بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
During the Battle of Uhud, when the Muslims were on the verge of defeat and were scattering, some flee the battlefield, Umm 'Umarah, Allah be well pleased with her, defended and protected the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that in whichever direction he turned in the battlefield he could see her defending and protecting him.
During this critical stage, she, along with her two sons, and husband tried to surround the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, in order to ward off any attack on him. She had a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. If the enemy had been on foot and not on horseback, they would have slain all of them. Umm 'Umarah was bleeding from the shoulder; the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, he asked 'Abdullah to bandage his mother's wound and said that they were a truly great family. He invoked Allah's blessings on them, and prayed "O Allah! Make this family my friends in Paradise." She suffered at least twelve major wounds--the deepest one was the one on her shoulder. It was so deep that she fainted. It took a year for the wound to heal. When she regained consciousness her first question was about the well being of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, not about her own sons or husband. When she learned that he was fine, she thanked Allah.
She fought in many other battles with the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, including the Khaybar, Hunayn and the opening of Makkah. After the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed away, she continued to fight in battles. During the caliphate of Abu Bakr Siddiq, Allah be well pleased with him, Umm 'Umarah was in the army against Musaylama al-Kadhab. She was about 60 years old at the time, and her son 'Abdullah bin Zaid was also with her; he was one of those who finally killed this man. During this battle her arm was cut off and she sustained eleven injuries. Khalid bin Walid, the General of the army, boiled some oil and immersed her arm in it to cure her wounded arm. Tell me if this is not painful! Imagine most of us can't even let the dentist work on your dental cavities without anesthesia! But for Umm 'Umarah, she bore this pain, and her happiness at the death of Musaylamah was much greater than her grief at the loss of her arm.
We cannot even begin to compare what we do for Islam with even one companion. But we can take steps to improve our love for Allah and His Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace. When we look at the sacrifices of this great woman companion, praying 5 times a day, waking up at night for tahajjud and Fajr, putting on the hijab for women, going to the masjid for prayers, fasting Mondays and Thursdays, reading the Qur'an everyday should not be too difficult. We only have to be a little bit stronger with our Iman. But by sitting doing nothing about it or busying ourselves with the world, it will not get us anywhere. We need to take the initiative to improve ourselves in the religion. We need to learn it, and learn it from qualified teachers, not simply from a hand-me-down knowledge or listening to a few lectures here and there. Interest yourself to read the seerah of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and read about the Companions. We should not let ourselves busy with worldly event and not know about the life of the Prophet and his Companions. Knowing their lives will be an Iman boost for you and will interest you to learn more inshaAllah. Always ask Allah to help us with this.
"But those who believe, and do righteous deeds, those are the best of creatures; their recompense is with their Lord-Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling for ever and ever. God is well-pleased with them, and they are well-pleased with Him; that is for him who fears his Lord." Quran Al-Bayyinah 98:8
May Allah increase our Imam and make us among the righteous. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
Wassalaam
