was so steeped in corruption. He was appalled at the aimless wandering, the ignorance and the tyranny which he saw. He was one of the victims of this tyranny and he would say to himself: "After this night of darkness, there must be a dawn." And he hoped that he would live long enough to see the darkness dissipate with the steady glow and brightness of new light.

Khabbab did not have to wait long. He was privileged to be in Makkah when the first rays of the light of Islam penetrated the city. It emanated from the lips of Muhammad ibn Abdullah as he announced that none deserves to be worshipped or adored except the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. He called for an end to injustice and oppression and sharply criticised the practices of the rich in accumulating wealth at the expense of the poor and the outcast. He denounced aristocratic privileges and attitudes and called for a new order based on respect for human dignity and compassion for the underprivileged including orphans, wayfarers and the needy. To Khabbab, the teachings of Muhammad were like a powerful light dispelling the darkness of ignorance. He went and listened to these teachings directly from him. Without any hesitation he stretched out his hand to the Prophet in allegiance and testified that "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." He was among the first ten persons to accept Islam.

Khabbab did not hide his acceptance of Islam from anyone. When the news of his becoming a Muslim reached Umm Anmaar, she became incensed with anger. She went to her brother Siba'a ibn Abd al-Uzza who gathered a gang of youths from the Khuza'a tribe and together they made their way to Khabbab. They found him completely engrossed in his work. Siba'a went up to him and said:

"We have heard some news from you which we don't believe." "What is it?" asked Khabbab. "We have been told that you have given up your religion and that you now follow that man from the Banu Hashim ." "I have not given up my religion," replied Khabbab calmly. "I only believe in One God Who has no partner. I reject your idols and I believe that Muhammad is the servant of God and His messenger." No sooner had Khabbab spoken these words than Siba'a and his gang set upon him. They beat him with their fists and with iron bars and they kicked him until he fell unconscious to the ground, with blood streaming from the wounds he received. The news of what happened between Khabbab and his slave mistress spread throughout Makkah like wild-fire. People were astonished at Khabbab's daring. They had not yet heard of anyone who followed Muhammad and who had had the audacity to announce the fact with such frankness and defiant confidence. The Khabbab affair shook the leaders of the Quraysh. They did not expect that a blacksmith, such as belonged to Umm Anmaar and who had no clan in Makkah to protect him and no asabEyyah to prevent him from injury, would be bold enough to go outside her authority, denounce her gods and reject the religion of her forefathers. They realized that this was only the beginning . . . The Quraysh were not wrong in their expectations. Khabbab's courage impressed many of his friends and encouraged them to announce their acceptance of Islam. One after another, they began to proclaim publicly the message of truth. In the precincts of the Haram, near the Ka'bah, the Quraysh leaders gathered to discuss the problem of Muhammad. Among them were Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, al- Walid ibn al-Mughira and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham. They noted that Muhammad was getting stronger and that his following was increasing day by day, indeed hour by hour. To them this was like a terrible disease and they made up their minds to stop it before it got out of control. They decided that each tribe should get hold of any follower of Muhammad among them and punish him until he either recants his faith or dies. On Siba'a ibn Abd al-Uzza and his people fell the task of punishing Khabbab even further. Regularly they began taking him to an open area in the city when the sun was at its zenith and the ground was scorching hot. They would take off his clothes and dress him in iron armour and lay him on the ground. In the intense heat his skin would be seared and his body would become inert. When it appeared that all strength had left him, they would come up and challenge him: "What do you say about Muhammad?" "He is the servant of God and His messenger. He has come with the religion of guidance and truth, to lead us from darkness into light." They would become more furious and intensify their beating. They would ask about al-Laat and al-Uzza and he would reply firmly: "Two idols, deaf and dumb, that cannot cause harm or bring any benefit..." This enraged them even more and they would take a big hot stone and place it on his back. Khabbab's pain and anguish would be excruciating but he did not recant. The inhumanity of Umm Anmaar towards Khabbab was not less than that of her brother. Once she saw the Prophet speaking to Khabbab at his workshop and she flew into a blind rage. Every day after that, for several days, she went to Khabbab's workshop and punished him by placing a red hot iron from the furnace on his head. The agony was unbearable and he often fainted. Khabbab suffered long and his only recourse was to prayer. He prayed for the punishment of Umm Anmaar and her brother. His release from pain and suffering only came when the Prophet, peace be upon him, gave permission to his companions to emigrate to Madinah. Umm Anmaar by then could not prevent him from going. She herself became afflicted with a tertible illness which no one had heard of before. She behaved as if she had suffered a rabid attack. The headaches she had were especially nerve-racking. Her children sought everywhere for medical help until finally they were told that the only cure was to cauterize her head. This was done. The treatment, with a ret hot iron, was more terrible than all the headaches she suffered. At Madinah, among the generous and hospitable Ansar, Khabbab experienced a state of ease and restfulness which he had not known for a long time. He was delighted to be near the Prophet, peace be upon him, with no one to molest him or disturb his happiness. He fought alongside the noble Prophet at the battle of Badr. He participated in the battle of Uhud where he had the satisfaction of seeing Siba'a ibn Abd al-Uzza meet his end at the hands of Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the uncle of the Prophet. Khabbab lived long enough to witness the great expansion of Islam under the four Khulafaa ar- Rashidun; Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. He once visited Umar during his caliphate. Umar stood up (he was in a meetin) and greeted Khabbab with the words: "No one is more deserving than you to be in this assembly other than Bilal." He asked Khabbab about the torture and the persecution he had received at the hands of the mushrikeen. Khabbab described this in some detail since it was still very vivid in his mind. He then exposed his back and even Umar was aghast at what he saw. In the last phase of his life, Khabbab was blessed with wealth such as he had never before dreamed of. He was, however, well-known for his generosity. It is even said that he placed his dirhams and his dinars in a part of his house that was known to the poor and the needy. He did not secure this money in any way and those in need would come and take what they needed without seeking any permission or asking any questions. In spite of this, he was always afraid of his accountability to God for the way he disposed of this wealth. A group of companions related that they visited Khabbab when he was sick and he said: "In this place there are eighty thousand dirhams. By God, I have never secured it any way and I have not barred anyone in need from it." He wept and they asked why he was weeping. "I weep," he said, "because my companions have passed away and they did not obtain any such reward in this world. I have lived on and have acquired this wealth and I fear that this will be the only reward for my deeds." Soon after he passed away. The Khalifah Ali ibn abi Talib, may God be pleased with him, stood at his grave and said: "May God have mercy on Khabbab.

He accepted Islam wholeheartedly. He performed hijrah willingly. He lived as a mujahid and God shall not withhold the reward of one who has done good."

Ikrimah Ibn Abi Jahl

He was at the end of the third decade of his life on the day the Prophet made public his call to guidance and truth. He was held in high regard by the Quraysh, being wealthy and of noble lineage.

Some others like him, Sa'd ibn abi Waqqas, Mus'ab ibn Umayr and other sons of noble families in Makkah had become Muslims. He too might have followed their example were it not for his father.

His father, Abu Jahl, was the foremost proponent of Shirk and one of the greatest tyrants of Makkah. Through torture, he sorely tested the faith of the early believers but they remained steadfast. He used every strategem to make them waver but they continued to affirm the truth. Ikrimah found himself defending the leadership and authority of his father as he pitted himself against the Prophet. His animosity towards the Prophet, his persecution of his followers and his attempts to block the progress of Islam and the Muslims won the admiration of his father. At Badr, Abu Jahl led the Makkan polytheists in the battle against the Muslims. He swore by al-Laat and al- Uzza that he would not return to Makkah unless he crushed Muhammad. At Badr he sacrificed three camels to these goddesses. He drank wine and had the music of singing girls to spur the Quraysh on to fight. Abu Jahl was among the first to fall in the battle. His son Ikrimah saw him as spears pierced his body and heard him let out his last cry of agony. Ikrimah returned to Makkah leavmg behind the corpse of the Quraysh chieftain, his father. He wanted to bury him in Makkah but the crushing defeat they suffered made this impossible. From that day, the fire of hatred burned even more fiercely in the heart of Ikrimah. Others whose fathers were killed at Badr, also became more hostile to Muhammad and his followers. This eventually led to the Battle of Uhud. At Uhud Ikrimah was accompanied by his wife, Umm Hakim. She and other women stood behind the battle lines beating their drums, urging the Quraysh on to battle and upbraiding any horseman who felt inclined to flee. Leading the right flank of the Quraysh was Khalid ibn Walid. On the left was Ikrimah ibn abi Jahl. The Quraysh inflicted heavy losses on the Muslims and felt that they had avenged themselves for the defeat at Badr. This was not, however, the end of the state of conflict. At the battle of the Ditch, the Quraysh mushrikun besieged Madinah. It was a long siege. The resources and the patience of the mushrikun were wearing out. Ikrimah, feeling the strain of the siege, saw a place where the ditch, dug by the Muslims, was relatively narrow. With a gigantic effort, he managed to cross. A small group of Quraysh followed him. It was a foolhardy undertaking. One of them was immediately killed and it was only by turning on his heels that Ikrimah managed to save himself. Nine years after his hijrah, the Prophet returned with thousands of his companions to Makkah. The Quraysh saw them approaching and decided to leave the way open for them because they knew that the Prophet had given instructions to his commanders not to open hostilities. Ikrimah and some others however went against the consen- sus of the Quraysh and attempted to block the progress of the Muslim forces. Khalid ibn al-Walid, now a Muslim, met and defeated them in a small engagement during which some of Ikrimah's men were killed and others who could, fled. Among those who escaped was Ikrimah himself. Any standing or influence that Ikrimah may have had was now completely destroyed. The Prophet, peace be upon him, entered Makkah and gave a general pardon and amnesty to all Quraysh who entered the sacred mosque, or who stayed in their houses or who went to the house of Abu Sufyan, the paramount Quraysh leader. However he refused to grant amnesty to a few individuals whom he named. He gave orders that they should be killed even if they were found under the covering of the Ka'bah. At the top of this list was Ikrimah ibn abi Jahl. When Ikrimah learnt of this, he slipped out of Makkah in disguise and headed for the Yemen. Umm Hakim, Ikrimah's wife, then went to the camp of the Prophet. With her was Hind bint Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan and the mother of Mu'awiyah, and about ten other women who wanted to pledge allegiance to the Prophet. At the camp, were two of his wives, his daughter Fatimah and some women of the Abdulmuttalib clan. Hind was the one who spoke. She was veiled and ashamed of what she had done to Hamzah, the Prophet's uncle, at the battle of Uhud. "O Messenger of God," she said, "Praise be to God Who has made manifest the religion He has chosen for Himself. I beseech you out of the bonds of kinship to treat me well. I am now a believing woman who affirms the Truth of your mission." She then unveiled herself and said: "I am Hind, the daughter of Utbah, O Messenger of God. " "Welcome to you," replied the Prophet, peace be on him. "By God, O Prophet" continued Hind, "there was not a house on earth that I wanted to destroy more than your house.

