Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum

A Blind man, Allah the almighty has revealed 16 verses in his regard. They are being recited and going to be recited for ever.

Who is that to cause a hard and painful blame addressed to the prophet (s) by Allah the almighty from above the seven skies.?

Who is that, that Gabriel transmitted revelation about him to the prophet(S) ?

He is Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum, the prayer caller of the prophet (s)…

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Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum is from the “Quraish” tribe in Makka, and he is a far relative of the prophet (s),  (the maternal cousin of khadija (r) bint khuwailid, the wife of the prophet); his father was Kays ibn za’eda, his mother was A’atika bint abdullah, who was nicknamed Oum Maktoum, as her son was born blind.

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Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum, witnessed the light rise in makkah,  been guided to faith, and was one of those early converted to Islam.

He showed great sense of firmness and sacrifice to share the pain with all the muslims at that time in Makkah …

He witnessed along with all his fellow brothers all the kinds of persecution under Quraish tribesmen’s cruelty and brutality… without giving up or losing faith in Islam… On the contrary, that was a motivation to outstand this and be so perseverant for Allah’s sake and Islam…

He was so keen on attending the prophet’s preaches and teachings, and learning Quran by heart… he was so persisting in knowing everything related to Islam…

The prophet (s) had been so busy in keeping off Quraish Masters persecution, and at the same time sticking to their conversion to Islam. So, one day he met Outba ibn Rabiaa, his brother shayba, Amrou ibn Hisham known as Abu Jahel, Oumayya ibn khalaf and Al-waleed ibn al mougheera (the father of khalid Ibn Al waleed), and the prophet started  preaching them, expecting them to respond positively, or at least stop persecuting his followers.

While being involved in this, Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum, joined him asking to hear from him some verses of the Quran.

Somehow, The prophet (s) did not give him any attention; instead he frowns on his request, and went on for preaching those people of quraish.

Once the prophet finished talking to them, Allah the almighty caught some of his sight power, and let him feel something beating at the head… and reveal to him: (Quran: 80 /1-16)

The Prophet) frowned and turned away, because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)? Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, To him dost thou attend, Though it is no blame to thee if he grow not (in spiritual understanding). But as to him who came to thee striving earnestly, And with fear (in his heart, Of him wast thou unmindful. By no means (should it be so)! For it is indeed a Message of instruction: Therefore let whoso will, keep it in remembrance. (It is) in Books held (greatly) in honour, Exalted (in dignity), kept pure and holy, (Written) by the hands of scribes- Honourable and Pious and Just.

Gabriel the angel, transmitted 16 full verses to the prophet (s), all of them were about Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum, and still being recited since been revealed up today, and still going to be recited forever…

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Ever since, the prophet received heartily Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum whenever he comes for visit; keen on always caring for him, and satisfying his demands.

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The time Quraish got tight to the prophet and his followers, Allah ordered his prophet (s) to immigrate, and Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum was the first to leave his land for the sake of Islam…

Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum and Mouss’ab ibn Oumayr, were the first of the prophet’s companions to arrive to al madina.

The time Abdullah got to “yathreb” (nowadays known as al madina), he started with Mouss’ab ibn Oumayr approaching people, telling them about Allah’s religion and reciting for them some of Quran’s verses.

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So once the prophet got finally to al madina, he appointed Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum and Bilal ibn Rabah as the callers for prayers. So they did five times daily, Bilal making prayer call (athan) and Abdullah was raising (Eqamat) the prayer, or vice versa…

Abdullah and Bilal were so uselful to people especially in Ramadan. Muslims in al madina were taking their “souhour” (a meal eaten before the al fajer prayer) at the call of one of them, and give up eating at the call of the second…

The generosity of the prophet to Abdullah was to a level as to appoint him to look after the people’s affair, whenever there was any need for his absence…

After the battle of “bader” Allah revealed to his prophet some new verses… praising and preferring those who fought for Allah’s sake to those who stayed back, just to motivate the first ones for more perseverance; this badly affected Abdullah, as to be deprived from such a favor… and told the prophet that if he wasn’t handicapped, he would have gone for fighting; so mournful, he asked Allah with a humble heart to reveal some verses about his case…

Allah soon realized his demand…

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Zayd ibn Thabit, the revelation writer, mentioned the following narration:

“I was beside the prophet (s) the time he was receiving a revelation, and after a while he ordered me to write:

[“Those of the believers who sit still, - still this part of the verse was not yet revealed: “other than those who have a (disabling) hurt” -, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah with their wealth and lives”.

Abdullah ibn Maktoum inquired to the prophet as how could that be possible with someone like him… unable at all to go to fight… shortly after, the revelation continues, and the prophet (s) ordered me to write: “Those of the believers who sit still, other than those who have a (disabling) hurt, are not on an equality with those who strive in the way of Allah with their wealth and lives. Allah hath conferred on those who strive with their wealth and lives a rank above the sedentary. Unto each Allah hath promised good, but He hath bestowed on those who strive a great reward above the sedentary”.

Still, even though Abdullah was exempted from fighting, he did not feel that ease as he devouringly wishes to join the fighters, nomatterhow that would cost him…

So he was so eager to not miss any battle, and assigned to himself a fixed function at the battlefield, so he always asked his companions to set him between the ranks and give him the flag to raise it, as he is blind he could not run away.

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At the fourteenth year of Hijra, Omar (r) decided to go for a battle against the Persians, and wrote to his governors saying: never let behind anyone having an arm or a horse or anything to help with… and just send him to me as soon as possible.

So the Muslims started gathering coming from allover the country… and among them was the Abdullah ibn Oum Maktoum.

Omar (r) appointed Saad ibn abi wakkas at the leadership of the army.

Once the army reached Al-Qadissiya, Abdullah appeared in his full armor, as a normal warrior would do, raising the flag…

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So the two armies met in a clash battle that took three days time… the third day ended with a clear Muslim victory against one of the biggest and powerful armies at that time… and the Monotheism flag flickered in the paganism land.

Of course the cost was so many martyrs… Abdullah was included among them… he was found bloodstained and hugging the Muslim’s flag.