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
126
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Amr ibn al-As (ra): His Wicked Father and “Better” Brother | The Firsts
146
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid (ra): From False Prophet to Shaheed | The Firsts
147
Life of the Prophet (seerah)
Zayd ibn al-Khattab (ra): The Quiet Brother of Omar (ra) | The Firsts
Abu Dujana (ra): The Red Bandana | The Firsts
Only one man was worthy of fighting with the sword of the Prophet ﷺ, and he proved that he would honor it in more ways than one. The story of Abu Dujana (ra) is a story of a man who displayed bravery in the most difficult moments of battle, and integrity in every moment of his life.
The Firsts is a weekly video series that chronicles the lives of the Sahaba (the companions of the Prophet ﷺ) during and after the time of the Prophet ﷺ.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. I hope you enjoy this video. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Here, he is very similar to al-Zubayr ibn Awam radiyaAllahu anhu in Mecca. Just a man who's been groomed for war and battle his entire life. A youth who spent his entire life practicing for the moment that he would have in the battlefield. So when Islam comes to Medina, we don't have the exact moment that this young man embraces Islam. But we do know that he was amongst the three that went around the city of Medina and that basically broke the idols that disposed of the idols of Medina. It was Sa'd ibn Ubadah, Abu Dujanah, and Mundhir ibn Amr. So these were the three young men that basically once the people embraced Islam, went around and they disposed of the idols that used to be worshipped before Islam would come to them. So the Prophet ﷺ comes to Medina and he meets this young man. And everything about this young man is confidence and zeal and being ready for the moment of war. And the Prophet ﷺ of course paired people off from the Muhajireen and the Ansar. And this was called the Mu'akha where he took the Muhajireen and he put them with their counterparts from the Ansar. So the Meccans would be with the people of Medina. And you find that it's often that the Prophet ﷺ paired people off in accordance with their backgrounds. Not their tribal backgrounds, but what their characters were like.
And so he paired him ﷺ with a man by the name of Utbah ibn Ghazwan. Utbah ibn Ghazwan radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, who we have an episode about, is as early as the seventh person to embrace Islam. So one of the first Muslims in Mecca. Someone who made hijra to Abyssinia and to Medina. He made both of the hijras. Someone who fought every battle alongside the Prophet ﷺ. His sister embraced Islam early, was married to Uthman radiyaAllahu anhu. And another sister of his, Basra, was the wife of Abu Huraira radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. So Utbah ibn Ghazwan is a warrior who embraced Islam early on with the Prophet ﷺ. And who used to lead armies and battalions under Umar ibn Khattab radiyaAllahu anhu. And was one of those who was key in defeating the Persian Empire at the time. So Utbah radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu is actually the one who conquered what is now Basra in Iraq. So you can imagine that household, right? You got two young men that both basically do nothing but practice for battle and practice for war. And they're waiting for the moment to be summoned by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Abu Dujan radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu is one of those who gets to participate in every battle with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. So he's one of the veterans of Badr. And there is an important context here with the Battle of Badr. That those who fought in the Battle of Badr and who were able to kill some of the seniors of the Meccans were particularly marked for death. Now obviously Uhud was all about revenge on the Muslims. Because the Meccans thought that they would easily squash the Muslims in the Battle of Badr. They came out there basically with the mentality of a party. We're going to kill them once and for all, wipe them off the face of the earth.
And Allah ﷻ gave them victory. And so you had hit lists that basically remain in Mecca for those who took out some of the prominent leaders of Quraysh in the Battle of Badr. So he's one of those people. So Abu Dujan radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, we don't have an image of him particularly in terms of what he did in Badr. But we know that he took out two of the leaders of Mecca. So one of those whom he killed was a man by the name of Zam'a ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib. Zam'a ibn al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib. And Zam'a was one of those who was a staunch opponent of the Prophet ﷺ. And he's also someone whose son al-Harith had become Muslim. And he basically tortured his son out of Islam. So Zam'a tortured his son al-Harith out of Islam. And this is the context of the verse in Surah an-Nisa, verse 97, in which Allah ﷻ mentions, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ظَالِمِ أَنفُسِهِمْ قَالُوا فِي مَا كُنْتُمْ قَالُوا كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَ فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا So this verse where Allah ﷻ is talking about people who die, and then the angels ask them about their state. And they say that we were weak and oppressed. And Allah ﷻ responds and says, wasn't the earth of Allah vast? Meaning couldn't you have made hijrah? So this is a verse of blame towards al-Harith ibn Zam'a because he renounced his Islam and he did not make hijrah because the circumstances became difficult. So Abu Dujanah r.a was responsible for overcoming him in the battle of Badr. And he was responsible for overcoming a man by the name of Asim ibn Abi Uth. So all of this is just to give you an introduction to it, right? Abu Dujanah was probably about 20 years old when the battle of Uhud comes.
