18. 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (1)

1 18. ABDULLAH IBN MAS ŪD 1 Abdullah A d Allāh ibn (son of) Mas ūd (‫ (عبده بن مسع د‬r.a. (d. 32/650) was one of the earlier companions (ṣaḥā ah) of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., and an the sixth person who converted to Islam. In his early life he used to tend the flocks of one of the leaders of the Quraysh in Makkah alled U ah i Mu a ṭ )‫ (ع ب بن معيط‬from early in the morning till nightfall. The o as used to e alled Ibn Umm A d (‫ إبن أ عبد‬the so of the othe of a sla e . He became āḍī of Kufa in about 642 CE. One day while tending the flocks, the young Abdullah was approached by two men unknown to him. They were the Prophet s.a.w. and his companion A ū Bak r.a. who were apparently very thirsty and tired. They had come to the mountains of Makkah to avoid the persecution of the Quraysh. They greeted him and asked if he could milk one of the sheep to quench their thirst. He said that he could not do that, because the sheep did not belong to him, and he was only responsible for looking after them. They were pleased with his honesty. Then they asked him if he had any young goat that did not have milk. He pointed at a goat, and they placed their hands on its udde s utte i g so e Qu ānic verses. To his amazement the udders became full of milk, and they drank and offered some to him. Then the udders shrank back as before, and the goat was released. Soon after he knew that they were the Prophet and his companion A ū Bak ho had o e to hi , he embraced Islam and quitted tending flocks. A dullah s othe offe ed the P ophet he so to se e hi which he agreed. Now, instead of looking after the sheep, he got a better job, looking after the needs of the Prophet s.a.w. inside as well as outside the house, and was closely attached to him. He became a special servant of the Prophet, helping him put on his shoes, accompanied him on his journeys and expeditions, woke him when he slept, provided cover when he washed, and attended other personal needs, that the ṣaḥā ah called him ṣāḥib al-si āk the ea e of the tooth ush , ṣāḥib al- a lay the ea e of the 2 slippe s , ṣāḥib al-muṭahhirah the ea e of the lea si g ate , and ṣāḥib al- isīdah the ea e of the ushio . He was allowed to e te the P ophet s house a ti e of the da o ight, that he was given more privileges than anyone else, and that some people thought the he as o e of the P ophet s household. He was entitled the “e eta of the P ophet as he as entrusted with his secrets. A dullah i Mas ūd had thin legs and was short that it was said that he was the same height of a tall man sitting. He once climbed a tree in a campaign to cut wood. When some people laughed at his legs the Prophet reproached them and said, Are you laughing at his thin legs? They will weigh heavier than Mount Uhud i the “ ales of the He eafte . A dullah i Mas ūd was the first man to recite aloud the o ds of the Qu ā before a gathering of the Quraysh. The eyewitness al-Zubayr related that one day that the Prophet's companions were gathered with the Prophet s.a.w. They said, "By Allah, the Quraysh have never heard the Qu ā being recited to them before. Isn't there any man to recite it so that they may hear it?" Thereupon A dullah i Mas ūd said, "I shall recite it for them They said, "We are afraid for you. We want a man with a clan to protect him from those people if they want to harm him." He said, "Let me go, Allah will protect me." Then he went to the Maqām Ibrahim (a landmark situated a few meters from the Ka bah) at the Ka bah and recited: ‫ الشمْس َ ْال َ َمر‬.‫ َع َمه ْال َب َي ن‬.‫اْ ْن َس َن‬ َ ْ‫ َع َ ْال ر‬.‫الرحْ َمن‬ ِ ْ َ َ ‫ َخ‬.‫آن‬ ) -1: ‫ان (النج‬ ِ ‫ َ النجْ َ الش َجر َيسْ ج َد‬.