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Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, everyone.
Welcome back to the first shorts
where we are covering some of the early Muslims
who don't have much to their biography,
but so much for us to learn from
in terms of the quality of their Iman and their stories.
And subhanallah,
today we're covering someone who
has a tragic story followed by a tragic story,
followed by triumph.
And that is a man by the name of Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah
radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
and he is the cousin of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu Anhu.
So we're still
people that were close to Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu).
And Ayyash (radiAllahu Anhu)
was someone who there are several verses of the Quran
that inshallah wa ta'ala by the end of this short lesson,
you'll have a greater appreciation for those verses
because so many of those verses are related to Ayyash
radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
Ayyash is not only the cousin of Umar ibn al-Khattab,
his full name being Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah ibn al-Mughira,
But he's the half brother of Abu Jahl.
He's the half brother of Abu Jahl,
the Pharaoh of this Ummah,
the Firaun of this Ummah.
And he's specifically
he's half-brother through the same mother.
So both of them had the same mother
and Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) used to love his mother
subhanallah, imagine this mom
who has a companion as a son and has Abu Jahl,
the Pharaoh of the Ummah,
as her son, as well.
And Abu Jahl is the key persecutor tyrant of the Muslims.
And Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) is someone
who embraced Islam very early on,
shortly after, Dar al-Arqam.
And he's one of those who made Hijrah to Abyssinia as well
on the second trip.
So he's one of the first Muslims,
but he didn't go on the first Hijrah
but he went on the second one.
Some of the biographers say that that's either because he
embraced Islam sometime after the first Hijrah to Abyssinia
or it's because due to his lineage,
due to the position that he had in society,
being from two powerful tribes
through his father and through his mother,
there really was no need for him to,
to migrate at first.
But then as soon as the situation intensified,
he needed to make that migration.
So Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) made the Hijrah
along with his wife, Asmaa bint-Salamah
(radiAllahu ta'ala Anha).
So both he and his wife are considered amongst the first
subhanallah, if you start to notice,
there are these names that keep on coming up,
Fatimah, Asmaa, Aatika
over and over and over again.
And so Asmaa is a common name
and she is the one Asmaa's
and she is one of the first Muslims, as well.
So, Ayyash and Asmaa make their way to Habasha
and their son Abdullah ibn-Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhuma)
was born there in Abyssinia.
So they're one of those families of Muslims that actually
gave birth to children in Abyssinia,
and that child would grow up to be a narrator
on behalf of his parents, radiAllahu ta'ala Anhum ajmaeen.
So this is the story of Ayyash and Asmaa and their son
in Abyssinia.
Now they come back to Mecca
to join the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
on the Hijrah to al-Medina.
And Ayyash being a close cousin of
Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
joins Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) on the Hijrah.
So this is where the most famous story about Ayyash
takes place.
He was with Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
and as they were on their way
Abu Jahl caught up to them.
Now, again, Abu Jahl
was smarter than to make a move on Umar radiAllahu Anhu.
You don't mess with Umar ibn al-Khattab (radiAllahu Anhu).
So this was a situation where they did not want
to attack him in the presence of Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
But what he says to him is
he says to Ayyash
that your mother is sick.
Your mother is sick.
Our mother is sick.
And he has with him, by the way, as well,
al-Hareth ibn-Hisham
so they're three brothers now together.
So he says al-Hareth ibn-Hisham and Aamir ibn-Hisham,
being Abu Jahl,
say to Ayyash that your mother is sick.
And she is prolonged in her illness because of your Islam,
so guilt-tripping him to say that your mom
is getting sicker because of your Islam
and she has taken an oath that she will not eat or drink.
Wala tastazilu min shams
and she will not even take shade,
meaning she's going to sit outside
and she's going in the hot Meccan sun
and she's going to starve herself and dehydrate herself
until you come back to her.
Subhanallah, imagine how tough this was.
You remember when we talked about Miqdad (radiAllahu Anhu)
like when you talk about these early Muslims, you know,
you think I wish I could've been a companion,
but imagine what that did to his heart, right,
like my mom, who I love very much, is going to die
because of me?
So, they're guilt-tripping him.
Now Umar (radiAllahu Anhu) sees that this
moved Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
and Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) says to him,
"Don't do it."
He says "Listen. Your mother, when it gets hot
and the light starts to creep up in her head,
she'll go inside.
And when she gets really, really hungry and really thirsty,
she's going to eat, she's going to drink. Don't do it."
So he keeps on warning Ayyash.
Don't go with them, O Ayyash.
You know, on top of that they make these offers.
Umar (radiAllahu Anhu) said, "Listen, I'll take care of you.
I'll send what needs to be sent back,
but don't go back with Abu Jahl and al-Hareth,
they're up to no good."
Eventually, however,
Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) he says to Umar,
"Ya Umar, this is my mother.
I need to obey my mother.
I have to go back to my mother.
And I'm not going to renounce Islam,
but Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la) tells us
that you obey them, you show them al-maarouf,
you show them kindness,
just don't obey them in renouncing your religion.
