The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khawla Bint Hakim & Uthman Ibn Madhun: The Righteous Couple | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Al-Shifa bint Abdullah (ra): The Healer and Scholar | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Shurahbil Ibn Hasana (ra): The Scribe and Commander | The Firsts Shorts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Khalid ibn al-Walid (ra): The Legendary Military General | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Amr ibn al-As (ra): His Wicked Father and “Better” Brother | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid (ra): From False Prophet to Shaheed | The Firsts
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Zayd ibn al-Khattab (ra): The Quiet Brother of Omar (ra) | The Firsts
Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum (ra): After Abasa | The Firsts with Dr. Omar Suleiman
Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum is a remarkable companion on whose behalf Allah spoke. His eyes could not see, but his heart was always beating with faith.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As I will frequently say, it's good to go back and review some of the previous episodes, inshallah ta'ala, especially as you keep hearing the same names over and over and over again. There's a study of the seerah of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, when you start from the beginning and go to the end. One of the benefits of studying the sahaba in this fashion, especially when we're doing chronologically, everyone that we've studied are the people that Umar radiyaAllahu anhu would put in the front of the line, the earliest people to Islam. And you keep on hearing these names over and over and over again, then inshallah ta'ala, it reinforces a connection that you may have otherwise been aware of. Now, tonight's biography is one that's very special to me. When Muhsin was founded, Muslims understanding and helping special education needs, and you start to look through the biographies of the sahaba to find the stories about disability, this is the story that always comes up first. This is the one that we talk about. This is the go-to to try to impress upon Muslims the importance of honoring those with special needs with a special honor. And this is a person who Allah has revealed Quran about, and not just one time, more than one time. And subhanAllah, what I find very interesting about this person that we're talking about tonight is that most people only know him through one incident. But subhanAllah, he has an extensive biography alongside the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he had a position amongst the companions that inshallah ta'ala we will talk about today. And his name is Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Now, what's very interesting about this as we get started is that there's actually a difference of opinion about his name. So, the people of Medina, the scholars of Medina, they said his name was Abdullah. The scholars of Iraq said his name was actually Amr ibn Umm Ktum. So, Abdullah or Amr ibn Umm Ktum. And there's also a narration that his name
prior to Islam was Hussain. Hussain with a Saad. Not Hussain, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, Hussain. And the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, changed his name to Abdullah. This is also the case, by the way, of the famous Jewish rabbi in Al-Medina who became a great scholar and companion of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Abdullah ibn Salam, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. I will ask you when one day we do his biography what his name was prior to Islam. His name was also Hussain. And the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, changed his name to Abdullah. So, Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Now, before I start talking about anything in regards to him, alright, does he come from the lower class of Mecca or from the higher class of Mecca? How many of you say lower? You have to raise your hand, alright, so none of that like I don't know. How many of you say higher? Alright, the two people are actually right. Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum is not from the lower class of Mecca. He has a disability, but he's actually a person of good lineage, good in the sense of the Meccan standards of lineage, right, the days of ignorance. He is actually the first cousin of none other than our mother Khadija, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Alright, so here's another test for you, and I might give you my laptop if you answer this properly. What was Khadija, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu's mom named? Just her first name. I'll give you a clue, but I'm not giving you my laptop because you can answer it without. So, her mom's name was also one of the names of one of her daughters. Not Zainab. Fatima, alright. Khadija, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu's mother was Fatima bint Zaida, okay. So, Fatima bint Zaida bint Qais is the sister of the father of Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum. So, she is the paternal
aunt of Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum. Abdullah is the son of Qais ibn Zaida. So, his actual name is Abdullah ibn Qais ibn Zaida, and I'll talk about why he's named after his mother or he's referred to by his mother instead. So, his name is Abdullah ibn Qais ibn Zaida. Qais is the brother of the mother of Khadija, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and her name was Fatima bint Zaida. And the mother of Abdullah ibn Qais ibn Zaida is a woman by the name of Atika bint Abdullah al-Makhzumiya. She's from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. So, Atika bint Abdullah from the tribe of Banu Makhzum. Who is also from the tribe of Banu Makhzum? Come on, somebody make me really happy. It's come up a few times. Abu Jahl, great. Okay, so Abu Jahl. This is the tribe of Abu Jahl, which again was a key competing tribe with the Prophet's tribe of Banu Hashim. And probably the main underlying reason or definitely the main underlying reason for Abu Jahl's insistence that we could not acknowledge the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam because otherwise this gives Banu Hashim permanent status over Banu Makhzum. So, he has pretty good lineage, right? I mean both sides of his family are Quraishi. They're from a high place in Quraish. But at the same time, he has this disability which he's famous for, which is blindness. And there's something really interesting to be said about this that the biographers say that he's the only companion of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that we know of that was actually born blind. Okay, so he was born without vision. It was very common for them and you read about many of the Sahaba who lost their vision later on in life. Very common to read about. I mean everyone from Abdullah bin Abbas, other great scholars and you'll read that by the time that these Sahaba
