His name was actually Abd il Amr, the slave of Amr before Islam. Do you want to guess who it is? It is the man known as Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu ta’ala anhu. The next sahabi on this list, who was also a convert on the hands of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta’ala anhu.
He accepted Islam at a very young age, he was only 21 years old. He already had a connection to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam because his mother Ashifa, was actually the woman that delivered the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam at birth. So, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf did not have a hard time accepting Islam, he was already a person that was known for his purity. He was a person that was known for his generosity. He was a person that was known for always smiling, for always coming down to the level of the people, for always enjoying a good relationship with everyone in the community.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf was famous for one thing amongst Muslims, and that is that he was rich, but there comes responsibility with that. SubhanAllah, we find that he didn’t get rich by chance, so it’s not like he inherited this huge fortune, in fact, sources tell us that he was born to a very poor family. Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu had this mentality, that whenever he went with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam for the hijrah, and migrated to al-Medina, and RasulAllah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam paired the Ansar with the Muhajireen. He paired Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu with a man by the name of Sa’ad ibn Rabi’. Sa’ad ibn Rabi’ was a very generous Ansari, he told Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf, he said “look, I am the richest amongst the Ansar. So here, you can take half of my money, you can take half of my house, you can take half of my property, in fact I’ve got two wives, you can take one of them, tell me which one you want, and I’ll divorce her so you can marry her.” Abdur Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu, he wasn’t a freeloader, he actually was an earner. So he tells Sa’ad radiAllahu anhu, he says “بارك الله في أهلك ومالك” (barak Allahu fee ahli w maalik)- may Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala bless your family, and bless your wealth.” “لا حاجة لي بذلك” (laa ‘haajat lee bidhaalik) He said, “I don’t need any of that.” And he said the famous statement: “دلني على السوق” (dullanee ‘ala al sooq)- just show me to the marketplace. Now in Medina, it wasn’t easy for you to go to the marketplace and make things happen, because the سوق at that time, the marketplace, was dominated by Banu Quraydhah, and they weren’t going to let just any foreigner come and start making profit. But somehow Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu made his way into سوق and became a successful businessman, not in a matter of years, not in a matter of months, but in a matter of days. He was known radiAllahu ta’ala anhu as the man that could turn a stone over and find $50. Actually gold, not fifty dollars.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu shows up in front of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam just a few days after he goes to the marketplace, and he’s neatly groomed, he has some nice clothes on. RasulAllah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, he looks at him and he says “مهيم” (mahyam)- “مهيم” (mahyam) is like an expression of wow, what’s going on…Abdur-Rahman what happened? And Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu, who has just left everything behind in Mecca, and has only been for a few days in Medina, with the money he was able to make, he says, “Ya RasulAllah I got married.” The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, “You got married? With what?” He said that, “I gave a brick of gold for my mahr.” The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was shocked that he went and he made his money that fast, radiAllahu ta’ala anhu. So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam told him that he should have a walima, he should have a feast. Within days of the Muslims migrating to Medina, they were having a feast because Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf was able to already get himself settled, not freeloading off of anybody.
So we look at this person, radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, and truly think of the hadith of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, “اليد العليا خيرٌ من اليد السفلى” (al-yadd al-’ulyaa khayrun min al-yadd al-suflaa) that the upper hand, the giving hand is always better than the lower hand, which is the receiving hand. Now does that mean when Abdur-Rahman got rich, he stayed away from all the battles, and he said you know what, I’m going to sit back and I’m going to wait till the fundraiser, and I’ll dish out $10,000, and I’m going to let you guys do the work. Absolutely not. Abdur-Rahman radi Allahu anhu served in every battle with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Yes there were times that he gave so much money, and that’s what was recognized from him in battle, so for example in Tabuk, he was known as the one who came forth with twenty pounds of gold. But there were also times when he suffered wounds. In fact, just when he gave twenty pounds in Tabuk, in the Battle of Uhud he was one of the people that did not flee from the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and who received twenty wounds. And because of that, he would limp for the rest of his life.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf was someone who was very high in status in the sight of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. In fact, he has the distinction, that aside from Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, he is the only person that ever led the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in salah. Once the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam came back from a journey, and he prayed behind Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu ta’ala anhu. The sahaba were shocked, they didn’t know what to do, and the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam praised their action by continuing the salah. Abdur-Rahman did not know that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam had come, and this was the first time that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam prayed behind anyone. But, RasulAllah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam taught us the fiqh of missing a rakah of salah by doing so.
