Part 27

The Prophet (PBUH) did not find any better farewell for Hamzah than praying for him among the numerous martyrs. Hamzah's body was carried to the place of prayer on the battlefield, in the same place which had witnessed his bravery and embraced his blood. The Prophet (PBUH) and his Companions prayed for him, then they brought another martyr and put him beside Hamzah, and ptayed for him. Then they took the martyr away and left Hamzah and brought the next martyr and placed him beside Hamzah and prayed for him and so on. They brought all the martyrs, one after the other and prayed for them beside Hamzah, who on that day was prayed for seventy times (the number of martyrs).

On his way from the battlefield, the Prophet (PBUH) heard the women of Bani “Abd AlAshhal lamenting their martyrs and he said, "But Hamzah has no one to lament him.” Sa‘d Ibn Mu*aadh heard this sentence and thought that the Prophet (PBUH) would be satisfied if the women would lament his uncle. He hurried to the women of Bani “Abd Al-Ashhal and ordered them to lament Hamzah. When the Prophet (PBUH) heard them doing this he said, "I did not mean this. Go back, may Allah have mercy on you. There will be no crying anymore." The Prophet's (PBUH) Companions began to say their eulogies for Hamzah in praise of his virtues. The poet Hassaan Ibn Thaabit said in the course of a long poem:

Moan for Hamzah, the one Who won't forget your horse which was old.

He spurs horses when away they run Like lions injungles. He's strong and bold,

Whiter than Haashim. He looks in the sun

Except for the night, his tongue never told Among your swords, in was he done, Paralyzed be the hands that Wahshiy has sold.”

‘Abd Allah Ibn Rawaahah also said:

I moaned, but what did moaning do for me? When they said Hamzah the Lion was killed Abu Ya'liy, a man with honor was filled For your death, pillars down were pulled.

Safiyah, Hamzah's sister and the Prophet's (PBUH) aunt said:

To the happy Paradise of Allah he was invited. Such a destiny for Hamzah was what we wanted, I won't forget you if I stayed or departed.

I moan for a lion by whom Islam was protected. O brother, may Allah for what you did

But the best words said about him were those of the Prophet (PBUH) when he first saw him among the martyrs: "May Allah have mercy on you. You were, as far as ] knew, always uniting blood relations and doing all sorts of goodness."

The loss of Hamzah was great and nothing could console the Prophet (PBUH) for it. But to his surprise, Allah offered him the best consolation. When he was walking home from Uhud, he saw a woman from the Bani Diinaar whose husband, father, and brother had been killed in the battle. She asked the returning Muslim soldiers about the battle. When they told her of the death of her father, husband, and brother, she soon asked them anxiously, "What about the Prophet of Allah ?” They said, "He is very well as you wish him to be." She said, "Show me, let me look at him." They stayed beside

her till the Prophet (PBUH) came and when she saw him she said, "If you are safe, all other disasters will be of no importance."

Yes, this was the best condolence for the Prophet (PBUH). He

smiled at this unusual situation which had no similitude in loyalty and devotion. A poor, helpless woman lost in an hour her father, brother, and husband. Her reaction to that news — which if it had fallen on a mountain would have made it collapse —was, "What about the Prophet of Allah?" It was such a well-timed situation that it is evident that Allah planned to console His Prophet (PBUH) for the death of Allah's Lion and martyr of all martyrs.

(42) * ABD ALLAH IBN MAS‘UUD The First Reciter of Qur'aan

Before the Prophet (PBUH) entered Daar Al-Arqam, Ibn Mas‘uud had declared his belief in him. He was the sixth one to embrace Islam and follow the Prophet (PBUH). Thus he was one of the early Muslims.

He narrated his first meeting with the Prophet (PBUH): I was a young shepherd boy responsible for the sheep of ‘Uqbah Ibn Abu Mu‘ait. The Prophet (PBUH) once came with Abu Bakr and said, "O boy, do you have milk for us to drink?" and I said, "I can't let you drink their milk." The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Do you have a virgin sheep that has never mated with a male?" I said, "Yes" and brought it to them. The Prophet (PBUH) caught it and stroked its udder and prayed to Allah till the udder filled. Abu Bakr brought him a concave rock into which he milked the sheep. Abu Bakr drank the milk, and then after that the Prophet said to the udder, "Shrink," and it did. I went to the Prophet after this incident and said to him, "Teach me this kind of talk." The Prophet (PBUH) said, "You are already a learned boy."