Now, there is no house on earth that I so dearly wish to honour and raise in glory than yours." Umm Hakim then got up and professed her faith in Islam and said: "O Messenger of God, Ikrimah has fled from you to the Yemen out of fear that you would kill him. Grant him security and God will grant you security." "He is secure," promised the Prophet. Umm Hakim set out immediately in search of Ikrimah. Accompanying her was a Greek slave. When they had gone quite far on the way, he tried to seduce her but she managed to put him off until she came to a settlement of Arabs. She sought their help against him. They tied him up and kept him. Umm Hakim continued on her way until she finally found Ikrimah on the coast of the Red Sea in the region of Tihamah. He was negotiating transport with a Muslim seaman who was saying to him: "Be pure and sincere and I will transport you." "How can I be pure?" asked Ikrimah. "Say, I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah." "I have fled from this very thing," said Ikrimah. At this point, Umm Hakim came up to Ikrimah and said: "O cousin, I have come to you from the most generous of men, the most righteous of men, the best of men . . . from Muhammad ibn Abdullah. I have asked him for an amnesty for you. This he has granted. So do not destroy yourself." "Have you spoken to him?" "Yes, I have spoken to him and he has granted you amnesty," she assured him and he returned with her. She told him about the attempt of their Greek slave to dishonour her and Ikrimah went directly to the Arab settlement where he lay bound and killed him. At one of their resting places on their way back, Ikrimah wanted to sleep with his wife but she vehemently refused and said: "I am a Muslimah and you are a mushrik." Ikrimah was totally taken aback and said, "Living without you and without your sleeping with me is an impossible situation." As Ikrimah approached Makkah, the Prophet, peace be upon him, told his companions: "Ikrimah ibn abi Jahl shall come to you as a believer and a muhajir (a refugee). Do not insult his father. Insulting the dead causes grief to the living and does not reach the dead." Ikrimah and his wife came up to where the Prophet was sitting. The Prophet got up and greeted him enthusiastically. "Muhammad," said Ikrimah, "Umm Hakim has told me that you have granted me an amnesty." "That's right," said the Prophet, "You are safe." "To what do you invite?" asked Ikrimah. "I invite you to testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the servant of Allah and His messenger, to establish Prayer and pay the Zakat and carry out all the other obligations of Islam." "By God," responded Ikrimah, "You have only called to what is true and you have only commanded that which is good. You lived among us before the start of your mission and then you were the most trustworthy of us in speech and the most righteous of us." Stretching forth his hands he said, "I testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger." The Prophet then instructed him to say, "I call on God and those present here to witness that I am a Muslim who is a Mujahid and a Muhajir". This Ikrimah repeated and then said: "I ask you to ask God for forgiveness for me for all the hostility I directed against you and for whatever insults I expressed in your presence or absence." The Prophet replied with the prayer: "O Lord, forgive him for all the hostility he directed against me and for all the expeditions he mounted wishing to put out Your light. Forgive him for whatever he has said or done in my presence or absence to dishonour me." Ikrimah's face beamed with happiness. "By God, O messenger of Allah, I promise that whatever I have spent obstructing the way of God, I shall spend twice as much in His path and whatever battles I have fought against God's way I shall fight twice as much in His way." From that day on, Ikrimah was committed to the mission of Islam as a brave horseman in the field of battle and as a steadfast worshipper who would spend much time in mosques reading the book of God. Often he would place the mushaf on his face and say, "The Book of my Lord, the words of my Lord" and he would cry from the fear of God. Ikrimah remained true to his pledge to the Prophet. Whatever battles the Muslims engaged in thereafter, he participated in them and he was always in the vanguard of the army. At the battle of Yarmuk he plunged into the attack as a thirsty person after cold water on a blistering hot day. In one encounter in which the Muslims were under heavy attack, Ikrimah penetrated deep into the ranks of the Byzantines. Khalid ibn al-Walid rushed up to him and said, "Don't, Ikrimah. Your death will be a severe blow to the Muslims." "Let us carry on, Khalid," said Ikrimah, now at the peak of motivation. "You had the privilege of being with the Messenger of God before this. As for myself and my father, we were among his bitterest enemies. Leave me now to atone for what I have done in the past. I fought the Prophet on many occasions. Shall I now flee from the Byzantines? This shall never be." Then calling out to the Muslims, he shouted, "Who shall pledge to fight until death?" Four hundred Muslims including al-Harith ibn Hisham and Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah responded to his call. They plunged into the battle and fought heroically without the leadership of Khalid ibn al-Walid. Their daring attack paved the way for a decisive Muslim victory. When the battle was over, the bodies of three wounded mujahideen lay sprawled on the battleground, among them Al-Harith ibn Hisham, Ayyash ibn Abi Rabi'ah and Ikrimah ibn abi Jahl. Al-Harith called for water to drink. As it was brought to him, Ayyash looked at him and Harith said: "Give it to Ayyash." By the time they got to Ayyash, he had just breathed his last. When they returned to al-Harith and Ikrimah, they found that they too had passed away. The companions prayed that God may be pleased with them all and grant them refreshment from the spring of Kawthar in Paradise, a refreshment after which there is thirst no more.

In 1730 or 1731, Ayuba Suleiman Diallo was enslaved near the Gambia River in Bundu, in the eastern part of what is now the West African nation of Senegal. A slave ship carried this father and husband across the Atlantic Ocean to Annapolis, Maryland, where he was sold to a tobacco farmer. In America, Ayuba, who was named after the biblical fi gure and qur’anic prophet Job, became known by a translation of his name, Job Ben Solomon, or Job, the son of Solomon. He toiled in the tobacco fi elds, but soon fell ill and complained that he was not suited for such work. His owner allowed him to tend the cattle instead. These lighter duties allowed Job, who was a practicing Muslim, to maintain his daily prayer schedule, and he would often walk into the woods to pray. Job’s peaceful devotions were soon disturbed, however, by a young white boy who mocked him and even threw dirt on him—and did so more than once. Perhaps for this reason, Job decided in 1731 to escape his bondage and head west. When a local jailer caught him, Job tried to explain why he had run away but he  was unable to communicate in English. Eventually, an African translator was found, and when Job was returned to the plantation, his owner set aside a place where Job could pray without disturbance. But Job had a plan to escape his enslavement in America, and he wrote a letter in Arabic to his father, a prominent person, probably a religious scholar, in Bundu, hoping that his father might ransom him. Like other educated Muslims of the Fulbe or Fulani ethnic group, Job spoke Fula in daily life, but he could also read and write Arabic, a common West African language of learning, statecraft, and commerce in the eighteenth century. As a Muslim child, Job had memorized the Qur’an and studied numerous religious texts and traditions in Arabic. Such knowledge impressed many of the white people whom Job met in his global travels. One of them was James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia and a member of the British parliament. Though Job’s father never received the Arabic letter, Oglethorpe eventually came into possession of it and asked scholars at Oxford University to translate the letter into English. Oglethorpe, impressed by the slave’s literacy and sympathetic to his story, then purchased his “bond.” With Oglethorpe’s assistance, Job crossed the Atlantic again, just two years or so after he had arrived in Annapolis. This time, he traveled to England. During this 1733 sea voyage, his biographer, the Rev. Thomas Bluett, noted that Job often prayed; butchered his own meat according to the rules outlined in the shari‘a, or Islamic law and ethics; and avoided all pork. During his stay in England, Job was said to have written in his own hand three complete copies of the Qur’an—from memory. Some of his sponsors had hoped to convert him to Christianity, and they gave him a copy of the New Testament in Arabic translation. But Job was already familiar with the story of Jesus, who is depicted in the Qur’an as a prophet rather than as the incarnation of God in the fl esh. Job, like most Muslims, agreed with his Christian sponsors that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, performed miracles, and would come again at the end of the world. But he rejected the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the belief that God, though one in essence, is also three “persons”: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. After he “perused” the Gospels “with a great deal of care,” Job told his Christian friends, accurately, that he found no mention of the “Trinity” in the scriptures. Job was quickwitted, using the Christian scriptures to argue for his Islamic theological view of monotheism, the belief in one God. Indeed, though the Gospel of Matthew commands followers of Jesus to baptize the whole world in the name of the “father, son, and holy spirit,” the word “trinity” itself is never uttered in the New Testament. Job warned his English hosts to avoid the association of any human images with God, even the image of Prophet Jesus. Job was especially critical—at least according to his Protestant biographer—of Roman Catholic “idolatry,” which he had observed in one West African town. Job’s story became the eighteenth-century equivalent of a bestseller. He was a genuine celebrity, earning the patronage of the Duke of Montague. He even met the royal family. The Royal African Company, which hoped that Job might further its trading relationships in West Africa, eventually bought Job’s bond and set him free. Then, in 1734, Job returned to his native Africa, arriving safely, “by the will of God,” he wrote, at Fort James along the Gambia River. He did not travel to his home region of Bundu immediately, but fi rst accompanied Royal African Company offi cial Francis Moore on a fact-fi nding mission along the Gambia River. In the meanwhile, a messenger carried correspondence from Job to his family. When the messenger returned, Job received the sad news that his father had died while he was away, and that Bundu had been ravaged by a dreadful war that did not leave even “one cow left.” Despite the threat of thieves and war, in 1735 Job set out with an English colleague for home. When he reached his town, Job fi red his guns in the air and galloped his horse wildly in celebration. Job found all his children to be healthy, and he fasted from dawn to dusk for a month, perhaps fulfi lling a vow that he had made when he was fi rst captured in 1730 or 1731. Job continued to write to his associates in England, though little is known about his life after 1740. According to one report, he lived a long life and died in 1773 in his native land. Since 1734, Job’s remarkable story has been celebrated, and no doubt embellished, on both sides of the Atlantic. His Arabic letters and the various English-language articles written about him are remarkable documents from the colonial period of North American history. They disprove the notion that Muslims are only recent, foreign additions to North America. Job arrived more than three decades before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. Though historians still debate exactly how many African Americans in North America were practicing Muslims—estimates range wildly from the thousands to more than a million—there is little doubt that Muslims have been part of the continent’s history for hundreds of years. In fact, some Muslims, or Muslims who had converted to Christianity, may have been aboard Columbus’s fi rst expedition in 1492. In the 1530s, the legendary African explorer Estevanico is said to have explored Arizona and New Mexico in search of gold and treasure. A Portuguese slave, Estevanico was also called “the Moor,” meaning that he was a Muslim from North Africa. Whether Estevanico was an actual historical fi gure remains a matter for debate, though his presence in historical lore refl ects, at least symbolically, the likely presence of Muslims among explorers and settlers from the Iberian peninsula. By the late 1500s, common Muslim-sounding names such as Hassan, Osman, Amar, Ali, and Ramadan appeared in Spanish language colonial documents. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as Job Ben Solomon’s biography proves, the question is defi nitively settled. Various documents by and about American Muslims were published in English and other languages. This evidence establishes that Muslims from almost all Islamic regions of West Africa were present throughout the Americas during the colonial period. Given Islam’s long history and expanding presence in West Africa during the period in which the slave trade took place, some African American slaves were bound to be Muslim. After Islam spread throughout North Africa in the 600s, Berber traders, using camels to cross the Sahara desert, introduced their faith to West African trading partners. In the eighth and ninth centuries, traders and their families peopled various towns in West Africa. By the tenth and eleventh centuries, several West African leaders, including those of Ghana, converted to Islam. This was a pattern repeated often in newly Islamic lands. Islam was at fi rst an elite faith of traders and rulers, but gradually, more and more agrarian people adopted the religion and adapted it to their own life circumstances. From the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries, West African rulers such as Mansa Musa, the fourteenth century king of Mali, built mosques and schools, hired Muslim judges and clerks, and went on pilgrimage to Mecca or gave alms to the poor. Around the time Job Ben Solomon came to North America, Islam was also spreading in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea, buoyed by family networks of Muslim scholars, political and military leaders, and mystics who played prominent roles in Muslim West African societies. Perhaps the most powerful of these elite Muslims captured in West Africa and brought to the Americas was Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima, a Muslim noble and military leader from Futa Jalon, a mountainous region located in what is now Guinea. Like Job Ben Solomon, Abd al-Rahman was Fulbe, or Fulani, the ethnic group so important to the spread of Islam in West Africa. In Futa Jalon, the Fulani had succeeded in building a powerful state through military conquest, participation in the slave trade, and successful cultivation of the fertile region around the headwaters of the Senegal and Gambia rivers. Like other Fulbe, Futa Jalon’s political and economic leaders also sponsored institutions of Islamic religious life and learning in a capital city, Timbo, where Abd al-Rahman lived. Abd al-Rahman claimed to be the son of an almamy, a Muslim noble, and whether the story is completely accurate or not, it is clear that Abd al-Rahman, who was enslaved while in his twenties, was a member of the elite class of Futa Jalon. Born around 1762, Abd al-Rahman benefi ted from an extensive Islamic education in Timbuktu and Jenne, two of the great centers of learning in West Africa. He learned to speak several West African languages, and like Job Ben Solomon, could also read and write Arabic. After completing his education, Abd al-Rahman became a warrior, and he served as a military leader around the same time that that the ruling Muslim class consolidated its power over the region. On his way home in 1788 from a successful campaign that extended the boundaries of his principality to the Atlantic Ocean, Abd alRahman was captured by a rival ethnic group, sent north to the Gambia River, and sold to European slave traders. Like many other fi rst-generation Africans who came to the United States, Abd al-Rahman fi rst landed in the West Indies.  He then was taken to New Orleans, which was a Spanish possession at the time, and fi nally, hundreds of miles north to Natchez, Mississippi. Using a translator, Abd al-Rahman, like Job Ben Solomon, tried to explain that he was a person of high status in West Africa. His purchaser nicknamed him “Prince,” an appellation that he would carry for the rest of his life. Like Job and so many other slaves, Abd al-Rahman hated life in the fi elds, and he ran away. But after a few weeks wandering in the Mississippi wilderness, he returned to Natchez. Abd al-Rahman married Isabella, an African American Baptist woman, in the 1790s, and as the years passed, they had several children together. He took care of his owner’s livestock, kept his own garden, and sold his own produce at the town marketplace. Then, in 1807, as Abd alRahman was selling vegetables in Natchez, he was recognized by John Coates Cox, a white man who had stayed in Timbo, and who, it was said, actually knew Abd al-Rahman’s father. Though there is no way to confi rm Cox’s claims, he maintained that Abd al-Rahman’s father had cared for him when he was sick and had provided him with guides so that he might make his way along the Gambia River and eventually return home. Cox, who felt a kinship with Abd al-Rahman, immediately set to work trying to free him. But his appeals to the Mississippi governor and his attempts to purchase Abd al-Rahman’s freedom were unsuccessful. Through the use of newspapers, the “prince” did become a local celebrity, though it would be more than two decades before he would achieve national recognition. Almost two decades later, in 1826, Abd al-Rahman penned a letter in Arabic requesting his freedom. The letter, unusual since it was written in Arabic, was passed along from a U.S. senator to the U.S. consul in Morocco, and fi nally to Secretary of State Henry Clay. With the support of President John Quincy Adams, Clay personally intervened in the case of Abd al-Rahman, and on behalf of the federal government offered to provide transportation back to Africa for him. But Abd alRahman would not leave without freeing his family. Local citizens of Mississippi helped to raise the $200 necessary to free his wife, but Abd al-Rahman would need far greater help and far more generous patrons to raise the thousands of dollars needed to free his eight children. He was single-minded and audacious in achieving that goal. In April 1828, Abd al-Rahman set out on a nationwide tour in order to raise the money he needed. With Secretary of State Henry Clay’s endorsement, important merchants, politicians, and philanthropists opened their homes, their assembly halls, and their pocketbooks to him. As he traveled along the eastern seaboard of the United States, he met Francis Scott Key, the author of “The Star-Spangled Banner”; Charles and Arthur Tappan, wealthy Christian reformers who later funded the movement to abolish slavery; Edward Everett, a Massachusetts representative in the U.S. Congress; and Thomas Gallaudet, the founder of America’s fi rst important school for the deaf. He was also feted by prominent African American civic groups such as the Black Masons of Boston, whose second marshal, David Walker, would soon write his manifesto of black liberation called the Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829). When speaking with merchants, Abd al-Rahman promised to further their economic interests; when conversing with members of the American Colonization Society, which wanted to send African Americans “back to Africa,” he endorsed their plans; and when meeting with missionaries, he pledged to spread Christianity in West Africa. He played the “Arab prince” when necessary, donning a Moorish costume to mark himself as exotic and different from other African Americans. This attempt to use an “Oriental” identity to his own advantage was based on the sound assumption that many whites would see him, as Henry Clay did, not as a black African but as a member of the Moorish “race,” a tragic Muslim prince who had been the “unfortunate” victim of fate. These were all temporary strategies fabricated by Abd al-Rahman to achieve a larger and more personal objective. When some of his hosts asked him to write the Lord’s Prayer in Arabic, he indeed wrote something in Arabic, but it was the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Qur’an used by Muslims as part of their daily prayers and other devotions. Abd al-Rahman was also a willing critic of white American Christian hypocrisy. While unpopular among some of his patrons, these sentiments would have been welcomed by his abolitionist benefactors, who believed that slavery was a stain on the soul of America. Like Job Ben Solomon, Abd al-Rahman was familiar with both Christian theology and scriptures, and according to reporter Cyrus Griffi n of the Natchez Southern Galaxy, once said that the New “Testament [was] very good law; [but] you no follow it.” He criticized the lack of piety that he observed: “You no pray often enough.” He claimed that Christians used their religion to justify their greed and cruel use of slaves: “You greedy after money. You good man, you join the religion? See, you want more land, more niggers; you make nigger work hard, make more cotton. Where you fi nd that in your law?” Many prominent abolitionists up north could not have said it better themselves. Abd al-Rahman knew what his audiences wanted to hear, and as a result, his ten-month fundraising tour met its goal, collecting the incredible sum (for that time) of $3,400. In February 1829, sixty-something-year-old Abd al- Rahman and his wife, Isabella, departed from the port at Norfolk, Virginia, on the Harriet for Liberia, the African American colony in West Africa. More than four decades had passed since he had been forced to leave his native land. Abd al-Rahman’s plan was to wait for the rainy season to fi nish, and then to make the journey from Liberia to Timbo. But after arriving safely in Monrovia, the country’s capital, he fell ill with fever and diarrhea, and in early July 1829, Abd al-Rahman died. In 1830, the committee of supporters who had helped Abd al-Rahman stage his fundraising tour fulfi lled his promise by purchasing the freedom of at least four of his sons. In the summer of that year, the committee arranged for the transport of two of them, Simon and Levi, to Africa. They arrived in Monrovia that December, where they rejoined their mother, the Americanborn Baptist wife of a West African Muslim noble. Sons Prince and Abraham, though freed, stayed in the United States, while at least three of his children remained enslaved. Generation and after generation of Abd al-Rahman’s descendants—hundreds, if not thousands of Americans—came to trace their lineage to this important, if under-explored fi gure of U.S. history. Both Job Ben Solomon and Abd al-Rahman were literate and urbane Muslims who used their knowledge, talents, and, when necessary, legerdemain, to improve their daily living conditions under slavery and to return home to Africa. To achieve such goals, they had to rely on the interests of various white people. In both cases, some merchants and venture capitalists were anxious to know more about the lands from which Job and Abd al-Rahman had come so that they might better exploit the natural and human resources of those regions. American slaveholders wanted to understand the ethnic identities of slaves such as Job and Abd al-Rahman so that they might better use and control them; for them, these Muslims were quite literally a breed apart. Christian missionaries also used the stories of these Muslims to raise funds for their efforts to win souls for Christ rather than Allah and to show that Africans were capable of benefi ting from schooling and other institutions of “civilization.” In the case of Abd al-Rahman, abolitionists seized upon the image of the noble African to show the inherent humanity and intelligence of slaves. Navigating these white interests would become even more complicated for African American Muslims—and African Americans more generally—after 1831, when Nat Turner’s relatively successful slave revolt in Virginia crystallized the fear among whites that they were sitting on a powder keg of slave dissent. Constitutional rights of free expression, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly were severely curtailed for all southerners, especially African Americans. Though some historians have emphasized this period of antebellum southern history as one in which slaves subtly negotiated the terms of their enslavement, others see this period as akin to a state of war in which slaveholders, and those aligned with them, employed any degree of violence and repression to maintain their privileged position in U.S. society. African American Muslim slaves, like slaves more generally, used whatever means were at their disposal to improve their lives and to gain their freedom. For Omar ibn Sayyid, that meant publicly converting to Christianity, or perhaps pretending to convert to Christianity, and writing poetry praising his master. Omar ibn Sayyid, like both Job and Abd al-Rahman, was an ethnic Fulbe or Fulani from West Africa. Born in Futa Toro, he was from the northern region of modern Senegal, where Islam was fl ourishing in the era of his youth. For more than two decades, Omar studied the Qur’an; the hadith, or the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad and his companions; and the Islamic religious sciences. He may have been a trader, a warrior, a teacher—or all three—before he was captured and sold into slavery. He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, around 1807. One of his early owners was so cruel, he said, that he escaped to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But Omar was caught and jailed, then sold again. This time, Omar convinced his new owner, Jim Owen, that he was, in his own words, “a man of weak eyes” and “weak body,” an intellectual, and a spiritually inclined person who was not capable of or suited for hard labor. Omar never returned to Africa. He attended a local church and remained a bachelor the rest of his days. Like Abd al-Rahman, he was celebrated by journalists and writers as an Arabian prince who had come to embrace Christianity. Omar also wrote letters, and like Abd al-Rahman, was asked by various white Christians to render the Lord’s Prayer and other Christian scriptures in Arabic. Such performances may have left otherwise unwitting audiences with the impression that Omar had indeed converted to Christianity, although the substance of his writing gives a much more ambiguous portrait of Omar’s religious convictions. During the perilous years in which he was composing such documents, it would have been dangerous for Omar to write, even in Arabic, that Christianity was a religious distortion, and that he remained a Muslim in his heart. In 1819, a local leader of the American Colonization Society (ACS), North Carolina judge John Louis Taylor sent one of Omar’s earliest known letters to Francis Scott Key, a founder of the ACS, which hoped to repatriate black slaves to Africa. Taylor was dismayed that Omar was Muslim and requested an Arabic Bible so that he might convince him to convert to Christianity. Omar’s letter indicated that such a conversion was unlikely. Citing both the Qur’an and the hadith, Omar complained that “what you have been told by your fathers is not true. You show God in male or female form? Behold, such is an unfair division!” In other words, Omar was criticizing the Christian belief in the Incarnation, the idea that God appeared in the human fl esh of Jesus, and the belief that God could be “divided” into different forms. For Omar, God was One. “These are nothing but names which you have made up—you and your fathers,” he concluded (Qur’an 53:21–23). Certainly Omar believed in Jesus, but only as a prophet, as he suggested by quoting Qur’an 2:285, in which people of faith declare that they make no distinctions between all of the apostles of God. All apostles are worthy of respect and tellers of truth, Omar seemed to be arguing, but no apostle is a god. In the letter’s conclusion, Omar’s thoughts drifted to the Day of Judgment as he remembered the Qur’anic teaching that God places on no soul a greater burden than it can bear (2:286). He asked God’s forgiveness in the land of unbelievers, and he pleaded that when the world comes to an end, he would be transported back to Africa for fi nal judgment. Although no later document from Omar’s hand presents similar criticisms of Christianity, his later writings make one question whether Omar ever really converted to Christianity. Omar’s autobiography, written in 1831, is the only known Arabic-language autobiography written by a North American slave. It is a document full of dissimulation, the hiding of one’s true religious identity. Omar began his autobiography by invoking the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, and asking blessings on the Prophet Muhammad. He also quoted extensively from one of the most popular chapters of the Qur’an, called Sura al-Mulk, “the chapter of Dominion,” or God’s sovereignty. This sura, or chapter of the Qur’an, asks its readers to ponder God’s power over every aspect of creation, to remember that God created life and death, and to mourn human beings who have lost sight of God. In the historical context in which Omar was writing, it would not be unreasonable to interpret such statements as antislavery sentiments—the concept that dominion belongs completely to God, not to other men. As Omar’s autobiography continued, he recounted his enslavement, his mistreatment at the hands of a terrible owner, and his utter relief at being sold to Jim Owen. “O ye people of North Carolina,” he wrote, “O ye people of South Carolina, O ye people of America all of you, have you among you any . . . such men as Jim Owen?” Omar also juxtaposed his American trials with life back home. Before he came to a Christian country, he professed, “I walked to the mosque before day-break, washed my face and head and hands and feet. I prayed at noon, prayed in the afternoon, prayed at sunset, prayed in the evening. I gave alms every year. . . . I went on pilgrimage to Mecca.” Such comments reveal how much these Islamic traditions had informed his identity in Africa. But the Owens family read the Gospel to him, he said, and though he once prayed in the words of the Fatiha, the fi rst chapter of the Qur’an, he now prayed in the words of the Lord’s Prayer. The autobiography ended not with lofty religious sentiments, but with more words of praise for the relative kindness of his owner, Jim Owen. The ambiguity of Omar’s autobiography reminds us how all writing is shaped by the time and place in which it is composed. His autobiography is short on the details of what it was like to practice Islamic religion in North America. Because so much of slave religion in North America—whether Islamic, Christian, or African traditional religion—was clandestine in nature, it is possible that much Muslim religious activity went on without notice. Even when whites observed African American Muslim rituals, they often did not understand what was taking place right in front of their eyes. Notwithstanding this fact, there is no evidence to suggest that Omar practiced Islam in a communal setting with other Muslim slaves. In fact, by all accounts he was largely a solitary human being. Whether the historical accounts of Omar—as well as Job and Abd al-Rahman—omit  critical details about the presence of a practicing community of Muslim slaves in North America, we will likely never know. To fi nd evidence that Islam was practiced in a communal setting, we must look to other sources. Around the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, African American Muslim slaves and free men and women of color practiced Islam in the nineteenth century and perhaps into the early twentieth century as well. These Muslims lived in relatively isolated communities such as St. Simons Island and Sapelo Island, Georgia, where plantations were generally large and blacks often outnumbered whites as a percentage of the area’s total population. African traditions, including Islam, were more likely to survive the middle passage if a community of people was committed to their perpetuation. On Sapelo Island, a Muslim slave named Bilali, also called Ben Ali, Belali Mahomet, and Bu Allah, became a successful overseer and father of a large family. Bilali’s master, Thomas Spaulding, owned thousands of acres on Sapelo Island, where African Americans lived together in villages and raised cotton, sugar cane, and rice. There were very few whites on the island, and Spaulding put Bilali in charge of hundreds of slaves. Bilali was credited with successfully preparing these slaves to fi ght off the British in the War of 1812 and evacuating them to safety during the hurricane of 1824. First brought to the Bahamas from Futa Jalon in Guinea— also the homeland of Abd al-Rahman—Bilali married and had children in the islands. He married again and had more children after his arrival in Georgia. Though some of Bilali’s biographers have used this evidence to label Bilali a Muslim polygamist, the fact that Bilali may have had more than one wife was not unusual in slave communities. Slaves were chattel, and owners constantly broke apart slave families by selling husbands, wives, and children to different owners in different places. The result was that African American male and female slaves often remarried, whether formally or informally. Even more, African American slaves developed a communal consciousness that went beyond blood, as they cared for orphaned children and others who had been torn from their homes and forced to move elsewhere. Because of his relative privilege as an overseer, however, Bilali was able to keep his family together and raised all twelve sons and seven daughters on Sapelo. One white woman from Broughton Island, Georgia, met Bilali’s children in the late 1850s and recorded her impressions that they were “tall and well-formed” and spoke a language—probably Fula—that she did not understand. She also noted that the family “worshipped Mahomet,” or Muhammad. That detail is important since it suggests that Bilali, like some other Muslim coastal residents, may have been able to pass on elements of his religious culture to his children. Bilali was literate and educated, and like other Muslims slaves, left behind physical evidence of his learning. One of his Arabic manuscripts, now preserved at the University of Georgia, contains selections from a legal treatise popular in West Africa among followers of the Maliki school of shari‘a, or Islamic law and ethics. Like Omar ibn Sayyid and others, Bilali probably began his education by memorizing the Qur’an and some of the Sunna, or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Perhaps Bilali also had exposure to Islamic higher education, which generally included the study of qur’anic commentary, theology, and grammar. Even so, several errors mar Bilali’s manuscript, indicating that when he wrote it, he may have forgotten parts of the manuscript or left school before his education was complete. There is no evidence to suggest that he passed on Arabic literacy and Islamic higher education to his children. But according to Bilali’s descendants and those who knew them in Georgia, he did encourage in them a sense of their Muslim identity and knowledge of Islamic religious practice. Bilali’s descendants shared this information with workers from the Savannah unit of the Georgia Writers Project, a federally funded program of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Works Projects Administration (WPA). In Georgia and around the country, fi eld workers were employed in the 1930s to record the oral histories of people whose ethnic traditions were being lost or transformed in modern America. Because of these records, we can paint a rich picture of religious life among African American Muslims from the Georgia coast. Some of the most noteworthy oral histories, unlike the written biographies from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, describe the religious lives of African American Muslim women. For example, Sapelo Island resident Katie Brown was the great-granddaughter of Bilali. She remembered the names of Bilali’s daughters, some of whom had Anglo names like Margaret and others who were called Medina and Fatima, which were African and Muslim names. Brown said that her grandmother and another relative told her that Bilali and his wife Phoebe “was very particular about the time they pray and they was very regular about the hour; [they prayed] when the sun come up, when it straight over the head, and when it set.” Praying three times a day was a standard religious practice in many Islamic traditions, including some of those in West Africa. Three times a day Bilali and Phoebe would prostrate themselves on a prayer rug and “bow to the sun,” that is to the east—toward Mecca. In addition, she reported that “Bilali and his wife Phoebe prayed on the bead,” meaning that they used Muslim prayer beads to perform dhikr, a meditative form of prayer in which the believer remembers the presence of God by repeating the names of God or short sayings. Shad Hall, another of Bilali’s descendants, also remembered his grandmother Hester and several family members using beads when they prayed. Bilali, said Katie Brown, would pull each bead on the long string, and recite words of devotion to God and his prophet, Muhammad. The fact that Bilali used a long string of beads may indicate that he owned the same kind of beads popular among the Qadiriyya, a Sufi order, or pietistic group that had a profound impact on West African politics and society in this era. The Muslims of the coastal region also preserved some African holidays, especially the annual celebration of sadaka or saraka. During this festival, which was often celebrated in West Africa to commemorate ancestors, to offer thanks, or to ask for help, Katie Brown remembered that her grandmother would make “funny fl at cake she call ‘saraka.’ ” The recipe, a variation on West African cooking, involved soaking rice in water overnight, and then pounding the swollen, softened rice in a wooden mortar with a pestle until it turned into paste. Then Brown’s grandmother would add honey and sometimes sugar, and form the paste into fl at cakes. “She make them same day every year,” recalled Brown, “and it a big day. When they fi nish, she call us in, all the children, and put in hands little fl at cake. And we eats it.” Shad Hall’s grandmother, Hester, would offer a blessing on the cakes by saying, “Ameen, Ameen, Ameen” (the Arabic word for Amen) before eating them. Brown also recalled that her grandmother, Margaret, wore some type of hijab, or head scarf. Margaret, who was born in the Bahamas, donned “a loose white cloth that she throw over her head like veil and it hang loose on her shoulder. I ain’t know why she wear it that way,” her granddaughter remarked, “but I think she ain’t like a tight thing round her head.” Whether this head scarf had a specifi cally Islamic meaning for Katie Brown’s grandmother is not clear. Sometimes a head scarf is just a head scarf. In addition, its meaning may have changed over the years in Sapelo Island. One of the diffi culties more generally in reconstructing religious life among African American slaves is fi guring out when and where African Americans transformed certain African practices to suit their new environment or to meet new social needs. At times, it is clear that slaves combined the old with the new. According to the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones, a Georgia farmer and preacher, some slaves who became Christians in the South were not dissimulating; they claimed that Christianity and Islam were two expression of the same religious idea: “God, they say, is Allah, and Jesus Christ is Mohammed—the religion is the same, but different countries have different names.” On the Georgia coast, however, Muslim religious practice before the Civil War was far more likely to be performed alongside African traditional religion rather than alongside Christianity, which may not have become the majority religion among African Americans on the island until the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras of U.S. history. Nero Jones, like others interviewed by WPA workers, remembered that when local residents celebrated the harvest festival, they would spend the night singing and praying. Then, after the sun came up, they would dance, beat their drums, and shake rattles made out of dried gourds. Participants in this dance, which was called the ring shout, moved in a counterclockwise direction and fell into a trance. The fact that Nero Jones’s family members performed the shout did not preclude their performance of Muslim rituals as well, and perhaps they did not see any contradiction between African traditional religion and Islam. Jones recalled that his aunt and uncle were “mighty particular about praying.” Like Bilali and Phoebe, they used prayer beads and recited Arabic words with which Jones was unfamiliar.    Some African American Muslims on the coast practiced a form of Islam that combined Islamic rituals with elements of hoodoo or conjure, the African American folk religious practice of healing and harming that involves the use of material objects—the religious activity labeled pejoratively as magic and superstition. Rosa Grant described childhood memories of her grandmother, Ryna, a fi rst-generation African American, praying in the morning: “Every morning at sun-up, she kneel on the fl oor in a room and bow over and touch her head to the fl oor three time. Then she say a prayer. I don’t remember what just what she say, but one word she say used to make us children laugh. I remember it was ‘ashamnegad.’ When she fi nish praying, she say, ‘Ameen, ameen, ameen.’ ” Grant also remembered that her grandmother called Friday “her prayer day,” probably referring to the Islamic tradition of congregational prayers on that day. These recollections establish that Rosa’s grandmother was a practicing Muslim. At the same time, this Muslim woman engaged in hoodoo. “She talk plenty about conjure,” said Grant. “She say that when a person been made to swell up from an evil spell, they got to have somebody to pray and drag for them. If you have a pain or a misery in the leg or arm, you kill a black chicken and split it open and slap it where the pain is, and that will cure the pain.” Some Muslims in the area seemed to frown on such practices as superstitious. According to James Hamilton Couper, the owner of Salih Bilali on St. Simon Island, Salih Bilali was a strict Muslim who “abstains from spirituous liquors, and keeps the various fasts,” including the dawn-to-sunset fast conducted every day during the Islamic month of Ramadan. The Muslim was “singularly exempt from all superstition; and holds in great contempt the African belief in fetishes and evil spirits.” Couper never explained exactly what separated legitimate religion from illegitimate superstition for Salih Bilali, but we can guess that he might have opposed killing a chicken to heal an illness. Instead, he or others like him might have suggested that a patient place an amulet containing passages of the Qur’an around his neck or recite certain litanies using his prayer beads. Such practices virtually defi ned Muslim piety in West Africa during this time. For African American Muslims and African American slaves more generally, however, Salih Bilali’s criticism of African traditional religion as magic and superstition was probably a minority point of view. Slaves often used any religious practice that they believed would lift the human spirit above the dehumanizing conditions under which they were forced to live. Rosa Grant’s grandmother, Ryna, was one such slave. Captured in Africa, Ryna was a little girl when she was forced into slavery with her mother, Theresa. After “they been here a while,” said Rosa Grant, “the mother get to where she can’t stand it and she want to go back to Africa. One day my gran, Ryna, was standing with her [mother] in the fi eld.” Theresa swirled her body around twice, said Rosa. “She stretch her arms out.” Then, she “rise right up and fl y back to Africa.” Ryna was not the only slave who testifi ed to this miraculous journey back to Africa. Another Georgia woman remembered similar stories. This interviewee said that her grandmother, Rachel Grant, was a Muslim who prayed three times a day. “She always face the sun,” remembered her granddaughter, “and when she fi nish praying she always bow to the sun. She tell me about the slaves what could fl y too. If they didn’t like it on the plantation, they just take wing and fl y right back to Africa.” Perhaps for Muslim slaves such as Rachel Grant there was a connection between prayer and the slaves “what could fly.” If your body could not be transported back home, then at least your spirit could. You faced east, in the direction of both Mecca and    your home, and you prayed to the God who had ultimate sovereignty, over all affairs both human and divine. As you bowed at the waist and touched your head to the earth, your spirit took fl ight to Africa and was restored. Whether or not that was the experience of African American Muslim slaves, many African American Muslims in the twentieth century would testify later that by practicing Islam, they were reclaiming a religious and spiritual heritage that had been stolen from them when their ancestors were kidnapped in Africa. Their desire to reconnect with a Muslim past, like those slaves who faced east, pointed not only toward Africa but also toward Mecca, the axis of the worldwide Muslim community. The religious imaginations of twentieth-century African American Muslims leapt across the Atlantic and so did their bodies, as they visited West Africa and Egypt, made pilgrimage to Mecca in Arabia, and toured Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries. For many of them, such travel felt like a homecoming.   In 1831, Omar ibn Sayyid, a North Carolina slave who may or may not have converted to Christianity, penned a short memoir in Arabic. In addition to recounting the details of his life in the United States, the manuscript contained a prologue excerpting a long passage from the qur’anic chapter entitled al-Mulk, or Power. This chapter of the Qur’an juxtaposes God’s dominion over all things with the feeble attempts of human beings to control their own destinies. By including this passage, perhaps Omar ibn Sayyid was reminding himself that he was not master of the fate that had befallen him, and that while an earthly master claimed to own him, he truly belonged to God. In the name of God, the merciful the gracious. God grant his blessing upon our Prophet Mohammed. Blessed be He in whose hands is the kingdom and who is Almighty; who created death and life that he might test You; for he is exalted; he is the forgiver (of sins), who created seven heavens one above the other . . . . I cannot write my life because I have forgotten much of my own language, as well as of the Arabic. Do not be hard upon me, my brother. To God let many thanks be paid for his great mercy and goodness. My name is Omar ibn Seid [Said or Sayyid]. My birthplace was Fut Tur, between the two rivers. I sought knowledge under the instruction of a Sheikh called Mohammed Seid, my own brother, and Sheikh Soleiman Kembeh, and Sheikh Gabriel Abdal. I continued my studies twenty-fi ve years, and then returned to my home where I remained six years. Then there came to our place a large army, who killed many men, and took me, and brought me to the great sea, and sold me into the hands of the Christians, who bound me and sent me on board a great ship and we sailed upon the great sea a month and a half, when we came to a place called Charleston in the Christian language. There they sold me to a small, weak, and wicked man called Johnson, a complete infi del, who had no fear of God at all. Now I am a small man, and unable to do hard work so I fl ed from the hand of Johnson and after a month came to a place called Fayd-il [Fayetteville, N.C.]. There I saw some great houses (churches). On the new moon I went into a church to pray. A lad saw me and rode off to the place of his father and informed him that he had seen a black man in the church. A man named Handah (Hunter?) and another man with him on horseback came attended by a troop of dogs. They took me and made me go with them twelve miles to a place called Fayd-il, where they put me into a great house from which I could not go out. I continued in the great house (which, in the Christian language, they called jail ) sixteen days and nights. One Friday the jailor came and opened the door of the house and I saw a great many men, all Christians, some of whom called out to me, “What is your name? Is it Omar or Seid?” I did not understand their Christian language. A man called Bob Mumford took me and led me out of the jail, and I was very well pleased to go with them to their place. I stayed at Mumford’s four days and nights, and then a man named Jim Owen, son-in-law of Mumford, having married his daughter Betsey, asked me if I was willing to go to a place called Bladen. I said, Yes, I was willing. I went with them and have remained in the place of Jim Owen until now. 

