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
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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
Al Bara' Ibn Malik (ra): The Underestimated Hero | The Firsts
A man who people looked down upon, but that led the way with his courage in some of the most pivotal battles of Islam.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Dear brothers and sisters, this is the last person we will be speaking about from the blessed family of Anas ibn Malik radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. And he is indeed an incredible human being and someone who inshallah ta'ala we can learn some very unique lessons from. And before I speak about Al-Bara' the brother of Anas today radiyaAllahu anhuma, I wanted to actually mention subhanAllah that sometimes when we talk about superheroes, we speak about the past and we don't think they exist amongst us today. And I actually had the blessing of interviewing, speaking with Afreen Fatima, who many of you have followed in India, whose home was demolished in India. As our brothers and sisters in India are facing a genocide at the moment. They are on genocide alert, over 200 million Muslims on genocide alert. May Allah subhanAllah ta'ala protect them. Allahumma ameen. And Afreen, alhamdulillah rabbil alamin, I recorded something inshallah ta'ala we will be putting out tomorrow biddeninahi ta'ala, tomorrow morning inshallah. So please do tune in to that and watch with your families inshallah ta'ala. So that you can become more educated about the plight of our brothers and sisters in India inshallah ta'ala. And its connection to what is happening to the rest of the ummah and how it pertains to us in particular. So inshallah ta'ala that will be tomorrow. This will be the last lecture of the first that we do before the hijjah inshallah ta'ala. And then we will break for about a month inshallah ta'ala and start back in August biddeninahi ta'ala. We are on episode 80 alhamdulillah. Some of you have been here from the start alhamdulillah rabbil alamin. So we are on episode 80 now. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to continue to live with these blessed people in our memory and in our hearts. And also to follow in their footsteps. Allahuma ameen. So today we are talking about Al-Baraa ibn Malik ibn al-Nadr. RadhiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. The brother of Anas ibn Malik radhiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Al-Baraa.
Now how many of you have heard the name of Al-Baraa before in the seerah of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. How many of you have heard this name Al-Baraa? Not many of you it seems. But when you hear the name of Al-Baraa it is actually very important. It is not talking about this Baraa. Al-Baraa when it is spoken in hadith literature or in the seerah of the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. It is referring usually to Al-Baraa ibn Aazib radhiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Al-Baraa ibn Aazib who is a much more famous Baraa. Or Al-Baraa ibn Ma'rur. Al-Baraa ibn Aazib or Al-Baraa ibn Ma'rur. This brother of Anas ibn Malik actually has no hadiths narrated to him. Okay. So he is actually not very famous at all. There is not much narrated about Al-Baraa ibn Malik radhiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. However what is narrated about him is so unique. And gives us some pretty unique lessons bi'idhnAllahi ta'ala that we can take. So this is a different Baraa than the one that you will hear in the books of hadith. Including sometime Al-Baraa ibn Aazib narrating from Anas ibn Malik. Okay. May Allah be pleased with them all. Now as we said about Al-Baraa ibn Malik there is a difference of opinion about whether he is Anas' brother. Through just his father or also through his mother. And the more correct opinion is that Umm Sulaym is his mother as well. And so you will see some of the Umm Sulaym come out of him as well. So he is according to the correct opinion. Multiple narrations from Ibn Hajar rahimAllahu ta'ala narrates this as well. And others that he is Anas' full brother. He is the full brother of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. He is his older brother. Therefore his mother is also Umm Sulaym radiAllahu ta'ala anha. Who we learned so much about and inshaAllah ta'ala what you will see today of that spirit of sacrifice. Also is just a unique manifestation of the children of Umm Sulaym radiAllahu ta'ala anha. However this man has such a unique story.
So for one we know virtually nothing about him prior to Islam. Almost nothing. We know nothing about his conversion to Islam. So you got the story of Umm Sulaym bringing Anas. We know nothing about his story of actually converting to Islam. The first time he actually shows up is in the battle of Uhud. That's the first time we actually start to see a mention of him in all of the battles. So he was not present in Badr presumably because he was too young. But then he is present in every battle and becomes famous for his presence in battle. Okay so we know nothing about him before Islam. We know nothing about the actual conversion to Islam of al-Bara'a ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. We know nothing about his participation or lack of participation in Badr. But then you have these stories of him in battle. And he is one of those companions very interestingly enough who literally his entire seerah is in battle. Alright like family life not there. Any personal stories with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam really not there. It is battle after battle after battle but in a very unique way. When we talked about Ubadah ibn Samit radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. This whole family was just sacrificed right. Always by the side of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and always willing to put themselves first. The description of Ubadah ibn Samit radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was what? Tall, dark, handsome, strong, imposing, features. When he walked into a room everybody was quiet when Ubadah ibn Samit walked into a room. Right he had haybah. Haybah means a sense of awe. When Ubadah ibn Samit walked into a room everyone knew this was a special man. And they sat down and they listened to him and he could broker treaties, he could lead armies. I mean Ubadah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu has an imposing presence before Islam and even more imposing after Islam right.