“Abd Allah Ibn Mas‘uud was fascinated to see the pious Servant and Messenger of Allah supplicate Allah and stroke a virgin udder till it gave milk, pure and agreeable to those who drank it. Ibn Mas*uud did not realize that what he had seen was but the least wonderful miracle and that soon he would see at the hands of that honorable Prophet other miracles that would shake the world and fill it with light and faith. He did not realize either that he himself, the poor, weak, hired shepherd boy working for ‘Uqbah Ibn Abu Mu“ait, would be one of those miracles when he became, through his Islam, a strong believer capable of defeating the pride of the Quraish and overcoming the oppression of its martyrs.

Before his Islam he never dared to pass by a session attended by any Quraish nobleman except with hastened steps and a bowed head, but after Islam he was capable of going to the Ka*bah, where the elite Quraish congregated and standing among them reading the Qur'aan in a loud, beautiful, impressive voice: < In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, The Most Beneficent! Has taught the Qur'aan. He created man. He taught him eloquent speech. The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each. And the herbs (or stars ) and the trees both prostrate > (55: 1-6).

He went on reciting while the Quraish were thunderstruck, not believing their own eyes or ears. They could not imagine that the one challenging their pride was just one of their hired shepherd boys who was the poor unknown “Abd Allah Ibn Mas‘uud. Let us hear an eye witness, Az-Zubair (May Allah be pleased with him), describe the exciting scene: ‘Abd Allah Ibn Mas‘uud was the first one to recite Qur'aan publicly in Makkah after the Prophet (PBUH). It happened one day that the Prophet's Companions were gathered with the Prophet (PBUH). They said, "By Allah, the Quraish have never heard the Qur'aan being recited to them before. Isn't there any man to recite it so that they may hear it?" Thereupon “Abd Allah Ibn Mas‘uud said, "I." They said, "We are afraid they may harm you." We want a man with a strong family to protect him from those people if they want to harm him." He said, "Let me go, Allah will protect me.” Ibn Mas‘uud went to the Maqaam at the Ka*bah and recited < In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, The Most Beneficent! Has taught the Qur'aan. .. >and he went on reciting. The Quraish gazed at him and said, "What does Ibn Umm “Abd say? He is reciting some of what Muhammad came with." They went to him and began to beat him in the face while he was reciting till he finished whatever Allah wished him to recite from the surah. He returned to his friends with a wounded face and body, and they told him, "This is what we were afraid would happen to you." He answered them, "Those enemies of Allah have never been more worthless to me than this moment, and if you wish I will go back to them and do the same tomorrow." They said, "No, it is enough for you. You have made them hear what they hated."

Indeed, when Ibn Mas‘uud was fascinated by the sheep's udder which was filled with milk before its time, he did not realize that he and his humble friends would be one of the greater miracles of the Prophet (PBUH) on the day they carried the banner of Allah, with which they outshone the sun. He did not realize that such a day was very near. Soon that day came, and the poor, hired boy became a miracle!

He was hardly seen in the crowd of life and not even seen away from that crowd because he was too humble when compared with those who possessed wealth, power, and social status. Financially, he was poor. Physically, he was feeble, and socially, he was a nobody. But Islam compensated him for his poverty with a large share of the treasures of Khosrau and Caesar. Islam also compensated him for his physical weakness with a strong will that conquered the oppressors and helped to change the whole historical course of events. Again, Islam compensated his humble social status through immortality, knowledge, and honor that gave him an eminent place among the most prominent of historical figures.

The Prophet's prophecy about him which said, "You are a learned boy" was true. Indeed, Allah endowed him with knowledge till he became the most learned of this Ummah and the best one to know Qur'aan by heart. Ibn Mas‘uud described himself saying, "I in fact took from the mouth of Allah's Messenger more than seventy surahs of the Qur'aan. I have a better understanding of the Book of Allah than any one of you."

It could be that Allah wanted to reward him for risking his life when he used to recite Qur'aan everywhere during the years of torture. So, He the Almighty endowed him with a wonderful talent for reciting and understanding Qur'aan to the extent that made the Prophet (PBUH) direct his Companions to follow his example. The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Stick to the method of Ibn Umm *Abd." He recommended that they imitate his way of reciting and learn it from him. The Prophet (PBUH) said, "Whoever wants to hear Qur'aan as fresh as it was revealed, let him hear it from Ibn Umm ‘Abd," and