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Abdullah ibn Jahsh was a
cousin of the Prophet and his sister,
Zaynab bint Jahsh, was a wife of the
Prophet. He was the first to head a
group of Muslims on an expedition and so
was the first to be called "Amir
al-Mumineen"-- Commander of the
Believers.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh
became a Muslim before the Prophet
entered the House of al-Arqam which
became a meeting place, a school and a
place of refuge for the early Muslims.
He was thus one of the first to accept
Islam.
When the Prophet gave
permission for his Companions to
emigrate to Madinah to avoid further
persecution from the Quraysh, Abdullah
ibn Jahsh was the second to leave,
preceded only by Abu Salamah. Emigrating
was not a new experience for Abdullah.
He and some members of his immediate
family had migrated before to Abyssinia.
This time, however, his migration was on
a far bigger scale. His family and
relatives--men, women and children,
migrated with him. In fact, his whole
clan had become Muslims and accompanied
him.
There was an air of
desolation as they left Makkah. Their
homes appeared sad and depressed as if
no one had lived there before. No sound
of conversation emanated from behind
those silent walls.
Abdullah's clan were
not long gone when the alerted Quraysh
leaders came out and made the rounds of
the districts in Makkah to find out
which Muslims had left and who had
remained. Among these leaders were Abu
Jahl and Utbah ibn Rabiah. Utah looked
at the houses of the Banu Jahsh through
which the dusty winds were blowing. He
banged on the doors and shouted:
"The houses of
the Banu Jahsh have become empty and are
weeping for its occupants."
"Who were these people
anyway," said Abu Jahl derisively,
"that houses should weep for
them." He then laid claim to the
house of Abdullah ibn Jahsh. It was the
most beautiful and expensive of the
houses. He began to dispose freely of
its contents as a king would share out
his possessions .
Later, when Abdullah
ibn Jahsh heard what Abu Jahl had done
to his house, he mentioned it to the
Prophet, peace be upon him, who said:
"Aren't you
satisfied, O Abdullah, with what God has
given you instead, a house in
Paradise?"
"Yes, messenger
of God," he replied, and became at
peace with himself and completely
satisfied.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh had
scarcely settled down in Madinah when he
had to undergo one of the most testing
experiences. He had just begun to taste
something of the good and restful life
under the sponsorship of the Ansar--after
going through persecution at the hands
of the Quraysh--when he had to be
exposed to the severest test he had ever
known in his life and carry out the most
difficult assignment since he became a
Muslim.
The Prophet, peace and
blessings of God be on him, commissioned
eight of his Companions to carry out the
first military assignment in Islam.
Among them were Abdullah ibn Jahsh and
Sad ibn Abi Waqqas.
"I appoint as
your Commander the one who can best bear
hunger and thirst," said the
Prophet and gave the standard to
Abdullah ibn Jahsh. He was thus the
first to be made amir over a contingent
of believers.
The Prophet gave him
precise instructions on the route he
should take on the expedition and gave
him a letter. He commanded Abdullah to
read the letter only after two days'
travel.
After the expedition
had been on its way for two days,
Abdullah looked at the contents of the
letter. It said, "When you have
read this letter, press on until you
come to a place called Nakhlah between
Taif and Makkah. From there observe the
Quraysh and gather whatever information
you can on them for us."
"At your command,
O Prophet of God," exclaimed
Abdullah as he finished reading the
letter. Then he spoke to his colleagues:
"The Prophet has
commanded me to proceed to Nakhlah to
observe the Quraysh and gather
information on them for him. He has also
commanded me not to go further with
anyone of you who is against the purpose
of this expedition. So whoever desires
martyrdom and is in total agreement with
this expedition can accompany me.
Whoever is not in agreement, may turn
back without blame. "
"At your command,
O messenger of Allah," they all
responded. "We shall go with you,
Abdullah, wherever the Prophet of God
has commanded."
The group continued
until they reached Nakhlah and began to
move along the mountain passes seeking
information on Quraysh movements. While
they were thus engaged, they saw in the
distance a Quraysh caravan. There were
four men in the caravan--Amr ibn al-Hadrami,
Hukm ibn Kaysan, Uthman ibn Abdullah and
his brother Mughirah. They were carrying
merchandise for the Quraysh--skins,
raisins and other usual Quraysh stock in
trade.