Listen to the description of Al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Al-Bara'a was extremely short, extremely thin. They said that there was nothing pinchable on the body of Al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. No bone, no nothing on his bones. No flesh on his bones. His appearance was unkempt. He was dusty. He owned two garments. He spoke very little. His hair was all over the place. When people looked at him they degraded him. They belittled him. He was very pale and he wasn't very handsome. That's the description of his physical appearance. You're like why are you talking about this? Because there's a particular hadith that actually pertains to him. You may have heard in the Angel series, we talked about it in the Judgment Day series as well, where the Prophet ﷺ out of all of the companions only mentioned his name as an example of this person. The Prophet ﷺ said, كم من أشعث أغبر? How many people are there that are unkempt, that are covered in dust, that are turned away from people's door. تمرين لا يؤبه له. لو أقسم على الله لأبره. He only owns two garments and no one pays any attention to this person. Meaning people would belittle and degrade this person. They would think he's a nobody in society. He looks like a peasant. He doesn't have anything physically that gives him a sense of dominance in society. But that person is so special. لو أقسم على الله لأبره. لو أقسم على الله لأبره means it's not just the person who's Mujabid Dawah, who has answered duas. It means that that person has reached a position with Allah ﷻ. That when they take an oath upon Allah, they know that Allah will fulfill their oath.
They're so close to Allah. They have exceeded in the ranks so much that when they say, Ya Allah, I ask of you this, Allah ﷻ does because of where they are in terms of their rank. The Prophet ﷺ said, منهم البراء بن مالك. He pointed to al-Bara' ibn Malik رضي الله عنه and said, in my ummah, that's al-Bara' ibn Malik. In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned these people. This is something the Prophet ﷺ consistently does. He's asking the companions when they see someone pass by, the Prophet ﷺ says, what do you say about this person? They said, Ya Rasulullah, this person is honorable. If he speaks, we all listen. If he intercedes, his shafa'ah, his intercession is accepted. The guy could propose to anyone for marriage. He would be married. And then another person passed by and the Prophet ﷺ said, what do you say about this person? He said, Ya Rasulullah, this person is little, nothing. If he speaks, no one listens to him. If he intercedes, no one cares for his intercession. And if he proposes for marriage, he's not going to be able to get married. And the Prophet ﷺ said, that person is better than an earth full of that person. That person that you look at and you degrade and you think is a nobody, is better in the sight of Allah ﷻ than the earth full of that person that you just showered with praises. Meaning even Ubadah ibn Samit, r.a, what made him beautiful was his Islam, his character, his faith. And that's where all of that came in. All the other stuff would have been nothing. I mean, Abu Jahl also was a big, strong, handsome man. But his rejection of faith and the ugliness of his character made him ugly in the sight of Allah ﷻ and debased and degraded to the Muslims and for history.
So the only person that the Prophet ﷺ names as an example of this type of person is Al-Bara' ibn Malik r.a. He's not eloquent. He's not someone who's going to be in the prestigious gatherings. He's someone who would be belittled before Islam. He's not someone that particularly has an attractive appearance. He's not someone that looks very strong. But SubhanAllah, lau aqsama ala Allah laa barra. He is answered in his dua. The man says Allahumma and Allah answers him. And SubhanAllah, for that reason, you don't find any. You have over a thousand of his brother, Anas ibn Malik r.a, saying that the Prophet ﷺ said this and that. You don't find a single one from Al-Bara' r.a. Not one. Despite Umm Sulaym r.a. and despite Anas ibn Malik r.a. not one of Al-Bara' r.a. saying, I heard from the Prophet ﷺ this, I heard from the Prophet ﷺ that. The only two words the man knew was Allah and Jannah. They said that, this is a description of him in one of the books, is that laa ya'rifu illa Allah wal Jannah. Allah and Jannah. I love Allah and I want Jannah. Which shows you, SubhanAllah, that when you're reading in the history of these people, you don't always have to be, you don't always have to be this perfect mold of a hero. Heroes come in different shapes and colors and sizes, and in different levels and classes and status. And this man that we're about to celebrate is indeed that person, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. However, there is something about Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu as well, is that his appearance was not just deceiving in that you might think he's not special, but he's actually incredibly special in his relationship with Allah. The man was incredible in battle. I was going to say he was a beast, I don't want that to be misinterpreted.
Who knows who watches this lecture later on and they don't understand this language. But when he was in battle, he was something else. Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and the fact that his enemy would underestimate him, like you see Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu coming, and Umar bin Khattab radiyaAllahu anhu coming, the description of Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu is that if you took two hands and you put them around his bicep, your fingers would not connect. That was the strength of Sayyidina Ali radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. So you're talking about al-Zubayr, and you're talking about these companions, they saw Al-Bara' in the battlefield like, oh, piece of cake. He was not a piece of cake in the battlefield. The man was so courageous that he single-handedly will win battle after battle after battle after battle. And part of the reason why is that the enemy always underestimates him. So the Prophet ﷺ tells the Muslims, don't underestimate Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. As for the enemies, they're going to be in trouble every time Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu anhu shows up on the battlefield, because they're going to think something of him, and then he's going to just wreak havoc on the battlefield. That is his reputation, as we will see, in a very unique way. Now, just from a technical perspective, some of the few narrations that we have of him, as we said, Uhud onwards, Al-Bara' is in every single battle. He's also one of those who attended Bay'atu'l-Ridwan, the pledge under the tree, which are the people that Allah mentioned that he is pleased with, the companions that Allah mentioned that he is pleased with, the people who attended Bay'atu'l-Ridwan. He is one of the people that did not flee from the Battle of Hunayn. There were very few people that did not flee from Hunayn. Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu anhu was one of those handful of people that stayed with the Prophet ﷺ in the Battle of Hunayn and did not flee. He also, he was the person that would sing to the camels on a journey. Now, this is very interesting, because some of you are like, what are you talking about?
