Mus'ab ibn 'Umair - The First Envoy of Islam  

Historians and narrators describe Mus'ab as the most
charming of the Makkans, the most handsome and youthful,
the flower of the Quraish! He was born and brought up in
wealth, grew up with its luxuries, pampered by his parents,
the talk of the ladies of Makkah, the jewel of its clubs
and assemblies.

The youth heard one day about Muhammad the Truthful sent by
Allah as bearer of glad tidings and a warner to call them o
the worship of One God. When Makkah slept and awoke, there
were no other talk but the Prophet and his religion and
this spoiled boy was one of the most attentive listeners.
That was because, although he was young, the outward
appearance of wisdom and common sense were among the traits
of Mus'ab.

He went one night to the house of Al-Arqam Ibn Al-Arqam,
yearning and anxious. There, the Prophet was meeting his
Companions, reciting the Quran to them and praying with
them to Allah the Most Exalted.Mus'ab had hardly taken his
seat and contemplated the verses of the Quran recited by
the Prophet when his heart became the promised heart that
night. The pleasure almost flung him from his seat as he
was filled with a wild ecstasy. But the Prophet patted his
throbbing heart with his blessed right hand, and the
silence of the ocean's depth filled his heart. In the
twinkling of an eye, the youth who had just become Muslim
appeared to have more wisdom than his age and a
determination that would change the course of time.

Mus'ab's mother was Khunaas Bint Maalik and people feared
her almost to the point of terror because she possessed a
strong personality. Mus'ab was satisfied with his faith and
avoided the anger of his mother who had knowledge of his
embracing Islam. He continued to frequent Daar Al-Arqam and
take lessons from the Prophet. The news eventually reached
his mother who was astonished by it. His mother aimed a
heavy blow on him. However, his mother, under the pressure
of her motherliness, spared him the beating and the pain,
although it was within her power to avenge her gods whom he
had abandoned. Instead, she took him to a rough corner of
her house and shut him in it. She put shackles on him and
imprisoned him there.

Mus'ab heard the news of the emigration of some of the
believers to Abyssinia and managed to delude his mother and
his guards, and so escaped to Abyssinia with his fellow
emigrants. Later, he returned to Makkah and emigrated again
for the second time under the advice of the Prophet. Mus'ab
became confident that his life had been good enough to be
offered as a sacrifice to the Supreme Originator and great
Creator. He went out one day to some Muslims while they
were sitting around the Prophet, and no sooner did they see
him than they lowered their heads and shed some tears
because they saw him wearing wornout garments. They were
accustomed to his former appearance before he had become a
Muslim, when his clothes had been like garden flowers,
elegant and fragrant. The Prophet saw him with the eyes of
wisdom, thankful and loving, and his lips smiled gracefully
as 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!"

His mother had withheld from him all the luxury he had been
overwhelmed by, when she could not return him to her
religion. Her last connection with him was when she tried
to imprison him for a second time after his return from
Abyssinia, and he swore that if she did that, he would kill
all those who came to her aid to lock him up. She knew the
truth of his determination when he was intent and decided
to do something, and so she bade him goodbye weeping. When
she said to him, "Go away, I am no longer your mother,"
Mus'ab went close to her and said, "O Mother, I am advising
you and my heart is with you, please bear witness that
there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant
and messenger." She replied to him, angrily raging, "By the
stars, I will never enter your religion, to degrade my
status and weaken my senses!" So Mus'ab left the great
luxury in which he had been living. He became satisfied
with a hard life he had never seen before, wearing the
roughest clothes, eating one day and going hungry another.
This spirit, which was grounded in the strongest faith,
adorned with the light of Allah, made him another man, one
who appeals to the eyes of other great souls.

While he was in this state, the Prophet commissioned him
with the greatest mission of his life, which was to be his
envoy to Al-Madinah. His mission was to instruct the Ansar
who believed in the Prophet and had pledged their
allegiance to him at 'Aqabah, to call others to Islam, and
to prepare Al-Madinah for the day of the great Hijrah.
There were among the Companions of the Prophet at that time
who older than Mus'ab and more prominent and nearer to the
Prophet by family relations but the Prophet chose Mus'ab
the Good. Mus'ab was equal to the task and trust which
Allah had given him and he was equipped with an excellent
mind and noble character. He won the hearts of the
Madinites with his piety, uprightness and sincerity. And so
they embraced the religion of Allah in flocks. At the time
the Prophet sent him there, only 12 Muslims had pledged
allegiance to the Prophet. During the next pilgrimage
season, a few months after that, the Madinite Muslims sent
a delegation of 70 believing men and women to Makkah to
meet the Prophet. They came with their teacher and their
Prophet's envoy, Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair. Mus'ab had proven, by
his good sense and excellence, that the Prophet knew well
how to choose his envoys and teachers.