became elderly, they lost their vision. But he's actually the only companion that we know of that was born without vision. And this is why his mother is nicknamed Umm Maktum. Maktum comes from Katim, which is concealed. So, she is the mother of him, Umm Maktum, the one who could not see. His vision was concealed. He was unable to see the world around him. SubhanAllah, how these things play out in life. You have no idea how these names are going to unveil themselves later on in life. So, he's technically referred to, he was Umm Maktum. Okay, he's not able to see the world around him. So, his mother was who? They said it as an expression of sympathy for her. She is Umm Maktum. She's the mother of the blind child. So, Abdullah, it's not that he, and that's why you don't find that he wasn't amongst those that was oppressed like Bilal and Suhaib and Ammar and Maqdad and Khabbab. He escapes that level of torture because though our vision of him tends to be one who belonged to that lower class, in that sense he wasn't. So, he's not someone who's going to be persecuted in Mecca that we know of. In fact, we know of no persecution of him. It could have been sympathy towards him or it could have been that his status protected him or a combination of the two. Okay, so he is Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and because he is the first cousin of Khadija, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha, he was already familiar with the character of the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, before the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, began his call. And so, as soon as he heard about the call, he said, Aslamt, I believe. I believe in the religion of this noble man. He witnessed his character. He, tawheed, the idea of monotheism resonated with him. So, Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, is actually considered one of the earliest converts of Islam. And the way that you know someone is very early on in Islam is when
they say that they became Muslim even before Dar al-Arqam opened up for the earliest converts. So, his connection to Khadija, radiyaAllahu anha, perhaps allowed him to know that the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, was calling to Islam early on, and so Abdullah Ibn Umm Maktum, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, embraced Islam early on, did not need much convincing, and accepts the Messenger, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. With all that being said, the only story we know about him in Mecca is the one that he's most famous for, okay? Which is the story of Abasa. The story of Abasa. So, let's dissect the story a bit, inshallah, then we'll talk about the rich biography of him after Abasa, after the story took place. The Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, was trying to get the attention of the nobles of Quraysh. That is not a mission, or that is not a priority, that is to be dismissed. The Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, figures, if I can get some of these people to become Muslim, then that is going to have an immediate impact on both the ability of the early Muslims to practice their religion freely in society, as well as other people converting, because when powerful people convert, then those that look to them, either out of a sense of tribal obligation or because they hold a certain position in society, they will also follow. The proof is in Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and Hamza radiAllahu anhu, who embraced Islam only three days apart and changed the course of Islamic history, right? So, the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, is trying to speak to these people and he does not shut the door on them. And so, finally, they tell the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, look, you want us to listen to you? We will listen to you. Come meet us at this place. So, the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, goes to meet with the elders of
the leaders of Quraish, and I will name them for a moment, okay? Utbah ibn Rabi'ah and his brother Shaybah. Utbah, the father of Abu Hudhayfa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. We talked about the position of Utbah in society. Utbah is, you know, there is a famous incident of him, the leaders of Quraish, eventually trying to send him to reason with the Prophet, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and stop him from calling and saying, we will give you everything that Mecca has to offer for you to stop this call. So, Utbah is in this gathering. Utbah's brother, Shaybah, is in this gathering. Umayyah ibn Khalaf, who of course is most famous for being the one who possessed and tortured, persecuted Bilal radiAllahu ta'ala anhu as he embraced Islam. So you have Utbah, Shaybah, Umayyah, Abu Jahl is seemingly giving the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam an ear. Add on to all of that, the person who mocked the revelation itself, Al-Waleed ibn al-Mughira, the father of Khalid radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Al-Waleed ibn al-Mughira, Allah refers to him in the Quran, okay? Da'ni wa man khalaqtu waheeda. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala threatens him with punishment in the Quran because he basically mocked the Quran and said, I know I can tell these stories of the past and I can buy my way out of hell if there is a hell anyway. That's the arrogance of Al-Waleed. So these are the men that are sitting there and saying, go ahead and address us. We're going to give you a chance to give us this message of yours. Golden opportunity, right? The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam sits with them and as he sits with them, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, who is looked down in society, not again because of his tribal status, but because of his disability and he wasn't someone that really, you know, participated in the workplace or anything
