In today’s sermon, His Holiness (aba) continued to narrate accounts from the life of Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra). Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) had old ties of friendship with ‘Umayyah bin Khalf. There is a particular incident recorded about this in Bukhari.
Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) says that he wrote a letter to ‘Ummayyah bin Khalf in which he asked ‘Umayyah bin Khalf to safeguard his wealth and property in Mecca and he will do the same for ‘Ummayyah’s property and wealth in Medina. When Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) wrote his name on this letter, ‘Umayyah bin Khalf responded by saying that he did not know anyone by that name and asked Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) to share his name from the age of ignorance (Jahiliyyah). Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) responded by writing ‘Abd-e-Amr’.
During the Battle of Badr
His Holiness (aba) then said that during the Battle of Badr, when people had left the mountain path and Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) was still there, Hazrat Bilal (ra) coincidently saw Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) and ‘Umayyah. Hence, Hazrat Bilal (ra) walked to a gathering of the Ansar and said to them that ‘this is Umayyah bin Khalf. If he is saved, then there will be nothing left of me’.
Upon hearing this, some of the companions and Hazrat Bilal (ra) went in search for Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) and ‘Umayyah bin Khalf because Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) was trying to provide refuge to ‘Umayyah bin Khalf. Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) states that he was scared that they would get caught so he left ‘Umayyah’s son behind to fight the Muslims and keep them engaged there and buy them some time so he could escape. The Muslims fought him, killed him and continued to follow them. ‘Umayyah was a bit bulkier; therefore, he could not run and hide fast enough. When the Muslims caught up with them, Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) asked Umayyah to sit down, and covered him with his body for protection. They attacked Umayyah from beneath Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) with their swords so severely that one of the blows from a sword even injured Hazrat ‘Abdurah Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra)’s foot as well.
Then His Holiness (aba) mentioned that in Mecca, Umayyah bin Khalf would torture Hazrat Bilal (ra) to turn him away from Islam. Umayyah would lay down Hazrat Bilal (ra) on the hills of Mecca when the temperature was extremely hot and would order for a big stone to be placed on Hazrat Bilal’s (ra) chest. Umayyah would tell Hazrat Bilal (ra) that such treatment would continue unless Hazrat Bilal (ra) left the religion of Muhammad (sa). Despite this severe torment, Hazrat Bilal’s (ra) response would always be ‘Ahad’ ‘Ahad’ i.e. ‘God is One’ ‘God is One’.
During the Caliphate of Hazrat Umar (ra)
His Holiness (aba) shared an incident during the caliphate of Hazrat Umar (ra) that a plague was rampant in Syria, and a decision had to be made whether the Muslim army should proceed or retreat. After much consultation, Hazrat Umar (ra) made the decision to retreat. Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) joined this discussion later on and added that the Holy Prophet (sa) instructed to not visit a place if one find out that a plague or pandemic is rampant there. If someone is stationed in an area which is afflicted with a plague or pandemic, then they should not leave that area. This will prevent such a disease from spreading further.
After sharing this incident, His Holiness (aba) stated that nowadays there is a lockdown in place. Those who implemented this on time were able to contain it to a large degree. Those who did not implement a lockdown on time, are witnessing the further spread of this pandemic. The Holy Prophet (sa) established this as the fundamental principal regarding this matter.
Election of Hazrat Uthman (ra)
While mentioning about the election of Hazrat Uthman (ra) as the Khalifah after Hazrat Umar (ra), Hazrat Musleh Maud (ra) shares the following details and comments on the character of Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra).
“When Hazrat Umar (ra) was injured, realising that his demise was imminent, he nominated six persons and advised them to elect the Khalifah from among themselves. They included Hazrat Uthman (ra), Hazrat Ali (ra), Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra), Hazrat Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (ra), Hazrat Zubair (ra), and Hazrat Talhah (ra). In addition to them, he included Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) as an advisor, but did not declare him as entitled to Khilafat. He also admonished that these people should give their verdict within three days, and Suhaib (ra) should lead the prayer during that period. He appointed Miqdad bin Al-Aswad (ra) to oversee the consultation and election process and directed him to gather the Electoral College at one place and to guard them. He issued more directions, the people should take the Bai‘at of the person who is elected by the majority of votes, and if anyone declines to do so, then he should be killed. If there be three votes on each side, then Hazrat Abdullah bin Umar (ra) would recommend who the Khalifah should be. If the members of Electoral College do not agree to the decision of Abdullah bin Umar (ra), then the person favoured by ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) should be appointed as Khalifah.”
His Holiness (aba) states that these five persons discussed this matter (as Talhah (ra) was not in Medina at that time), but could not come to any conclusion. After a very long time, Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) asked if anyone wanted to withdraw his name, but all of them remained quiet. Upon this, Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) withdrew his name, then Hazrat Uthman (ra) withdrew his name, and then two others did the same. Hazrat Ali (ra) remained quiet, however he then took a pledge from Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) that he (i.e. Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra)) would be completely impartial, and entrusted the responsibility of making the decision to him. For three days, Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) visited every house in Medina to obtain the opinion of every man and women about the issue. All of them expressed their agreement to the Khilafat of Hazrat Uthman (ra). Thus, he gave his verdict in favour of Hazrat Uthman (ra) and he was elected the Khalifah.”
His Holiness (aba) then said that he will continue the narrations about Hazrat ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Auf (ra) in the future, InshaAllah.
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