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
52
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
125
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
Ukasha ibn al-Mihsan (ra): He Beat You To It | The Firsts Shorts
Ukasha (ra) is synonymous with the idea of being ahead of the bunch. Learn about how he reached this position over time with an attitude of excellence.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh everyone. Welcome back to the first shorts. Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wasalamu ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So alhamdulillah, we are down now to the last 10 episodes of the first shorts. InshaAllah ta'ala, what we're going to do is season two, where we'll pick up at 71 is we will then go into the madani phase inshaAllah ta'ala. And we'll continue with some of the longer biographies. However, I must say this last batch of 10 is very near and dear to my heart when we're talking about As-sabiqun al-awwalun, we're talking about the first Muslims from the muhajireen. And I pray that inshaAllah ta'ala you'll find these all highly beneficial inshaAllah ta'ala, as we get to now a man whose name has become synonymous with being first and that is Uqasha ibn Mihsan radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Now, there's almost, you know, if you've heard this name, you've heard it only in the capacity of one story in the seerah of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. And that is precisely why I want to cover him inshaAllah ta'ala in a bit of detail. So his name is Uqasha or Uqasha with a shada on the calf. Both of them are, you know, ways that his name is pronounced. So Uqasha or Uqasha ibn Mihsan al-Asadi. He was a halif and ally of Banu Abd al-Shams. So he is a Meccan Muslim. He is one of the earliest Muslims and we will talk about how he and his siblings entered into Islam. But before that, how is it that his name has become synonymous with preceding others? To the point, by the way, that in poetry, if someone is referred to as an Uqasha or a Uqasha, they're being referred to as a forerunner. You know, some of the scholars mentioned, in fact, even in dream interpretation, if you saw this companion Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in your dream, then that is a sign that you are going to precede others to something.
That's how synonymous his name is with preceding others towards that which is good. When you talk about the Mubashshireen, those who are guaranteed paradise, sometimes I get asked this question, how come the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam only guaranteed 10 people paradise? Al-Ashar al-Mubashshireen, the 10 promised paradise. And if you have not figured out by now, there are multiple people who the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam actually promised paradise to and gave that Bishara to, that glad tidings to. However, those 10 had a special categorization with the Messenger SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. When it comes to Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he is one of those that is considered amongst the Mubashshireen, amongst those who was guaranteed paradise by the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, but not any type of Bishara, not any type of glad tidings. He is given the Bishara, he is giving the glad tidings that he is going to enter paradise without any form of questioning, without any form of punishment. So zero accountability when he shows up on the day of judgment and enters into Jannah. The story is of course a famous one. It's narrated by Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala anhu that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam stood up and this is now in Medina. So this is after Uqasha has made hijrah to Medina and we'll talk about his biography. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says that from my Ummah, there is a group of 70,000 people whose faces will glitter as the moon. Their faces will shine as bright as the full moon on the day of judgment. And they will enter into Jannah without any form of Azaab or any form of Hisaab. No punishment and no questioning. They will enter into paradise without being punished and without even being questioned. Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he got up and he lifted his covering sheet and he said, Ya Rasulullah, O Messenger of Allah, Dua, make dua,
ask Allah to make me amongst them. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Anta minhum, you are amongst them. And in one narration, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Oh Allah, make him amongst them. And then when he said that, another man from the people of Medina stood up and said, Ya Rasulullah, ask Allah that I am amongst them. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam responded famously, Sabaqa biha Uqasha, Uqasha beat you to it. Uqasha preceded you to it. Now this narration, which is in Al-Bukhari, the scholars have a few interpretations of it. One of them, which is that, you know, this was something that was guaranteed for a small group of people. And Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, stood up and that other man, while he might have been from the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and maybe from the Ansar as well, as suggested by the wording of one narration, that he does not reach the level of Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Another interpretation, some of the scholars said that the man could have even been from amongst the hypocrites. And so the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saying, Uqasha preceded you to it, is that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam did not want to include him amongst that group. But this was the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam's nice way of saying that he would not make dua for him. And because the man is not named, it's okay to, you know, you can obtain either one of those interpretations, that either this was just something special for Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu in that gathering. And that man simply does not make that cut, or the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam in his high akhlaq, in his high manners and morals, did not include him because he might have been from amongst the hypocrites of Medina instead. So what makes Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu worthy? And this is something that I think is very important. It's not that Uqasha just lucked out in a gathering and said, Ya Rasulullah, make me amongst them. He has a history that he puts behind that request, that talab, right?