He's truly a young man. And he's someone who everyone knows for one purpose, he doesn't get involved in anything else. And this is where we find the chapter in Sahih Muslim, باب من فضائل أبي دجانة سيماك ابن خرش رضي الله تعالى عنه The Virtues of Abu Dujanah Simak ibn Khurasha r.a And we learn about our hero today. Simak Abu Dujanah r.a narrates, and this is in fact narrated from Anas ibn Malik r.a That as the battle of Uhud takes place, and I want you to kind of put yourself back in Uhud, and next time you go to Uhud, may Allah write you down an Umrah or a Hajj accepted one. I want you to kind of visualize this. The Prophet ﷺ in the beginning of every battle bestows a special honor on somebody. And you can find this in every single battle. One person is marked with some sort of special honor in the beginning of the battle. And sometimes more than one, but there is always that one person. So in the battle of Badr, it was Zubayr r.a who wore his yellow turban, and all of the angels came down with the look of a Zubayr r.a. In Khaybar, it was Sayyidina Ali r.a who the Prophet ﷺ said that, I'm going to give it tomorrow to someone who Allah and His Messenger love, and who loves Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. And it was Sayyidina Ali r.a. So the Prophet ﷺ always has this honor that he bestows upon a person before the battle, and there's certainly a divine wisdom to this. So the Prophet ﷺ, before the battle starts, he holds out his own sword ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ said, من يأخذ مني هذا? Who's going to take this sword from me? Now here's the thing.
Obviously this is more honorable than holding a banner. This is more honorable than holding any type of cloth. You're holding the sword of the Messenger ﷺ. Who's going to hold my sword in this battle? Here's the thing about the Prophet ﷺ. Did the Prophet ﷺ used to fight in the battle himself? Yes. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would be in the front lines. But the Prophet ﷺ would not kill. He would fight, he would knock down, he would participate, but the Prophet ﷺ was a mercy. He wouldn't kill ﷺ. So he would not deliver a fatal blow to anyone ﷺ. But here in the beginning of this battle, the Prophet ﷺ puts out his hand and says, Who's going to take this sword? So obviously Abu Bakr, Ali, Talha, al-Zubayr, the familiar ones, everyone comes out and says, أنا يا رسول الله أنا. I'll take it, O Messenger of Allah, I'll take it. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so much so that no one else has ever had this virtue bestowed upon them. We don't know of any other companion who's going to have this particular virtue bestowed upon them. And so, فَبَصَتُواْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ كُلُّ إِنسَادٍ مِنْهُمْ He said, أنا أنا. Everyone put their hand forth and said, يا رسول الله, I'll take it, I'll take it. And then the Prophet ﷺ says, فَمَنْ يَأْخُذُهُ بِحَقِّهِ But who will take it with its right? And the companions understood that the Prophet ﷺ was about to attach a condition. So they all kind of hesitated at that point. So they put their hands down, and they wondered what the Prophet ﷺ meant when he says, Who's going to take it with its right? Meaning with all of its responsibilities, with everything that comes with it. This isn't just something you get to wave around in the Battle of Uhud. Who's going to take it with its right? And what is the ḥaqq of it? The Prophet ﷺ said afterwards, that you don't kill any believer with it, and that you don't flee from the enemy no matter what.