like that. So he comes to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam running, okay? Yass'a, alright? He's coming to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, he's looking for him anywhere he can find him. Now there is something that's very important to mention here. Rasulullah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam had made himself so accessible to Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that that was the nature of their relationship. Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum would come out, would look for him, he would find him, put his hands on him and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam would talk to him for as long as he wanted to talk to him. So there is a pretext to this incident that should not be lost about the character of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Whatever you need, ask. And the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam would answer him with whatever he wanted. He has no idea who else is around the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Rasulullah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is in the middle of this conversation feeling like he's finally garnering the attention of these people who hated him and who persecuted him for surrounding himself with the lowly of whom one is coming and rushing to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. On top of that, he's raising his voice. And he's saying, Ya Muhammad, alimni mimma alamak Allah. Ya Muhammad, alimni mimma alamak Allah. So he says it loudly, O Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, teach me from what Allah has taught you. Teach me from what Allah has taught you. Teach me from what Allah has taught you. And he's looking for the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and when he finds him, he says, bring me close to you, Ya Muhammad. Sit me close to you. Adnili, bring me close to you so I can listen to you. Let's talk right now. Because that's how the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was with him. He has no idea what is happening. And by the way, the prohibition came later on, this is just very interesting because it comes in the books of tafsir, to call the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam by his name in form of nida, to call him Ya Muhammad, to call out to him and say Ya Muhammad. You can of course call him Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, but not to refer to him, call out to him as Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says, la taj'alu du'a rasuli baynakum ka du'a iba'dikum ba'ala. Don't make it that you call upon the Messenger salAllahu alayhi wa sallam the way that you call upon one another. So this is a prohibition that comes later on. Right now, Ya Muhammad, teach me from what Allah taught you. Only the hypocrites would use it after that, that form of addressing the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So when he does that, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam does not tell him, go away. He doesn't tell him, I'm busy. He doesn't push him. He simply abasa. Abasa means, literally by the way, he moved his two eyebrows close to each other, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, in a means of being frustrated, like not now. Right? Abasa. And would Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum had known that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam did that, had the revelation not come? No, he wouldn't have even known because he couldn't see him. Right? But the elders could see him. Okay? Those people from Quraysh could see the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam expressing the displeasure and the dismissal in his face towards Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And then he simply continued to talk to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, turned back to them after he shouted out that way, and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam continued to address these five men. Allah subAllahu wa ta'ala did not implicitly say to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam that something is wrong with this. Allah did not send Jibreel alayhi wa sallam to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam outside of the capacity of Qur'an, which happens sometimes, to tell the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam about what he should do or instruct him on what to do next. Allah reveals 16 verses for this man. Just think about that for a moment. He revealed 10 verses to clear the name of Aisha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in Surah An-Nur. Allah reveals 16 verses admonishing the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam for that. Shows you the standard that Allah holds his Messenger
salAllahu alayhi wa sallam to. But this is not to make an example out of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, it's to make an example for the Ummah that things have changed about the way that we look at people. That there is a paradigm shift that has to take place in our hearts and our vision towards the world around us and towards how we look at people. So it wasn't even a private revelation to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals, abasa wa tawalla. He frowned and he turned away. Anja'ahul imaan. As the blind man came to him, interrupting him. Wama yudreeka la'allahu yazakka. How do you know he's not coming to you so that he may be purified? Aw yadhakkaru fatanfa'ahu al-dhikra. Or he would be reminded and the reminder would benefit him. Remember Allah told Musa alayhi wa sallam and Harun alayhi wa sallam that when you speak to Fir'aun, speak to him in a way. La'allahu yatazakka. Perhaps he might yadhakka, he might be reminded and he might purify himself. So Allah is saying that's what you're looking for when you're speaking to a person. That's what makes a person worthy of listening to a message or being spoken to. How do you know that Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, perhaps he was coming to you so that he may be reminded and so that he may be purified. Amma man istaghna. As for that person, man istaghna. Istaghna is not even a sense of rudeness and arrogance because right now the leaders of Mecca were not showing the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam rudeness. They actually were making it appear to him like fine, we'll consider what you have to say. But istaghna means they feel independent of what you have to say. They don't really need what you have to say. We'll consider it, we may or may not need it. Whereas Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum, why is he acting with a sense of urgency? Is it because he's annoying? Is it because he wants to annoy the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam? No, it's because he wants to get to Jannah. So whatever it is, we actually subhanAllah through all of this, we don't know what he was going to ask the Prophet salAllahu alayhi