‫ِبحسْ َب ن‬ The Most Beneficent! Has taught the Qu ā . He created man. He taught him eloquent speech. The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each. And the herbs (or stars ) and the trees both prostrate (Q. 55: 1-6). 3 The Quraysh looked at him and said, "What does Ibn Umm Abd say? He is reciting some of what Muhammad came with." They went to him and began to beat him in the face while he was reciting till he finished whatever Allah wished him to recite from the surah. When he returned to his friends with his wound, they told him, "This is what we were afraid would happen to you." He answered them, "Those enemies of Allah have never been more worthless to me than this moment, and if you wish I will go back to them and do the same tomorrow." They said, "No, it is enough for you. You have made them hear what they hated." The Most Beneficent has taught the Qu ā means Allah taught the Prophet the Qu ā , and he in his turn taught it to his people. Allah made it easy to read and to remember (al-)ajjāj s interpretation). He created man ea s Ada a o di g to I A ās, Qatādah a d al-Ḥasan); another interpretation is human species. He taught him eloquent speech ea s: a es of e e thi g; all languages; explanation of ḥalāl (legal) from ḥa ā (illegal), of guidance from straying; explanation of the past and the future; explanation of good and bad (al-Ḍaḥḥā s interpretation); the explanation of what is beneficial and harmful to man (the i te p etatio of Qatādah a d al-‘a ī . Othe tha eloquent speech the term ayā also ea s u de sta di g which is peculiar to man, not to animals, and that Allah taught each people their languages (al-“uddī s i te p etatio . Muhammad Asad gives us more explanations about the term ayā . He said: The term al- ayā —de oti g the ea s whereby a thing is [intellectually] circumscribed and made clearer ‘āghi — applies to both thought in speech inasmuch as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things or ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in spoken or written language (Tāj al- A ūs : hence in the above context, a ti ulate thought a d spee h , e alli g the knowledge 4 of all the a es i.e., the fa ulty of o eptual thi ki g ith hi h a is e do ed … (M. Asad, The Message of the Qu ā , note. p. 824, n. 1) The sun and the moon run on their fixed courses (exactly) calculated with measured out stages for each ea s ithout the time and ages cannot be calculated (according to Ibn Zayd and Ibn Ka sā . And the herbs (or stars) and the trees both prostrate. The word ْ‫ النج‬is derived from the verb ‫ َن َج َ الشيْ ء َي ْنج نج ْ ًم‬, something appeared and emerged. The te al-najm ould e the he s and their prostration and that of the trees is the prostration of their shadows (al-Ḍaḥḥā s i te p etatio ; i a othe ie , he s prostration is their facing the sun while it is rising, their leaning until their shadows decrease (al-Fa ā s i te p etatio ; thei p ost atio is the turning of their shadows with them (al-)ajjāj s i te p etatio . The te al-najm ould also be the stars according to al-Ḥasan and Mujāhid and their prostration according to him is the rotation of their shadows. It is also said that the prostration of the stars is their setting, and the prostration of the trees is the harvesting of their fruit, as reported by al-Mā dī. In general all of them and the whole creature are subservient to Him. The term ‫ السج د‬p ost atio ea s ‫"( ْالخض ع‬submission, o edie e as epo ted al-Qusha ī. A o di g to al-Naḥḥās the original meaning of ‫ السج د‬p ost atio in Arabic language is ‫ل َعز َ َجل‬ to surrender and to submit to Allah the ِ ِ ‫ِاِسْ تِسْ ََ َ ِاِ ْن ِ َي د‬ Almighty, and everything surrenders to Him, including prostration in prayer. O e of as follow: a e a ples of the ast k o ledge of I Mas ūd is U a i al-Khaṭṭā i o e of his jou e s leading a caravan he met another caravan from the opposite