The Prophet ﷺ is foreshadowing how this battle is going to go down. And he saw, ﷺ, some of the visions that would take place, that people would be chased, and people would be put in very difficult circumstances. And this was a battle in which many people would end up fleeing. So the ḥaqq of the sword of the Prophet ﷺ is that the one who's carrying the sword of the Prophet ﷺ will not turn against his own, nor will he flee from the opponent at any point in the battle. So Abu Dujanah, رضي الله عنه, he put out his hand and he says, أنا يا رسول الله أخذه بحقه I will take it, O Messenger of Allah, with its full right and with its full responsibility. So the Prophet ﷺ, he handed it to Abu Dujanah, رضي الله عنه, when he said, take it with its right. Take it with its right. Now subhanAllah, you can imagine the responsibility, the honor, the virtue, the way that this young man has now instantly been boosted and elevated in the eyes of the companions. Now there was one person who says, that I put out my hand as well, but the Prophet ﷺ did not give me that sword. And it was Zubayr, رضي الله عنه. Zubayr ibn Awwam, رضي الله عنه. He says, describing that moment, قَالَ وَجَدْتُ فِي نَفْسِي حِينَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلِيهِ وَسَلَمَ السَّيْفِ فَمَنَعْنِيهِ وَأَعْطَاهُ أَبَا دُجَانَةً وَقُلْتُ أَنَا ابْنُ صَفِيَّ He said that I was hurt on the inside. I kind of felt something on the inside of me when the Prophet ﷺ gave the sword to Abu Dujanah instead of me. And I said to myself, I am the son of Safiyyah, the aunt of the Prophet ﷺ. وَمِنْ قُرَيْشِ And I am from Quraysh. And he says, وَقَدْ كُمْتُ إِلَيْهِ فَسَأَلْتُهُ إِيَاهُ قَبْلَهُ He said that I actually asked him for the sword before Abu Dujanah did. I put out my hand before Abu Dujanah. And of course this is characteristic of Zubayr, رضي الله عنه.
That Allah has honored him in the past, and will honor him after this because Zubayr is always right there. The Prophet ﷺ says something, the boogeyman comes out, whoever it is, Zubayr رضي الله عنه jumps. So he's saying, I'm his cousin. I'm always there. And I was thinking to myself, why did the Prophet ﷺ turn away from me and give it to Abu Dujanah? So he said, وَاللَّهِ لَأَنظُرَنَّ مَا يَصْنَعُ So he said, I'm going to watch this man in battle. I can't believe that the Prophet ﷺ ended up giving it to someone other than me. And subhanAllah, there's a hikmah to this. There's a wisdom to this. That Abu Dujanah was from the Ansar. He's from the young men of Medina. And the Prophet ﷺ knows what he's doing. It's not just honoring an individual. It's also distributing the virtue amongst the people ﷺ. If he continues to only honor the Muhajireen, the people of Mecca, the forerunners from Mecca, then it's going to send a particular type of message to the Ansar, and the Prophet ﷺ does not want that. So that's certainly part of the hikmah. And it's not a knock on Az-Zubayr ﷺ, but rather it's something that Allah intended for Abu Dujanah ﷺ as well. And Az-Zubayr ﷺ, he continues in some of the narrations, and he basically starts to talk about what he was capable of in war. And Az-Zubayr ﷺ had the unique ability of what? He used to be able to sit on a horse, and he used to be able to use both of his hands with swords and control a horse in battle with his legs alone. That was the strength of Az-Zubayr ﷺ. So Az-Zubayr ﷺ is like, I'm going to watch this man and see how he carries himself in battle, because he must be special in order for the Prophet ﷺ to prefer him to me, and I felt something inside of me, like why him instead of me? And then he continues. And this is where the famous harakah, the famous move of Abu Dujanah comes from. He said that Abu Dujanah pulled out a red bandana, okay, and he tied this red bandana on his head. And then all of the Ansar got excited,
and they said, شد أبو دجانة عصابة الموت على رأسه Abu Dujanah just put on the bandana of death on his head. Like once he pulled that bandana out, we knew that it was it. So Az-Zubayr is watching this, and subhanAllah it's really interesting because the Sahaba had their marks, right? Az-Zubayr had a yellow turban, Abu Dujanah pulls out his red bandana, and this basically becomes how Abu Dujanah will prepare himself for every single battle. He pulls out this red bandana, he puts it on, and basically all of the Ansar know that it's on now. We know exactly what's about to happen, that he's going into a different mode. And there's something that, you know, that immediately resonates with Az-Zubayr because Az-Zubayr had his own mark, right? So wait a minute, he's got his mark as well, just like I've got my mark. And then Abu Dujanah radiyAllahu anhu does something that's really interesting. He starts to strut in front of the Sahaba, he starts to walk in front of the Sahaba, then he goes and he walks right up to the mushrikeen, right up to the opponents in the battlefield of Uhud, and he starts to walk in front of them, strutting radiyAllahu anhu, and twisting the sword around, and basically taunting the other side. Now, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam teaches humility, and this is a very different type of attitude that they're seeing. Imagine this young man now going, puts on a red bandana, and he goes and he struts in front of the opponent. And look at what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, and this is why I said we take a lot of rulings and a lot of the wisdom of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam from this. He says, that this is a type of walking that Allah hates, except in this type of situation. Allah hates when people walk arrogantly. Allah hates when people boast and when people talk. But he said there's a time and a place for everything. And indeed, SubhanAllah, this shows you that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he could have condemned him, he could have admonished him, he could have called him out and said this isn't how we act, but the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam understands that there's a psychology, there's a mindset in battle as well. And Abu Dujan radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu is doing this to basically show the enemy no fear, even though they were greatly outnumbered by them in those moments. Some of the scholars mention even the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, when he was fighting in Hunayn and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was so brave and courageous, and he said, I am the Prophet, without any doubt, I am the son of Abdul Muttalib. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not like in normal situations that people mention the names of their fathers. Right? But the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam understood the mindset, the psychology of battle, that once you're in the battlefield, there's a different type of mindset. And he wanted to empower that young man, Alayhi Salatu Wasalam, so that he could feel that sense of power and that he could raise the morale of the Muslims. So basically, you have this young man, and this is new to the Muhajirin, puts on his red headband, starts and he goes and he starts strutting in front of the Meccans. Right? Waving his sword around, and all of the young Ansar are cheering him on. Right? So he's putting on a show, radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, for all of the young Ansar, and they're all getting excited about the battle as it's about to start. Now Abu Dujan radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu also has another thing that he does in battle, which is he recites poetry. So he recites poetry about the battle. So as Zubayr says, he then went on to say, انا الذي عاهدني خليلي ونحن بالسفح لدي نخيلي ان لا اقوم الدهر في الكيولي اضرب بسيف الله والرسول انا اما رسول الله حيث اثبتت اختي حفرة اوهدنا قرب القرآن انا اقوم ان لا اكون في خلال سواب العربي
اوهدنا اقوم ان اقاتل ضحايا الله والرسول So he starts chanting this out, he's getting ready for the battle. And then as Zubayr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu says, the battle starts. So obviously with the Battle of Uhud, you got the beginning, the first half, and you have the second half, right? The first half, which is that the Muslims once again, though they were greatly outnumbered by an army that wanted to massacre them and that had absolutely no ethics, were able to overcome them by the help of Allah and their Dua, and they're sticking to the plan. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam tells the archers, as we all know, to stay on the mountain of archers and to not come down until he gives them permission Alayhi Salatu Wasallam that gave them their strategic advantage. They win the battle initially, and then we have the next part of Uhud, which is when those Muslims disobey the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and then Khalid bin Walid radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu takes the army around and he attacks them. So there's really Uhud 1 and Uhud 2. There's the first episode of Uhud, and there's the second episode of Uhud. So Zubayr radiAllahu Anhu was like, I wanted to see this young man. So he said, Abu Dujanah walks forward. He said this young man puts on his armor, and he had broad shoulders. Now Zubayr was known for these huge arms, right? So he had broad shoulders, and he said, فَجَعْلَ لَا يَلْقَىٰ أَحَدًا إِلَّا قَتَلَهُ He said, I just watched him, and he was finishing his opponents one by one. Everyone that came in front of Abu Dujanah radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he went through them quickly. And he said that as he was going through and just mowing his way into the army, Zubayr radiAllahu Anhu, he's fighting, but he's also watching Abu Dujanah. He says that there was a man from the other side who was cutting down everybody along the way. So he's basically watching one person from the other side mowing through the ranks,
and he's watching Abu Dujanah radiAllahu Anhu mowing through the ranks. So he says, فَجَعْلَ كُلُّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمَا يَدْنُوا مِنْ صَاحِبِهِ And he said, I noticed that they were getting closer to each other. Think about the visual of this. Abu Dujanah is cutting through the ranks, and the other man is cutting through the ranks. Now, Zubayr radiAllahu Anhu is being honest. Zubayr is a man who's admiring his skill right now, and he's seeing what Abu Dujanah is really made of. I mean the guy who got the sword of the Prophet ﷺ instead of him. So he said, فَدَعُوتُ اللَّهَ أَن يَجْمَعَ بَيْنَهُمَا He said, I made du'a to Allah that the two of them would end up fighting each other. I was waiting for the moment that they'd meet. Abu Dujanah on one side cutting through, the other guy on the other side cutting through. قَالَ فَلْتَقِيَا He said, so they met one another. He says, فَاخْتَلَفَ ضَرْبَتَيْنَ فَضَرَبَ الْمُشْرِكُ أَبَى دُجَانَ He said, so basically it was two hits. He said that the opponent struck at Abu Dujanah. He said Abu Dujanah intercepted his blow. He basically blocked it, and he said he hit him one time and he killed him. So Zubayr is watching him. He's like, who is this guy? Right. So he took him out with one blow. And he said that he kept on going forward. Now Ka'b ibn Malik radiyallahu anhu, he has his own narration of this. Ka'b ibn Malik radiyallahu anhu says that, I was one of those people who went out with the Muslims on the day of Uhud. And he said, and I got injured, I was on the ground, and I noticed a person from the mushrikeen, a person from the disbelievers who was going forward. وَهُوَ يَقُولُ اِسْتَوْسِقُوا كَمَا اِسْتَوْسَقَتْ جَزَرُ النَّعْمِ Come forth and be slaughtered the way that animals are slaughtered. Meaning what? He's just cutting people down, right? Slaughtering people. I mean, he was so vicious.
