
Jump to:
The Firsts (Sahaba Stories) | The Forerunners of Islam
Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah (ra): He Shouted Over the Prophet ﷺ | The Firsts
He mocked the Prophet ﷺ publicly for years, shouted him down at his dying uncle’s bedside, and died a martyr fighting for him. Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah (ra) believed long before he ever came forward, certain he was beyond forgiving. He was turned away once. Find out what his sister said that changed it.
Watch a previous episode of The Firsts to learn more about Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith (ra): https://yqn.io/52wq
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
00:00I mean we have been in the section of redemption stories and especially right
00:12now by the way because it's the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, there is an emphasis on the Shama'il of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, right? You'll find many gatherings praising his Shama'il, his attributes and a lot of
00:23times there's a focus on the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in his happiest moments or in moments where you talk about his Shama'il and you
00:35think about these amazing virtues that he has and he has every amazing virtue. But I actually reserved this section for a very specific reason.
00:48We've been talking about people who found redemption but the next set of biographies are people that did not just find redemption but people that hurt the
00:58Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, personally in ways that actually will stir you. These are not small crimes. These are not people that simply disbelieved in the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. These are not people that simply fought against the
01:10Muslims. These are people that hurt the family of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and hurt him directly and still found redemption. Now of course we've covered many of these stories but the three that we will cover tonight, inshallah,
01:24at least the first two are not very familiar to people and I'm going to give you like a fair warning before we start this set of biographies that studying the life of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, requires you to scrutinize yourself.
01:37And when you talk about forgiveness it's just like I always say when we talk about the story of Yusuf, Alaihi Assalam, everyone loves the story of Yusuf, Alaihi Assalam, but no one wants to be like Yusuf, Alaihi Assalam, in terms of forgiveness, right.
01:48These are very hard stories to grapple with with the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. They all show immense pain on the part of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and one of the things we love about our Messenger, Alaihi Assalatu Wasallam, is that we see his
02:01human side of pain but then we see the divine imperative of being a prophet and being forgiving and showing grace when no other human being would. And so the first person that we will start with, inshallah, in this set of biographies
02:15is Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi, radiallahu ta'ala anhu. Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah. Now here's a quiz for you all. Which of the wives of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
02:27was Bint Abi Umayyah? Anybody know? Anybody remember? I know it's been a while.
02:37Umm Salamah, radiallahu ta'ala anha. Does anyone remember Umm Salamah's name? Not Umm Salamah. Hind bint Abi Umayyah, radiallahu ta'ala anha. Hind bint Abi Umayyah.
02:51So Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi is the brother of Umm Salamah, radiallahu ta'ala anha. And he's the full brother of Umm Salamah. So he's not half-brother. He's actually the full brother
03:02from both parents of Umm Salamah. And just to sort of remind you all of the lineage because obviously it's been a very long time since we've covered Umm Salamah, radiallahu ta'ala anha.
03:12His full name is Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah ibn al-Mughirah ibn Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Makhzum al-Qurashi al-Makhzumi. So his father, Abi Umayyah, who of course is the father of Umm Salamah as well.
03:27His father's name is actually Suhail and his nickname in Jahiliyyah was Zad al-Rakib. Which is the one who takes care of the caravans. And this shows you that some of these people had
03:39very noble traits in Jahiliyyah. They had very noble traits in the days of ignorance. And basically his reputation was that when they went out on any journey, he would take care of any need
03:50during that journey. So he was extremely generous and he was known for facilitating the journeys. Of course, Abu Jahl from the same tribe, right, is known for his kindness and his hospitality towards
04:01the people in Mecca. So Abi Umayyah is known for his hospitality and kindness when they travel outside of Mecca. So you can see why Banu Makhzum really doesn't like Banu Hashim because
04:12there is a competition here. Banu Makhzum is known for its generosity and Banu Hashim is known for its generosity. So his father comes from that background, feeding people at the expense of
04:25his own personal belongings. And his mother is Atikah bint Abdul Muttalib. Atikah bint Abdul Muttalib which is of course, you know, a reason by which he becomes the first cousin of the Prophet
04:37Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So this is the Ammah, the paternal aunt of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So his father is Abi Umayyah, his mother is Atikah bint Abdul Muttalib, and his
04:47full sister is Umm al-Mu'minin, the Mother of the Believers, Umm Salamah, radiyallahu ta'ala anha. So that makes him of course the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's first cousin and also makes him the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's brother-in-law. Now this
05:02man, SubhanAllah, in Jahiliyyah was of the most severe against the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Mecca. He was of the harshest critics of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So
05:13much so that there is an ayah about his mockery which specifies his mockery. So it's not general
05:19mockery, it's specific mockery. In Surat al-Isra, when they said, "We will never believe in you
05:30until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth." Now Surat al-Isra is also Surat Bani Israel, right? So this is the attitude of Bani Israel and he had that attitude with the Prophet, Sallallahu
05:41Alaihi Wasallam, his first cousin. "We will not believe in you until you burst a well from the earth for us." Or you fly into the sky, right? But the point is that you need to do something
05:53extraordinary for us to believe in you. You've got to either go up to the sky, you've got to bring a book down from the sky, you've got to bring something from the earth, but we want to see some extraordinary miracles from you. And he's one of the people that pokes and that mocks and hurts
06:08the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Abu Jahl, of course, is someone who's going to be more physically abusive towards the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He's the clansman of Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah. But Abdullah is one of those whose mockery is very severe and the indication is he was close to the
06:21Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in the days prior to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam receiving prophethood, which hurts more. So one day he comes to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
06:30and he says, "Listen, he said, even if you put a ladder into the sky and you climbed that ladder and then you came down with four angels and they were all pointing to you and saying
06:44'he is the Messenger of Allah,' I still won't believe in you." He's very harsh on the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and very arrogant towards the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But here is where he hurt the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam most.
