Under this theme, our focus on the Iftaar program during weekdays will be to take a look at incidents from the lives of the illustrious Sahabah رضي الله عنهم and see how they overcame the trials they faced whether it was because of family or the absence of it.

Today we take a look at this great Sahabi:

Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah

His appearance was striking. He was slim and tall. His face was bright and he had a sparse beard. It was pleasing to look at him and refreshing to meet him. He was extremely courteous and humble and quite shy. Yet in a tough situation he would become strikingly serious and alert, resembling the flashing blade of a sword in his severity and sharpness.

His full name was Aamir ibn Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah. He was known as Abu Ubaydah. Of him Abdullah ibn Umar RA, one of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, said:

“Three persons in the tribe of Quraysh were most prominent, had the best character and were the most modest. If they spoke to you, they would not deceive you and if you spoke to them, they would not accuse you of lying: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Uthman ibn Affan and Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.”

Abu Ubaydah was one of the first persons to accept Islam. He became a Muslim one day after Abu Bakr. In fact, it was through Abu Bakr that he became a Muslim. Abu Bakr took him, Abdur Rahman ibn Auf, Uthman ibn Mazun and al-Arqam ibn Abu al Arqam to the Prophet ﷺ and together they declared their acceptance of the Truth. They were thus the first pillars on which the great edifice of Islam was built.

Abu Ubaydah RA lived through the harsh experience, which the Muslims went through in Makkah, from beginning to end. With the early Muslims, he endured the insults and the violence, the pain and the sorrow of that experience. In every trial and test he remained firm and constant in his belief in Allah and His prophet ﷺ. One of the most harrowing experiences he had to go through however, was at the battle of Badr.

Abu Ubaydah RA was in the vanguard of the Muslim forces, fighting with might and main and as someone who was not at all afraid of death. The Quraysh cavalry were extremely wary of him and avoided coming face to face with him. One man in particular, however, kept on pursuing Abu Ubaydah RA wherever he turned and Abu Ubaydah RA tried his best to keep out of his way and avoid an encounter with him.

The man plunged into the attack. Abu Ubaydah RA tried desperately to avoid him. Eventually the man succeeded in blocking Abu Ubaydah RA’s path and stood as a barrier between him and the Quraysh. They were now face to face with each other. Abu Ubaydah RA could not contain himself any longer. He struck one blow to the man’s head. The man fell to the ground and died instantly.

Do not try to guess who this man was. It was, as stated earlier, one of the most harrowing experiences that Abu Ubaydah RA had to go through, how harrowing, it is almost impossible to imagine. The man in fact was Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah, the father of Abu Ubaydah RA!

Abu Ubaydah RA obviously did not want to kill his father but in the actual battle between faith in Allah and polytheism, the choice open to him was profoundly disturbing but clear. In a way it could be said that he did not kill his father–he only killed the polytheism in the person of his father.

It is concerning this event that Allah revealed the following verses of the Quran:

“You will not find a people believing in Allah and the Last Day making friends with those who oppose Allah and His messenger even if these were their fathers, their sons, their brothers or their clan. Allah has placed faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He will cause them to enter gardens beneath which streams flow that they may dwell therein. Allah is well pleased with them and they well pleased with Him. They are the party of Allah. Is not the party of Allah the successful ones?” (Surah al-Mujadila 58:22)

The response of Abu Ubaydah at Badr when confronted by his father was not unexpected. He had attained a strength of faith in Allah, devotion to His religion and a level of concern for the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ to which many aspired.

Lesson to Learn:

The lesson which we learn from this amazing story is Sahabah RA`s love for Islam and their sincere intentions in spreading it, to the extent that not even their fathers were allowed to become a barrier in spreading the religion of Allah!