wa sallam actually. We don't know because it's irrelevant to the conversation. But he was coming to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam with that sense of urgency because he's worried about his akhira. So these people istaghna. Maybe we'll think about it, we'll see if it has anything to benefit us. Fa anta lahu tasadda. And you're giving them your undivided attention. You're giving them your attention. Wa ma alayka alla yazakka. Even though you would not be to blame if they were not to be purified. Wa amma man ja'aka yas'aa and ask for that person who came to you with eagerness. Wahua yakhsha. One of the best things that the sahaba took pride in is when Allah praised characters inside of them. Wahua yakhsha. And he is in awe of Allah. What does Allah say in the Quran? Innama yakhsha allaha min ibadhi al'ulamaa. That those who truly have awe of Allah are truly learned people. They are people of knowledge. So the fruit of knowledge is khashya. Is that you have awe of Allah. If you don't have awe of Allah it doesn't matter how much you memorize and how much you know. Your knowledge is worthless. But khashya means that you have a true internal awe of God. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying wahua yakhsha. This person that came to you has an awe of Allah. Fa anta anhu talaha. And you didn't pay any attention to him. Kalla innaha tathkira. But know O Prophet of Allah this revelation is a reminder. Faman sha'a thakara. So whoever wants to be reminded let them be reminded. Fi suhufin mukarrama. In written pages held in high honor. Right these suhuf. These pages are far too elevated to be denigrated to appease these filthy people. Who cares if they believe or they don't believe. You do da'wa to them sure. But don't betray your principles to do da'wa to them. In the name of da'wa. That's the difference. It's a noble thing that you want to call everybody
to Allah. The famous person, the unknown person, the rich person, the poor person. You see some influence that could come out of that. But do not betray your essence and your principles to try to bring them. That's where you are now altering the da'wa itself. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that these are words that are on elevated pages. Marfoor. They are highly esteemed and purified. But in the hands of angels who are scribes, honorable and virtuous. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends down 16 verses. 16 ayat of Quran for this incident. Subhanallah. And that's by the way one of the proofs of the Prophet's salallahu alayhi wa sallam's prophethood. Why would the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam admonish himself for an incident that most people didn't even know about? But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was teaching the ummah a lesson. And this is not humiliation to our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. This is an honor to our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because this is the tarbiyah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. The way that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is being taught and we are being taught by extension. How do you think the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam looked at Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum radiallahu ta'ala after that incident? Every time he would see him, the Prophet ﷺ would stand up and the Prophet ﷺ would say to him, مرحباً بمن عاتبني فيه ربي. مرحباً, welcome to the one on whose behalf Allah admonished me. Welcome to the one on whose behalf Allah admonished me. SubhanAllah, the Prophet ﷺ did not hold him in contempt because you got me in trouble with Allah. No, absolutely not. You must be a special person for Allah to reveal Qur'an on your behalf like this. مرحباً بمن عاتبني فيه ربي. There are so many gems that we can take from this story. I don't want to take too long because I want to get into the biography. But obviously the tafsir can be in and of itself.
However, one thing subhanAllah that I find very interesting and I mentioned the names, Utbah, Shaybah, Umayyah. I mentioned Al-Waleed ibn Mughirah and Abu Jahl. Okay, Utbah, Shaybah, Umayyah, Abu Jahl, all of them died in Badr. All of them were killed in Badr. All right, Utbah and Shaybah in the very beginning of the battle in the duels, Abu Jahl and Umayyah. Abu Jahl had Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiyAllahu anhu step on top of him and kill him. The one that he almost killed in front of the Kaaba one day. And Umayyah was killed by Bilal radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu who he once put under a stone. Bilal radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu killed him in Badr. The only one who wasn't killed in Badr was Al-Waleed because Al-Waleed died before the Hijrah anyway. So he died in the Meccan period anyway. So subhanAllah, Allah humiliated all of those men. And Allah subhanAllah ta'ala honored those that the Prophet ﷺ was told to honor. So this is Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu. So when do we actually start to get into a seerah? Actually in Medina. And it starts with this. Al-Bara'a radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu says, أول من قدب علينا The first people to come to us in Medina were two people. Two people that came to us before anyone else came to us from Mecca. One of them is Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu. So he is the second person, considered the second person to make Hijrah. Who's the first person? The person we're talking about next week. Mus'ab ibn Umayr radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu. So he says, أول من قدم علينا Mus'ab ibn Umayr و ibn Umm Maktoum. The first two people the Prophet ﷺ sent to us from Mecca were Mus'ab ibn Umayr and Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum. ثم قدم علينا عمار بن ياسر و بلال رضي الله عنهم أجمعين. And then came Ammar ibn Yasir and Bilal. May Allah subhanAllah be pleased with them all.