07:00In one of the most painful moments of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, was when Abu Talib was dying and we always recall Abu Jahl's role in the death of Abu Talib.
07:13But Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah is just as significant in the narration and I want you to picture yourself in the room with the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He is with his uncle Abu Talib
07:25who loved him, who took care of him, who protected him and now the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, wants to protect him in the hereafter. He wants to be able to repay the favor and he's begging his
07:36uncle, "My uncle, just say La ilaha illallah. Give me a kalimah, give me a word that I can argue on
07:46your behalf on the Day of Judgment. I beg you, please." And the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, almost gets that statement out of the mouth of Abu Talib and then two men run
07:59into the room. Those two men were Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah and both of them are from Banu Makhzum and remember there's competition between Banu Makhzum and Banu Hashim and so for
08:14them this is "aha, our chance to show that Banu Hashim is not about Quraysh the way we're about Quraysh" and so they both start to yell over the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, "Ya Abu Talib!
08:25Oh Abu Talib, are you seeking a religion other than the religion of Abdul Muttalib? Are you on a way other than Abdul Muttalib?" So it's Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah
08:36and these are the last moments in the life of Abu Talib. The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is pleading with him and they are prodding him to stay upon kufr, right? And of course we know that
08:48this is such a deep painful moment for the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, because Abu Talib says "I'm on the way of Abdul Muttalib," right? That I still am on the way of my father Abdul Muttalib.
08:59That pain is almost worse, if not worse, than when we talk about Hamza and the physical killing of Hamza because that's shahada at the end of the day, that's a physical wound,
09:14right? But this has consequences in the hereafter for someone that the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, deeply loves as well. And so this pain is not a pain that was caused on the battlefield
09:24but it's a serious pain. Now obviously Abu Jahl will die in the Battle of Badr, will be killed and revenge will happen with Abu Jahl, right? Everything is poetic with Abu Jahl.
09:35Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, who was stomped on by Abu Jahl in Mecca, standing on top of Abu Jahl and victory being given not just to Islam but through the very mustada'afin, through the very
09:46oppressed people that were mocked by Abu Jahl and his ilk. So Abu Jahl was killed but when it comes to the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, obviously
10:01he still remains and he continues to be an opponent of the Messenger of Allah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, for all of these years even after his sister Umm Salamah, radiallahu ta'ala anha,
10:11marries the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he remains in Mecca and he remains an enemy of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and then as Fath draws near, as the opening of Mecca draws near,
10:26this man who mocked the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, who hurt the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, in regards to Abu Talib, he says that I came to a point
10:37he said at some point I came to the
10:50realization when I was in Mecca that everything he said was true, everything the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said was true, everything he said would come to pass came to pass and then I woke up
11:01to the regret of everything that I had done in the past and he said, "And Islam entered me. I actually believed in this religion. I actually believed in Islam but I said to myself, 'I don't think Muhammad,
11:14Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, will accept me. I mean I remember the pain on his face right when I prodded his uncle to not give him those words of La ilaha illallah and think about like the lack of decency
11:26even in the last moments like leave him alone like he's been killed by the boycott and the circumstances leave him alone but still even then you still prodded along with Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl
11:36is gone, Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah remains so he did not know what was going to happen when the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, came back to Mecca but he says that Islam had entered into me. I didn't know if the
11:48Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, would accept me and so when the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, starts to approach Mecca, Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah goes out to meet the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, with someone who was we spoke about before who was like the brother of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
12:03like his twin, does anyone remember who? Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith, radiallahu anhu, was like the twin of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he looked exactly like the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and he was
12:12like his twin growing up so he went out with Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith wanting to see the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the first time when they requested entry remember Abu Sufyan
12:26saw the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, turned his face away from him all the pain all the harm that he caused to his son, this is not Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith this is Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith by the way remember the distinction this is someone that was like the
12:37brother of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, it was a lesser known Abu Sufyan but they they saw the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's hurt as he was coming to Mecca so when they requested to enter upon him
12:50the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said, "Look, I'm not gonna hurt them but the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said I really have no need to see them. I have no need to see them." He said,
13:03"He said, as for my cousin being the son of my paternal uncle then he defamed me and he insulted me constantly with his poetry remember this is Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith my paternal
13:18cousin and he says and he said as for my maternal cousin and my brother-in-law
13:28being Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah he said he's the one who said to me in Mecca what he said it's in the Qur'an like this man's mockery was severe and he was the one that told me even if
13:40you go up to the heavens on a ladder and come back with four angels testifying I'm still going to disbelieve in you so the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, said I have no need for them right he's
13:50hurt, Alaihi Wasallam, he's still showing grace he's still showing forgiveness but I have no need for them right he didn't commission the troops towards them and then comes Umm Salamah, radiyallahu ta'ala
14:00anha and this is SubhanAllah like it's very interesting because everything you've heard so far about Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah compared to the personality of Umm Salamah, Umm Salamah is so graceful
14:11like this woman embodies grace, radiyallahu ta'ala anha, embodies hikmah, wisdom, embodies honor, nobility like Umm Salamah is a woman SubhanAllah that you you straighten yourself up as you're reading her
14:22biography because of how noble she was, truly noble, and you could see why when Abu Salama died, like everyone wanted to marry her, to take, to be a part of caring for a woman like that. Like, this is a
14:32serious giant in Islam, and she's the woman who the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, of course, sought shura, consulted, in Hudaybiyyah in a very difficult moment, and she had a lot of hikmah, a lot of wisdom, about how the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam should proceed in those moments
14:46of Hudaybiyyah. So Um Salama is coming to intervene on behalf of her brother. So she says, "Ya Rasulallah, she doesn't say it's my brother, she says, "Oh Messenger of Allah, ibn ammik,
15:02your paternal cousin and your maternal cousin and your brother-in-law, let them not be deprived, let them not be of the most miserable of human beings because of you.