I don't want you to sing to your cars, but when you go on these battles, these expeditions, you've got to also tend to the camels, and the camels had a particular tune. So you had to know the tune of the camels. Camels are very smart and intelligent animals, by the way. I remember when I first moved overseas, they were like, don't mess with the camel, because they'll find you ten years later, find out where you live, and they'll do something to your house. I was like, alright, I get it. The Bedouins understood. So he was the person who, when he would go out with the Prophet ﷺ, he would be in charge of singing to the camels. And Anas says, that Al-Bara' ibn Malik, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, كان يحدو بالرجال وكان أنجش يحدو بالنساء. There's another name that's very famous, Anjasha, radiyaAllahu anhu. So Anas says that when we go out on a journey, Al-Bara' would tend to, يحدو, meaning he would sing to the camels that were carrying the men, and Anjasha, radiyaAllahu anhu, would sing to the camels that were carrying the women. And they both had beautiful voices. So Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu anhu had a beautiful voice, Anjasha had a beautiful voice, and that's the famous hadith the Prophet ﷺ said, يَا أَنجَشَ رُوَيِّدَكَ سَوْقَكَ بِالْقَوَارِيرِ Anjasha, take it easy with the camels that are carrying these precious vessels, qawarir. He's talking about the women. Why? Because if the camels sped up, Anjasha had such a voice that if he made the camels go too fast, he'd make the women fall off of the camels. Okay, that's the sharh of this hadith that seems to make the most sense. There's a long discourse here that I don't care to get into right now, but it just shows you, at least you can imagine this person, he's in charge of keeping the camels motivated, because you've got to keep your animals motivated. It's like giving premium gas or unleaded gas to the car, you've got to have that guy. The Prophet ﷺ used to take him for that purpose,
and there are other narrations from Anas radiyaAllahu anhu that suggest that he would sometimes be the only person that was in charge of all of the camels in a battle. Now, what is his most famous feat? So everything as I said about him is in battle. There's literally no story about al-Bara'a radiyaAllahu anhu in the short biography that doesn't exist in a battle, but there are lessons for all of us bi'lnillah wa ta'ala. The first one again, do not belittle the person that's in front of you. You don't know what that status is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So just because we sometimes assign rank based upon material or visible or manifest things, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has assigned value for different things. So do not, do not look away from people, do not look past people. You don't know which person is special in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But then it's the courage here. So the most famous battle of al-Bara'a radiyaAllahu anhu is the battle of al-Yamama. Now I want to give you some context of the battle of al-Yamama. If you go back to the story of Wahshi, we spoke about the battle of Yamama and others. The brother of Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, Zayd ibn al-Khattab radiyaAllahu anhu, died in this battle. Multiple companions died in the battle of al-Yamama. It was a very difficult battle. The battle of al-Yamama was against a man by the name of Musaylima al-Kadhab. Musaylima, the liar, Musaylima, the false prophet. Now what a lot of people don't understand about Musaylima is that Musaylima did not just claim to be a prophet. He would murder people viciously, ruthlessly, I mean crucify people that did not accept his prophethood after the Prophet ﷺ. And he rose in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. He started to rear his head in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. He wrote a letter to the Prophet ﷺ from Musaylima Rasulullah to Muhammad Rasulullah. Even addressing the Prophet ﷺ that way.
And of course the Prophet ﷺ called him al-Kadhab, the liar. And Musaylima was a brutal opponent, a brutal false prophet. And he came from Banu Hanifa which was one of the most difficult tribes with the Prophet ﷺ. And so Banu Hanifa out of their tribalism, they said Kadhab Banu Hanifa, that the liar of Banu Hanifa is better than the sadiq, than the truthful one of Quraysh. Like we know he doesn't make sense. We know Musaylima even had his own Quran. And what was his Quran all about? Food. All of his Quran was about food, right? He just, surah after surah after surah about food. He used to eat a lot, alright? And people would laugh at him and mock him, but you know what? He's our guy because he's from our tribe, he's from our people. And Musaylima would slaughter people, I mean slaughter people, entire caravans, for not acknowledging him as a prophet after the Prophet ﷺ. Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was the first one to officially go into battle with him. And this most famous battle was the battle of Al Yamama. And Musaylima had people, he had arms, he had warriors, okay? And he had an entire cut out of land where he could attract and lure his enemy and then just viciously kill them. And subhanAllah, the battle of Al Yamama, to give you some context to it as well, this is the battle where so many Hufadh of Quran were killed that actually led Umar ibn Khattab radiAllahu anhu to suggest to Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu, let's go ahead and produce multiple Mus'hafs of the Quran because so many Hufadh are being killed. We don't want, I mean, it was inconceivable that all of the Hufadh would be killed, but you know what? We need to have copies of the Quran written as well. You know, we need to initiate this quicker so that it does not become vulnerable to what's happening right now.
Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu dispatches first and foremost Ikrama ibn Abi Jahl. Ikrama radiAllahu anhu ibn Abi Jahl to fight against Musaylima. Ikrama goes in the first thrust and he actually fails. Okay, so multiple casualties on the Muslim side. And it was very, very concerning. Then Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu sends Khalid ibn al-Waleed radiAllahu anhu. And Khalid radiAllahu anhu has al-Bara' ibn Malik radiAllahu anhu with him. Now, one of the things that we need to do is to have a system of the ways that Musaylima was winning this battle was that he had this fortress and it was nicknamed Hadiqatul Maut, the Garden of Death. Why? Because if even if you got in you were going to die. So they had a really strong fortress. They would shoot arrows from that fortress and throw all sorts of weapons, you know, catapult from that fortress. But no one could get into that fortress. So al-Bara' ibn Malik, this is his most famous stand. He says to Khalid ibn al-Waleed, he says, look, I'm really small. He says, strap me to a shield and catapult me into the fortress and I will open it from inside and then you can attack. You think about that? Like, wait, what? Catapult me in to the fortress and I'll make my way to the door, to the gate of the fortress. I'll kill the guards. I'll get the fortress open and I'll let all of you in. Now, of course, like to a lot of people, like this is bravery, but it's also reckless. We can't do that, right? Like, I mean, what do you mean? You're going to die. Al-Bara' is like, I don't care. He says, ya ma'sara al-Muslimin, al-quni alayhim. All Muslims, throw me at them. Go ahead and throw me at them.
So eventually, they agree to the plan. They tie al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, they strap him to a shield and they catapult him into hadiqatul-mawt, the garden of death. And guess what? It works. Al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, lands on top of them and he's able to kill enough people and kill the guards of the fortress and bust open the gate and the Muslims could storm it. So it worked and he didn't die. SubhanAllah. So, I mean, it was a very interesting situation that happened with him. So he, I mean, they have the sense of confidence and of course there's an element of surprise here. Like, you don't expect a guy to fall on top of you, right? Like, you're expecting arrows, some rocks, not a human being. But look at this man. Look at the courage. Look at the bravery of this man, right? And so, there were 20,000 people in this fortress, by the way, okay, in total. And al-Bara' radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, flies in and subhanAllah, it's his shock and what he's able to do. And because of his size and because they said he was extremely agile, right? He's very small and so he was quick. He was able to cause all sorts of problems for them and the Muslims stormed. He didn't stop there. Al-Bara' asked Khalid, who is their most severe warrior? Who's the person on their side that's the scary person? Who's their boogeyman? And his nickname, they actually, Musaylimah had a man by the name of, his nickname was Himar al-Yamama, the donkey of Yamama. Huge guy, you know, used to duel with people. I know this sounds like a movie, but it's actually history, subhanAllah.
Himar al-Yamama, he said Himar al-Yamama. There's this man that, Musaylimah's right-hand man, basically his personal bodyguard. Musaylimah's personal bodyguard was this gigantic man that they called Himar al-Yamama. His name is actually not mentioned, just the donkey of Yamama. So Al-Bara' said, after I let you all in, I'm going to go to him. I'm going to find him. And subhanAllah, he shows up. Musaylimah is behind Himar al-Yamama because Musaylimah was a coward, right? Our Prophet, Sallallahu alayhi wasalam, used to be in the front. Musaylimah's all the way in the back, hiding behind his man, his guy. Al-Bara' walks up to him. The guy thinks it's a joke. You? And Al-Bara', I mean, by the way, I'm just going to be real here. This history is kind of bloody. He literally chops him down and kills him. Okay? Single-handedly, chops the man down and kills him. Musaylimah's taken by surprise. That gave the opening to Wahshi, to throw the spear, at Musaylimah al-Kadhab. And as we said, Wahshi, who killed Hamza, radiAllahu anhu, and then repented, became Muslim. He said, I killed the best of people with the spear, and the same spear that he killed the uncle of the Prophet, Sallallahu alayhi wasalam, with. He said, qataltu khair al-nas. I killed the best of people. And he said, qataltu sharr al-nas. I killed the worst of people. This is my tawbah to Allah. I took out Hamza. I'm going to take out Musaylimah al-Kadhab. So it was al-Baraa chopping down Himar al-Yamama, the personal bodyguard of Musaylimah, that opens the way for this to happen, according to multiple documents of this. But it's not like he wasn't hurt. Al-Baraa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, I mean, he's the hero of this battle in multiple ways. People spoke about him, and they sang his praises from this battle.
