Does any of us know this man or have any
of us ever heard his name before? Most
probably, the majority of us, if not
all, have not heard his name mentioned
before. I imagine that you wonder, who
is Sa'iid Ibn 'Aamir? Well, you are
about to embark on a journey back in
time so as to find out all that there is
to be known about this "happy"
("Sa'id" means "happy
") man, so fasten your seat belts.
In short, Sa'iid was one of the
outstanding Companions of the Prophet (PBUH),
notwithstanding the fact that his name
was seldom, if ever, mentioned. He was
one of the most distinguished unknown
pious Companions. It was natural that
he, like all Muslims, would accompany
the Prophet (PBUH) in all his
expeditions and battles, for as a
believer, he could not lag or turn his
back on Allah's Prophet (PBUH) in peace
or war time. Shortly before the Conquest
of Khaibar, Sa'id submitted himself to
Islam. Ever since he embraced Islam and
gave his allegiance to the Prophet (PBUH)),
he consecrated his life, existence, and
destiny to the service of Islam. All the
great virtues of obedience, asceticism,
dignity, humbleness, piety, and pride
thrived harmoniously inside this pure
and kind man.
In our attempt to unveil his greatness,
we must bear in mind that, in most
cases, appearance contrasts with
reality. If we are to judge him by his
outer looks, we will not do him justice,
for he was definitely ill-favoured as
regards his appearance. He had dusty
uncombed hair. Nothing in his looks or
appearance distinguished him from poor
Muslims. If we are to judge his reality
by his appearance, we will see nothing
impressive or breath-taking. But if we
dive deep into his inner self beyond his
outer appearance, we will see greatness
in the full meaning of the word. His
greatness stood aloof from the splendour
and ornament of life. Yet, it lurked
there beyond his modest appearance and
worn-out garments. Have you ever seen a
pearl hidden inside its shell? Well, he
was much like this hidden pearl.
When the Commander of the Faithful 'Umar
Iban Al- Khattaab dismissed Mu'aawiyah
from his position as governor of Horns,
in Syria, he exerted himself in
searching for someone who was qualified
to take over his position.
Undoubtedly, 'Umar's standards of choice
of governors and assistants were highly
cautious, meticulous, and scrutinizing.
He believed that if a governor committed
a sin, error, or violation, two people
would be asked to account for it before
Allah: "Umar and the governor, even
if this governor were in the farthest
comer of the earth. His standards of
estimation and evaluation of governors
were highly subtle, alert, and
perceiving. Centuries before the advent
of Islam, Horns, was a big city that
witnessed, one after the other, the dawn
and eclipse of many civilizations.
Besides, it was a vital trade center.
The attractions of the vast city turned
it into a place of seduction and
temptation. In "Umar's opinion only
an ascetic, devout, and repentant
worshiper would be able to resist and
renounce its attractions.
'Umar suddenly realized that Sa'iid Ibn
Aamir was the man he was looking for and
cried out, "Sa'id Ibn Aamir is the
right man for this mission." He
summoned him. Sa'iid was offered the
governorship by the Commander of the
Faithful, but he refused saying,
"Do not expose me to Fitnah (trials
and affliction)." 'Urnar then cried
out, "By Allah, I will not let you
turn me down.
Do you lay the burdens of your
trusteeship and the caliphate upon my
shoulders, then you refuse to help me
out? " Instantly, Sa'iid was
convinced of the logic of 'Umar's words.
Indeed, it was not fair to abandon or
avoid their obligation towards their
trusteeship and towards the caliphate
and lay them on 'Umar's shoulders.
Moreover, if people like Sa'iid Ibn 'Aamir
renounced the responsibility of rule,
then 'Umar would definitely have a hard
time to find a man who was highly pious
and righteous enough to be entrusted
with such a mission.
Hence, Sa'id traveled with his wife to
Syria. They were newly wed. Ever since
his bride was a little girl, she had
been an exquisitely blooming beauty.
Umar gave him a considerable sum of
money at the time of his departure.