What were they doing? What were Mus'ab and Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum doing in Medina before the Prophet ﷺ had made his Hijrah and he sent the Muslims towards there? Bara' radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu says, و كان يقرآن الناس. They were teaching us the Qur'an. These two men were teaching the people the Qur'an. While we were waiting for the Prophet ﷺ to come upon us, these were the two men that were around the Prophet ﷺ when he received revelation in Mecca. They were going around and they were teaching the Muslim households in Medina the Qur'an. So Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu is the second person who made the Hijrah, which we're going to be talking about inshaAllah ta'ala tomorrow as well. And of course, this is the month where the Hijrah is revived. So he is the second person, the second Muslim to go to Medina after Mus'ab radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu and be commissioned with teaching the people the Qur'an. The Muslims make the Hijrah. They go to Medina. And now as the preparations of Badr start to take place, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu is experiencing his first moment of being left out. He wants to partake in the battle. He wants to strive alongside the Prophet ﷺ in Badr and the Prophet ﷺ does not put him in that position. So he's worried about his situation. In Mecca, everyone was kind of on the run and everyone was equally honored. Qur'an has already been revealed for him early on in Mecca, in Abasa. He knows the status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I mean, that's as high as it gets. There is Abu Lahab, the lowest, and then there is Abasa wa Tawalla. The first person about whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals this Qur'an in praise of is Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu and of course Abu Bakr as-Siddiq in Surah Al-Layl. So he knows the status, but Badr is happening. And he can't participate in Badr. And it made him so sad, so sad.
You know, when someone has khashia of Allah, when they have awe of Allah, they're not seeking out excuses to not perform their obligations to Allah. They're trying to convince themselves that they can do things that they actually don't have to do. Because they want to please Allah that bad. Ramadan comes and you can't fast. It's not, you know, your health does not allow you to fast and you want to still fast. You're not obligated to do certain things. You want to still do it because of your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's a khashia of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum missed out on the battles with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And he made this dua. He would say, Allahumma anzal udhri. Allahumma anzal udhri. Oh Allah, reveal my excuse. Oh Allah, reveal my excuse. He already knows that Allah revealed Qur'an for him once before. So, oh Allah, reveal an excuse for me. He wants to hear himself represented in the Qur'an. Because he's a very unique situation in this regard. Not being able to go out and strive with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Though he was from the earliest Muslims. So Zaid ibn Thabit radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu tells the story. He says, I was with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam when the wahi used to come to him. When the revelation used to come to him. Zaid being one of the scribes of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in Medina. And he said that the body of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would become so weighty. When revelation would come upon him that it could crush a mountain. And indeed the revelation when it came to the heart of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. It literally if he was on the camel, it made the knees of the camel buckle. Because law anzalna hadha alqur'ana ala jabalin la ra'aytahu khashian mutasadi'an min khashiyati Allah. Had the Qur'an been revealed to a mountain, it would have flattened it. Out of what? Out of the khashiyah of Allah. Out of the awe of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Zaid radiyaAllahu anhu said, one time my thigh was under the leg of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam when revelation came to him and I could not feel my thigh anymore.
I thought my leg was going to be amputated. Because when the revelation came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, I couldn't feel my leg under his leg anymore. Salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So this is an incident where he says that I was with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and the revelation came upon him salallahu alayhi wa sallam and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, we knew when he was receiving revelation, he said to me to bring forth a shoulder, meaning of an animal to ride on, right? They were obviously containing the written revelation on what was around them at that time. So he said I brought it forth and Allah revealed to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, la yastawil qa'iduna minal mu'mineena wal mujahiduna fee sabili Allah. Not equal are those who sit at home from the believers and those who strive in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They are not equal. How do you think that made Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu feel? Made him feel worse, right? Wait a minute, so I'm left out again. So he heard the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam say that and he said, Ya Rasulullah, he said, O Messenger of Allah, fama ta'muruni fa inni rajulun dhareerul basar. Ya Rasulullah, what do you command me to do then? Because I can't see, I can't see. What am I supposed to do? SubhanAllah, Zaid radhiAllahu anhu said, I noticed that and this was different. This, you know, the revelation came upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam shortly thereafter. Allah sends Jibreel alayhi salam to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam again. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was overtaken by revelation again. And when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam regained after that revelation, the ability to convey it at that point, the ayah continued until ghayru ulid dharar, surah an-Nisa, except for those who have a disability. Except for those who have a disability. So subhanAllah, this part of the verse, ghayru ulid dharar,
