In spite of the fact that
he fought in the battles of Badr, Uhud,
Khandaq and other major encounters, an-Nuayman
remained a light-hearted person who was
quick at repartee and who loved to play
practical jokes on others.
He belonged to the
Banu an-Najjar of Madinah and he was
among the early Muslims of the city. He
was one of those who pledged allegiance
to the Prophet at the Second Pledge of
Aqabah. He established links with the
Quraysh when he married the sister of
Abdur Rahman ibn Awl and later Umm
Kulthum the daughter of Uqbah ibn Mu'ayt.
She had obtained a divorce from her
husband az-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam on
account of his harshness and severity.
Unfortunately for a
time an-Nuayman became addicted to
alcohol. He was caught drinking and the
Prophet had him flogged. He was caught a
second time and then he had him flogged
again. Because he still did not give up
the habit, the Prophet ordered that he
be flogged with shoes. When all this did
not persuade him to stop drinking, the
Prophet finally said: "If he goes
back (to drinking) then kill him."
This was a severe
Pronouncement and Umayr, one of the
companions of the Prophet, understood
from it that should he return to the
drinking of alcohol, an-Nuayman would go
outside the pale of Islam and deserve
death. Umayr gave vent to his anger and
disgust by saying: "La 'nat Allah
alayhi - may God's curse be on
him."
The Prophet heard
Umayr's imprecation and said: "No,
no, don't do (such a thing). Indeed he
loves God and His Apostle. The major sin
(as this) does not put one outside the
community and the mercy of God is close
to the believers."
While being firm, the
Prophet still held out hope for an-Nuayman's
reform especially on account of his past
sacrifices as a veteran of Badr. Because
he was not someone who went out of his
way to conceal his actions, it was
easier for him to acknowledge his crimes
and repent and seek forgiveness from
God. This he did and he won the favor of
the Prophet and his companions who
enjoyed his pleasantries and his
infectious laughter.
Once an-Nuayman went
to the suq and saw some food being sold
which appeared to be tasty and
delightful. He ordered some and sent it
to the Prophet as if it were a gift from
him. The Prophet was delighted with the
food and he and his family ate of it.
The vendor of the food then came to an-Nuayman
to collect the price of it and an-Nuayman
said to him: "Go to the Messenger
of God it was for him. He and his family
ate it."
The vendor went to the
Prophet who in turn asked an-Nuayman:
"Didn't you give it to me?"
"Yes," said an-Nuayman.
"I thought you would like it and I
wanted you to eat some of it so I had it
presented to you. But I don't have any
dirhams to pay the vendor for it. So,
pay, O Messenger of God!"
The Prophet had a good
laugh and so did his companions. The
laugh was at his expense, literally, for
he had to pay the price of the
unsolicited gift. An-Nuayman felt that
two benefits came out of the incident:
the Prophet and his family ate food that
they enjoyed and the Muslims had a good
laugh.
Once Abu Bakr and some
companions went on a trading expedition
to Busra. Various people on the trip
were given fixed duties. Suwaybit ibn
Harmalah was made responsible for food
and provisions. An-Nuayman was one of
the group and on the way he became
hungry and asked Suwaybit for some food.
Suwaybit refused and an-Nuayman said to
him:
"Do you know what
I would yet do with you?" and went
on to warn and threaten him but still
Suwaybit refused. An-Nuayman then went
to a group of Arabs in the suq and said
to them: "Would you like to have a
strong and sturdy slave whom I can sell
to you." They said yes and an-Nuayman
went on: "He has got a ready tongue
and is very articulate. He would resist
you and say: 'I am free.' But don't
listen
to him"
The men paid the price
of the slave - ten qala'is (pieces of
gold) and an-Nuayman accepted it and
appeared to complete the transaction
with business-like efficiency. The
buyers accompanied him to fetch theft
purchase. Pointing to Suwaybit, he said:
"This is the slave whom I sold to
you."
The men took hold of
Suwaybit and he shouted for dear life
and freedom. "I am free. I am
Suwaybit ibn Harmalah..."
But they paid no
attention to him and dragged him off by
the neck as they would have done with
any slave.
All the while, an-Nuayman
did not laugh or batter an eyelid. He
remained completely calm and serious
while Suwaybit continued to protest
bitterly. Suwaybit's fellow travellers,
realizing what was happening, rushed to
fetch Abu Bakr, the leader of the
caravan, who came running as fast as he
could. He explained to the purchasers
what had happened and so they released
Suwaybit and had their money returned.