We look at that beautiful instance, and we see that RasulAllah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam truly loved Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. He held him in a high standard, obviously, counting him from amongst the “العشر المبشرين” (al ‘ashr al-mubashireen)- the 10 promised paradise. This love, this relationship continued after the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam passed away, because Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu was the one who took it upon himself to be the sponsor of the wives of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. He paid for everything for them. In fact, if the wives of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam wanted to make Hajj, Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu anhu was the one who facilitated that entire Hajj.
Aisha radiAllahu anha used to make dua for Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu, and say May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala grant him a drink from Salsabil, from the fountain of Paradise. So we see that this man, radiAllahu anhu, continued his generosity throughout, and would continue to earn and give, and earn and give, and earn and give. This is what he’s known for, sadaqa. RasulAllahu salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, anytime he asked for any money, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf always came forth. Whenever Abu Bakr asked for money, Abdur-Rahman came forth. When Umar asked for money, Abdur-Rahman came forth, radiAllahu ta’ala anhu.
In fact, the mushrikeen even mocked Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf at the time of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. They said Abdur-Rahman is “عظيم في الرياء” (‘adheem fee al-riya’a), he’s a great boaster, he loves to show off. Allah actually revealed an ayah to defend him. I wonder what that ayah is? Wait until the end of the video inshaAllah.
So we look at his life, radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, after the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and we see his continued generosity. And Aisha radiAllahu ta’ala anha, she narrates a beautiful incident, where one time as the people were in their homes, they heard Medina trembling. It wasn’t an earthquake, it was actually 700 camels that Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu ta’ala anhu had brought, and were fully loaded, and were given fi sabilillah (for the sake of Allah).. SubhanAllah, so this was a man that earned and who gave. Earned and gave. Now you might be thinking to yourself, wow subhanAllah, he must have dealt with some haram. He must’ve had some kind of tricks up his sleeve. But in fact, Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu ta’ala anhu said about himself, he said “تركنا نصف الحلال” (tarakna nisf al-halal), we left half of halal income “مخافة الربا” (makhafat al-ribaa) because we were afraid of al-riba. We were afraid of dealing in interest. So this was a person that earned halal, and I want you to really think about this for a moment, how halal is your income? And what do you do with your income? Because one of the things that the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said on the Day of Judgement that you will be asked about, “عن ماله” (‘an maalihi) about your money, “من أين اكتسبه” (min ayna iktasabahu) we know that he earned his money halal, “وفي ما أنفقه” (wa fee ma anfaqahu) and how you spent your money, and we always see Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu going forward, spending fisabilillah.
In fact, Talha radiAllahu anhu, he says about Abdur-Rahman, he says that the people of Medina were living off Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu ta’ala anhu. One-third of the people had debts to pay, and Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu anhu paid their debts for them. One-third of the people took loans from Abdur-Rahman, and Abdur-Rahman never asked for the money back. One-third of the people just took sadaqa from him, just took pure charity from him. So Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu was sponsoring the entire people of Medina. And you know what? RasulAllahu salAllahu alayhi wa sallam has mentioned to us, that some people will testify either for you or against you on the Day of Judgement.
Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu anhu, towards the end of his life, he fell unconscious and he had a dream. In that dream, he saw that the entire ummah was behind him. So he woke up, and the next day he passed away. Ali radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, he describes the site of janaza for Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. Imagine when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam says, the best of you are the one’s who benefit the people most. All of these people were praying on Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf radiAllahu anhu. These floods of people were coming from everywhere to pray on him because of how he benefitted them. And Ali radiAllahu anhu said about Abdur-Rahman, “وجبت له الجنة” (wajabat lahu al-jannah)- Paradise has become mandatory for this man who consistently gave fisabilillah. In fact, Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, when he passed away, I want you to look at the income that he had, the shares that he had just so you know, being rich is okay as long as it’s through halal income, and when you give fisabilillah. Abdur-Rahman radiAllahu ta’ala anhu, when he passed away, had 46 shares of inheritance. Each one of those shares of inheritance equaled 80,000 dirhams. You can do the math for yourself, but let’s try to implement this quality of halal income. You know, you work, you earn, you don’t depend on anyone else except Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, but then you spend fisabilillah. How can Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala grant you pure spirituality if your income, your means of livelihood is haram, and you’re not spending it in His path.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to purify our wealth, and to purify our hearts. Allahhumma ameen.
LIFE 