The story of AbdilLaah Mus'ab bn Umayr ( The First Ambassador of Islam)

أبو عبد الله مُصْعَب بن عُمَير

Aboo ‘AbdilLaah Mus’ab bn ‘Umayr: The first Ambassador of Islām

Mus’ab bn ‘Umayr was one of the youth of Makkah and was among the earliest reverts to Islām. He was described as the most charming and most handsome youth in Makkah; the talk of ladies and flower of the Quraysh. His mother was خناس بنت مالك Khunnaas Bint Malik. She was one of the wealthiest people in Makkah and she showered and pampered him with her wealth and luxuries. She was described as a woman of steel and gargantuan personality.

Mus’ab feared his mother so much. Even when he accepted Islām, he could not manifest it out of his extreme reverence for and awe of his mother. It is reported that Mus’ab said that:

لم يكن يخاف أحداً، ولا يخشى أحداً, ولا يحسب حساب أحدٍ إلا أمه، كيف سيواجه أمه بإسلامه؟

“He does not fear anyone more than his mother. How will he declare his acceptance of Islām to her?”

So, Mus’ab concealed his faith and would sneak out of the house to meet the Prophet and his disciples in the house of Al-Arqam bn Abee Al-Arqam where they used to gather to pray clandestinely. Mus’ab was happy that he was able to keep his faith away from his mother, lest she persecuted him like other parents were doing with their children.

However, this secret was not to last longer. One day, a man named ‘Uthmaan bn Talhah saw him going into the house of Al-Arqam and he immediately went to Mus’ab’s mother to report the incident to her. When Mus’ab returned home later that day, she summoned him in front of his uncles and some prominent chiefs of Makkah and asked him, “Have you accepted the religion of Muhammad?” Mus’ab knew that the game was up and his little secret has been exposed. There was no need for panic or denial. He looked them straight in the eye and replied, “Yes, I have.” Then, he started reciting some verses of the Qur’an.

His mother became extremely enraged that she attempted to hit him in the face. Mus’ab’s confidence grew, he continued his beautiful recitation to the shock and consternation of the chiefs of Quraysh. What has come over him? They wondered. Khunnaas was lost in thought. This was not the handsome and charming Mus’ab that she used to know. Muhammad has “brainwashed” and probably bewitched her son, she thought. She concluded that the only way to stop him from becoming one of Muhammad’s followers was to put him under house arrest.

Mus’ab was locked up inside a room on the order of his mother. He was cut off from the Prophet’s company. He cried and cried for days until his eye became swollen. Then one day, information reached him that the Prophet has ordered th Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia. Mus’ab managed to delude the guards by the door and escape to Abyssinia with his colleagues. Later, he returned to Makkah following a rumor that it was now safe for the faithful to live in Makkah. When Mus’ab returned to Makkah, his mother tried to convince him to abandon Islām to no avail. So, she plotted to have him shackled and imprisoned for a second time but Mus’ab resisted it violently. Having lost all hopes of convincing her son to denounce Islām, she took the extreme and only,option left for her; withholding of her wealth from him.

For the sake of Islām, Mus’ab lost his mother’s affection and wealth. She disowned him. She said, “Go away, I am no longer your mother!” Mus'ab went close to her and said,

يا أمي, إني لك ناصح, وعليك شفوق، فاشهدي أنه لا إله إلا الله، وأن محمداً عبده ورسوله, أجابته غاضبة مهتاجة: قسماً بالثواقب لا أدخل في دينك، فيزري برأيي ويضعف عقل

"O Mother, I am advising you and my heart is with you, please bear witness that there is no God but Allāh and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger." She yelled at him angrily, "By the stars, I will never enter your religion, to degrade my status and weaken my senses!"

One day, Mus’ab entered upon the Prophet and he was looking tattered and haggard. When the Prophet saw him, his eyes were filled with tears. He said, “I saw Mus'ab here, and there was no youth in Makkah more petted by his parents than he. Then he abandoned all that for the love of Allah and His Prophet!" Shortly before Hijrah after the first pledge of Al-Aqabah between the Prophet and envoys from Yathrib (now known as Al-Madinah), the Prophet commissioned Mus’ab as his first ambassador to propagate Islām in Yathrib. Mus’ab took this herculean task with utmost sincerity and unabated vigor.

At the time he arrived in Yathrib, only twelve people had embraced Islām. Few months later, owing to his great services, over seventy people traveled to meet the Prophet in Makkah for the second pledge of Al-Aqabah. At the battle of Uhud, the Prophet handed the flag to Mus’ab. Following the confusion that ensued after the Makkans staged a comeback against the faithful, Mus’ab saw an impending danger. The enemies were targeting the Prophet in order to kill him. Mus’ab jumped in front of them holding the flag and shouting, Allāhu Akbar! Allāhu Akbar!! As he advanced into the enemies fold, he kept fighting and striking them down.

Sadly, he met Ibn Qumay’ah who was a knight and he struck Mus’ab on his right arm and cut it off. Mus’ab held the flag with his left hand and was shouting, وَمَا مُحَمَّدٌ إِلَّا رَسُولٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ الرُّسُلُ “And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him" Then, he struck him again on his left arm and cut it off. Still, Mus’ab held the flag in-between his arm and chest and was repeating that verse. Finally, he was struck with a spear with pierced through him, and he fell and died.

Allāhu Akbar!!!!! He sacrificed his life to protect the Messenger of Allāh!!!!

Concerning Mus’ab’s huge sacrifice for Islām, Al-Khabbaab bn al-Aratt said:

هاجرنا مع رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في سيبل الله نبتغي وجه الله، فوجب أجرنا على الله، فمنا من مضى ولم يأكل من أجره في دنياه شيئ مِنْهُمْ مُصْعَبُ بْنُ عُمَيْرٍ، قُتِلَ يَوْمَ أُحُدٍ، فَلَمْ يُوجَدْ لَهُ شَيْءٌ يُكَفَّنُ فِيهِ إِلَّا نَمِرَةٌ، فَكُنَّا إِذَا وَضَعْنَاهَا عَلَى رَأْسِهِ، خَرَجَتْ رِجْلَاهُ، وَإِذَا وَضَعْنَاهَا عَلَى رِجْلَيْهِ، خَرَجَ رَأْسُهُ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «ضَعُوهَا مِمَّا يَلِي رَأْسَهُ، وَاجْعَلُوا عَلَى رِجْلَيْهِ الْإِذْخِرَ

“We emigrated with the Apostle of Allāh for Allāh’s cause, seeking His pleasure. Our rewards are due with Allāh. Amongst us are those who left this world without reaping any of his worldly rewards. One of them was Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr, who was martyred on the Day of Uhud. He did not leave behind anything except a sheet of shredded woolen cloth. If we covered his feet with it, his head was uncovered, and if we covered his feet with it, his head was uncovered. The Prophet said to us, "Cover his head with it and put lemon grass over his feet."

When the Prophet saw his corpse in that pitiful state, he cried, “I saw you at Makkah, and there was not a more precious jewel, nor more distinguished one than you, and here you are bare-headed in a garment!"

رضي الله عنك يا أبا عبد الله!!!!