From: Public Concern < lehigh_pc_team@yahoo >
Date: Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:30 am

Bismillah,
Assalamualaikum warahmatullah,

InshaAllah, this week we are going to learn about “Ibn Abi” (anak bapak). Brothers and sisters, GET READY TO SHAKE!!!

Prelude: From the Eyes of Abdullah ibn Azzubayr

"To every Prophet is a Hawaaree (helper), and my Hawaaree is Azzubayr."
-- Rasul Allah - sal Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam

"O Ameer AlMu'mineen, I did not commit a crime to be afraid of you. Nor is the path tight so that I may make way for you."
-- Abdullah ibn Azzubayr

Lessons from his childhood:
Born in the year of Hijrah, when people started the Hijrah to Madinah .
Rasul Allah - sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam - did tahneek to him, i.e. putting a date which he had put into his mouth into ibn Azzubayr’s mouth, thus, the first thing that he tasted was the Prophet’s - sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam - saliva and the date from the Prophet’s mouth.

Strong in three areas:

i. al-faaris - warrior; horse riding, sword fighting, archery
§ Hisham ibn ‘Urwa said, “When ibn Azzubayr was born, his first word was ‘as-saif’ (the sword).”

ii. al-‘aabid – worship
§ Mujaheed said, ““If it is ever an ‘ibadah that people would not be able to perform, ibn Azzubayr was the one who could do it.” à during the flood of Ka’aba, people stopped doing tawaf. He took the challenge by doing tawaf swimming.
§ A person said that he came and started reciting al-Baqarah, ali ‘Imran, al-Maidah, and ibn Azzubayr was in his sajdah all this time.
§ It was also mentioned that birds used to land on his back when he was praying because of his long stationary state i.e. due to his khushu’ in ibadah.

iii. al-‘aalim/al-fuqahaa – knowledge
§ He grew up in the house of A’isha r.a., who was his maternal aunt

Son of Azzubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma’ bint Abu Bakr. His father was the Prophet’s - sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam - cousin (son of his aunt Safiyyah) and was related to Khadijah. His mother was also related to the Prophet - sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
People would look at him and say, “No one would look like Abu Bakr but ibn Azzubayr!” (Abu Bakr was his atuk, remember? )
Abu Bakr = dark skinned, skinny, had long wispy beard = ibn Azzubayr

No one could compete him in his:
i. Courage (learned from his parents)
ii. Worship
iii. Command of Arabic language i.e. an eloquent leader

Can tell how old he is based on the events that took place after Hijrah (clue: look back at first point )

His relationship with his father:
His father was one of the key people beside the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
Azzubayr had a big wound on his back and ibn Azzubayr used to put his hand in it (playing, of course ).
At the age of 5, during the Battle of Ahzaab, ibn Azzubayr saw his father slashing an army who tried to escape from the battlefield into two (belah dua), right before his own eyes.
During the battle of Uhud, a mushrikeen killed a lot of Muslims, so, Azzubayr leaped on his horse from the back and killed him.
At the age of 7, when ibn Azzubayr was playing with his friends, he suggested to them, “Jom pi kasi bai’ah kat Rasul Allah -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- nak tak?” He then led them to the masjid and said to the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, "We came to pledge allegiance to you. Give me your hand so that I’ll pledge allegiance to you,” and everybody else followed suit.
Rasul Allahu -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- said to him, “Haza ibn abi.” à Ini anak bapak à Like father like son.

The major events he witnessed:

Once, Rasul Allahu -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- was doing hijama (berbekam/cupping) and asked ibn Azzubayr to throw away the blood. Ibn Azzubayr did not want to throw the Prophet’s noble blood to the ground (out of his love to the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and decided to drink it. Salman al-Farisi saw it and told the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who then said, “No one drinks blood, but the fire of an-Naar will never touch my blood.”

During the battle of Mu’tah against 15,000 Roman army, three generals -Zayd ibn Harithah, Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, and ibn Rawahah – were killed. Khalid took the flag and retreated, so none were killed in it. However, Muslim had never retreated before, so the children and women came out of their houses, threw stones to the army, and closed the doors. They said, “Ya Furraar (those who run away from the war), go back and fight!” Ibn Azzubayr was among those who threw the stones. The Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- said, “A Muslim army is not allowed (to retreat back to the general army) except if it is part of the strategy of the war, and in this case, the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- was the army that they joined in.”

During the battle of Hunain, ibn Azzubayr were among those who stayed with Rasul Allah -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- when other Muslims ran away.

He did Hajj with the Prophet -sal Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam- when he was 10. People would ask him Hajj questions and he would directly quote from what he saw or experienced during that Hajj.

His participation in the conquests:

He was leader of many cavalries, saver of traders who were threatened.
During the battle of Yarmouk against the Roman, ibn Azzubayr, 12 years old, couldn’t fight because he was under 15.

o His father was trying to encourage the Muslim army, “How many Romans are there, and how many Muslims are there? Verily the people will be assisted due to their iman. Say, ‘How great is the Muslim and how few is the Roman?” Who’ll pay allegiance to fight against that?”
o A small group of Muslims went forward with him. All were killed except him. He did this twice and by the third time, no one came forward.
o He said to his son, “Get up on the horse. I’ll fight by myself.” Ibn Azzubayr directed the horse and his father fought the WHOLE army. They fought until they were in the middle of the Roman army and eventually at the other end. He went back and continued. It took him so long that the Muslims thought they were killed.
o Indeed, he returned and the Muslims army were pumped up and continued to fight again.
o Azzubayr was hit 17 times with sword.

Bersambung…….

May Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala grant us the spirit of Ibn Azzubayr. InshaAllah…

Wassalam,
LPCT