direction where I Mas ūd was happened to be in it. It was fairly dark and he could not be seen properly. So he sent a messenger to find out the origin and the destination of the caravan. The said that the a e from ‫َف َج َع ِم ْي‬ 5 (fajj a ī , deep and distant mountain highway) , or from a far off destination. The expression ‫( َف َج َع ِم ْي‬fajj a ī ) was the Qu ā ic expression from which the pilgrims came.1 Their destination was " ‫( ْال َب ْي ْال َع ِت ْي‬al-bayt al- atī , the A ie t House, a el , the Ka ah ." The expression ‫( ْال َع ِت ْي‬al-bayt al- atī , the Ancient House was for the Ka ah to which the pilgrims intended to visit in their pilgrimage.2 U a r.a. realized that there was a scholar among them. So, he told someone to ask the person: "Which part of the Qu ā is the greatest?" )522:‫ (الب رة‬... ْ ‫ه َِ إِلَ َه إِِ ه َ ْال َحي ْال َي َِ َتأْخذه سِ َن َ َِ َن‬ Allah. There is no god except Him, the Living, the Self-subsisting. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep… (Q. 2:255) he replied quoting the Āyat al-Kursī (the verse of the Throne). "Which part of the Qu ā carries its essense? ْ )09:‫ (النحل‬... ‫اْحْ َس ِن َ إِي َت ِء ِذ ْال رْ َب‬ ِ ْ َ ‫إِن هَ َيأمر ِب ْل َع ْد ِل‬ Verily Allah enjoins you to be just and sacrifice for others and help your kinsfolk.… (Q. 16:90) was the answer. What it the most comprehensive statement of the Qu ā ? ) - : ‫ َ َمنْ َيعْ َم ْل م ِْث َ َل َذرة َش ًرا َي َره (الزلزل‬. ‫َف َمنْ َيعْ َم ْل م ِْث َ َل َذرة َخيْرً ا َي َره‬ So whoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it and whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it (Q. 99:7-8) was the answer. "Which of the Quranic verses evokes fear?" Allah said i the Qu a : ‫ِين مِنْ كل َفج‬ َ ‫ض مِر َيأْت‬ َ ‫س ِب ْل َحج َيأْت َ ِر َج ًِ َ َع َ كل‬ ِ ‫َ أَذنْ فِي الن‬ )5 :‫ َعمِي (الحج‬And proclaim to mankind the Hajj (pilgrimage). They will come to you on foot and on every lean camel, hey will come from every deep and distant (wide) mountain highway.(Q. 22:27) 2 Allah said i the Qu a : )50:‫ث ْل َي ْ ض ا َت َ َث ْ َ ْلي ف ا نذ َره ْ َ ْل َيط ف ا ِب ْل َب ْي ِ ْال َعتِي ِ (الحج‬ Then let them complete their prescribed duties (manasik of Hajj) and perform thei o s, a d i u a ulate the A ie t House the Ka ah (Q. 22:29). 1 6 َِ َ ‫ْس ِبأ َ َم نِيك ْ َ َِ أَ َم نِي أَهْ ِل ْال ِك َت ِ َمنْ َيعْ َم ْل س ءًا يجْ َز ِب ِه‬ َ ‫لَي‬ )151:‫ه َ ل ًِي َ َِ َنصِ يرً ا (النس ء‬ ِ ‫َي ِج ْد لَه مِنْ د ِن‬ It will not be in accordance with your desire (Muslims), nor those of the people of scripture (Jews and Christians) whosoever works evil have the recompense thereof and he will not find any protector or helper besides Allah (Q. 4:123) "Which part of the Qu ā inspires hope? ‫ه‬ ِ ِ ‫ِين أَسْ َرف ا َع َ أَ ْن سِ ِ ْ َِ َت ْ َنط ا مِنْ َرحْ َم‬ َ ‫ق ْل َي عِ َب ِد َ الذ‬ )21:‫ه َي ْغ ِر الذن َ َجمِي ًع إِنه ه َ ْال َغ ر الرحِي (الزمر‬ َ ‫إِن‬ Say, O my servants who have wasted their resources, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving, the Compassionate. (Q. 39:53) When Umar asked whether Abdullah ibn Mas ūd was among them, they replied, "Yes, indeed." (CIVIC, 5 June, 2015) ‫المراجع‬: ‫المكتب الش م‬ ‫ هـ‬119 . ( ‫)ت سير الطبر‬ ‫ هـ‬1 . ( ‫)ت سير ال رطب‬ Asad, Muha ad. The Message of the Qu ā . Gi alta : Da alAndalus, 1984 http://www.inter-islam.org/Biographies/abdullahibnmasood.htm http://sahabastories.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/abdullaah-ibnmasud-r-a.html http://www.islamiska.org/e/masud.htm http://www.sunnah.org/history/Sahaba/masud.html (Scanned from: "Companions of The Prophet", Vol.1, By: Abdul Wahid Hamid.) http://ahadith.co.uk/hadithbynarrator.php?n=Abdullah+bin+Masud &bid=1&let=A http://islamicencyclopedia.org/public/index/topicDetail/id/34 http://www.islamicvoice.com/december.2003/child.htm#abmj