The Sahabah conferred
together. It was the last day of the
sacred months. "If we were to kill
them," they agreed, "we would
have killed them in the inviolable
months. To do so would be to violate the
sacredness of this month and expose
ourselves to the wrath of all Arabs. If
we leave them alone for a day so that
the month will be completed, they would
have entered the inviolable precincts of
Makkah and thus be secure from us."
They continued
consulting until finally they agreed to
pounce on the caravan and take whatever
merchandise they could as booty. Before
long, two of the men were captured and
one was killed; the fourth escaped.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh and
his men took the two prisoners and the
caravan on to Madinah. They went to the
Prophet, peace be upon him, and informed
him about what they had done. The
Prophet was greatly upset and strongly
condemned their action.
"By God, I did
not command you to fight. I only
commanded you to gather information on
the Quraysh and observe their
movements." He granted a reprieve
to the two prisoners and he left the
caravan and did not take a single item
from it.
Abdullah ibn Jahsh and
his men then knew that they had fallen
into disgrace and felt certain that they
were ruined because of their disobeying
the command of the Prophet. They began
to feel the pressure as their Muslim
brothers censured them and avoided them
whenever they passed one another. And
they would say, "These went against
the command of the Prophet."
Their discomfiture
grew when they learnt that the Quraysh
had taken the incident as a means to
discredit the Prophet and denounce him
among the tribes. The Quraysh were
saying: "Muhammad has defiled the
sacred month. He has shed blood in it,
plundered wealth and captured men."
Imagine the extent of
the sadness felt by Abdullah ibn Jahsh
and his men at what had happened, more
so because of the acute embarrassment
they had caused the Prophet.
They were sorely
tormented and the agony weighed heavily
on them. Then came the good news that
Allah--Glorified be He--was pleased with
what they had done and had sent down
revelation to His Prophet about this
matter. Imagine their happiness! People
came and embraced them, congratulating
them on the good news and reciting to
them what had been revealed in the
glorious Quran about their action.
"They ask you
about fighting in the sacred month. Say:
Fighting therein is an enormity as well
as preventing (people) from the path of
God and disbelief in Him. Expelling
people from the Masjid al Haram is a
greater sin in the eyes of God.
Moreover, persecution is greater than
killing." (Surah al-Baqarah 2:
212).
When these blessed
verses were revealed, the Prophet's mind
was eased. He took the caravan and
ransomed the prisoners. He became
pleased with Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his
men. Their expedition was certainly a
major event in the early life of the
Muslim community . . .
The Battle of Badr
followed. Abdullah ibn Jahsh fought in
it and was put to a great test, but a
test to which his faith was equal.
Then came the Battle
of Uhud. There is an unforgettable story
involving Abdullah ibn Jahsh and his
friend Sad ibn Abi Waqqas concerning an
incident that took place during the
Battle of Uhud. Let us leave Sad to tell
the story:
During the battle,
Abdullah came to me and said,
"Aren't you making a dua to God?'
"Yes," said
I. So we moved aside and I prayed,
"O Lord, when I meet the enemy, let
me meet a man of enormous strength and
fury. Then grant me victory over him
that I might kill him and acquire spoils
from him." To this my prayer,
Abdullah said Ameen and then he prayed:
"Let me meet a
man of great standing and enormous fury.
I shall fight him for Your sake, O Lord,
and he shall fight me. He shall take me
and cut off my nose and ears and when I
meet You on the morrow You will say,
"For what were your nose and ear
cut off?" And I would reply,
"For Your sake and for the sake of
Your Prophet." And then You would
say, "You have spoken the truth . .
." Sad continues the story:
The prayer of Abdullah
ibn Jahsh was better than mine. I saw
him at the end of the day. He was killed
and mutilated and in fact his nose and
his ear were hung on a tree with a
thread. God responded to the prayer of
Abdullah ibn Jahsh and blessed him with
martyrdom as He blessed his uncle, the
Leader of Martyrs, Hamzah ibn
Abdulmuttalib. The noble Prophet buried
them together in a single grave. His
pure tears watered the earth anointed
with the fragrance of martyrdom.
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