This is the first of the articles in the Youth of Islam series. We InshaAllah hope to add more articles on the great sons and daughters of Islam that history has produced. It is sad to know that the youth of today would know more about the life of a celebrity than they would about these illustrious youth, the likes of which are desperately needed in the world today. We sincerely hope to break the stereotype in the minds of the people that pious individuals dont necessarily equate to old men with big beards and who have nothing else to do. Allaah says :“O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honourable of you with Allaah is that (believer) who has At‑Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqoon (the pious)]. Verily, Allaah is All‑Knowing, All‑Aware” The Holy Quran, Chapter 49, Verse 13 It was reported from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “There are seven whom Allaah will shade with His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His: the just ruler; a young man who grows up worshipping his Lord; a man whose heart is attached to the mosque; two men who love one another for the sake of Allaah and meet and part on that basis; a man who is called by a woman of rank and beauty and says ‘I fear Allaah’; a man who gives in charity and conceals it to such an extent that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives; and a man who remembers Allaah when he is alone, and his eyes fill up.” (Agreed upon, narrated by al- Bukhaari, no. 620; Muslim, no. 1712; and others). Urwah ibn az Zubair was a famous Taabiee (Successors of the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet(pbuh))) Hadith scholar who was born in the year 22AH of the Khilafa of Umar (ra) and died 94AH. His father was Az-Zubair ibn Awwam, one of the Ten Promised with Paradise. His mother was Asma daughter of Abu Bakr, and therefore his aunt was Aisha, the mother of the Believers from whom he benefited immensley. He also learnt from Ali bin Abi Talib, Abdur-Rahman bin Awf, Zaid bin Thabit, Abu Ayub Al-Ansari and many other sahaba until he became one of the seven Fuqaha (scholars of Fiqh or Islamic Jurisprudence) of Madinah upon whom the people depended. He would read a fourth of the Quran from a mushaf in the day and then he would repeat that by heart in his night prayers. And it is not known that he left this practice from his early youth (around the age of 14) to the day he died (at the age of 71), except on this one occasion: Urwah bin Zubayr was invited by the khalifah, al-Walid bin Abdul-Malik in Damascus. Urwah accepted the invitation and went with his eldest son Muhammad, who was one of the most handsome of men. When Muhammad was in the stable and admiring the khalifas fine horses, one of the horses trampled him to death. The griefstruck father had barely shaken off the dust from burying his son, when he developed gangrene of the foot. His leg became swollen and the gangrene began to spread at frightening speed. Al-Walid sent for the best doctors to cure his guest by any means possible. But the doctors were unanimously united on the fact that the only cure for him was amputation quickly before the gangrene spreads and kills him. Urwah seeing no other choice agreed. When the surgeon came to amputate his leg with his scalpel and saw, he said to Urwah: I think it would be appropiate for us to give you a mouthful of intoxicant so that you do not feel the excruciating pain of amputation. Urwah replied: No, I will not do that. I do not believe that anything forbidden can be a source of peace or happiness. So the doctor said, So we will give you some tranquilizer. Urwah replied: I do not wish to be deprived of one of my limbs without me feeling its pain, and therefore the reward I aspire for it from Allah. Then, just before the surgeon was about to cut his leg, a group of men came to them, so Urwah said: Who are these people? It was said to him, They have been sent for, so that they can hold you, since perhaps when the pain becomes severe, it might cause you to pull back your leg causing you harm. Urwah replied, Send them back! I have no need of them as I hope that as dhikr (rememberance of Allah) will suffice me of them. So the surgeon began by first cutting off his flesh with a scalpel and when he reached his bone, he started to saw. All that could be heard from Urwah was La-ilaha-illa-Allah (There is no god but God) and Allahu-akbar (God is the Greatest) until his leg was cut off. Urwah thent lost consciousness and fell into such a deep sleep that he did not read his normal portion of Quran that day. This was the only time when he did not perform his regular good deed. When he regained consciousness, he called for his amputated leg, kissed it and said while rubbing his hands over it: I swear by the One, Who mounted me on you, I never used you to walk to any place of wrong action or to any place where Allah would not like me to be. Then he gave instructions that the leg should be washed, perfumed, wrapped in a cloth and buried in the Muslim graveyard. Urwah was carried to his hometown of Madinah where the people and his family gathered to meet him, whereupon he promptly said: Do not be frightened with what you see. Allah has bestowed upon me four sons and He has taken back one and allowed me to remain with three, so for Him is the Praise. Allah has given me four limbs and has taken one and allowed me to remain with three, so for Him is the praise. I swear to you by Allah, that if he has taken from me a little, then he has caused to remain with me much, and if he has tried me once then he has forgiven me many times. Many people came to him to offer their condolences but of the best words given were those of Ibrahim bin Muhammad bin Talha, when he said: Receive the glad tidings! O Abu Abdullah (his kunya) one of your limbs and one of your sons has preceded you to Paradise… and behind that which has gone, the others shall follow inshallah… and Allah has caused to remain for us from you that which we are in need of and that which we cannot do without, and that is your knowledge, your understanding and your opinion… May Allah continue to benefit us with it
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 09:42:50 +0000