That request to be included amongst those 70,000. This is an important point, that when you ask Allah for something, you should live your life in accordance with that request, especially when you're talking about his pleasure and his paradise. And this is certainly the case with Uqasha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. So what's his story? Uqasha and his siblings actually embraced Islam early on in Mecca, and none of them were particularly old. So they were all considered amongst the youth when they heard the message of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam and embraced Islam. So his sister, Umqais radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, also is considered amongst the first people to embrace Islam. And she's an interesting woman, Umqais bint Muhsin, or Mihsan, because she lived to be over a hundred years old. So she's actually a hadith narrator. Some of the tabi'een would narrate hadith from her later on. He also has a brother by the name of Abu Sinan. Abu Sinan ibn Mihsan radiAllahu ta'ala anhu. Abu Sinan, according to one narration, is the first person to take bay'at al-ridwan, to take the pledge of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam under the tree in Hudaybiyyah. Now, when you talk about this particular group of people that came to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam and they took the pledge with the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam in Hudaybiyyah, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions that he was pleased with them. So Abu Sinan, the brother of Ukaisha, it's a special family. Abu Sinan, according to some narrations, is the very first person to stand in front of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi wa Sallam and to take that pledge with him on that day. And he also has two other brothers that also are considered from As-Sabiqun Al-Awwalun, also considered from the first Muslims, Amr ibn Mihsan and Wahb. Though we don't know anything about them at all, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la be pleased with them. So this is a group of siblings. That all had this special flair inside of them to embrace Islam and to dedicate themselves to it. And in the process to proceed others towards much khair,
towards much good. Now when it comes to Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu himself, he's described as being one of the most handsome of men, one of the most generous of men. He had a big smile on his face all the time, radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu. He was also a person who, when he dedicated himself to something, he gave it his all and he exceeded in whatever he dedicated himself to. So the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, for example, appoints him early on in Islam as the commander of a battalion of 40 men and Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu is given much success in that role. And one of the most famous incidents of Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu is in the Battle of Badr. So he's one of the muhajireen. He's one of the people who embraced Islam early. He's one of those who made hijrah to Medina. So he qualifies as an early Muslim. He qualifies as a muhajireen, as someone who left behind everything in Mecca to come to Medina. And then he's a Badri. He's one of the companions of Badr, the veterans of Badr, the best of all of the companions of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. But in Badr, he has this special incident that takes place where he comes to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam in Badr and his sword is broken. So in the process of fighting in Badr, his sword broke and he comes to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and he says, Ya Rasulullah, what should I fight with? I don't know what to do. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he picks up a stick, okay? And he hands him a stick and he says, Qatib bi hadha. He tells Ukaisha radiAllahu Anhu, fight with this. And Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu takes that stick. He doesn't question the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, right? If the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam handed him the stick and said, fight with it, then I'm gonna fight with it. And as soon as Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu swung that stick, it became in his hand a shiny sword. Okay? And it was a sword that was prominent. It was, you know, it could not be mistaken for any other sword.
And Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu would fight with that sword, that particular sword, for the rest of his life. And everyone knew the miracle of that sword. Okay? And by the way, this is a hint of a series that is to come inshaAllah ta'ala very soon, that you'll be hearing about bid'na nai ta'ala. And so Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, this is a miracle of the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam of course, but that was established for him, radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, that he had this particular sword that the companions used to refer to as the sword of aid. It was divinely given to Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, and he would use that for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for the rest of his life. So you have a man who is a muhajir, a person who migrated, a person who fought early on as a commander in Islam, a person who fought in the battle of Badr, a person who's in Medina, and who was told that you will enter into paradise without even being questioned. Not only will you not be punished, you will not even be questioned. So let me ask you this question, if you were Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, and you got that bishara, you got that glad tiding from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, as well as the glad tiding of hijrah, as well as the glad tiding of Badr, being from the veterans of Badr, you're probably gonna take it easy for the rest of your life, right? You know, you don't really have to do much because you've been given the highest guarantee. But in the case of Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he was always amongst the first to come forward when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam called upon him. And when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam passed away, and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu summoned the loyal companions, it was Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu who once again was amongst the first people to come forward with that sword that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam gave him as a stick that turned into that sword, and to continue to fight and to continue to strive. And he dies as a martyr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu in the battle against the Murtadeen, the war against the apostates,
in the case of Musaylima al-Kadhab. So SubhanAllah, he dies as a shaheed as well. So this narration, Sabaqaka biha Ukaisha, Ukaisha beat you to it, should not be looked at as just a guy who lucked out. This is what we call Sidq al-Niyyah, he had a truthful intention, and his actions matched up with his intentions, and that is why Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Minal mu'mineena rijalun sadaqo ma'ahadullaha AAalayh There are people that are truthful to the covenant that they took with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so we learn from him that when you hear of a good quality, when you hear of a good call, when you read about a good trait in the Quran, when you hear something from the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, don't look around and wait for someone else to lead the way. You be that person to lead the way. You be that person to look around and to see that there's a void in your community and fill that void. You see a trend, you see a sunnah that can be revived, you revive that sunnah, you be the trendsetter of good. And in the process of that, may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala count you and I amongst those 70,000 as well. And of course, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam gave descriptions of that group of people and they were multiplied and multiplied. May Allah count us amongst them and enter us into paradise without any form of adab or any form of hisab. Allahumma ameen. And may Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala be pleased with this wonderful companion, Ukaisha radiAllahu ta'ala anhu and his siblings and allow us to meet him and them in the highest level of Jannatul Firdaus with our Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. I'll see you next time inshaAllah. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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