Biography of Abdullah ibn Rawahah

"What is this, O Messenger of Allah?"

He said: "The longing of the beloved for the beloved."

Musaddad narrated it, and Sulayman ibn Harb from him.

Husayn ibn Waqid: from Ibn Burayda, from his father:

That the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said: "I entered Paradise, and a young woman of age came to meet me.

I said: of whom are you?

She said: I belong to Zayd ibn Haritha."

Its isnad is good.

No. 37: Abd Allah ibn Rawaha ibn Tha'laba ibn Imri al-Qays, al-Ansari, ibn Tha'laba.

The commander, the fortunate, the martyr, Abu Amr al-Ansari, al-Khazraji, the Badri, the notable, the poet.

He narrates from the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and from Bilal.

The narrators of Abdullah ibn Rawahah

Those who narrated from him: Anas ibn Malik and al-Nu'man ibn Bashir; and who transmitted beyond him: Qays ibn Abi Hazim, Abu Salama ibn Abd al-Rahman, Ata ibn Yasar, Ikrima and others.

He was present at Badr and at the Aqaba.

He is also called Abu Muhammad and Abu Rawaha, and he had no offspring.

He is the maternal uncle of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir.

He was among the scribes of the Ansar.

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, appointed him governor of Medina in the campaign of Badr, the appointed meeting; and the Prophet, peace and the salutation be upon him, sent him on an expedition of thirty riders to Usayr ibn Rizam, the Jew of Khaybar, and he killed him.

Al-Waqidi said: the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, also sent him as a raider against Khaybar.

I say: that took place once, and it is possible, though remote, twice.

Qutayba said: Ibn Rawaha and Abu al-Darda were brothers by the mother.

Ahmad in his Musnad: Abd al-Samad narrated to us; Umar a narrated to us; Ziyad al-Namiri, from Anas, who said:

When Ibn Rawaha met a man of his companions he would say: "Come, let us believe for an hour."

One day he said it to a man, who became angry; he came to the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and said:

"Messenger of Allah! Do you not see Ibn Rawaha preferring your faith to belief for an hour?"

He said: "May Allah have mercy on Ibn Rawaha: he loves gatherings at which the angels vie in pride."

Hammad ibn Zayd: Thabit narrated to us, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla:

That Abd Allah ibn Rawaha came to the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, while he was delivering the sermon; he heard him say: "Sit down."

So he sat in his place outside the mosque until he had finished his sermon; that reached the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, who said: "May Allah increase your zeal to obey Allah and His Messenger."

Part of it was narrated, from Urwa, from Aisha.

Hammad ibn Salama: Abu Imran al-Jawni informed us:

That Abd Allah ibn Rawaha fainted.

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, came to him and said: "O Allah, if his term has come, make it easy for him; otherwise heal him."

He felt lightness and said: "Messenger of Allah! My mother said: let death take her, let her be tried! And an angel was raising an iron rake, saying: you are thus and so; had I said yes, he would have crushed me with it."

Abu al-Darda said: we would be on a journey with the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, on a burning day, and among the people there was none fasting except the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and Abd Allah ibn Rawaha.

More than one narrated it, from Umm al-Darda, from him.

Ma'mar: from Thabit, from Ibn Abi Layla, who said:

A man married the wife of Ibn Rawaha; he said to her: "Do you know why I married you? That you might tell me of the doing of Abd Allah in his house."

She mentioned something I do not remember, except that she said: when he wanted to leave his house he prayed two rak'as, and when he entered he prayed two rak'as, never leaving that.

Urwa said: when there came down "And the poets: the errant follow them", Ibn Rawaha said: I am one of them.

Allah then sent down: "Except those who believed and did righteous deeds."

Ibn Sirin said: the poets of the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, were Abd Allah ibn Rawaha, Hassan ibn Thabit and Ka'b ibn Malik.

The fight of Abdullah ibn Rawahah at Mu'tah

It is said: when the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, equipped the three commanders for Mu'tah, he said: "The commander is Zayd;

if he is struck, then Ja'far; if he is struck, then Ibn Rawaha."

When they were killed, Ibn Rawaha shrank from pressing forward, and he said:

"I have sworn, O my soul, that you shall descend
Willingly or not: you shall be compelled
Long have you been at ease:
Why do I see you loathing Paradise?"

He fought until he was killed.

Mudrik ibn Umar a said: Ibn Rawaha said:

"I passed before the mosque of the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and sat before him; he said: how do you recite verse when you wish to recite?"

"I said: I consider it, then recite."

"He said: then take the polytheists as your mark."

"I had prepared nothing, then I recited:

Inform me of the price of cloaks: when
Were you raiders, or when did Mudar submit to you?

"I saw him dislike that, that I had made his people the price of cloaks; so I said:

O Hashim of the good: Allah has raised you
Above the creation with a favor having no equal
I have scanned the good in you, I know it
With an insight that contradicted what they saw
Had you sought the aid of some of them
To decide your affair: they neither sheltered nor helped
May Allah make firm the good He gave you
He made firm Musa, and a help as of the helped"

He turned, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, with a joyous face and said: "And you, may Allah make you firm."

