'I
Want to Walk Proudly with My Lameness in
Paradise.'
He was related to 'Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr
Ibn Hiraam by marriage, being the
husband of his sister Hind bint ‘Amr.
'Amr Ibn Al- Jamuuh was one of the
leaders of Al-Madiinah and one of the
chiefs of the Salamah tribe. His son
Mu'aadh Ibn 'Ami, who was one of the
seventy Ansaar of the pledge of 'Aqabah
preceded him in Islam.
Mu'aadh Ibn ‘Amr and his friend
Mu'aadh Ibn Jabal* were calling the
people of Al-Madiinah to Islam with the
enthusiasm of bold and believing youth.
It was a custom that the nobles kept
symbolic idols in their houses other
than the big idols set up in places of
public gathering. As a nobleman and
chief, ‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh made an idol
to install in his house and called it
Manaaf. His son Mu'aadh Ibn ‘Amr
agreed with his comrade Mu'aadh Ibn
Jabal to make 'Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh's idol
an object of ridicule. They used to
enter his house at night, take the idol
and throw it into a cess pit. And when
‘Amr would wake up he would not find
Manaaf in its place, and would keep
looking for it till he found it thrown
into that pit. He used to rage and say,
"Woe unto you, who transgressed our
gods this night!" Then he would
wash and perfume it. When night came
again, the two Mu'aadh, would do to the
idol as they had done the previous
night.
When ‘Amr got weary he took his sword
and put it on Manaaf's neck and said to
it, "If you are a beneficial god
defend yourself." When he woke up
he did not find it in its place, but
rather found it discarded in the same
cess pit. But this time, it was not in
the pit alone but was tied to a dead dog
by a strong rope.
While
he was angry, sorry, and surprised, some
of the nobles of Al-Madinah who had
preceded him in Islam approached him.
They pointed at the idol tied to the
dead dog and addresed ‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuub's
mind, heart and good sense, talking to
him about the Most True and Most High
Allah Whom there is nothing like. They
talked to him about the trustworthy,
faithful Muhammad who came to give, not
to take, to guide, not to misguide. They
talked to him about Islam that came to
liberate mankind from all the shackles,
revive the spirit of Allah in them, and
spread His light in their hearts.
In a
few moments, 'Amr discovered himself and
his destiny. He purified and perfumed
his clothes and body, then went, bearing
his head high, to acknowledge the Seal
of the Prophets (PBUH) and to take his
place among the believers.
One
may wonder how those nobles and leaders
of their people, like ‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh,
could believe in helpless idols to that
extent. How did their reason not
restrain them? How do we render them
today among the great men after their
embracing Islam and sacrificing? It is
easy to raise these questions nowadays,
as no child would accept to set up a
piece of wood in his house and worship
it. But in olden days, people's hearts
used to embrace such doings. Their
intelligence and genius could do nothing
against tradition.
For
example, Athens, in the days of Pericles,
Pythagoras, and Socrates, attained a
dazzling intellectual progress. However,
all its people, including philosophers
and judges, used to believe in
sculptured idols in a ridiculous way.
The reason is that religious sense in
those remote ages was not as developed
as the intellectual progress.
‘Amr
Ibn Al-Jamuuh dedicated his heart and
life to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Although he was generous by nature,
Islam made him more generous so that he
put all his money in the service of his
religion and his brethren.
The
Messenger (PBUH) asked a group of the
Bani Salamah tribe, the tribe of 'Amr
Ibn Al-Jamuuh, "Who is your chief,
O Bani Salamah ?" They
answered,"Al-Jad Ibn Qais, inspite
of his being a miser." He (PBUH)
said, "No, your chief is the white
curly haired "Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh."
This testimony from the Messenger of
Allah (PBUH) was a great honor to Ibn
Al-Jamuuh.
As
‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh dedicated his money
in the cause of Allah, so he was willing
to sacrifice his soul and life as well.
But how? There was a severe lameness in
his leg that made him invalid for
participating in battle. He had four
sons who were all strong Muslim men.
They used to go out with the Messenger (PBUH)
in expeditions, persisting in doing
their duty of fighting. However, 'Amr
tried to go out in the Battle of Badr.
His sons implored the Prophet (PBUH) to
persuade him not to go out, or even to
order him if he was not persuaded. So,
the Prophet (PBUH) told him that Islam
exempted him from jihaad because of his
severe lameness. When he began pleading,
the Prophet (PBUH) ordered him to stay
in Al-Madiinah.
When
the Battle of Uhud came, 'Amr went to
the Prophet (PBUH), imploring him to
permit him. He said, "O Messenger
of Allah, my sons want to prevent me
from going out with you to fight. By
Allah, I want to walk proudly with my
lameness in Paradise." As he
strongly insisted, the Prophet (PBUH)
permitted him to go out. So, he took his
weapon and set out to walk happily,
invoking Allah in a submissive voice,
"O Allah, bestow martyrdom upon me
and don't return me to my family."
When
the two rival forces met on the Day of
Uhud, 'Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh and his four
sons set out striking the polytheists
with their swords. ‘Amr was walking
proudly in the middle of the fierce
battle.
With
each step his sword cut off the head of
a polytheist. He struck with his right
hand, then looked around at the highest
part of the horizon, as if hastening the
arrival of the angel who would make him
die and accompany him to Paradise.
Yes,
he asked his Lord for martyrdom, being
sure that Allah, Glorified and Exalted
be He above all, would respond to him.
He was very much eager to walk proudly
with his lame leg in Paradise so that
its people would know that Muhammad, the
Messenger of Allah (PBUH), knew how to
select his Companions.
That which he had been waiting for
happened. A sword blow announced the
time of the advance of a glorious martyr
to the Paradise of immortality.
When the Muslims were burying their
martyrs, the Messenger (PBUH) repeated
his order which we have already heard
elsewhere:
"Put ‘Abd Allah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn
Hiraam and ‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh in one
grave; they were loving and sincere to
each other in this world."
The
two loving friends, the two martyrs,
were buried in one grave under the
battlefield that received their pure
souls and witnessed their extraordinary
bravery.
Forty-six years after they and their
companions had been buried, a violent
torrent descended and covered the
graveyard, because of a fountain head of
water that Mu'aawiyah made. The Muslims
hurried to remove the martyrs' bodies.
It was a surprise, however, to find them
as those who participated in removing
their bodies described: "Having
soft bodies and flexible limbs."
As
Jaabir Ibn 'Abd AUah was still alive, he
went with his family to remove the
bodies of his father, 'Ahd Allah Ibn 'Amr
Ibn Hiraam, and his aunt's husband,
‘Amr Ibn Al-Jamuuh. However, he found
them in their grave as if they were
sleeping. They were not changed at all:
their faces even had the same smile of
happiness that they had had the day they
were summoned to meet Allah.
Are
you surprised? No, do not be. The great,
pious, pure souls that have controlled
their destinies usually leave in the
bodies that once were their refuge, a
kind of immunity that wards off the
decomposing factors and the influence of
the soil.
Sheikh Abdulfattah Abu-Abdullah Adelabu (Ph. D. Damas),
a West African Islamic Academic founded AWQAF Africa, of
which he's the first al Amir (i.e. President).
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was studying Postgraduate Degrees in
Damascus early 1990's during when Syria reviewed its
national security after an ‘Oslo Accord'...
Syria like many other countries around the world
witnessed, during this period, the flood of refugees
from war troubled nations like Somalia, arrival of
people from Algeria during the brutal struggling between
the Mujahidun and the government, resettlement of the
Palestinians fleeing from sophisticated guns of the
Israelis as well as adventure of African migrants for
reasons uncountable…