At fi rst glance, he was an unlikely candidate for conversion to Islam. Born in 1846, Alexander Russell Webb hailed from a white, Protestant, middle-class family of printers and newspapermen in Hudson, New York. As a child, he attended Hudson-on-the-Hudson’s First Presbyterian Church, whose members included some of the town’s most powerful citizens— men such as U.S. President Martin van Buren. Despite or perhaps because of his relative position of social privilege, Webb became a religious rebel at a young age. He did not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity and he found listening to his preacher’s sermons far less spiritual than playing outdoors in God’s green earth. After the Civil War, as a young man in his twenties, Webb moved to Chicago and began a jewelry business. In 1871, this venture, like so many others, was lost during the great Chicago fi re. Around the same time, Webb also formally abandoned his Christian faith and eschewed all forms of religious belief. He relied, for a time, only on reason and science for answers to his questions about the meaning of life.  In 1874, Webb moved to Missouri, where he started life over as a journalist. In the next several years, he worked for the Unionville Republican, the St. Joseph Gazette, the St. Louis PostDispatch, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and the Missouri Republican. During this period of Webb’s life, the newspaperman turned away from his fl irtations with atheism toward alternative forms of religion and spirituality. Like some other religious seekers in an era of U.S. history that Mark Twain dubbed the Gilded Age, Webb fi rst explored spiritualism, a religious tradition that emphasizes communing with the dead as a way to bridge the gap between the material world and the world of the spirits. Webb also became attracted to theosophy, the religious movement established in the 1870s and 1880s by Madame Helena Blavatsky, a Russian spiritualist, and Henry Steel Olcott, an American army offi cer. Theosophists were devoted to studying the spiritual and inner wisdom of all world religions, but especially emphasized the sagacity of “Oriental” religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. Like other intellectually minded theosophists, Webb devoted hours a day to studying books about the mystic East and its spiritual secrets. Especially interested in the mystical aspects of Islam, in 1886 or 1887 he also launched an international series of written exchanges with Ghulam Ahmad, a Muslim reformer in India. Ahmad was a self-proclaimed modern Muslim who sought to counter the gains made by colonial Christian missionaries in South Asia. In writing to Ahmad, Webb wanted to make sure that Ahmad was not an Islamic partisan. “You recognize the truths that underlie all religions,” Webb tried to confi rm in a letter to Ahmad, “and not their exoteric features which have been added by men.” For Webb, all religions were one in spirit even if their ritual and outer elements differed. T Webb’s correspondence with Ahmad signaled his desire to engage with Muslims from overseas. To truly imbibe the religion’s inner truths, Webb fi gured, he would have to travel to Muslim lands and study with real Muslims on their turf. That opportunity seemingly appeared in 1887, when his political connections as a Democratic newspaperman yielded him an appointment by President Grover Cleveland as U.S. consul to the Philippines, a chain of islands “in the East” then under Spanish colonial control. On November 9, Webb and his family left San Francisco for the Filipino capital city of Manila, where Webb thought he might be able to meet and study with Muslims. As it turned out, Webb did not meet indigenous Filipino Muslims, many of whom lived in Mindanao, an island far from Manila. But he was able to make contact with Muslim visitors to the Philippines, and his relatively light duties as a diplomat, if maddeningly bureaucratic, allowed Webb adequate time to continue his intellectual study of Islam. Sometime after arriving in Manila, Webb formally declared himself a convert to Islam. He also struck up a correspondence with another Muslim from India, a Bombay merchant named Budruddin Kur. Soon, Webb began publishing English articles about Islam in India’s Allahabad Review. These writings advocated the establishment of an Islamic mission in America and encouraged Muslims in India to support the endeavor. Kur apparently concurred and shared news of this white American convert with Hajee Abdulla Arab, a successful Calcutta businessman. Arab became interested in funding Webb’s mission. In 1892, Arab visited Webb in Manila to negotiate the details. That same year, Webb resigned his post as U.S. Consul and set off on an Indian fundraising tour that was arranged by his new Muslim brothers.  Traveling fi rst by sea to Singapore, Burma, and Calcutta, then by rail to Bombay, Hyderabad, Madras, and Agra, among other South Asian cities, Webb met with powerful Muslim landholders, foreign Muslim visitors and diplomats, Muslim merchants, and Muslim holy men, many of whom blessed him and his desire to establish an American Islamic mission. With pledges of fi nancial and moral support, Webb left India for New York, where in 1893, he offi cially established the “American Islamic Propaganda,” wrote the book Islam in America, started a periodical called The Moslem World, and set up a Manhattan offi ce as the headquarters for his mission. Webb’s missionary efforts attracted the attention of the press, and he was even selected as the Muslim representative to the Parliament of Religions at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. In all these venues, Webb promoted Islam as a religion that expressed some of America’s most deeply held values, especially those of rationality, human equality, broadmindedness, and an acceptance of religious diversity. Despite Webb’s initial splash on the national scene, however, he was unable to sustain his mission for more than three years. Few Americans actually converted to Islam under his tutelage. It was true that a great many other liberally minded Americans, especially theosophists, expressed sympathy for Webb’s propagation of the “mystical knowledge of the East” in America. But these people did not offer Webb the kind of fi nancial support necessary to carry on his high-profi le work. Much of the money promised by his Indian patrons never materialized. Subscriptions to his periodical did not produce enough income to fi ll the gap. To be sure, Webb had very little time to build his mission and his constituency, but his lack of success in attracting converts and fi nancial support was also a result of his decision to gear his message exclusively toward “respectable,” white, well-educated, and “thinking” middle-class Americans. When he began his mission in 1893, Webb told the New York Times that he wanted nothing to do with the Muslim peddlers and other working-class Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and South Asia who already lived in New York. That Webb could even consider targeting white, middleclass Americans for conversion refl ected a change in American attitudes toward Islam and Muslims during the nineteenth century. Though the Muslim world was still seen as violent, fanatical, sexist, and dangerous by many Americans in Webb’s era, it was also increasingly understood as romantic, adventurous, and, for religious liberals like Webb, innately spiritual. On the pages of his publications, Webb promoted Islamic religion as a spiritual resource in the battle against what he and other religious seekers viewed as an overly materialistic and spiritually moribund American culture. But the fact that many cartoonists and journalists of the era lampooned Webb and his conversion indicates that many Americans were not ready to divorce themselves from their more exotic ideas about Islam and the Muslim lands. Many Americans were simply unable to see Islam in the way that Webb had framed it. Though Webb’s organization and his publications largely disappeared from public view, his view of Islam as liberal, spiritual, and modern remained a part of America’s religious scene in the early twentieth century. As Webb himself faded from national prominence, another Muslim missionary would attract newspaper headlines and the attention of some of America’s most prominent religious liberals. In 1910, the Indian musician and religious leader Inayat Khan traveled throughout the United States, where he was received most warmly in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Khan was a Sufi or mystically minded Muslim, meaning that he actively cultivated an intimate and spiritual relationship to God through prayer, meditation, and other rituals meant to bring the believer closer to the Divine. Khan, like Webb, taught that the essential message of Islam was its unity with all other great religions, and that all believers in truth should cooperate and even worship with one another, no matter what their particular religious affi liation. In marrying a U.S. citizen, Ora Ray Baker, a relative of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, he showed just how committed he was to the possibility of a cross-cultural, inter-religious community. During his stay in the United States, from 1910 to 1912, he convinced at least a few others that they should devote their lives to what he called “spiritual contemplation and the service of humanity.” But the Sufi master was disappointed by most of his American audiences. Most people came merely to be amused, not to seek metaphysical truth. They were looking to be entertained, not spiritually challenged. Khan noted that Sufi teachings were treated as a fashion that could be discarded as soon as the next fad appeared in the American religious marketplace. “For the Message,” he wrote later, “the time was not yet ripe.” Khan admired American devotion to progress and modernity, but he was critical of American racism, the unfettered love of material goods, and the incredible pace of American life. He moved on to Europe, but the impact of his work as one of the fi rst Muslim missionaries in the United States lives on into the present. One of the oldest, continuing operating Sufi organizations in the United States, the Sufi Order of the West, now Sufi Order International, was led fi rst by his son, Vilayat Khan, and then by his grandson, Zia Khan. And other Sufi groups, including the International Sufi movement and Sufi Ruhaniat International, have also been devoted to his teachings. Khan was not the only Muslim missionary from South Asia to seek Muslim converts during the fi rst two decades of the twentieth century. In fact, Indian missionary Mufti Muhammad Sadiq would have an even larger impact than Khan on the spread of Islam in the United States. A follower of Ghulam Ahmad, the Indian reformer with whom Webb had corresponded decades before, Sadiq arrived in New York in 1920. He was a missionary for the movement that had been formed around the teachings of Ahmad, a group called the Ahmadiyya. Ahmadi Muslims, like Inayat Khan’s Sufi Muslims, advocated a peaceful, open-minded, and spiritual interpretation of Islam, but also emphasized the teachings of their founder, Ghulam Ahmad. Ahmadi Muslims believed that Ghulam Ahmad was the longpromised Christian Messiah and the Islamic Mahdi, a fi gure in Islamic tradition who will bring peace and justice to the world before the Day of Judgment. Many also thought that Ghulam Ahmad was a prophet. These claims about Ahmad separated the Ahmadiyya from most other Muslims, who condemned them as heretics for declaring that there was a prophet after Muhammad. For most Muslims, Muhammad of Arabia was the “seal of the prophets” and the fi nal messenger of God to humanity. In 1920, however, most Americans knew little about such internal disputes within the world of Islamic religion. For most who met the Ahmadi missionary, Sadiq was just another exotic Easterner who practiced the “Oriental” religion of Islam. Unlike previous missionaries, Muhammad Sadiq quickly adjusted his missionary techniques and goals to meet the demands of sustaining a successful mission in America. Establishing a permanent mission on Chicago’s South Side, Sadiq soon realized that African Americans were far more receptive to his message than whites. Many of these African Americans had come to the urban North from their predominantly rural homes in the South as part of the Great Migration, which occurred during the fi rst half of the twentieth century. Some of them joined existing churches, especially the black Baptist and black Methodist congregations. Others created their own religious organizations. Faced with new economic challenges, exposed to new people and ideas, and seeking new social networks, these migrants contributed to the growth of Pentecostal and Holiness churches, Catholic churches, Father Divine’s Peace Mission movement, and Bishop Daddy Grace’s Universal House of Prayer for All People. The Ahmadiyya also benefi ted from the presence of these migrants, and it tailored a religious message that was attractive to them and to other African Americans. Missionary Muhammad Sadiq emphasized his belief that Islam was a universal religion for all