And he said, so I was watching this, and he says, وَإِذَا رَجُلٌ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ يَنْتَذِرُهُ He said, and I noticed one of the Muslims was waiting for him, was basically getting ready to face him. So he said, فَمَضَيْتُ حَتَّى كُنتُ مِنْ وَرَائِهِ So he basically says that I was on the ground, and I basically started to move until I could catch a sight of the Muslim man walking up to this guy, who's literally talking about slaughtering people like they're in a factory, like they're in an animal factory. So he said, so I got to a point where I could see both of them with my bare vision. So he said, and I noticed, فَإِذَا الْكَافِرُ أَفْضَلُهُمَا عُدَّةً وَهِيئًا He said, and I noticed that the opponent was bigger, and he looked more prepared. He had better armor on him, and he was a bigger man. So I didn't think it was going to go well. So he said, so I kept on watching them until they finally met with one another, and he said that the bigger man attacked him. He said he dodged his blow, and he said he basically sliced him into two. Not exactly that way, but he said he basically was able to get right at him and deliver a fatal blow to him. So he said, I'm watching, I'm like, who is this young man? And by the way, battle is not pretty, so, I mean, it's a pretty vivid description, right? But he says, who is this young man that just took this humongous man out? And then look at, I mean, it's almost like out of a movie, how he's describing the situation. Basically Abu Dujanah knows that Ka'b ibn Malik is watching him. فَقَال ثُمَّ كَشَفَ عَنْ وَجْهِهِ He said that he then took off his mask, and he said, كَيْفَ تَرَى يَا كَعْبِ أنا أبو دجانة What do you think, Ka'b? I'm Abu Dujanah. Like he looks back at Ka'b and says, what did you think I was going to do? You thought he had a chance against me? Put back his mask and then kept on fighting.
So the man had a lot of courage, and he had a lot of confidence, and the Prophet ﷺ admired that about him, and he basically is earning his reputation throughout this entire battle. But then, subhanAllah, here's something profound that takes place, because remember the Muslims are a people of ethics. He basically got through the entire ranks of the mushrikeen. So as Zubayr says, subhanAllah, it was like the blink of an eye, and he started off in the beginning, and he just cut his way all the way through the army, until he got to the very back. And he said, he got there so quickly that there were some women there that were chanting. And they were basically chanting poetry that نَحْنُم بِنَاتُ طَارِق We're the daughters of the star of Tariq. And they're basically saying, they're riling up their own army, saying that if you advance forward, then you'll find us ready for you, and making life comfortable for you. But if you abandon your place in the battlefield and act like cowards, then there will be no more love between us. There are all sorts of poetry from jahliyah, poetry from war, that the women were chanting to rile up the mushrikeen, to rile up Quraysh. So as Zubayr says, I watched Abu Dujan, and he went through so rapidly. I mean, he just cut through all the way to the back of the army. And then he got to the back, and there was someone right under him, and that person, walwala, they shrieked. And then revealed their face, and it was Hind bint Utbah. Hind, the wife of Abu Sufyan. Now what is Hind going to do at the end of this battle? Hind is the one who will have the liver of Hamza radiyallahu anhu taken out of his body, will chew it out and spit it. Right, I mean, she has really bad intentions for this battle. She's out there to avenge her father Utbah. She is the main person that's riling up the mushrikeen.