The days and years passed by. The Prophet and his
Companions emigrated to Al-Madinah, and the Quraish were
raging with envy and the Battle of Badr took place, in
which they were taught a lesson and lost their strong hold.
After that, they prepared themselves for revenge and thus
came the Battle of Uhud. The Prophet chose Mus'ab to bear
the standard and he advanced and carried it. The terrible
battle was raging, the fighting furious. The archers
disregarded the orders of the Prophet by leaving their
positions on the mountain when they saw the polytheists
withdrawing as if defeated. But this act of theirs soon
turned the victory of the Muslims to defeat. The Muslims
were taken at unawares by the cavalry of the Quraish at the
mountain top, and many Muslims were killed by the swords of
the polytheists as a consequence.

When they saw the confusion and horror splitting the ranks
of the Muslims, the polytheists concentrated on the Prophet
of Allah to finish him off. Mus'ab saw the impending
threat, so he raised the standard high, shouting, "Allahu
Akbar! Allah is the Greatest!" like the roar of a lion. He
turned and jumped left and right, fighting and killing the
foe. All he wanted was to draw the attention of the enemy
to himself in order to turn their attention away from the
Prophet. He thus became as a whole army in himself. Nay,
Mus'ab went alone to fight as if he were an army of giants
raising the standard in sanctity with one hand, striking
with his sword with the other. But the enemies were
multiplying on him. They wanted to step on his corpse so
that they could find the Prophet.

Let us allow a living witness to describe for us the last
scene of Mus'ab the Great. Ibn Sa'd said : Ibrahim ibn
Muhammad related from his father, who said:

Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair carried the standard on the Day of Uhud.
When the Muslims were scattered, he stood fast until he met
Ibn Quma'ah who was a knight. He struck him on his right
hand and cut it off, but Mus'ab said, "And Muhammad is but
a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him"  He
carried the standard with his left hand and leaned on it.
He struck his left hand and cut it off, and so he leaned on
the standard and held it with his upper arms to his chest,
all the while saying, "And Muhammad is but a Messenger.
Messengers have passed away before him". Then a third one
struck him with his spear, and the spear went through him.
Mus'ab fell and then the standard.

Nay, the cream of martyrdom had fallen! He fell after he
had struggled for the sake of Allah in the great battle of
sacrifice and faith. He had thought that if he fell, he
would be a stepping stone to the death of the Prophet
because he would be without defence and protection. But he
put himself in harm's way for the sake of the Prophet.
Overpowered by his fear for and love of him, he continued
to say with every sword stroke that fell on him from the
foe, "And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have
passed away before him" This verse was revealed later,
after he had spoken it.

After the bitter battle, they found the corpse of the
upright martyr lying with his face in the dust, as if he
feared to look while harm fell to the Prophet. So he hid
his face so that he would avoid the scene. Or perhaps, he
was shy when he fell as a martyr, before making sure of the
safety of the Prophet of Allah, and before serving to the
very end, guarding and protecting him. The Prophet and his
Companions came to inspect the scene of the battle and bid
farewell to the martyrs. Pausing at Mus'ab's body, many
tears dripped from the Prophet's eyes.

Khabbaab ibn Al-Arat narrated: We emigrated with the
Prophet for Allah's cause, so our reward became due with
Allah. Some of us passed away without enjoying anything in
this life of his reward, and of them was Mus'ab ibn 'Umair,
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."

The Prophet stood at the remains of Mus'ab ibn 'Umair
saying, while his eyes were flowing with tears, love and
loyalty, "Among the believers are men who have been true to
their covenant with Allah" (33:23) Then he gave a sad look
at the garment in which he was shrouded and said, " 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!" Then the Prophet looked at all
the martyrs in the battlefield and said, "The Prophet of
Allah witnesses that you are martyrs to Allah on the Day of
Resurrection." Then he gathered his living Companions
around him and said, "O people, visit them, come to them,
and salute them. By Allah, no Muslim will salute them but
that they will salute him in return."

Peace be on you, O Mus'ab. Peace be on you, O Martyrs.
Peace and blessings of Allah be upon you!

(Adapted from Men around the Messenger by Khalid Muhammed
Khalid)

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