people and strongly advocated social equality for African Americans. The Ahmadiyya newspaper, the Moslem Sunrise, regularly featured articles critical of Christian racism—an easy claim to prove in the 1920s, as the Ku Klux Klan rose to political and social prominence based partly on its appeal to a white Protestant version of Christianity. This white brand of Christianity, one Moslem Sunrise article proclaimed, had supported slavery and had destroyed black people’s connections to their true religious heritage, which was Islam, and to their original language, which was Arabic. “You need a religion,” the article declared, “which teaches manliness, self-reliance, self-respect, and self-effort.” The Ahmadiyya movement also supported the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), a mass movement founded by the Jamaican leader Marcus Garvey that sought to encourage racial unity among all people of African descent, spawn the growth of black-owned businesses, and establish an independent nation in Africa. Ahmadi leaders in the United States hoped that the Garvey movement would choose Islam as the offi cial religion of the movement, arguing that Islam “would be a wonderful spiritual force in the life of the colored races, uniting us in a bond of common sympathy and interest.” As a missionary movement born partly to counter the infl uence of missionary Christianity’s spread in British India, the Ahmadiyya contended that people of Asian and African descent shared a common bond as the victims of European imperial aggression. Ahmadi missionary Muhammad Sadiq took that message to various meetings of the UNIA and reportedly converted dozens of UNIA members to Islam. Ahmadi missionaries had discovered a growing trend among English-speaking black people in the Americas, Great Britain, and Africa: some of them increasingly identifi ed the Islamic religion as a source of racial pride, educational achievement, cultural refi nement, and political self-determination. It had begun perhaps with the educator and politician Edward Wilmot Blyden, an African American from the Caribbean who had moved to the West African nation of Liberia in 1851. After traveling extensively among African “natives” in the West African interior, Blyden concluded that Islam, as opposed to Christianity, had succeeded in producing genuine black civilization, self-respect, high morals, industry, deep spirituality, and social unity. His writings, collected in the 1887 book Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race, continued to be read long after Blyden died in 1912, and many of his ideas became common knowledge in the Garvey movement and other organizations committed to the political self-determination of black people—most of whom still could not vote in 1920s America. But African Americans were attracted to Islam in that decade not only for political reasons but for religious reasons as well. In St. Louis, Missouri, for example, P. Nathaniel Johnson, an African American who changed his name to Ahmad Din, became the leader of a multiracial Ahmadi mosque that included blacks, whites, and Muslim immigrants. In explaining why he became a Muslim, Ahmad Din wrote in the Moslem Sunrise that after surveying the sacred texts of the world, he found the Qur’an to be the best. The mere fact that Ahmad Din could obtain an English translation of the Qur’an was another reason for the Ahmadiyya’s early success—for they were the fi rst group to mass distribute translations of the Qur’an as part of an American missionary effort. The Qur’an, Ahmad Din wrote, was “a poem, a code of laws, a prayer book, and the world’s best bible combined.” Other scriptures were an “aggregation of poets, prophets, prophetesses, statesmen, and lawgivers, historically covering thousand of years, crammed full of confl icting statements.” But the Qur’an, he declared, was different. It came exclusively from the mouth of Muhammad. Ahmad Din compared Muhammad to a “master spiritualist,” one who was “intoxicated with the gifts of God.” While hundreds, probably thousands of African American men and women followed in Ahmad Din’s footsteps by joining the Ahmadiyya movement, other African American Muslims formed their own indigenous Muslim groups. One of the fi rst African American-led Muslim movements was the Moorish Science Temple (MST), established in Chicago in 1925 by Timothy Drew. (Some authors have mistakenly dated the founding of the MST to 1913, when the same man founded the Canaanite Temple in Newark, New Jersey.) Drew taught that African Americans were actually Moors, or natives of Morocco. Their race was not black, colored, or Negro—words that Drew detested—but Asiatic. Like all other Asiatics, which included the entire nonwhite world of South America, Africa, and Asia, Moors were by nature Muslims, he said. Drew, who changed his name to Noble Drew Ali, established the Moorish Science Temple to bring Moors back to their original religion, create a sense of community separate from whites, develop self-respect and self-love, follow a strict moral code, and encourage spiritual development. His followers believed that he was a prophet. The presence of the word “science” in the name of his organization indicated that Drew Ali, like other advocates of what was called “New Thought” in the 1920s, believed in the mystical sciences that could close the gap between the material and spiritual worlds. Human beings, he said, could improve their health, their wealth, and other aspects of their worldly existence through meditation, prayer, and other spiritual practices. In 1927, he published his Holy Koran of the Moorish Science Temple, a scripture entirely different from the seventh-century Qur’an. This sixty-four-page text included some of Drew Ali’s original teachings on the origins of Moors but was fi lled mainly with reprinted selections from other mystical texts—the same kind of literature that Alexander Russell Webb and followers of the theosophy movement would have read. These selections described how to train the mind to seek a higher state of spiritual being and advocated strict control of the body as a means to cleanse the soul. The Moorish Science Temple, which still exists in a few different institutional forms, eventually spread to several other cities and even small towns such as Mounds City, Illinois. Known for its colorful pageantry, the organization adopted many of its Islamic symbols from the Black Shriners, or the Ancient Egyptian Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a fraternal organization that named its lodges after famous fi gures in Islamic history, used the Turkish fez as its offi cial headgear, and staged large parades along the streets of black America. Moorish men wore the fez and the turban and female members donned ceremonial veils. In addition, the Moors publicly performed Moorish dramas, including one in which Noble Drew Ali promised to be hung with a rope and to heal the sick. In several cities, the Moors manufactured toiletries and herbal remedies to raise funds and spark interest in the faith. Their product line included Moorish Mineral and Healing Oil, and Moorish Body Builder and Blood Purifi er, which was a tonic for “rheumatism, lung trouble, rundown constitutions, indigestion, and loss of manhood.” In the late 1930s or early 1940s, the African American anthropologist Arthur Huff Fauset observed a Friday evening prayer service at the Moors’ Philadelphia temple. He noted the quiet, contemplative nature of the service. Participants chanted a hymn called “Moslem’s That Old Time Religion” to the tune of “Give Me That Old Time Religion.” They also read the holy scripture of their prophet and were reminded of the importance of their name, their national origins, their religion, and their great Asiatic history in Canaan, Egypt, and Morocco. Followers extended their arms in a salute and prayed: “Allah, Father of the Universe, the father of Love, Truth, Peace, Freedom, and Justice. Allah is my protector, my Guide, and my Salvation by night and by day, through His Holy Prophet, Drew Ali. Amen.” The words they recited and the gestures they used were different from those of most other Muslims, but the Moorish Science Temple represented an important moment in the history of Islam in the United States. It was the fi rst example of an independent, African American Muslim missionary group devoted to the cause of spreading Islam, however defi ned. The Moors were not the only indigenous African American Muslim group to form in this gestational period for American Muslim institutions. In 1930, the mysterious Wallace D. Fard, or Farad Muhammad, established the Nation of Islam in the Wilderness of North America. As Fard peddled silks and other wares door to door in the black neighborhoods of Detroit, he proclaimed the same message that the Ahmadi missionaries and the Moorish Science Temple had broadcast a few years before in the Roaring Twenties. The original religion of the black people, he said, was Islam, and their original language was Arabic. One of his chief lieutenants, Georgia migrant Elijah Poole, saw in Wallace D. Fard what Ahmadi followers saw in Ghulam Ahmad. Poole believed that Fard was the Christian Messiah and the Islamic Mahdi. But Poole went even further. He also declared that Fard was God in the fl esh, and he, Elijah Poole of Georgia, was the Messenger of God—doctrines that most other Muslims would fi nd unacceptable. Muhammad also revealed original prophecies about the beginning and end of the world. Black Muslims, Elijah Muhammad taught, were the fi rst people of the earth, whose beautiful way of life was upset when a mad, evil scientist named Yacub genetically engineered a race of white devils. These white people eventually enslaved black people, converting them to Christianity and bringing them to the New World. But God had not abandoned his people, said Muhammad. Appearing in the person of Wallace D. Fard, the Almighty selected him, Elijah Muhammad, to mentally resurrect black people and lead them back to Islam, after which they could confi dently await a coming apocalypse in which God would destroy the white devil and the black man would once again rule the earth. After Fard inexplicably disappeared in 1934, Poole struggled with other members of the Nation of Islam for leadership of the group. Poole, who eventually took the name Elijah Muhammad, moved to Chicago and led the Nation of Islam’s Temple No. 2. During World War II, the federal government prosecuted Elijah Muhammad as a draft dodger and a traitor. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which conducted extensive surveillance on black American organizations after World War I, feared that African American Muslim groups were potentially radical. In the years leading up to World War II, Director J. Edgar Hoover was particularly scared of a potential “colored” alliance between the Japanese empire and African Americans. Elijah Muhammad was convicted only of failing to enlist in the armed services, and was sent in 1943 to a federal prison in Milan, Michigan. During this time, his wife, Clara Muhammad, sustained the Nation of Islam, visiting her husband in prison, carrying messages back and forth, and helping to coordinate temple activities—all the while raising her eight children. Too little is known about her role or that of other women during this era. Women were clearly present and central to the growth of movements such as the Moorish Science Temple and Nation of Islam, but their story remains largely untold. Because of their absence in histories about the early black Muslim groups, it is sometimes assumed that these movements appealed largely to men. The many photographs of female Muslims from the 1920s and 1930s tell a different story. Many women may have been attracted to these groups for some of the same reasons that men were. The Nation of Islam appealed to African Americans on many levels simultaneously. It was, at once, a political, a social, and a religious organization. Like some other religious groups of its era, it encouraged the practice of a socially conservative morality, condemning sports, secular entertainment, sexual promiscuity, obesity, tobacco, and other vices. Good Muslims, the Nation of Islam taught, should be clean living—pure, hard-working, punctual, disciplined, and modestly dressed. Children were taught these values in the Nation of Islam’s primary and secondary schools. Women in the organization joined the Muslim Girls Training-General Civilization Class to learn home economics, etiquette, and later, self-defense. Men joined the Fruit of Islam and practiced military drills and various religious catechisms. Men wore bow ties and dark suits; women wore robes and often a head scarf. Both men and women in the movement later testifi ed that these activities made them feel dignifi ed and proud. Elijah Muhammad preached the need for economic and fi nancial independence, encouraging believers to establish and patronize their own businesses, and he emphasized the need for black political self-determination as well. Teaching his followers that the total separation of the races would be the only lasting solution to racism, Elijah Muhammad told them not to vote in U.S. elections or serve in the U.S. military. They were members of the Nation of Islam, not the United States. Movement temples displayed a special Nation of Islam fl ag that featured an Islamic crescent, among other symbols. Malcolm X played a major role in the success of the Nation of Islam. Born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, he was the son of Earl and Louise Little, both of whom were involved in Marcus Garvey’s UNIA. During World War II, the teenage Malcolm lived in both Boston and New York, where he became a part of the zoot suit generation. He avoided the draft, enjoyed a life of dancing and drinking, and became a petty criminal. After he was caught and sentenced to prison in 1946, he came to regret what he described as his hedonistic life-style and converted to Elijah Muhammad’s version of Islam. He was paroled in 1952 and quickly rose through the ranks of the Nation, leading organization temples in Boston, Philadelphia, and fi nally Harlem, in New York City. Though Malcolm X would leave the organization and declare his allegiance to Sunni Islam in the 1960s, most of his career was given to Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam.   