Abu Bakr then laughed heartily and so
did Suwaybit and an-Nuayman. Back in
Madinah, when the episode was recounted
to the Prophet and his companions, they
all laughed even more.
A man once came to the
Prophet on a delegation and tethered his
camel at the door of the Masjid. The
Sahabah noticed that the camel had a
large fat hump and their appetite for
succulent tasty meat was stimulated.
They turned to Nuayman and asked:
"Would you deal with this
camel?"
An-Nuayman understood
what they meant. He got up and
slaughtered the camel. The nomad Arab
came out and realized what had happened
when he saw people grilling, sharing out
and eating meat. He shouted in distress:
"Waa 'aqraah! Waa Naqataah! (O my
camel!)"
The Prophet heard the
commotion and came out. He learnt from
the Sahabah what had happened and began
searching for an-Nuayman but did not
find him. Afraid of being blamed and
punished, an-Nuayman had fled. The
Prophet then followed his footprints.
These led to a garden belonging to
Danbaah the daughter of az-Zubayr, a
cousin of the Prophet. He asked the
companions where an-Nuayman was.
Pointing to a nearby ditch, they said
loudly so as not to alert an-Nuayman:
"We haven't found him, O Messenger
of God." An-Nuayman was found in
the ditch covered with palm branches and
leaves and emerged with dirt on his
head, beard and face. He stood in the
presence of the Prophet who took him by
the head and dusted the dirt from his
face while he chuckled with laughter.
The companions joined in the mirth. The
Prophet paid the price of the camel to
its owner and they all joined in the
feast.
The Prophet obviously
regarded an-Nuayman's pranks for what
they were light-hearted sallies that
were meant to create some relief and
laughter. The religion of Islam does not
require people to disdain seemly
laughter and levity and remain
perpetually gloomy. An appropriate sense
of humor is often a saving grace.
An-Nuayman lived on
after the Prophet and continued to enjoy
the affection of Muslims. But did he put
an end to his laughter? During the
caliphate of Uthman, a group of Sahabah
were sitting in the Masjid. They saw
Makhramah ibn Nawfal, an old man who was
about one hundred and fifteen years old
and obviously rather senile. He was
related to the sister of Abdur-Rahman
ibn Awl, who was a wife of an-Nuayman.
Makhramah was blind.
He was so weak that he could hardly move
from his place in the Masjid. He got up
to urinate and might have done so in the
Masjid. But the companions shouted at
him to prevent him from doing so.. An-Nuayman
got up and went to take him to another
place, as he was instructed. What is
this other place that an-Nuayman took
him to? In fact he took him only a short
distance away from where he was sitting
at first and sat him down.
The place was still in
the Masjid!
People shouted at
Makhramah and made him get up again all
in a frenzy. The poor old man was
distressed and said: "Who has done
this?" "An-Nuayman ibn Amr,"
he was told.
The old man swore and
announced that he would bash an-Nuayman
on the head with his stick if he should
meet him.
An-Nuayman left and
returned. He was up to some prank of his
again. He saw Uthman ibn Allan, the Amir
al-Muminim, performing Salat in the
Masjid. Uthman was never distracted when
he stood for Prayer. An-Nuayman also saw
Makhramah. He went up to him and in a
changed voice said: "Do you want to
get at an-Nuayman?"
The old man remembered
what an-Nuayman had done. He remembered
his vow and shouted: "Yes, where is
he?" An-Nuayman took him by the
hand and led him to the place where the
Khalifah Uthman stood and said to him:
"Here he is!"
The old man raised his
staff and bashed the head of
Uthman. Blood flowed
and the people shouted: "It's the
Amir al-Muminin!"
The dragged Makhramah
away and some people set out to get an-Nuayman
but Uthman restrained them and asked
them to leave him alone. In spite of the
blows he had suffered, he was still able
to laugh at the deeds of an-Nuayman.
An-Nuayman lived up to
the time of Muawiyah when fitnah
saddened him and discord filled him with
anguish. He lost his levity and laughed
no more.
Sheikh Abdulfattah Abu-Abdullah Adelabu (Ph. D. Damas),
a West African Islamic Academic founded AWQAF Africa, of
which he's the first al Amir (i.e. President).
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was studying Postgraduate Degrees in
Damascus early 1990's during when Syria reviewed its
national security after an ‘Oslo Accord'...
Syria like many other countries around the world
witnessed, during this period, the flood of refugees
from war troubled nations like Somalia, arrival of
people from Algeria during the brutal struggling between
the Mujahidun and the government, resettlement of the
Palestinians fleeing from sophisticated guns of the
Israelis as well as adventure of African migrants for
reasons uncountable…
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