was revealed, Allah responding to the dua of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum. This could have been explained through fiqh, right? Understanding, the sunnah explains the Quran. Just like many other things in the Quran, the verse is then explained and broken down by the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam explaining it. But Allah honored him with Quran again. So another revelation comes down for him. And even though it's a few words, those few words were so beloved to him, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and, you know, and something that he could hold on to, that Allah revealed in accordance with my dua, a udhur, an excuse, and said, I am not considered amongst those who are left behind in any way whatsoever. So this is the first man that we see these two revelations come in regards to. Now what was his status in Medina? Who is the most famous mu'adhin of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam? It's Bilal radhiAllahu anhu. He is the mu'adhin of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Bilal is the caller of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. The other caller of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum. Now what does that look like in functioning in society, right, in the society? The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam used to send Bilal radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu out to give the adhan for qiyam ul-layl. If you've ever been in Mecca, Medina, Umrah, Hajj, you get confused when you hear that adhan for qiyam ul-layl. You rush to the masjid and you're like, why is fajr not happening? And then they do another adhan and you're like, this is weird. It might have happened to you if you've been for Umrah or Hajj. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the opportunity. Allahuma ameen. That is the adhan for qiyam. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would tell Bilal radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu to go out and to call the adhan and that would wake the people up sometime before fajr. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam then said, فَكُلُوا وَشْرَبُوا حَتَّى يُؤَذِّنَا ابْنُ أُمِّ مَكْتُومُ So eat and drink, meaning if you're planning to fast, eat and drink
until you hear the adhan of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. That is the adhan of fajr. The wisdom of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Why couldn't Bilal just do both adhans radhiAllahu anhu? What is the function in that society when the first man that gives the adhan and the most prominent man for the adhan is someone who was in the most denigrated place in the days of jahliyah, in the days of ignorance, Bilal radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. For his color, for his status, for his lack of a tribe, everything that would be associated with lowliness in the days of ignorance due to their ignorance, not from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, associates Bilal radhiAllahu anhu and look how Allah has elevated him. And now, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, the second person who is honored is the only companion who we know that was born blind, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Now here's the thing. How did Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum know that it was fajr? Please do not say he had an iPhone. Alright? He did not have an adhan clock. Isn't fajr something that people saw in the skies? I don't know if you know this, but you actually see it in the sky. Alright? There's like a thing where salah time is not based on a nap. Okay? A fajr was based on, you know, the actual fajr, right? The break that you would see in the sky. And so, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu anhu could not even see it. So doesn't that complicate things further? Why would the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam choose him to give the adhan for a fajr he can't see? Not only that, how would it take place? Salim ibn Abdullah radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, كان ابن أم مكتوم رجلا أعمى لا ينادي حتى يقال له أصبحت أصبحت That ibn Umm Maktoum could not see anything. So he would not call the fajr until someone would go to him and say,
أصبحت أصبحت, it's out, it's out, now you can call the fajr. Why all this complication? Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to honor that man. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was setting up a certain way within the community. And subhanAllah, we extract so many rulings and so many lessons just from this alone. I'm going to go through some of them, by the way. The fact that the sahabi was defined, their entire chapter is like a disclaimer, right? Because the sahabi technically is someone who saw the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and believed in him. Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu anhu never technically saw the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Imagine what that did to him, subhanAllah. He never got to see him in this life. He knew him, he knew of him, he loved him, he adored him. He was everything, but he didn't see him, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And so you'll find that the books, when they're explaining what a sahabi is, there's like that paragraph at the bottom. But by the way, you know, for some people, this wasn't actually visibly seeing the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. It was being in his presence, knowing he was there and affirming that he was there, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So Ibn Maktoum radhiAllahu anhu could not see the sun, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose him to be the mu'adhin for Fajr. And Ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu could not see the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala raised him in the presence of the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam. There was another thing where the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, an-Anas radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu qal, istakhlafa rasoolAllahi salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Ibn Umm Maktoum ya'umun nasa wa huwa a'ma, that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam appointed him to lead the salah. And that was something that wasn't looked at as something that could happen because they thought a person with a disability could not lead the prayer. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam appointed Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu to lead the people in prayer and he was blind. This goes on, by the way, to another honor, that when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would leave Medina, he would put Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum in charge radhiAllahu anhu. And not just symbolically,