Al-Baraa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, they said that he was wounded with over 80 wounds in the battle of al-Yamama, but he did not die. Over 80 wounds he suffered, but he did not die. They said half of them were arrows, and half of them were swords. I mean, but the guy was cut up everywhere. SubhanAllah, somehow he survived it. And look at the honor of him. Khalid ibn al-Walid radiAllahu ta'ala anhu stayed with him for an entire month to nurse him and to take care of him, because Khalid radiAllahu anhu attributed the victory of al-Yamama to him. So you talk about a pretty significant stance from al-Baraa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and we're just getting started by the way. But that's his most significant stance. I mean, just this idea of the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created different people for different things. That's what he did radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and Khalid radiAllahu anhu loved him so much and honored him so much he spent a whole month with him, nursing his wounds, taking care of him, and attributing, thanking him for what he did in the battle of al-Yamama. Now, Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu anhu becomes khalifa. Alright? Now you're going to hear something really, really interesting. Shouldn't this guy be a commander? Shouldn't this guy be an army general? I mean, he's this heroic, he's this brave. Shouldn't he be in charge of a big army like Ubadah radiAllahu ta'ala anhu? What do you think? Umar is a wise man, right? Umar ibn al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, when he becomes khalifa, he sends a letter to all of his governors. And, laa tasta'amil al-baraa ala jayshin min juyush al-muslimin. Do not use al-baraa as a commander of any army from the armies of the Muslims. Why do you think that is? I actually want to hear some, yeah.
He's a bit over the top. Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says, fa-innahu mahlaka. I mean, that's what he writes. He says he will get people killed. He's courageous, he's brave, but he can't lead an army. Because if he leads an army, then he might project his own courage and his own bravery on everyone else behind him. And the general has to kind of be a strategist, right? He's got to play things a little bit slow at times. Al-baraa had one speed, you know. He just went. And so Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, again, so interesting, subhanAllah. Umar radiAllahu anhu says, no one use him as a commander of any army because you'll be leading them to destruction. Keep using him, and he praised him, he says, keep using him as a soldier. He's the best soldier that you can possibly have, but be careful with him. Because if he's leading a battalion, if he's leading an army, he's going to get people in trouble. He's going to get people killed. Which shows you, subhanAllah, by the way, the wisdom of Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Umar is, radiAllahu anhu, you could write books of leadership from Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, right? And people have, you know, just his foresight, his vision, his wisdom, his balance, his understanding of circumstances, the way he's able to steer the Muslims through famine and plague and through the Romans and the Persians, all types of things. Umar radiAllahu anhu, how he handles policy on the inside and on the outside, right? His domestic and his foreign policy. You could all learn it, you could learn it from Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu anhu, which shows you that just because someone is an amazing Muslim, doesn't mean that they're fit for every position. That's also from the genius of Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, is that you don't put people in positions that aren't suited for them just because they're good people or because they're righteous people. That's not how the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam dealt with things and that's not how the companions dealt with things.
So this was not a knock on al-Bara'a's personality, it wasn't a knock on his status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that's not where he's best suited. He's not going to do you best as the commander of an army. Another lesson that we learn from Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in this regard with al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Now al-Bara'a was such a great warrior though, that he posed a few issues because sometimes he disproportionately accounted for casualties on the other side. And so when they distributed the spoils of war, sometimes there were too many spoils for al-Bara'a. Because al-Bara'a disproportionately would take out from the enemy. I mean he was just that good of a fighter, of a warrior in the field. And subhanAllah one of the battles of al-Bahrain, al-Bara'a was actually the one who, you know, the Persian commander, because Bahrain was under the Persians at the time. The Persian commander, his name was Marzban. Marzban had like this whole posse around him of like the best warriors of Persia. Al-Bara'a single-handedly just went through all of them, including Marzban. And Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu had to actually make a decision about all the spoils of war with him, right, about the even distribution, sort of evening them out. And he didn't care. Like al-Bara'a radiAllahu anhu wasn't doing this for worldly things. This was how Allah subhanAllah ta'ala created him, and this was the way that he continued forward. So he single-handedly took out the Persian commander by the name of Marzban. Also the battle of Qadisiyah. If you read about the most difficult battle of the Muslims against the empires of the day, the battle of al-Qadisiyah was the most difficult battle that they had.
The battle of al-Qadisiyah was extremely difficult. Qadisiyah was where multiple companions died in the hundreds, where you had the Persians bring out sort of their full force against the Muslims in this battle. And subhanAllah, one of the things that used to always happen with al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu is that throughout the battle, people would come to al-Bara'a and say, Ya Bara'a, aqsim ala rabbik, take an oath upon your Lord, make dua' for victory, because we know that your dua' is answered. So the companions would be reminding al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, while he's going around slicing in the field, and you know, this little physical person subhanAllah, with just this massive impact in the field, they remind him to make dua' to Allah subhanAllah ta'ala. And al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu would make dua' loudly, and they used to take comfort in hearing the dua' of al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and so he was also instrumental in the battle of al-Qadisiyah, and there are multiple battles in this regard. Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he has a narration about his brother, and so we have these narrations from Anas interacting with his brother al-Bara'a. Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, one time, I answered upon my brother, dakhaltu al-Bara'a ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, wahuwa mustalqin ala firashihi, wahuwa yunshidu abyatan minash-shi'r, ka'anahu yataghanna bihinna. He said, I answered upon him, and it looked like he was dying. I thought my brother was going to die, and he was singing these lines of poetry, and these were the war songs. This is what the man does. So he was singing battle songs. Now when someone is dying, right, you want to tell them what? Say la ilaha illallah, read the Quran, you know.
So Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu thinks he's going to die, and here he is, singing the songs of battle, and recounting some of the moments in the battlefield, which is what he knows. So Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, rahimakallah, qad abdalaka allahu bihi, ma huwa khayrun minhu, al-Quran. He said, may Allah have mercy on you, my brother. Allah has given you something better to read in these moments, why don't you read Quran right now? You know, gentle nudge, if these are your last moments, which it appears to be, then read the Quran. And Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, he looked at me, full confidence, he says, atarhabu an amuta ala firashi, you think I'm going to die on my bed? You think I'm going to die here? He said, la wallah, he said, no, by Allah, Allah will not deprive me of death in the battlefield. He said that I have been able to overcome over a hundred by my own hand, and that is not including those that I overcame with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam by my side. Allah is not going to deprive me of that death. And SubhanAllah, Anas radiAllahu anhu says, sometime after that, he healed and he got back. Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu got back. And this is where, SubhanAllah, when you talk about the heroic nature of this young man and a contribution, and I don't want you, I mean, some of you are probably like, what are we getting out of all the battle after battle after battle? Next time we'll talk about Abu Ayyub al-Ansari radiAllahu anhu. We'll talk about some of the nice stories, personal interactions inshAllah ta'ala again. But we got to honor our heroes and their legacies. Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, in a famous battle was called the Ma'raka of Tostar. Tostar was also a difficult battle against the Persians in the time of Umar al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And the Muslims were about to lose that battle.
And so they yelled out to Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. And they said, Ya Barat, lau aqsamta ala rabbik la abarrak, O Barat, if you take an oath upon your Lord, He will answer. Fa aqsim ala rabbik, so take an oath upon your Lord. So Al-Barat radiAllahu anhu raises his hands. And he says, aqsamtu alayka ya rab, lama manahtana aktaafahum, O Allah, I call upon you, I'm asking you for victory. Give us their backs. I'm asking you for victory, O Allah. And so the Muslims advanced. And then they started to get beaten back again. And they said to Al-Barat, aqsam ala rabbik ya Barat, take an oath upon your Lord. So he did it again, the exact same thing. And then a third time, Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu did it. And Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, Allahumma aqsam alayka ya rab, lama manahtana aktaafahum, wa alhaqtani binabiyyik. O Allah, I ask you for victory, and let me be with your Prophet. Let me follow your Prophet. Like I'm ready to go now. This point now, Al-Barat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he had a moment in his dua, where he missed the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and he, you know, at this point he's asking for shahada. Let me follow now into the ranks of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Let me be with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Now subhanAllah, this gets a little bit vivid, but it's very important. Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, I was with my brother, and the Persians had this strategy. I mean, it's really vivid, by the way, from Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. It's actually shockingly vivid, but he says, don't worry, I'm going to keep it PG inshAllah in this regard. But he said they had hot hooks, they had burning hooks, that they were throwing over the gates, and they were catching people with these burning hooks, right?
They were trying to catch people, and they'd pull them over. So it's burning iron, right? And they're throwing them over, and they're catching people, catching people, catching people. So they're tossing them, and that was one of the strategies that they used. And Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu said, I got caught by one of the hooks. SubhanAllah. He said, I got caught by one of the hooks, and he said, and they would just pull you back to them. And that was it. You'd either die from the heat or the catch of the hook, or they'd kill you when you were caught over. And he said, my brother Al-Bara radiAllahu ta'ala anhu jumped on me, and he removed me from the burning iron with his own two hands. SubhanAllah. Like, look at that courage. Look at that selflessness. Look at this love. He removed me, he unhooked me with his own two hands until there was nothing left on his hands. SubhanAllah. Like, it burned his hands, just saving my life. So he saved the life of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and he said, and shortly after that, he was killed. So the last memory of Anas of his brother was him saving his life. He unhooked me from that hook, and he was martyred in that battle, and the Muslims were granted victory. So subhanAllah, they actually went on to win that battle, which was his dua. His dua was that they win the battle of Tustar, and that he gets to join the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. His last action on this earth was saving the life of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. If that's not beautiful and profound, I don't know what is. SubhanAllah. And Anas radiAllahu anhu, his last image of him was that. And this was just 20 years after hijrah. And I want you to just think, subhanAllah, about this. Again, you don't have hadiths from al-Bara'a radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. You don't have a thousand hadiths from al-Bara'a. But what if Anas radiAllahu anhu died that day?