And Abu Dujan has her right under the sword, and she's actively participating. Now subhanAllah, the image here, by the way, of Hind, is that Hind is actually going behind, she's getting into the battlefield, and she's riling up the men. She's not staying in one place. She's trying to get them forward, and she has one thing and one thing in mind, which is, I want the blood of Hamza radiyallahu anhu, because Hamza was the one who killed her father in Badr. I want the blood of Hamza radiyallahu anhu. So Hind was ferociously riling up the other side, and basically, as Zubayr radiyallahu anhu says, so right when he had his sword above her and he realized that it was a woman, he pulled the sword back. And Zubayr said, I said to myself, Allah wa rasuluhu a'lam. Allah and His Messenger known best. Meaning like, in that situation, and remember the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam was reforming the ethics here, not killing innocent people, not killing a woman, not cutting down trees, not killing the animals, only killing the immediate enemy combatants, finding a way out to ransom the prisoners. All these things are very new to them, right? So Zubayr is like, but she's an active participant, so I didn't know, Allah wa rasuluhu a'lam, if she really was worthy of death in that moment, because she was really participating in the battle, right? And sometimes to cut off the morale is a means of defeating the opponent. But Abu Dujanah said, I let her go. So Zubayr said, I went up to Abu Dujanah. Now this is part one of the battle of Uhud, when the Muslims basically riled them, beat them, and they appeared to be retreating. And as Zubayr said, I loved everything I saw from you, everything that you did. Basically, I understand now why the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam gave you the sword instead of me. He said, but there was one thing that I was very curious about, which is when you had Hind under you, like she's active, you chose to hold your sword back. So he's not saying to Abu Dujanah, you should have killed her. He's just saying that was very curious, right?
Because most people in that situation, you got to imagine as well, like when you're in that mode, right? I mean, you're fighting and waving your sword right and left. You're in that mode, like how did you hold it back? And listen to what he says. He says, I realized that she was a woman, أكرمت سيف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم and أضرب به امرأة. He said, the sword of the Messenger of Allah is too noble to strike a woman. I realized that the sword of the Messenger of Allah is too noble to strike a woman. I wasn't going to taint that amanah, that trust that the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam gave me by striking a woman when the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam explicitly said to not kill the women, to not kill the innocent, to not kill anyone who's not fighting, to not cut down the trees and so on and so forth. SubhanAllah. So it shows you the ethics as well that the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam had taught these people. So this is part one of Uhud and you can see this young man that basically shined. And at this point had the battle ended, he is one of the great heroes of that battle already, right? Because of all of the antics, because of the way that he put on a show basically while he went forth and he demoralized the other side, right? This other side that's three times the size of your army. Abu Dujanah basically demoralized them by cutting all the way through them. But then what happens? Khalid Mureed takes the army around the mountain and he ambushes the Muslims from behind. And of course because they relinquished that position of the archers, their backs were now to this army and they didn't have enough time to situate themselves once again to basically defend themselves. And this is where you start to have the profiles of courage, those people that died trying to protect the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Mus'ab ibn Umair radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu who tried to lead the army away from the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam by creating commotion away from him and lost his life. The Muhajireen, Nusaybah ibn Ammarah radiyaAllahu Anhu and her entire family
trying to defend the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. All of these people that we talk about. And Abu Dujanah is sort of the last major figure that we haven't spoken about in this regard. And he represents a group of the Ansar, a group of young men from the Ansar that decided to surround the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam instead of flee in those moments. Now subhanAllah, the imagery of Uhud is Talha ibn Ubaidullah catching arrows. Talha radiyaAllahu Anhu was literally trying to intercept any blow that he possibly could from the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And the goal was to kill the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Right? So they're raining down on the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in any way. Abu Dujanah was with a man by the name of Yazid ibn Sakin radiyaAllahu Anhu. Yazid ibn Sakin was one of the Ansar. He's the father of Asmaa ibn Tiyazid, the famous orator of the women, spokesperson of the women in Medina. And Yazid ibn Sakin tries to grab the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he was slain as he was trying to protect the Messenger Alaihi Wasallam. Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu Anhu pulls off something so beautiful and it's a miracle that he actually survives this moment. Abu Bakr Siddiq radiyaAllahu Anhu he says that I saw Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu Anhu on the day of Uhud. And he said he grabbed the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the arrows started to come on his back until he looked like a hedgehog radiyaAllahu Anhu. So he basically defended the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with his entire being in that moment. So while Abu Dujanah is protecting the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and the arrows basically start to litter his back