it was actually understood that Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum was in charge of Medina when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would exit from Medina. Anas radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu witnessed himself, istakhlafa Ibn Umm Maktoum ala al-Medina marratay. He put Ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu in charge of Medina. Anas radhiAllahu anhu remembered twice in the books of Siyar, mentioned 13 times that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam made it clear that as he was going to the outskirts of Medina, Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, this blind man that you would not look at prior to Islam, is in charge while I'm gone. So Mu'adhin of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam leads the prayer as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam appoints him. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam puts him in a position of leadership. If you look in the chapters of the books of Hadith, by the way, Bab fi-d-Dareer yuwalla, the chapter of a blind man can lead, can be in a position of leadership, right? So they establish it always with the rulings in regards to Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Some of the other famous incidents, by the way, are the incidents in regards to hijab in the presence of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Umm Salama radhiAllahu anha says that one time the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam came and Maymunah radhiAllahu anha was present and she was present. And ibn Umm Maktoum came and they didn't put on their hijab. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam told them to do so. And they said to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Ya Rasulullah, isn't he blind? And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Are you both blind as well? Are you both unable to see as well? Afa'am yawani antuma? Are you both unable to see as well? They said no. So the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Then just, you know, you know, observe the veil in the presence of ibn Umm Maktoum radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So here's the thing. Is this something that is established that if a person is blind
that a person still, that you still have to observe hijab around him? Yes or no? Okay. So here's where it gets interesting. Another incident, Fatima bint Qais radhiAllahu ta'ala anha, and this is just a seerah tidbit, but it has some fiqh to it as well. Fatima bint Qais radhiAllahu anha was the first cousin of ibn Umm Maktoum and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam observed her, or told her to observe her iddah and divorce with him at that time. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam told her that you can remove your hijab in front of him because he cannot see. So Abu Dawood radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he comments on this. He says that, وَلَهَذَا لِأَزْوَاجِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَىٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامَ خَاصَىٰ أَلَا تَرَىٰ إِلَىٰ اِعْتِدَادِ فَاطِمَةٍ بِنْ قَيْسِ عِنْدَ اِبْنِ اُمِّ مَكْتُومِ قَدْ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَىٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَامَ لِفَاطِمَةٍ اِعْتَدِّي عِنْدَ اِبْنِ اُمِّ مَكْتُومِ Abu Dawud says this was specific to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ because as you can see he told Fatima bint Qais that she could pass her iddah in his presence and she did not have to observe the hijab. However, of course you need to know that a person truly cannot see. So there is something peculiar to the wives of the Prophet ﷺ in this regard. However, the ruling does not apply to everyone according to Abu Dawud and according to many of the scholars in that regard. Now I'm going to fast forward insha'Allah to two incidents, one of them being his death. And this first incident is very interesting. It's narrated by al-Hakim al-Bayhaqi that Masrook ibn al-Ajda' was a student of Aisha. Masrook being one of the greatest students of Aisha who collected her knowledge and passed it on to the next generation.
Masrook ibn al-Ajda' says that one day I came to Aisha and I found her serving this blind man, he was wrapped up and she was serving him utruj which is like citrus fruit. She was cutting it up for him with her own hands and she was preparing asal, honey as well and she was taking it to him and she was honoring him. And I was shocked, I had no idea who he was. So I said to her, Ya Umm al-Mu'mineen, O our mother, O mother of the believers, who is this man for you to be cutting fruits for him and serving him honey and honoring him in this way? This isn't what we're used to seeing. Who is this man? So Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala responds and she says, this is Ibn Umm Ktum, allathee aataabaAllahu feehee nabiyyaahu salallahu alayhi wa salam, the one upon whose behalf I am serving. The one upon whose behalf Allah admonished his Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam. And then she narrated to him, to me, Masrook who's narrating, she narrated to me the whole story of Abasa wa Tawalla and then she said, and this is how the family of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam has been ordered to treat him since then. So subhanAllah, this legacy lives on with the whole family of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam. They knew that when Abdullah ibn Umm Ktum radiyaAllahu ta'ala comes around, we have to treat him in a certain way because that's how Allah subhanAllah ta'ala honored him. So subhanAllah, what about the followers of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam? May Allah count us amongst his family, his brothers, his sisters, that we honor this man radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu as Aisha radiyaAllahu ta'ala anha was still honoring him decades after the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam passed away in accordance with the order of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, that this is a man who Allah honored with revelation, we should also honor him in accordance with that revelation. We come to his death radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and it's an interesting story because everything