That whole legacy of hadith that we have on Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, over a thousand hadiths, Allah decrees, that moment, it's a snap decision, right? Split decision. And he has to go in that moment, make that snap decision, to go and to save Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and put himself at risk. The entire decades worth, this is 20 years after hijrah, okay? So Anas radiAllahu ta'ala anhu would have been 30 years old in this moment. Anas radiAllahu anhu lived another 70 plus years after this moment. The entire legacy of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was at risk at that moment, and that entire contribution that reaches us. And so that's why when you're talking about underestimated and unsung heroes, the fighting against Musaylimah and being instrumental in that battle was a significant contribution to the preservation of the Quran. And the saving of the life of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu was a significant contribution to the seerah and the sunnah that reached us of our beloved Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So when you talk about owing someone, alhamdulillah for al-Baraa ibn Malik. Alhamdulillah for that moment where Allah azawajal inspired him to save the life of Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, to where he got to go join his Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam as the shaheed that he wanted to be. And he left behind us Anas radiAllahu anhu who would tell us everything we wanted to know about the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam for seven decades after. Alhamdulillah. For that contribution. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward al-Baraa radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and be pleased with him. May Allah azawajal be pleased with him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala join us with the companions, with the family and our beloved Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. In al-Firdaws al-A'la. Allahuma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. InshaAllah ta'ala. I will go ahead and take questions inshaAllah.
Yes. Al-Baraa himself. So who were the strong warriors that surrounded al-Baraa? He himself was the strong warrior. So he didn't need anybody around. He was really strong himself. Yes. If you can raise your voice inshaAllah I can hear you. Excellent. What made his dua accepted? You know, like what made him so close? We don't know. Clearly, I mean, these acts of courage, there's something special being generated inside of him. Right? But that's actually the point that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is making. Is that so many of the Awliya, so many of those people that are close to Allah, they're protective of their relationship with Allah. They're so protective of their relationship with Allah, like you wouldn't assume anything of them. And especially if they have an unassuming presence in society, they're very quiet. He's very quiet. Right? I mean, not a single hadith where al-Baraa spoke up in a gathering. Al-Baraa, Allah, Jannah, call me when it's battle. That was his life. It's incredible. SubhanAllah. Like I'm not interested in anything else. Just call me when it's time for battle and I'll be that guy. But the fact that he's so unassuming, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is saying, you don't know the relationship that man has with Allah. And with the Awliya, many of them are silent because of how much they talk to Allah. They're enjoying their conversation with God. And the more that you enjoy your conversation with Allah,
the more that you tend to find conversation with people not being very satisfying. And so that's a personality type. And I think this is the beauty of the Sahaba of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is, men and women, they're so different. Right? And their path to Jannah, their path to greatness is so different. Like if you study, we've done 80 lectures so far. Every biography fits a different personality type. You know, men and women, you know, there's Umm Sulaym and there's Khadija. Right? May Allah be pleased with them. There's Anas and there's Al-Bara'a. These are two brothers that are, I mean, from the same mother and father. And subhanAllah, very, very different people. Like Anas radiAllahu anhu and Al-Bara'a radiAllahu anhu have like entirely different trajectories. There's nothing really narrated about Anas radiAllahu anhu on the battlefield. That wasn't his thing. He was Khadim Rasool Allah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. He was in the service of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in life and in death. SubhanAllah. But that was Anas' path to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So may Allah be pleased with all the companions. Yes. There are a lot of... There are a lot of... Can you repeat the question? I'm sorry. One of the... There we go. This helps. Alhamdulillah. You got the mic now. Thank you. Could it be considered one of the dala'a nubuwwah that Allah combined these people, these very special households, to be the companions of the Messenger of Allah? Yes. Because we haven't seen anything like that after his time. Yes. I believe it was Al-Bayhaqi who said that if the only miracle and proof of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was his companions, the fact that without power, the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was able to gather this group of people, this class of people and put them all in this position,
lakafa, that's in and of itself a sufficient proof. Like the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam having this generation of people and inspiring them all to their best version of themselves, and then creating that community without any of the instruments of power, is in and of itself a proof of his prophethood salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Everyone had a role to play in the community of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. I mean it's genius, it's prophetic, it's divine, subhanAllah. Every single person. To the Arabs, Al-Bara' would have had no use. Right? Oh, he's the skinny, wiry, he has nothing. He's not prominent, he's not prestigious, he's not eloquent, he's not strong. They would have tossed him aside. But subhanAllah, I mean, two of the most honored people, Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu anhu Al-Bara' radiAllahu anhu, Bilal radiAllahu anhu, Khabab radiAllahu anhu, like everyone finds a place in the community of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and gets propelled towards this greatness that we're still talking about today. So it's definitely a proof of prophethood. Because the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam inspired that in them. How much did they love the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam that they're thinking about him in these moments? He didn't say, Oh Allah, shahada in that moment. He intended it, but, you know, al-haqtani bi nabiyyak, I want to be with my Prophet. And so, while you have all these loving hadiths of Anas radiAllahu anhu talking about Rasulullah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, dreaming of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam every night, Al-Bara' radiAllahu anhu had it deep in his heart. He just didn't talk about it. It was something that he had in his heart, and when that moment came, Ya Allah, I want to be with the Prophet. And Allah granted him that. Jazakumullahu khair. Alright, any brothers questions? Yeah. Can you raise your voice? Do we know anything about his childhood? Zero. When I talk about like, this was a hard lecture to prepare, this was a hard lecture to prepare. Because when you search al-Bara' in any database, you get al-Bara' ibn Mu'azib, al-Bara' ibn Ma'rur, he's not even in some of the books in this regard, right?
