The Fifteenth Narration: On the Day of the Battle of Uhud, my father was brought, and he had been mutilated (in battle) and was placed in front of Allah’s Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with a sheet covering him. …..

The Fifteenth Narration

Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah radiya Llahu ‘anhu said:

جيء بأبي يوم أحد قد مثل به حتى وضع بين يدي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وقد سجي ثوبا فذهبت أريد أن أكشف عنه فنهاني قومي ثم ذهبت أكشف عنه فنهاني قومي فأمر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فرفع فسمع صوت صائحة فقال من هذه فقالوا ابنة عمرو أو أخت عمرو قال فلم تبكي أو لا تبكي فما زالت الملائكة تظله بأجنحتها حتى رفع

On the Day of the Battle of Uhud, my father was brought, and he had been mutilated (in battle) and was placed in front of Allah’s Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam with a sheet covering him. I went intending to uncover my father, but my people forbade me; again, I wanted to uncover him, but my people forbade me. Allah’s Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam ordered the sheet to be lifted.

He then heard the voice of a woman crying and asked, “Who is this?”

They said, “It is the daughter or the sister of ‘Amr.”

He said, “Why does she weep, or let her stop weeping, for the angels had been shading him with their wings till his body was lifted away.”^{^[1]}

In another narration of Sahih al Bukhari with the following wording:

فجعلت عمتي فاطمة تبكي

Then my aunt, Fatimah began weeping.^{^[2]}

This has also been recorded in Muslim from Sufyan, i.e. Ibn ‘Uyaynah.

The narration of Talhah ibn Khirash from Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah radiya Llahu ‘anhu as recorded in Tirmidhi has the following wording:

أفلا أبشرك بما لقي الله به أباك قال قلت بلى يا رسول الله قال ما كلم الله أحدا قط إلا من وراء حجاب وأحيا أباك فكلمه كفاحا فقال يا عبدي تمن علي أعطك قال يا رب تحييني فأقتل فيك ثانية قال الرب عز وجل إنه قد سبق مني أنهم إليها لا يرجعون قال وأنزلت هذه الآية ولا تحسبن الذين قتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتا

The Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Shall I not give you the glad tidings of that with which Allah has given your father?”

I said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.”

He said, ‘‘Allah never spoke to anyone except from behind a screen, but He spoke to your father directly, and He said, ‘O my slave! Ask something from Me and I shall give it to you.’ He said, ‘O Lord, bring me back to life so that I may be killed in Your cause a second time.’ The Lord, Glorified is He, said, ‘I have already decreed that they will not return to life.’”

He said: Allah revealed the verse, “And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision”^{^[3]}

Commentary and Lessons Learnt from this Narration:

1. This narration has many great virtues of ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn Haram al Ansari. Amongst them are:

a. His martyrdom on the Day of Uhud. Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam is reported to have said regarding the martyrs of Uhud:

أنا شهيد على هؤلاء يوم القيامة

I will be a witness for them on the Day of Qiyamah.^{^[4]}

b. The Angels shading him with their wings; an honour, complying to the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala.

c. The mutilation done to him after his martyrdom.

d. His giving preference to the protection of Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam and the faith over himself and his many daughters who were his responsibility. Jabir radiya Llahu ‘anhu says:

لما حضر أحد دعاني أبي من الليل فقال ما أراني إلا مقتولا في أول من يقتل من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وإني لا أترك بعدي أعز علي منك غير نفس رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فإن علي دينا فاقض واستوص بأخواتك خيرا فأصبحنا فكان أول قتيل ودفن معه آخر في قبر ثم لم تطب نفسي أن أتركه مع الآخر فاستخرجته بعد ستة أشهر فإذا هو كيوم وضعته هنية غير أذنه

When the time of the Battle of Uhud approached, my father called me at night and said, “I think that I will be the first amongst the Companions of the Prophet salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam to be martyred. I do not leave anyone after me dearer to me than you, except the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. I owe some debt, repay it and treat your sisters favourably.”

In the morning he was the first to be martyred and was buried along with another martyr. I did not like to leave him with another, so I took him out of the grave after six months of his burial and he was in the same condition as he was on the day of burial, intact, except a slight change near his ear.

e. The narration states, “He spoke to your father directly”. Badr al Din al ‘Ayni says, “This is a great virtue in his favour, one that has not been recorded for any other martyr in the world.”

2. The narration states, “Why does she weep, or let her stop weeping.” This is due to one of the narrators having a doubt of what exactly had been said. Another narration of Sahih al Bukhari though states, “Whether you cy or not it will be so…”. Imam al Nawawi says, “It means that whether you cry or not, it won’t make a difference. The Angels continue to shade and honour him. There is therefore no need to cry since he has received such honour. This was to pacify her.”

3. “Until his body was lifted away”. In the narration of al Tayalisi the following wording appears, “By Allah! The Angels continued shading him with their wings till you buried him.” Both narrations share a close meaning.

4. This narration shows the permissibility of uncovering the face of one who has passed away as Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam did not stop Jabir radiya Llahu ‘anhu from doing so. Similarly, kissing the one who has passed away is also permissible as recorded in the books of Ahadith that Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam kissed ‘Uthman ibn Maz’un radiya Llahu ‘anhu. Furthermore, Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu kissed Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam after his passing as narrated in Sahih al Bukhari.

5. The martyrs are buried in the area they passed away. If the body was taken elsewhere, it will be returned. In this narration too Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam ordered the body to be lifted, meaning returned to the grave.

6. The permissibility of crying over the dead, even if the crying can be heard as long as it doesn’t take to wailing, slapping, tearing, and doing acts prevalent in the time of ignorance.

7. Those who bear hatred and intend harm for the Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum cannot possibly entertain hope of mercy from Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala. Their act of mutilating the bodies after death paints a daunting picture of their souls.

8. The desirability of hastening in giving glad tidings to a fellow Muslim when one becomes aware of such.

9. The permissibility of recounting the good of the dead if it doesn’t lead to false statements and claims.

10. One of the best forms of giving solace to the family of one that passed away is by recounting his virtues and mentioning his enviable death.

11. The status of the Sahabah radiya Llahu ‘anhum, especially the martyrs, in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta ‘ala and Rasulullah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.

NEXT⇒ The Sixteenth Narration

[1] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 1231.

[2] Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith: 1187.

[3] Jami’ al Tirmidhi, Hadith: 3101.

[4] Jami’ al Tirmidhi, Hadith: 1036.

BACK⇒ Return to Table of contents