that he was prohibited from coming to be in those last moments. In the year 636, which coincides with 14 years after Hijrah, you had the most decisive battle between the Muslims and the most powerful empire in the world which was the Persian empire. So the most decisive battle takes place between the Muslims and the Persian empire under Amir al-Mu'minin Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu and this was called the Battle of Qadisiyah. Now in the Battle of Qadisiyah, the preparations for the Battle of Qadisiyah, which is again against an arrogant, large, powerful, ruthless empire, Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu heard about the size of that army and it was over a hundred thousand people. Can you imagine an army in the 7th century that large? Over a hundred thousand people. The Persian empire had prepared an army of over a hundred thousand people to basically say let's do away with this nuisance of the Muslims once and for all, let's wipe them off the face of the planet. When Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu got word of that effort to amass over a hundred thousand soldiers, there was a draft of sorts around the entire Muslim ummah. So the call to try to amass an army that could put up a fight against this army in Qadisiyah. So people are coming from around the Muslim ummah and you have in Medina an effort to put forth people that otherwise, you know, at that point it's voluntary, right, to go out in battle. This is voluntary. But now there is an encouragement, how do we get as many people as possible to fight this massive battle under Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. As Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu is gathering the people. Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu comes to Umar ibn Al-Khattab radiyaAllahu
ta'ala anhu and he says, Ya Amirul Mu'mineen, let me go. But you can't, right, you know, subhanAllah, this man did not participate in Badr, Uhud, for good reason, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he didn't get to participate in those battles. Now you want to participate in this battle where, you know, it's an existential threat for the Muslim ummah, at least outside of the area of Medina, what do you mean? He said, Ya Amirul Mu'mineen, let me go. Why am I going to go? He says, I'll read Quran to the people, I'll pray with the people, qiyam, because, by the way, subhanAllah, the nights before the battle, what did the Muslims used to do? Did they used to get a good night's sleep? No, they'd spend the nights in qiyam ul-layl. They'd spend the nights in prayer before battle. So I'll go there, I mean, I was the first person next to Mus'ab to be sent to Medina to teach them the Quran, right? So I'll go with them, I'll teach them the Quran, I'll pray with them, but let me go with them, Ya Amirul Mu'mineen. So Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu lets him go. Now when they get to Qadisiyyah, what it ends up being is that you have about 30,000 Muslims against this over 100,000 Persians. And Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu says, I want to fight with you all. I want to be in the battle. And they said to him, what are you going to do? And he said, Alastum tahtajuna ila man yahmi al-raya? Don't you need someone to hold the banner? Someone to be the flag bearer? When you go out in battle, right, there's always someone that's carrying the flag. So he said, yes, but you know, you're not going to be able to defend yourself. He said, you know, I'll wear my armor and I'll hold the flag. So subhanAllah, eventually they allowed him to do that in this decisive battle. Now the battle of Qadisiyyah raged for three days. It was a battle where the Persians employed elephants that literally they sent out to stomp people to death on the other side.
I mean, this was a violent, large battle. Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, he takes the flag. He is the flag bearer of the Muslims, a man who never fought before. But Allah subhanAllah is granting him. minal mu'mineena rijalun sadaqo ma'ahadu Allahi alayhi. He had a desire inside of him. He had a desire to be of the greatest of those Muslims and someone who sacrificed everything that happened before. So they said subhanAllah, the narrations mentioned that he even, you know, in order to make sure he wouldn't fall back because of the thrust of just the winds of war. I mean, he couldn't see anything. So he, they dressed him in armor and he just held the flag. He put his feet, literally planted his feet under the ground so that he couldn't move because he didn't want to move. And so when the battle would rage, he's literally got his feet kind of buried into the ground in a way that he's firmly planted and that he wouldn't fall. So he goes and he stands in the middle of this battle, subhanAllah, holding the flag covered in armor with his feet, an old sahabi, one of the first people to become Muslim, and no one could tell him no. And on that day, this was the third day of Qadisiyah. Out of the 30,000 Muslims, about 8,500 of them were killed. We talk about stishhad, like the amount of people that were martyred, over 8,000 of the 30,000 were killed. Over 40,000 Persians were killed. And so subhanAllah, in that day, they, as they went to count all of these sahabi that had passed away, multiple companions, multiple tabi'een passed away in this battle. And this was, of course, the battle, by the way, that opened the next step for the eventual fall of the Persian Empire. This was it. Once Qadisiyah was done, that was it. So Allah granted them victory. They found Abdullah ibn Um Maktoum radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu, and subhanAllah, he was laying down and he had the flag clutched to his chest.
RadiyAllahu ta'ala anhu. How beautiful, subhanAllah. Clutching the flag of La ilaha illallah Muhammadun Rasulullah, the man who used to go out and who used to call the adhan, even though he couldn't see fajr, the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam knew and Allah knew that he had something in his heart that could see because the eyes are not blind, it is the hearts that are blind. And Allah subhanAllahu ta'ala honored him with being one upon whom Quran, for whom Quran came down, a mu'adhin of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam, the governor of Medina in the absence of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam, the one who was appointed to lead prayer, the one who was honored by the most honored family of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam, and here, the man who was honored as a shaheed, as a martyr as well in this battle of Qadisiyah. RadiyAllahu ta'ala anhu. May Allah subhanAllahu ta'ala be pleased with him, have mercy upon him. May Allah subhanAllahu ta'ala allow us to be gathered with the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wasalam, with the companions, with his family, with the Prophets, with the righteous ones. Wa hasana ulaika rafiqa. And what a blessed companionship that is. Allahumma ameen. Wa salallahu wa sallamu ala rabbina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. InshaAllah ta'ala next week we're going to talk about none other than Mus'ab ibn Umair radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu, which is one of the most touching stories that we find in the seerah of the sahaba. So inshaAllah ta'ala I will see you then. And for now, we have a few minutes before isha so I'll actually go ahead and take questions inshaAllah.
Welcome back!
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