You have to scrap pieces, and I could not find anything about his childhood. To the point that we don't even know if Umm Salim is his mom. I mean, if that's not obscurity, subhanAllah, I mean, we don't even know if Umm Salim is his mother. If that's not obscurity, subhanAllah, I mean, we don't even know for a fact. Though it seems to be the case. That he's Anas' brother, both through mother and father. Jazakumullahu khair. I thought I saw a hand here. Yeah. Any of the what? His age. So, the age, it seems to be that he was definitely older than Anas, radiAllahu ta'ala anhum. So it seems to be he was older than Anas. And, Allahu anhum, it seems like he was probably a teenager when he accepted Islam, when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam came to Medina, which would have explained why he didn't fight in Badr. So he was slightly older than Anas, radiAllahu ta'ala anhum. The age at Shahada. 20 years after Hijras, I mean, he would have been in his early 30s. Right? His 30s, mid-30s, early 30s at that time. Yes, sir. How did Anas die? I mean, Anas' brother died. How did Anas die or how did Anas' brother die? Brother. You're talking about this brother? Yeah, Anas' brother. Anas' brother, he died in this battle, this last battle, after he saved Anas' life. Jazakumullahu khair. Yeah. SubhanAllah. Good question. So, when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, when Umm Suleiman radiAllahu anhu put Anas radiAllahu anhu forward and said make dua' for him and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam made dua' for the family, was he included in that? Maybe not in that specific dua' but like, how many times did the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam make dua' for that family? I mean, he'd literally go to their house just to pray for them. So, that whole family is blessed.
And subhanAllah, like, you can't disconnect like what was nourished and nurtured in these people. Like, when I told the story of Umm Suleiman radiAllahu anhu, I saw somebody like, whoa, wow, that level of selflessness is like unheard of. It's too much almost, right? It's a level of sacrifice that we're not accustomed to. It's like the ultimate manifestation of the Ansar. Look at her sons. Look at her sons. You know, subhanAllah, look at her kids and what they do, how they live. So, there's something to be said about the DNA and the dua' that gets transferred here in this family. And this is another fruit of Umm Suleiman radiAllahu anhu. That's how she taught her kids, right? That's another fruit of Umm Suleiman radiAllahu anhu with her child. And may Allah make him, you know, from her scale. Yes. Yes. Al-Bara'a ibn Malik was older than Anas ibn Malik. Great question, Abdullah. JazakAllah khair. Yes. He never lost a battle. By the way, like, it's battle after battle after battle. He never lost. And the Muslims knew when he was there, they weren't going to lose. It was sort of understood. His dua' was going to get them through. And then his antics would get them through, you know. But, subhanAllah, you know, it's one of the beautiful things about him. I'll take one more question, inshaAllah, from the sisters, maybe. Yeah. So, yeah, what lesson do we take? I'm telling you, subhanAllah, like there are people in our midst. This young sister Afrin, 22 years old, she's very, very young. And she's a very, very, very strong woman. She's a very, very, very, very, very, very strong woman. She's a very, very, very, very, very, very strong woman. She's a very, very, very, very, very, very, very strong woman. 22 years old.
22 years old, her father is in prison. She watched her house destroyed. Like I was talking to, I mean, I talked to her and I'm like, who is this? She's so settled, calm, composed. I mean, I'm like, there are people in our midst of courage. Don't fear, except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, don't fear the blame of the blamer or the tyranny of the tyrant or the oppression of the oppressor or the backbiting of the backbiter or the slander of the slanderer. That's where we take this. This is what certainty looks like. And this is what courage looks like. And so I think with every one of them, there is a lesson in courage, a lesson in bravery that we can take. And certainly as oppression is growing in the world, the importance of Muslims to challenge that tyranny, to challenge the zalameen and to not be afraid, bismillah ta'ala, from them. Because at the end of the day, our paradise is in our hearts. Al-Bara'a's paradise was in his heart. And I think that's the main lesson we take from that. Jazakum Allah khair. But I'll say this as well, ponder. One of the things when you hear, you read a biography, is you ponder, what are some lessons that I didn't mention that you can take? And I think it's important insha'Allah ta'ala, to dabur ala al-seerah, to actually reflect upon the seerah and upon the biographies of the companions. If there's any questions from the sisters, yeah, last one. Did he ever get married? It doesn't seem like he ever got married. He would have drove his wife, she probably would have been very, very nervous all the time, right? Allahu alam, but I could not find any documentation of a wife in this regard. But yeah, think about the blood pressure when he leaves the house. So, his legacy is different, subhanAllah. His legacy is very different, but we all owe him. Because we can say, anas, an anas, an rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wa sallam, from anas, from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. That's one of the things we owe him.
May Allah be pleased with the companions, may Allah send his peace and blessings upon the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and his family. May Allah azawajal join us with them, Allahumma ameen. Jazakum Allah khairan. InshaAllah ta'ala we will resume with Abu Ayyub al-Ansari radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, sometime in August inshaAllah. So stay tuned. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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