In the name of Allah
Most Gracious, Most Merciful
His name and family
He is known as ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās, although at birth he was
named al-‘Ās, which means the disobedient one. When he embraced Islam, in
the seventh year of the Hijra, the Messenger, upon him be peace, renamed him
‘Abdullah. He was from the Sahm branch of the tribe of Quraish. His nickname
(kunya) was Abu Muhammad although some called him Abu Abdul Rahmân. His
mother was Riâtah bint Manbah. His father was the famous companion ‘Amr ibn al-Ās,
the celebrated conqueror of Egypt. His father was very young when ‘Abdullah was
born, according to most sources, he was only twelve years old. ‘Abdullah became
Muslim before his father. It is reported that the Messenger, upon him be peace,
used to show preference to the son over the father because of his superior
knowledge and intense worship.
His ability to read and write
‘Abdullah memorised the whole Qurân and was able to read and write. He was
known to have read the pre-Islamic scriptures before he embraced Islam and it
is reported that he continued after becoming Muslim. He was one of the few
companions who wrote down the words of the Messenger, upon him be peace, during
his lifetime. He sought the Messenger’s specific permission asking , ‘May I write down everything I hear from you in the
states of contentment and anger?’ He,
upon him be peace, replied, ‘Yes, for I speak nothing
but the truth.’ The
other great narrator of the sayings of the Messenger, upon him be peace, Abu
Hurairah, used to say, ‘there is no one more
knowledgeable of the sayings of the Messenger, upon him be peace, than me,
except ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr. He used to preserve them in his heart and I used to
preserve them in my heart; but, he used to write them down and I did not.’ It is reported that ‘Abdullah used to
say that he memorised one thousand sayings from the Messenger, upon him be
peace. He reported 700 hadith. Eighteen were agreed upon by Muslim and Bukhâri,
eight can be found in Bukhâri alone and twenty in Muslim alone. Although it is
commonly understood that he was more knowledgeable of hadith than Abu Hurairah;
as he resided in Egypt where there were less people to relate from him than in
Madina, the number of traditions related by him is less than some of the other
great companions including Abu Hurairah and ‘Aisha bint Abu Bakr, Mother of the
Believers, may Allah be pleased with them all.
The intensity of his worship and abstinence from the world
‘Abdullah was one of the most intense worshippers, fasting for days without a
break and going many nights without sleep, until the Messenger, upon him be
peace, forbade him from fasting without breaks and abstaining from intimacy
with his wife. He said, ‘surely your eyes have
rights upon you, your family have rights upon you, so sleep and break your
fast. Fast the three days in the middle of the month for that is the eternal
fast.’ When ‘Abdullah
said, ‘but I can do more than that,’ and he continued with his intense
fasting; the Messenger, upon him be peace, told him, ‘there is no fast better than the fast of David, that
is, to fast one day and eat one day.’ Then he limited him to fasting every
other day.
He was also told not to read so much Qurân but to limit his completion of the
whole Qurân to only once a month. ‘Abdullah said that he can do more than that
and was then told ‘complete it every seven
days’, which he did. He had a very emotional relationship with the
Qurân. He used to say that to shed tears out of fear of Allah was more beloved
to him than to spend a thousand dinâr in charity. He lost his sight in the
later years of his life.
He
fought in several battles during the lifetime of the Messenger, upon him be
peace, and accompanied his father on many conquests including the conquest of
Egypt and Syria. He remained with his father until his father’s death.
He carried the banner at the battle of Yarmuk and attended the civil war battle
of Siffin but did not throw an arrow or participate in any fighting. He said
that he only attended the battle because his father wanted him to and recalled
the Messenger’s command to ‘obey your father!’ Up until that point he had avoided
being involved in any internal politics. After the death of the Khalifa Uthmân,
he went into recluse in order to avoid disputes.
His death and burial place
There is some difference of opinion about the date of his death and about his
burial place. After the conquest of Egypt, he resided in Syria and returned to
the Hijaz area (Makkah and Madina). Ahmed ibn Hanbal said he died on the nights
of al-Harra where Yazîd’s army attacked the city of Madina. This took place on
the last Wednesday of Dhul Hijja 63H. Others say he went on to Makkah after
that and died there in 67H aged 72 years. Some say he died in Syria, others say
in Tâif and it is also reported that he died in Egypt and is buried where the
current library of the mosque of his father now stands. And Allah knows best.
(Sources:
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalâni, al-Isâba fî Tamyîz al-Sahâba and Muhammad al-Jardâni
al-Dimyâti, al-Jawâhir al-lu’luwiyya)
http://www.esinislam.com/Muslim_Biography/As-Sahabah_The_Companions/As-Sahabah_The_Companions_3.htm http://islamicencyclopedia.org/public/index/topicDetail/id/30 A devoted Companion of the Prophet (saws.) and a meticulous
follower of his Sunan. He embraced Islam and migrated before his father.
Although he had shown his ascetic tendencies much earlier, to the extent that
the Prophet (saws) had to restrain him (by
ordering him not to finish the Qur’anic recitation in less then three days,
and not to fast beyond every alternate day), he participated, in all the
campaigns led by the Prophet (saws) and took part in many
battles after him against the Romans. He was one of those who used to write
down by the Prophet's leave, what he heard from him. He
called his compilation Saadiqah.
He opposed his father over some political issues, but had to appear, because of
him, on the side of Mu’awiyyah (ra) against ‘Ali (ra) in the battle of Siffin,
although he did not participate in the fighting. A report tells us that `Ammar ibn Yasir’s
head was brought to Mu`awiyyah by two persons at Siffin, each claiming to have
killed him. `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-`Aas was there. He said he had heard the Prophet says that “the rebel party will kill
`Ammar.” Mu`awiyyah asked shim, “So what explains your being on our side?” He
replied, “Because, once something happened (between me and my father) and the Prophet told me, ‘Obey your father so long as
he is alive; do not disobey him.’ He has ordered me to be on his side, so I am
here. But I took no part in the battle Appointed Governor of Kufa for a short while
by Mu’awiyyah (ra),
he refused to take the oath for his son Yezid, and retired for devotional
activities to a place called, according to one report, ‘Asqalan. A well-built,
red-complexioned man, he died in 63 or 65 H. The Musnad of Ahmad has 627 narratives by him.