The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
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Life of the Prophet (seerah)
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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)
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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
Amr ibn Al Jamuh (ra): No Limping in Jannah | The Firsts
Dr. Omar Suleiman explores the life of Amr ibn Al Jamuh (ra) who was the chief of his tribe, and a devoted idol worshipper. But when he embraced Islam, he would stop at nothing to get to Jannah even though he had a disability.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. The next person is someone that we spoke about in the life of Mu'adh ibn Jabal, radiyaAllahu anhu. And he is Amr ibn al-Jamuh. Amr ibn al-Jamuh, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. Amr ibn al-Jamuh was the chief of Banu Salima. The chief of the tribe that Mu'adh ibn Jabal, radiyaAllahu anhu, belonged to. And I'll preface his story, because we mentioned him, with something, and it's just an observation. And Allah knows best if it's fully established that way. But there's something really interesting about the idol worshippers of Medina and the idol worshippers of Mecca. In Mecca, the idol worshippers were very much so driven by the commerce, the tijara of gods. What do I mean by that? In Mecca, your idols were not just your gods, that's how you made money. People came in, you decorated your idols, you attracted people to your idols, you attracted the tribes, the outsiders to your idols. Your idols were a means of establishing a certain type of status and gaining something of this dunya. It was very interesting when you read about the people that were worshipping idols in Medina, like Abu Dardar, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. That there seems to be a serious sincerity and ikhlas that they had towards their idols. That it was truly devotional, and not much in terms of what they would gain from a worldly perspective. And so, Amr ibn al-Jamuh was the chief of Banu Salima, and he's one of the people that survived the Bu'ath Wars, because he was known as a peacemaker amongst the people of Yathrib. So he was in his 60s, by the time the Prophet ﷺ would come to Medina, one of the few elders that were left.
And he used to be known for his wealth, and he used to be known for his generosity, and for his peacemaking, his islah between the different tribes of the Ansar. And he also had an extreme love for his idol. He had an idol, and the name of the idol was Manat. Now this is not the Manat in the Quran. This is not the famous idol of Manat, but this was his personal idol named Manat. And being the chief of the tribe, he had this idol, and when the elders would convene in his home, they would pay their respects to this idol. And he himself was known to be extravagant in regards to the idol. What does that mean? He used to spend a lot of money on perfuming it, on dressing it, putting jewelry on it. You kind of get the imagery here, right? The man was in love with this idol of his, with Manat. And essentially what happens is that when Islam comes to Medina, he doesn't have a political problem with the Prophet ﷺ, but he's just not interested. Similar to Abu Darda'a radhiAllahu anhu initially, he's not interested in leaving his way, his religion. He loves his idol. Now, he has three sons, one of whom is also named Mu'ath and is the best friend of Mu'ath ibn Jabal. Okay? So he has three sons. Mu'ath, Mu'awwidh, and Khalat. Mu'ath, Mu'awwidh, and Khalat. And his son, Mu'ath ibn Amr, is the best friend of Mu'ath ibn Jabal, radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu. His wife is Hind ibn Amr.
And his wife, Hind ibn Amr ibn Haram, is the sister of a very famous companion that we'll come to very soon, inshaAllah ta'ala. But he's Kalimullah ibn As-Sahaba, the one who was spoken to from the Sahaba Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, the father of Jabir ibn Abdullah, radhiAllahu anhu. And Jabir will have a full lecture because he's one of the most profound, him and his father have one of the most profound biographies from the Ansar of the Prophet, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. So, Jabir, radhiAllahu anhu, this is going to be his aunt, that is actually the wife of Amr ibn al-Jamuh. Now, Amr ibn al-Jamuh, his wife and his kids all embraced Islam secretly, alongside the majority of the Ansar when Mus'ab ibn Umair came to Al-Madinah. And they kept it from him because they knew that he would be devastated, and they tried to basically warm him up to the idea of embracing Islam. So, what happens is that Hind, his wife, starts to poke at him about the idea of potentially embracing Islam, and every single time she pokes, she kind of gets this reaction of, we're happy with our religion, we're not interested in embracing anything other than our religion. And he finds out about Mu'adh ibn Jabal, who's like his nephew, he's always in the house, he plays with his son Mu'adh, he grew up with his son Mu'adh as well. And he says to Hind, ya Hind, ihdari an yaltaqi awladuki maa hadha rajul. Beware of letting our kids spend too much time with Mus'ab ibn Umair, hatta nara ra'yina fian. So we see how we feel about him. First, let's go listen to him ourselves, or let's hear the message that he has to give us ourselves, and then we can decide about what the opinion is going to be with him. So she says, sama'an wa ta''an. We hear and we obey.