Ibn Sirin said: Hassan and Ka'b opposed the polytheists with words like theirs, about battles, days and exploits; Ibn Rawaha taunted them with unbelief and attributed it to them; when they embraced Islam and understood, it became harder for them.

Thabit: from Anas, who said:

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, entered Mecca in the umra of fulfillment, with Ibn Rawaha before him saying:

"Drive off the children of the disbelievers from his path
Today we strike you for his revelation
A blow that makes the delirious flee his resting place
And bewilders the friend amid his friends"

Umar said: Ibn Rawaha! In the sanctuary of Allah, before the Messenger of Allah, you recite poetry?

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said: "Leave him, O Umar: he is swifter against them than the showering of arrows."

And in a wording: "By Him in whose hand is my soul: his speech against them is stronger than the fall of arrows."

Ma'mar narrated it, from al-Zuhri, from Anas.

Al-Tirmidhi said: there has come, other than this hadith:

that the Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, entered Mecca in the umra of fulfillment, and it was Ka'b who said that.

He said: and this is more authentic with some of the people of knowledge, for Ibn Rawaha was killed on the day of Mu'tah,

and the umra of fulfillment took place after that.

I say: no; rather Mu'tah is after it by six months, definitively.

Abu Zur'a al-Dimashqi said: I said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal:

And the hadith of Anas: the Prophet, peace and the salutation be upon him, entered Mecca with Ibn Rawaha holding the bridle of his mount?

He said: it has no root.

And from Qays ibn Abi Hazim:

The Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, said to Ibn Rawaha: "Descend, and stir the stirrups."

He said: "Messenger of Allah! Yet I have left off my verse."

Umar said to him: "Hear and obey."

He descended and said:

"By Allah: without Allah we would not have been guided
Nor given alms, nor prayed

And he recited the rest of it.

Isma'il ibn Abi Khalid: from Qays, who said:

Ibn Rawaha wept, and his wife wept; he said: "What is with you?"

She said: "I weep for your weeping."

He said: "I know well that I shall arrive at the Fire,

and I do not know whether I shall be saved from it or not."

Al-Zuhri: from Sulayman ibn Yasar:

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, used to send Ibn Rawaha to Khaybar, and he was harsh between him and the Jews.

They gathered jewelry from their women and said: "This is for you: lighten our burden."

He said: "O company of Jews! By Allah, you are among Allah's creatures the most hateful to me; yet that will not move me to be indulgent with you: the bribe is unlawful gain."

They said: "By this the heaven and earth stand."

And Hammad ibn Salama: from Abd Allah, as I reckon, from Nafi', from Ibn Umar: its like.

Isma'il ibn Abd al-Rahman informed us; Muhammad ibn al-Musnad, at al-Mizza, informed him; Abd an ibn Razin informed; Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Faqih informed; Abd al-Wahhab ibn al-Husayn informed; al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Ubayd narrated; Muhammad ibn al-Abbas al-Zaydi narrated; Muhammad ibn Harb narrated; Muhammad ibn Iyad narrated; Abd al-Aziz, the nephew of al-Majishun, narrated:

It has reached us that Abd Allah ibn Rawaha had a slave woman whom he kept hidden from his family; one day his wife saw him alone with her and said: "You have chosen your slave over your free woman?"

He disputed that with her.

She said: "If you are truthful, then recite a verse of the Qur'an."

He said:

"I bear witness that the promise of Allah is true
And that the Fire is the abode of the disbelievers"

She said: "Recite me another verse."

He said:

"And that the Throne floated above the water
And above the Throne is the Lord of the worlds
Noble angels bear it
The angels of Allah, brought near"

She said: "I believe in Allah and call the sight a lie."

She came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, and told him; he laughed, without changing toward him.

Ibn Wahb: Usama ibn Zayd narrated to me that Nafi' had told him, who said:

Ibn Rawaha had a wife and feared her; he had a slave woman, and he transgressed with her; she said to him, and he said: "Glory be to Allah!"

She said: "Recite to me, then: you are in major impurity."

He said:

"I bear witness, by the permission of Allah, that Muhammad
Is the messenger of Him who is above the heavens, the Most High
And that Abu Yahya and Yahya, both
Have with their Lord a deed accepted"

And it was narrated to Hassan.

Sharik: from al-Miqdam ibn Shurayh, from his father, from Aisha:

The Prophet, peace and the salutation of Allah be upon him, would cite the poetry of Abd Allah ibn Rawaha, and would sometimes say:

"And to you come the news those you did not provision [...]

Ibn Ishaq: Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubayr narrated to us, from Urwa, who said:

He then took the banner, meaning after the death of its bearer.

He said: he turned half his turnings, then advanced with it upon his horse, beginning to yield his soul, and wavering with it somewhat.

He said: Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr ibn Hazm narrated to me:

That he said at that moment:

"I have sworn by Allah that you shall descend
Willingly or not: you shall be compelled
If the people are routed and the cry is strained
Why do I see you loathing Paradise?
Long you have been at ease: are you anything
But a drop in a water-skin?"

Then he descended and fought until he was killed.