radiyaAllahu Anhu there is a man by the name of Abdullah ibn Humayd who is coming after the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he was shouting out Ana ibn al-Zuhayr Dalluni ala Muhammad I am the son of Zuhayr, show me Muhammad he said by Allah either I will kill him or I will die. One of us is going to die today. And subhanAllah, Sa'd radiyaAllahu Anhu says that Abu Dujanah literally I mean imagine the image his back was littered with arrows so he looks like a hedgehog you literally had to look over Abu Dujanah to see if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was still alive. That's how much of the body of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that he was trying to cover in that moment radiyaAllahu Anhu but miraculously he is not going to die in this moment. SubhanAllah when you recount the story in Uhud you think Abu Dujanah dies in this moment, he doesn't. And as Abdullah ibn Humayd comes towards the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam he basically is poking at the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam around Abu Dujanah to try to get to him. And Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu he takes his sword even as his back is covering the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he strikes the leg of the horse and Ibn Humayd falls off and Abu Dujanah was able to kill him even with his back littered with the arrows. And this is where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made dua for Abu Dujanah Oh Allah be pleased with the son of Kharasha the way that I am pleased with him. SubhanAllah you find that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam prayed for those that were with him and those that were against him on that day. As for those that were with him he made dua for Nusaybah, Umm Ammara and the Sahaba to be with him in Jannah as they requested. As for those that were against him the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said Oh Allah forgive my people they don't know any better. And here in the case of Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
Oh Allah be pleased with him as I am pleased with him. I mean SubhanAllah what more can you want from a man? And truly there were people that were walking martyrs after Uhud that didn't die but it was as if they died. And Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhum is one of those people. And after the battle of Uhud Ibn Abbas radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhumah he narrates that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam when he came back from the battle of Uhud he gave the sword, because remember Abu Dujanah had his sword this whole time he gave his sword to Fatima radiyaAllahu Anha and Fatima Az-Zahra radiyaAllahu Anha was washing off the blood from that sword and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was praising Abu Dujanah that surely he did right by that haq, he did right by that by that, he did justice by the amanah, by the trust that was given to him radiyaAllahu Anhu defending the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in every single moment of that battle radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu and so he goes down in history as one of the great heroes of Uhud for that reason and subhanAllah we find later on that every single battle he's on the front line, in the battle of Khaybar Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu was on the front line in the battle of Hunayn he was one of those who actually changed the momentum of Hunayn because he took out the flag bearer on the other side in the battle of Hunayn and there were only a few that were standing with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the battle of Hunayn so every single battle, it's not like Abu Dujanah relented because of the experience of Uhud, every single battle he's there with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and he's fighting alongside the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and trying to protect him from every single harm that comes his way and so in the battle of Hunayn again he goes forth and he basically changes the momentum by taking out the flag bearer the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam entrusts him in hajjatul wada' in the farewell hajj by appointing him as the governor of Medina in his absence, so this was a sign as well that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam loves him
and basically this is his life right, always being the hero that goes forth when very few people were willing to go forth and subhanAllah we find that the last battle that he participates in is the battle of Yamama which was the battle against Musaylim Al-Kadhab Musaylim was the false prophet who of course had just demonstrated the worst of brutality right, towards the Muslims and had done all sorts of things to the Muslims this was a man that was crucifying people right, Habibin Muzaid famously because they wouldn't call him a prophet of Allah, and it was in this battle that you find that Al-Bara' Ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, the brother of Anas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu was the one who said launch me into Hadiqatul Mout it was the garden of death it was the garden immediately surrounding Musaylim Al-Kadhab and basically the only way to change the momentum of Yamama Al-Bara' said go ahead and just launch me into there so Al-Bara' Ibn Malik went forth, Abdullah Ibn Muzaid whose brother was crucified by Musaylim Al-Kadhab went forth, Wahshi Ibn Harb as we mentioned is the one who throws the spear, the same one who threw the spear at Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, throws the spear at Musaylim and Abu Dujana radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu asks as well to basically jump into Hadiqatul Mout so he goes to the high point of the fortress and he goes forth and he says, Anasimak Abu Dujana, Lastu bithi dhillin wala mahana, wala jabana al-qalbi dhistikana, la khayra fee qawmin bideenin khaana, he said that I am Sammak Abu Dujana, I am not one who holds any sense of humiliation or disgrace nor am I a coward at heart or one who is weak and he says there is no khayr, there is no goodness in the people who turn their backs on their faith and as he jumps in radiAllahu ta'ala