Let me just go check up on her.
Let me convince her to eat and drink.
Let me convince her to go inside.
Let me assure her that I'm okay.
And I'll come back."
Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) remained skeptical of
the intentions of Abu Jahl
and al-Hareth.
So Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
he says to him, "Well look,
if you're going to go, and I can't stop you,
then take this camel of mine,"
because Umar radiAllahu Anhu had a healthy and a fast camel.
"And if they make a move on you, then jolt.
Get out of there, as quickly as you can."
So Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) says take my camel
in case you need to get out of there very quickly.
Ayyash takes the camel of Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
and then on the way to Mecca,
at that point,
Abu Jahl has a plot with al-Hareth
that gets him off of
that gets Ayyash off of his camel,
and as soon as Ayyash gets off of his camel,
Abu Jahl and al-Hareth jump on Ayyash.
They didn't attack him in the presence of Umar
(radiAllahu Anhu)
because now they can outnumber him.
Now they can crowd him.
They jump on top of him,
they chain him up,
and then they take him back to Mecca in chains
and subhanallah,
at that point,
the persecution is
is so severe on him
that there is a wonder about him
that if he renounced his faith
as he went back to his mother,
and if he is, you know, in this situation
does he have hope?
So some of the Ulama say
this is where the Ayah
"Qul ya ibadi alathina asrafu ala anfusihim
la taqnatoo min rahmati Allah
inna Allaha yaghfiru althoonooba jameea
innahu huwa al-ghafur al-rahim."
Say "O my servants who have transgressed against themselves,
do not despair from mercy from Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la)
because Allah forgives all sins
and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
is all-forgiving, most merciful."
So you have path back.
So that's one of the explanations that this Ayah
was speaking to those who were forced back out of Islam.
And so Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) maintained his Islam
even though for a moment he relented
as he was being persecuted just under the pressure,
but Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) remained in Mecca.
Now this is such an important point of this story
that I'm about to share with you here.
We talked about Abu Jandal not too long ago
(radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
and his situation.
Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
was not someone that was able to
escape Mecca and come back to Medina.
From that point that he was captured
on the way to the Hijrah
all the way until post-Hudaybiyyah
he remained under torture in Mecca.
He remained under torture in Mecca.
And Abu Huraira (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
he narrates, and it's actually
very profound, subhanallah,
who's narrating from Abu Huraira,
Abi Salamah narrarates from his father
that Abu Huraira (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) said that I
heard the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam).
Kana itha qal,
when he would say sami Allahu liman hamidah.
In the last rakaʿah in Salat al Isha,
Salat al Isha,
he would raise his hands and he would say in qunut,
"Allahuma anji Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah
Allahumma anji Walid Ibn al-walid,
Allahumma anji Salamah Ibn Hisham,"
who was the
so this is Salamah who's being told by by Abu Hurairah
that the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
used to make duaa for you.
Allahumma anji al mustada'ah fina min al-mu'mineen
and the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) would say
"O Allah, help Ayyash,
O Allah, help Walid ibn-Al Walid,
O Allah, help Salamah ibn-Hisham,"
all three of them who were being persecuted in Mecca
for their belief
and the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
could not get them to al-Medina,
Allahumma anji al moustadafina min al mou'mineen
O, Allah
help the weak believers, the oppressed believers.
O Allah, save them, rescue them.
And then the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) said
"Allahuma ashdud wattataka aala Mudar."
Now 'wattataka aala Mudar' means
O Allah, inflict the tribe of Mudar,
he's speaking about the people of Mecca,
with drought.
Allahuma ajaalha sineen
kasinee Yusuf alayhi salam.
O Allah, make it years upon them
years of drought like it was upon the
people of Yusuf (Alayhi Salaam).
So the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) was making duaa
for the persecuted ones in Mecca
and he was making duaa against their persecutors
in Mecca
and indeed a drought was inflicted upon them
and the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
maintained his duaa
and his attachment to Ayyash,
to al-Walid ibn al-Walid,
and to Salamah, who is narrating this from
Abu Huraira who is hearing the Prophet
(SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
make this duaa for him and those that were like him
such as Ayyash,
may Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la)
be pleased with them all in al-Mecca.
So they were imprisoned in Mecca throughout
this entire period
and until the treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
So he missed Badr, he missed Uhud, he missed Khandaq,
he missed all of those things.
And then,
when the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was made,
remember that one of the clauses of that treaty
were that if anyone escaped Mecca
to the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) in Medina,
they would have to be returned under that treaty.
So
what does this mean for him?
When we talked about Abu Jandal, if you remember,
there was a particular man we talked about
and his name was Abu Basir (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu).
Abu Basir was the person the Prophet
(SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) said
if he had an army, this man could cause
he could cause lots of destruction
in a good sense and in a bad sense but
the point is is that this is a very unique person
who was persecuted in Mecca,
made his way to Medina,
captured again in Medina,
killed his captors,
you know, and the Prophet
(SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) basically
hinted to him that he should leave Medina
and he should set himself up somewhere else.