And let's actually do the homework and get to know what it is that this man has come with. So, she says, do you want to hear what Mu'adh, our son, has learned from him? And he kind of panics, he says, wait a minute, did Mu'adh embrace his religion? She says, no, but he's been hanging around Mus'ab ibn Umair and Mu'adh ibn Jabal and he's been hearing about it. And he learned something from Mus'ab ibn Umair radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu. So, Amr ibn Jamuh says, go ahead and let's have him come to us and basically recite to us what he's learned. So Mu'adh, his son, comes and he says to Mu'adh, his son, can you recite some of what you learned from Mus'ab ibn Umair? So he recites surat al-Fatiha and some of surah Yusuf. Which is very obviously beautiful, right? The whole Qur'an is beautiful, but he chose to recite to him some of al-Fatiha and some of surah Yusuf. Now, Amr ibn Jamuh is an old man, he loves his idol, but even he admits, he says, ma ahsana hadha al-kalama wa ma ajmala. How beautiful, how perfect are these words and how beautiful are these words? awa kullu kalamihi mitra hadha. Is everything that he teaches you the same, like within the same vein? Like, does it all come across this beautifully? Is it all like this? And Mu'adh, his son, says, wa ahsana min hadha ya abata. Even better than this, oh my father. There's more. I'm just giving you a taste of what I have learned from Mus'ab. So, his father, as he's listening, Amr ibn Jamuh, as he's listening to this, Mu'adh, his son, says, why don't you go ahead and embrace the religion like all of your people have? I mean, most of the Ansar at this point have embraced the religion of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
And he says, lastu fa'ilan hatta astashira manat. I'm not going to do that until I go seek the opinion of manat, my idol. I've got to go talk to my idol right quick and see if this is doable. So his wife, Hind, is already a Muslim, radhiallahu anha. His children are already Muslims. And he basically argues with them and says, listen, I have to go and take the opinion of my idol and see if this is going to happen or not. So he goes to manat. And he says, ya manat, ta'lamu wallahi ma yureedu alqawmu ghayrak. Fahal indaka min nakir? I mean, look, people are leaving the religion and we don't want other than you. So do you have any way to respond to this stuff? I mean, this man is coming to Medina and saying that you're not really a god. Any response? Obviously, the idol doesn't respond. So Amr bin al-Jumuh, he's an old man, but he says, you know what? It may be that I've angered manat or I've angered my god or whatever it may be, but I'm going to leave him. And he said, and I'll wait for guidance from him. So basically, Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Mu'adh, his son, right, they play this trick on him where they enter into the home and they knock over manat and they trash him. All right. Now, when he comes home and he sees manat in this state, he's extremely upset. Faqalladahu al-saif. So he puts a sword around his neck. He cleans him up and puts a sword around his neck. And he says that next time they come to you, defend yourself. Next time they come to you, whoever they are, defend yourself.
So the two Mu'adhs, Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Mu'adh ibn Amr, his son, they take manat and they tie him to a dead animal. And they basically desecrate the idol more and they throw it in the dumpster. So he comes home and he says, where's manat? Where is the idol? And they said, we don't know. He said, did anyone attack him? We don't know. It's like, you know, they said, but even if that happened, don't you think if he was a god, he'd be able to defend himself? So he goes out looking for manat and he finds manat tied to a dead animal, you know, in the dumpster. And he says to, he says very famous words as he says it, that basically, if you were, you know, gods are not found dead, tied to dead dogs. Okay. Wallahi law kunta ilahan lam takun, anta wa kalbun wasta bi'rin fi qar. If you were really a god, then you wouldn't be tied to a dog dead in a dumpster. So there's no way you're a god. So he goes to his people and he says to his people, Alastum ala ma ana alayhi? Oh people, are you not upon what I'm upon? Basically, I'm the chief of the tribe. You're going to follow what I follow, right? So they said, bala anta sayyiduna? Yes, you're our leader. Qala fa ushahidukum anni qad amantu bima unzila ala Muhammad. So he said, so I bear witness to you that I have believed in what Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam has received. So I believed in the revelation that has come to Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam. Now you would think that a man like this who kind of resisted in the beginning probably had, you know, serious difficulty and never really embraced the sweetness of faith. But subhanallah, this man, Amr ibn Jamuh radiyallahu ta'ala anhu,
was someone who ended up tasting the sweetness of iman and he was very old, very simple. But he understood, believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, pray and get to Jannah. So he had a very simple methodology of sort of obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He doesn't become a scholar of the religion. He doesn't go on to become a scribe. But just that simplicity, that beautiful simplicity that he had, that I'm going to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I'm going to go to Jannah. And it's beautiful that he was able to turn that devotion that he had to his idol and become distinguished in his devotion to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala very quickly. And these same kids that plotted on him to make him become Muslim, they stopped him from fighting in the Battle of Badr. Why? Because he was so old. And he had a disability. He had a severe limp, radhi Allah ta'ala anu. So he was an elderly man with a severe limp. And so they stopped him from going to the Battle of Badr and he was so upset. Because obviously he heard the praise of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam for Ahl Badr, for the people of Badr. And so he said, أَنْتُمْ مَنَعْتُمُونِ الْجَنَّةَ يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ You, my kids, you stopped me from Jannah on the Day of Badr. وَاللَّهِ لَإِنْ بَقِيتُ لَأَدْخُلَنَّ الْجَنَّةَ I swear by Allah, if I live, if I have the opportunity, I will enter Jannah. Meaning I'm going to go fight next to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam and I'm going to receive that ajr. So Uhud comes. He's even older in Uhud. His disability is even more severe. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam says, قُومُوا إِلَى جَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّثْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ Stand up to Jannah, its land is the heavens and the earth, and be prepared for the righteous. He hears the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam say, Come forth and fight in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there is a Jannah that awaits you that is more expansive than the heavens and the earth. So Amr ibn al-Jamuh volunteers himself.