Anhu, he breaks his leg, so this basically becomes the cause for some of his weakness in that battle of Yamama that he jumped from such a high place into that garden, he was able to strike Musaylim al-Kadhab once and even Wahshi radiAllahu Anhu, he says, Farabbuka a'lamu ayyuna qatalahu, I don't know which one of us actually was the one who is responsible for the death of Musaylim al-Kadhab, if it was the spear that I threw at him or if it was the strike of Abu Dujana radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and at that point an arrow hit his chest and his eyes looked into the sky and he leaves this world radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, doing the only thing that he was known for which was being a hero in battle. Now SubhanAllah, I wanted to use this opportunity, usually we end with a companion at their death but I wanted to rewind a bit, when he dies radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he has a wife named Amina and he leaves behind one son, can anyone guess what his son's name would be, who's the Sahabi that's most famous for battle? He has one son named Khalid, it just shows you the way that time goes on, Khalid radiAllahu Anhu who actually was the one that caused the turn of events in Uhud but would become Muslim later on, Abu Dujana has one son and he names him after the great warrior Khalid radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. But there's something about his character as well, now there's a famous story about Abu Dujana that doesn't have a primary source to it, so I'm actually giving this disclaimer because there's a moral to be extracted from the story about character but I couldn't find it in any of the primary sources of Seerah. You'll find in some of the contemporary writings that after Salah, Abu Dujana used to leave the prayer right away and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam asked why he would receive right away, he wouldn't make his dhikr, he wouldn't do his du'a and it was because he told the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that he had a Jewish neighbor and the tree
of that Jewish neighbor extended into his backyard and basically sometimes the grapes or the dates would fall from that tree and out of amana, out of a sense of trust he wanted to go collect it and give it to his neighbor because he didn't feel like it was his right. So it's sort of a noble story of Abu Dujana that is mentioned in some of the books but it doesn't have a sanad, a chain in particular but subhanAllah the most amazing and astonishing thing and this could be the whole dars about this man radiallahu ta'ala anhu is actually a narration about a time he thought he was going to die. Obviously when people used to get sick back then you always hear that they have a fever and then they passed away right because there are very few times where you have a diagnosis of what exactly is causing a person to be ill. Here is a man radiallahu anhu, a hero of Islam who is known for battle and he seems to be dying in this situation and people are visiting him to pay their final respects to him as he lays in his bed radiallahu ta'ala anhu with this hot fever and Zayd ibn Aslam radiallahu anhu says that we entered upon Abu Dujana while he was sick, he said his face was glowing like the man's face was glowing as if it was a moon. So we said to him ma li wajhika yatahallal like what is it about your face that is glowing like what are you seeing right now, what are you thinking about, what's giving you the most hope right now. Now subhanAllah if you are Abu Dujana or if you are the person asking this question someone says to you why do you think you are going to go to Jannah, why do you have hope in Allah right now, what's your mind going to go to, what do you think. The dua of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and broader than that Uhud, he will say you know I always was out there fighting and I was always out there leading the way and I never back down from a challenge and I always defended the weak and I always did
this and I stood up for the truth. You start to mention all of these things right, if you are Abu Dujana radiallahu anhu don't you think that's what gives him hope. And Abu Dujana radiallahu anhu responds, this man, the man of the red bandana who wear his red bandana before every battle, he said there are two things that give me hope in this moment when I meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He said number one, I never used to talk about things that don't concern me, I minded my own business, subhanallah, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, one of the signs of a person's Islam being good is that they mind their own business, he said I never used to get involved in people's business, I didn't talk about things that don't concern me. So you know usually a person who's really out there right, who's got this sort of portfolio of boasting in war and taunting and he's got his clothes, he's got his moves, but he said I never used to talk about things that don't concern me and he said the second thing, he said my heart to all of my brothers and sisters was always pure, I never held anything in my heart against any of my brothers and sisters, subhanallah, all that he did and the thing that gives him hope is that his heart was clean and his tongue was clean, he's not talking about his sword, he's not talking about his hand, he's not talking about his heroics, he's talking about the mujahadah which is far harder than all of that, mujahadah to nafs was shaitan, to strive against yourself and to strive against the shaitan and don't involve yourself in things that are going to cause you regret on the day of judgment. He said that's what I'm hopeful to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with. Now if that's what he thought would get him into Jannah, despite everything that he did radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, what about ourselves?
And so it gives you some perspective into the balance that the Prophet ﷺ was creating in these men, even the people that used to fight back then, they used to fight for lowly things and so they had lowly behavior. But look at the nobility of this man radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, look at the character that the Prophet ﷺ instilled in him and when you start thinking about yourself, well I'm never going to have an Abu Dujanah like, you know, portfolio or profile, look at what Abu Dujanah would have put at the top of his profile, that I never used to talk about people and I used to keep my heart clean in regards to them. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward these heroes of Islam, Abu Dujanah radiyaAllahu anhu and all of those Ansar and Muhajireen that surrounded our Prophet ﷺ in his most vulnerable moment of Uhud, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to inculcate their zeal, their love, their character, their strength, their courage in every way possible and manifest that in our hearts so that it becomes a reality of our lives as we read about their lives. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our shortcomings, Allahumma ameen. InshaAllah ta'ala next week we'll continue and we'll talk about Khubayb ibn Adi radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. InshaAllah ta'ala I will see you all then. Wasalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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