In the late 1950s, the Nation of Islam became the bestknown Muslim organization in the United States. But during the 1930s and 1940s, it was only one of the many such independent black Muslim groups vying for converts to Islam. While both the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam practiced versions of Islam that would be rejected as un-Islamic by most other Muslims, other African Americans formed specifi cally Sunni Islamic groups. Sunni Muslims, who account for the majority of Muslims worldwide, are diverse by linguistic group, class, nation, race, and ethnicity. But Sunni Muslims do have in common some basic religious practices and principles. Most affi rm the absolute oneness of God and the unique nature of the Qur’an, which is considered to be God’s fi nal word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad of Arabia in the seventh century CE. Most Sunni Muslims also share a commitment to daily prayers, fasting during the month of Ramadan, charity, and, if possible, pilgrimage to Mecca once during their lifetimes. During the 1930s, an increasing number of African Americans became aware of these teachings and devoted themselves to them in varying degrees. In 1939, Daoud Ahmed Faisal, an African American emigrant from the Caribbean, leased a brownstone at 143 State Street in Brooklyn Heights for his Islamic Mission of America. This mosque, which catered to African Americans but also welcomed Muslim immigrants from the Middle East, was located just one block from Atlantic Avenue, the heart of Brooklyn’s Arab American community. Though it is not clear where Faisal received his training in Sunni Islamic practice, there was ample opportunity for him to converse with Sunni Muslim visitors, diplomats, and immigrants. His mosque offered Friday congregational prayers, and during the 1940s, Shaikh Daoud, as his followers called him, became a powerful missionary for Islam, advocating the faith as the only true religion for all humankind, regardless of race. Some converts came to Sunni Islam after fi rst learning about Islam in the Moorish Science Temple. South Carolina migrant James Lomax, for example, joined the Moorish Science Temple in Chicago in the 1920s. After Noble Drew Ali died in 1929, he left the movement and traveled to Cairo, Egypt, where he hoped to learn more about Islam. He also adopted a new Muslim name, Muhammad Ezaldeen, and in the late 1930s established an organization called the Addeynu Allahe Universal Arabic Association. Teaching his followers about the Qur’an, sometimes using the original Arabic, Ezaldeen stressed what he said was the Arab identity of African Americans. His movement spread from Philadelphia to other cities, and around 1940, his followers purchased several hundred acres near Buffalo in West Valley, New York, for the purpose of establishing a selfsustaining African American Muslim community devoted to the principles of Islam. A June 2, 1946, Buffalo Courier-Express article entitled “Mohammedan Village Byproduct of Depression” chronicled the origins of the utopian community. A full-page spread in the newspaper included pictures of African American Muslim males, who wore white turbans and dark fezzes and bowed down on their knees, extending their palms in prayerful repose. Other photographs depicted female members who donned white turbans and posed in front of an unfi nished wood building that was to be used as a school and mosque. The forty residents of the community owned a little less than fi ve hundred acres, including farm land. One man, Ebn Muhammad, was pictured herding cows. Many of these African American Muslims claimed that they had Arabic ancestry and that they were born in the South or in nearby Buffalo. A believer named Tahleeb Sayyed explained that Hemlock Hill, as the community was called, began in response to the Great Depression. “Thing were tough and we had a hard time getting along,” he said. “So we tried to fi gure out some plan that would help us provide for ourselves without asking for relief or being oppressed.” Believers pooled their money and bought land on which they could live and farm, hoping that they could avoid the fate of so many Americans of all colors who went hungry during this era. Ten percent of each farmer’s earnings was supposed to be contributed back to the community. “We hope some day to be almost self-suffi cient,” said Sayyed. Such independence would allow the believers more freedom to observe their religious duties, including the fi ve daily prayers, he noted. After the United States entered World War II in 1941, the military build-up led to employment opportunities in steel mills and foundries, and some residents used their wages from these factory jobs to build homes in Hemlock Hill. Though the numbers of African American Muslims living in the West Valley community declined in subsequent decades, the history of this largely forgotten experiment helped to establish important precedents in American Islamic history. Like thousands of other Americans of various faiths, twentieth-century African American Muslims would go on to create agrarian communities in which Islam could be practiced in bucolic and peaceful settings. The origins of the community as a part of the Addeynu Allahe Universal Arabic Association is also a reminder of the various early paths by which African Americans became Sunni Muslims in the fi rst half of the twentieth century. Other African American Muslims became Sunni Muslims in this era via the Ahmadiyya movement. In St. Louis, Walter Gregg, a Texas native, converted to Islam under the tutelage of African American Ahmadi leader Ahmad Din, or P. Nathaniel Johnson. Taking the name of Wali Akram, Gregg moved to Cleveland, where he helped to lead the Ahmadi mosque. In 1937, Wali Akram left the Ahmadiyya movement and established his own First Cleveland Mosque. Like other African American religious institutions, the First Cleveland Mosque performed multiple functions, both secular and sacred. In addition to its religious mission, Akram’s organization repeated Marcus Garvey’s call for black economic independence from white markets and encouraged blacks to organize politically. Akram, like most African American Muslim leaders, regardless of sectarian orientation, believed that Islam and the Arabic language were the proud heritage of African Americans. A critical mass of followers in Cleveland agreed, and sustained a Sunni mosque devoted to Akram’s teachings. In the early 1940s, some of the country’s most prominent African American Muslim leaders, including Wali Akram, Muhammad Ezaldeen, and Daoud Ahmed Faisal, attempted to form an organizational umbrella, the Uniting Islamic Societies of America. During the 1943 All Moslem and Arab Convention in Philadelphia, Akram presented a draft constitution for the group. By the time the second convention was held in 1944 in Pittsburgh, however, the constitution had still not been approved. The movement to unite all of these African American groups into one association withered. But the growth of Islam among African Americans continued. By the end of World War II, thousands of African Americans had adopted Islam as their religious identity. The fact that Muslims were associated with the politics of protest against white supremacy was a source of Islam’s popularity among blacks, as was Islam’s association with economic self-determination. But these were not the only reasons why African Americans wanted to become Muslims. While many African American Muslims shared some sense of Islam’s positive political and economic potential, they were also attracted to Islam for religious reasons. As P. Nathaniel Johnson’s conversion to Ahmadiyya Islam in the 1920s demonstrates, many African Americans thought that Islam offered a convincing theology and a rational argument about the nature of God. Some of them considered the Qur’an to be the most scientifi c and accurate of all the world’s great sacred scriptures. Others believed that Islam was a mystical science whose religious secrets, once unlocked, would set them upon a path of good health, upstanding morals, economic well-being, and deep spirituality. Some forms of Islam practiced in black America, like that of the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam, bore little resemblance to anything Islamic from abroad. Others kinds of Islam, like Inayat Khan’s Sufi sm and African American Sunni Islam, were American adaptations of Islamic traditions from South Asia, the Middle East, and Southeastern Europe. The very adaptability of Islam in the hearts of people who called themselves Muslims led to the faith’s remarkable fl owering during this era. If African slaves had been the fi rst practitioners of Islam in the United States, African American Muslims who lived in the fi rst half of the twentieth century helped to establish Islam’s institutional longevity in America.

THE QUR’AN IN 1920S BLACK AMERICA

 This 1924 article by African American Muslim leader Ahmad Din illustrates how some black Americans were attracted to Islamic religion because of their belief in the Qur’an as God’s revelation to humankind. Ahmad Din, born P. Nathaniel Johnson, uses botanical imagery to describe the Qur’an as the most vibrant of world’s scriptures. He also praises the Prophet Muhammad, who revealed the Qur’an, as a master spiritualist, invoking the idea that Muhammad was the communication medium that linked human beings to God. In the fi eld of religious literature Mohammed’s Koran is the healthiest plant with the hardiest stalk, produces the sweetest bloom and yields the more wholesome fruit. The soil which gave to it healthy growth was rich beyond comparison. Allah’s abundance made its foliage green, its blossoms beautiful, and its yield so heavy that whosoever reaps has but to enjoy an everlasting harvest. This plant of which I speak, grew from the true seed to maturity; no grafting on of other plants, no artifi cial irrigation, no pruning to make it trim was necessary, this plant—QURAN! Other plants in the fi eld of religious literature? Let us review them. Their seeds were true but ah! look at them now! How sad! Much deliberate meddling has been done. Perusing a certain Holy Book I found it to be a plant withered, barely being kept alive by artifi cial watering not at all green—dying! This book, The Torah—Talmud of Judaism. I perused another Holy Book and it was found to be a plant faded, green stems and a few green leaves from true vines grafted on to give it the appearance of life. This book, The Vedas of Hindoos. The perusal of another Holy Book found it to be a plant already dead from too much pruning. This book, The Gospels. Besides these, some others I perused, fi nding them all decadent (Al Quran) excepted. The Sun of Tradition glowed dimly down through the clouds of Mythology, the atmosphere was dry, the rainbow hung westward on the horizon signifying also that the lifegiving rains had passed. Blasted Gardens! But the Prophet’s Quran stood as a lone apple tree among the other trees of the garden. Consider the Holy Prophet and his Koran. Take the sent One all in all, what he was, what he accomplished, and the good he inspired others to do. Compare him with all other poets, law-givers, prophets, sons of God, statesmen, etc.; and the son of Abdallah alone stands above all other men that mankind has call “GREAT.” Other bibles are mostly the works of an aggregation of poets, prophets, prophetesses, statesmen and lawgivers, historically covering thousand of years, crammed full of confl icting statements. The Koran comes straight from the mouth of the man who proves himself to be the “MASTER MIND” of the earth. The Quran is a poem, a code of laws, a prayer book, and the world’s best bible combined. THE MAN UNIQUE! THE BOOK UNIQUE! As in a looking glass we behold the MASTER SPIRITUALIST of the world intoxicated with the gifts of God. O, ye howlers and spillers of ink! Climb Mount Sinai and swim the river Jordan, baptize yourselves in pools of blood, rattle the dry bones in Ezekiel’s valley, but the echo of it all is dead after all allowance is made.