Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh (Arabic: عبد الله بن جحش) (c. 586 625)[1] was a cousin and companion of Muhammad.

Introduction

He was the son of Jahsh ibn Riyab, an immigrant to Mecca from the Asad tribe,[2] and Umama bint Abdulmuttalib, a member of the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. One of his sisters was Zaynab bint Jahsh, a wife of Muhammad.[3] He is described as "neither tall nor short and had a lot of hair."[4]

Family

He married Fatima bint Abi Hubaysh,[5] who was a cousin of Khadija from the Asad clan of the Quraysh,[6] and they had one son, Muhammad.[7]

Embrace of Islam

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh embraced Islam under the influence of Abu Bakr.[8] He joined other Muslims in the second emigration to Abyssina in 616.[9] He returned to Mecca in late 619 and was one of the first to emigrate to Medina in 622.[10]

Battles during Muhammad's era

Muhammad dispatched Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh on the Nakhla Raid in Rajab 2 A.H. (January 624), together with seven other Emigrants and six camels. Muhammad gave Abd-Allah a letter, with instructions not to read it until he had travelled for two days, but then to follow its instructions without putting pressure on his companions. After Abd-Allah had proceeded for two days, he duly opened the letter; it told him to proceed until he reached at Nakhla, between Mecca and Taif, lie in wait for the Quraysh and observe what they were doing. When the Quraysh caravan passed through Nakhlah, Abd-Allah urged his companions to attack the merchants despite the fact that it was still the sacred month of Rajab, when fighting was forbidden. In the battle, one of the Quraysh merchants was killed and two others were captured, along with all the merchandise. At first Muhammad rebuked Abd-Allah, saying, “I did not instruct you to fight in the sacred month.” But later he announced a new revelation:

“They ask you concerning fighting in the sacred months (i.e. 1st, 7th, 11th and 12th months of the Islamic calendar). Say, ‘Fighting therein is a great (transgression) but a greater (transgression) with Allâh is to prevent mankind from following the way of Allâh, to disbelieve in Him, to prevent access to Al-Masjid-Al-Harâm (at Makkah), and to drive out its inhabitants, and Al-Fitnah is worse than killing.” [Quran 2:217][11][12][13][14][15]

Later Abd-Allah was among those who fought at the Battle of Badr.[16]

Death

Abd-Allah ibn Jahsh was killed in the battle of Uhud by Akhnas ibn Shariq.[17] According to his family, his opponents mutilated his corpse by cutting off his nose and ears.[18]

References

  1. Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). The Companions of Badr, p. 68. London: Ta-Ha Publishers. “Abdullah was about forty on the day he was killed."
  2. Muhammad ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). The Life of Muhammad, p. 116. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. Muhammad ibn Saad, Tabaqat vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). The Women of Madina, p. 33. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.
  4. Bewley/Saad vol. 3 p. 68.
  5. Bewley/Saad vol. 8 p. 173.
  6. Guillaume/Ishaq pp. 82, 339.
  7. Guillaume/Ishaq, p. 215.
  8. Guillaume/Ishaq p. 116.
  9. Guillaume/Ishaq, p. 146.
  10. Guillaume/Ishaq, p. 215.
  11. Guillaume/Ibn Ishaq, pp. 286-289.
  12. Mubarakpuri, The Sealed Nectar (Free Version), pp. 126, 129
  13. Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman Al (2005), The sealed nectar: biography of the Noble Prophet, Darussalam Publications, p. 245-246, ISBN 978-9960-899-55-8
  14. Nakhla Raid Quran Verse, 2008
  15. Hawarey, Dr. Mosab (2010), The Journey of Prophecy; Days of Peace and War (Arabic), Islamic Book Trust, ISBN 9781453537855Note: Book contains a list of battles of Muhammad in Arabic, English translation available here
  16. Guillaume/Ishaq p. 328.
  17. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OMvm-P93CZgJ:forums.almaghrib.org/printthread.php%3Ft%3D1963+%22Akhnas+ibn%22&hl=sv&gl=se&ct=clnk&cd=63
  18. Guillaume/Ishaq, pp. 387-388, 401.

External links


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