15:17Right? Let them not be people who go down in history as wretched human beings, as wicked and miserable human beings, and who face an akhirah, who face an
15:28hereafter of punishment because of you." I know who you are. Like, SubhanAllah, this is a statement of belief, and a statement of, once again, SubhanAllah, affirming her husband,
15:40and a statement of hikmah, wisdom. She didn't say, "He's my brother-in-law, come on, like, can you let this go?" She said, "No, it's your cousin, and you are a rahmah. You have been sent as a mercy to the world,
15:50so you have a different capacity than everybody else. So let these people find mercy through you,
15:57not misery through you." So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he forgave them, and he allowed for Abdullah to come to him, and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam forgave him and let it go. Let
16:12bygones be bygones. And SubhanAllah, if you remember, of course, this period, like Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith was so miserable, he said that if the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam does not
16:21forgive me, I'm just going to go to the desert, hold my son, and just die out of starvation, like they felt so small because of what they did to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
16:32So the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam brings Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah back. He accepts his shahada, he accepts his repentance. Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah then enters into Mecca in Fath Mecca with the
16:45Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as part of his family. He goes out in Hunayn with the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He fights alongside the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and then he goes to al-Ta'if, which is where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was severely hurt. Of course, the
16:59worst day of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's life. And the qadr of Allah would be that an arrow would fly from Thaqif, and it would hit Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, and he would die a shaheed outside
17:13of Ta'if. And you think about it, SubhanAllah, the man that caused the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that much pain, that stood there to prevent Abu Talib from saying the shahada, and Allah 'azza wa jal
17:26guided him, and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam forgave him, and he died as a shaheed on the day of Ta'if. And this is, as the 'ulama mention, a sign of his actual repentance, a sign of his actual humility,
17:38because Allah 'azza wa jal would not gift a person an ark that way. And he left behind his son
17:47Abdullah ibn Abdullah. So he had a son named Abdullah, and that son was a young son. And what happened after he was martyred was that his son went and was raised by Um Salama, radiyallahu
18:01ta'ala anha, and narrated hadith from Um Salama, radiyallahu ta'ala anha. So he actually became a prominent narrator of hadith from Um Salama, radiyallahu ta'ala anha, and married Zainab bint
18:15Musab ibn Umair, radiyallahu ta'ala anhu. So if you remember the story of Hamnah bint Jahsh, it comes
18:22back also full circle. And SubhanAllah, he married, so Abdullah ibn Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah married Zainab bint Musab ibn Umair, and they had two sons, Muhammad and Musab. And basically,
18:37their family, like the lineage of that family, if you studied the lineage of that family, it actually became a very prominent family of scholarship in Medina. Until now, by the way, their descendants live
18:47there. So it became a prominent family of scholarship where the fruit of Islam continued to be planted. Radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, wa Sallallahu ala nabiyyina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. You keep on
19:00saying salawat as you go through these stories, because each one of these is going to give you another dimension of the heart of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and how he had to overcome in different ones. I'm going to go in order of severity here, okay, in order of severity.
19:15Though, no one, of course, felt the pain like the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So that's Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah, the brother-in-law, the maternal cousin of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.








































































































































































