Subhanallah, people are trying to get out of Uhud. Amr ibn al-Jamuh goes forth and he says, Ya Rasulallah, I'm ready. And his children, they sit him down, they take him home, they say, عَذَارَكَ اللَّهِ Please, Allah has given you an excuse, don't do this, just stay home, stay home, stay home. And subhanallah, he comes to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, look at the t'eeba, look at the purity of this man. He comes to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam in tears, crying. And he says to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, Ya Rasulallah, my kids are stopping me from going to Jannah. That's the purity of this man's heart as he comes to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam. And the kids are saying to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, مُعَادٍ مُعَوِّذٍ خَلَّادٍ They're saying, Ya Rasulallah, he's old, we just don't want him to get hurt. We know that he's not going to be able to handle it. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, eventually he says, لَا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ لَا تَمْنَعُوهُ لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ يَرْزِقُهُ الشَّهَادَةِ You know what? Don't forbid him. Maybe that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala grants him what he's seeking of shahad. So he went forth and on the day of Uhud, his wife Hind, she narrated, the sister of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, the aunt of Jabir ibn Abdullah. She says, كَأَنِّي أَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِ قَدْ أَخَذَ دَرَقَتَهُ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ اللَّهُمَّ لَا تَرُدَّنِي فَقُتِلَ هُوَ وَابْنُهُ خَلَّادٌ She said, I remember him picking up his stuff, leaving the house, and saying, Oh Allah, don't turn me back. Don't turn me back and going forth on the day of Uhud. And then his conversation with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, before Uhud starts is very beautiful. And I want you to know this, Subhanallah, specifically when you visit shahadah of Uhud, we think of Hamza and Mus'ab radiAllahu anhuma. But there is a story behind each one of those shahadah. He says to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, before Uhud starts, he says,
يا رسول الله، رأيت إن قاتلت حتى أقتل في سبيل الله، تراني أمشي برجلي هذه في الجنة؟ Oh Messenger of Allah, if I fight in this battle, and if I'm killed, do you see me being able to walk on both of my feet in Jannah? Why? Because he was, again, severely disabled. He was on a cane. He was only able to walk on one leg, primarily. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam told him yes. And Subhanallah, in the battle of Uhud, imagine this man who was made a mockery of because of the idol worship, was going forth throughout the day of Uhud, and his son Khalad with him, and his children Mu'adh and Mu'awwid were fighting bravely in another part of the battle. And he was saying, أشتهل جنة، أشتهل جنة، I want Jannah، أشتهل جنة، أشتهل جنة، I want Jannah، أشتهل جنة، أشتهل جنة، until he was killed. رضي الله تعالى عنه. Him and Khalad رضي الله عنه. And one of my favorite narrations about him is the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam when he was walking by the shuhada of Uhud. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, he walked by Amr ibn al-Jamuh رضي الله عنه. And he stopped and he paused. And he said كأني أراك تمشي برجلك هذه صحيحة في الجنة. It's like, I can see you right now walking on your two feet in full health in Jannah. Subhanallah. That you're absolutely not disabled anymore as you walk in Jannah. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam, like he's looking at him martyred. And Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa salam said, I can see you walking in Jannah right now, without a limp. And he said, salallahu alayhi wa salam, another narration, I saw Amr ibn al-Jamuh رضي الله عنه. He's one of those people that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa salam saw in Jannah. I saw him walking in Jannah without a limp anymore. He wasn't limping anymore. رضي الله عنه. And he's actually buried with one Kafan with the father of Jabir ibn Abdullah رضي الله عنه
amongst the shuhada of Uhud. May Allah be pleased with them.
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