So what he did was, Abu Basir,
was he took a group of fugitives
he helped people escape from Mecca
that were being tortured
and what they did was
they stayed out of Medina
to not be returned under the clause of the treaty
but they also harassed the caravans
that were going between al-Sham and Mecca,
putting Mecca in a desperate economic situation
where the Meccans who put that
clause in the treaty
begged the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
to please taken in
the Abu Basirs and the Abu Jandals of the world
Ayyash ibn Abi Rabiah (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
was on of those who was with Abu Basir
as well as Salamah
as well as Walid ibn al-Walid al-Mughira. Subhanallah.
So these three men who the
Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam) was praying for
as well as all of those that were persecuted in Mecca
they had gathered with Abu Basir
until Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la) made a way for them to
then join the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
in al-Medina.
So imagine what he went through, subhanallah,
had he listened to Umar (radiAllahu Anhu), right?
Then he would have made Hijrah
and Badr, and Uhud, and Khandaq
but look at the path that he has to take back
because of his good intentions
when he heard that his mother was sick.
But of course, there is no if
there is only what Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la) decreed.
Here we have a situation where Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la)
put him through that test
and this is where Ibn Abbas (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) says,
so second verse, "Alif lam meem,
ahasiban naasu ay yutraku
ay yaqulu amanna wa hum la yuftanun."
He says that the verse
the first verse of Surat al-Ankabut
"Do people think that they will simply say they believe
and they will not be tested?"
refers to this group of people before all else.
This group of people, subhanallah,
who were tested severely for their faith
remained in Mecca tortured
unable to make their way to al-Medina
but they did not lose their resolve
and instead they joined the Prophet
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
when the time came.
So this is another verse
that some of the Ulama mentioned
is referring to him.
Lastly there's the verse,
"Wa ma kana li mou'minen an yaqtoul al mou'minan
illah khata'a"
That it is not for a believer to kill another believer
except by mistake.
And what that was referring to, according to the majority
of the Mufassirun,
is that when Ayyash joined
the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
in Fathi Mecca, okay,
and he's with the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
he saw a person who used to torture him in Mecca.
And when he saw that person who used to torture him in Mecca
he assumed that he was still a non-Muslim.
And his name according to some of the narrations was
al-Harith ibn Yazid.
So when he saw him, he attacked him and he killed him.
And he came to know after he attacked him and killed him
that that man had actually repented and had embraced Islam.
And he didn't know and so they Ayah came down
that it is not for a believer to kill another believer
except out of mistake.
And here, subhanallah,
you have the situation where it was a mistake
but we trust that Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la)
of course is fair and just
to everyone
and is the ultimate resolver of these things
on the Day of Judgment.
Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) afterwards continued to play
a prominent role in the various campaigns
throughout the era of Al Khulafa-ar-Rashideen
particularly in the time of Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu),
Ayyash joined the legendary battle of Yarmouk.
And Yarmouk was the
most decisive battle when it came to the Romans,
the Byzantines,
just as we spoke about Qadisiyah
with the Persians.
And he served under the Khalid ibn al-Walid
and he served with Ikrima ibn Abi-Jahl.
And Ayyash and Salamah together,
who were being persecuted in Mecca,
may Allah be pleased with them,
Ayyash and Salamah both were a part of the Muslim army
at that time
and they were amongst those who were martyred at that time
and there's a famous story of Ikrima ibn Abi-Jahl
(radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
who of course repented and became a great companion,
despite being one of the last to enter Islam
and despite having been an enemy of the
Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam)
for the greater part of the time of revelation,
where the bucket of water is going around
and each one of the Shuhada
is saying go to my brother so and so
go to my brother so and so,
until the water carrier had gone to each of them
and each one of them had said go to my brother so and so,
until he went back to Ikrama
and Ikrama (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) had died a shahid
as well as Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
as well as Salamah (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu).
So, subhanallah
they had this situation where they were together
and Khalid (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
who was leading that of course
said that they should be buried
that Ayyash and Salamah should be buried together
in the same grave, subhanallah
because they lived together,
they were tortured together,
they died together,
may Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la) be pleased with them.
And this was the best of Banu Makhzum
the remnants of those who believed from tribe of Abu Jahl
and Khalid (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu)
he wept when he led the Janazah over them
and he said that these are the best of Banu Makhzum
and there will never be anyone from Banu Makhzum
like these men again.
Radia Allahu taala aanhoum ajmaeen.
So this is Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu),
the cousin of Umar (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu),
who preferred the obedience and love of his mother,
went through a very difficult path
back the the Prophet (SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam),
but then ultimately died a martyr,
and of course as one of the first Muslims,
one of the people who still we count from Ashab al-Hijrtein,
the people of the two Hijrahs,
because Ayyash (radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu) had already
made his way to al-Medina
before he went back to check on his mother.
May Allah (Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la) be pleased with him
and accept his sacrifices.
Jazakumullah khairan.
I'll see you all next time, inshallah.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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