When they settled down in Syria, his
wife wanted to use this money, so she
asked him to buy appropriate garments,
upholstery, and furniture, and to save
the rest of it. Sa'id said to her,
"I have a better idea. We are in a
country with profitable trade and brisk
markets, so it would be better to give
this money to a merchant so as to invest
it." She said, "But if he
loses it ?" Sa'id said, "I
will make him a guarantee that the
amount will be paid
notwithstanding." She answered,
"All right then."
Of course, Sa'id went out and bought the
necessities for an ascetic life, then
gave all his money in voluntary charity
in Allah's cause to the poor and those
in need. Time went by, and every now and
then his wife would ask him about their
money and their profits and he would
answer, "It is a highly profitable
trade."
One day, she asked him the same question
before one of his relatives who knew
what he had done with the money. His
relative smiled, then he could not help
laughing in a way that made Sa'id's wife
suspicious. Therefore, she prevailed on
him to tell her the truth. He told her,
"Sa'id on that day gave all his
money in voluntary charity in Allah's
cause." Sa'id's wife was
broken-hearted, for not only had she
lost her last chance to buy what she
wanted but also lost all their money.
Sa'id gazed at her sad, meek eyes
glistening with tears that only added
more charm and grace to her eyes; yet
before he yielded to this fascinating
figure, he perceived Paradise inhabited
by his late friends and said: "I
had companions who preceded me in
ascending to Allah and you will not
deviate from the path they have taken,
not for the world." He was afraid
lest her excelling beauty should make
her disobey him; therefore he said as if
he were talking to himself, "You
know that Paradise is filled with Houris,
fair females with wide and lovely eyes
as wives for the pious, who are
extremely lovely. If one of them had a
peep at the earth, she would illuminate
it with her light that combines the
light of both the earth and the moon. So
you should not blame me if I chose to
sacrifice your love for their love and
not vice versa." Throughout his
talk, he was calm, pleased, and
satisfied. His wife was peaceful, for
she realized that she had no choice but
to follow Said's example and adopt
herself to his rigid, ascetic, and pious
way of life.
Horn, at that time was called the second
Kufa. The reason behind this was that
its people were easily stirred and
swayed to revolt against their
governors. Horns was named after Al-Kufa
in Iraq, which was notorious for endless
mutiny and uprisings.
Although, the people of Horns were given
to mutiny, as we have already mentioned,
Allah guided their hearts to His
righteous slave Sa'iid. Thus, they loved
and obeyed him.
One day, Umar said to him, "I find
it rather strange that the people of
Syria love and obey you." Sa'iid
answered, "Maybe they love me
because I help and sympathize with
them."
Despite the love of the people of Horns
for Sa'id, their innate rebellious
disposition got the better of thern.
Hence, sounds of discontent and
complaint began to be heard, thus
proving that Horns was not called the
second Kufa in vain. One day, as the
Commander of the Faithful was visiting
Horns, he asked its people who gathered
around him for their opinion of Sa'id.
Some made complaints against him which
were blessings in disguise, for they
unveiled an impressively great man.
"Urnar asked the criticizing group
to state their complaints one by one.
The representative of the group stood up
and said, "We have four complaints
against Sa'iid : First, he doesn't come
out of his house until the sun rises
high and the day becomes hot. Second, he
does not see anyone at night. Third,
there are two days in every month in
which he doesn't leave his house at all.
Fourth, he faints every now and then,
and this annoys us although he can't
help it." The man sat down and Umar
was silent for a while for he was
secretly supplicating Allah saying:
"Allah, I know that he is one of
Your best slaves. Allah, beseech You not
to make me disappointed in him." He
summoned Sa'id to defend himself. Sa'id
replied, "As for their complaint
that I do not get out of my house before
noon, by Allah I hate to explain the
reason that made me do that, but I have
to do so. The reason is that my wife
does not have a servant, so I knead my
dough, wait for it to rise, bake my
bread, perform ablution and pray Duha,
then I go out of my house." Umar's
face brightened as he said," All
praises and thanks be to Allah."
Then he urged him to refute the rest of
the allegations. Sa'id went on, "As
for their complaint that I do not meet
anyone at night, by Allah, I hate to say
the reason, but you force me to. Anyway,
I have devoted the day to them and
consecrated the night for Allah. As for
the third complaint that they do not see
me two days per month, well, I do not
have a servant to wash my garment and I
have no spare one. Therefore, I wash it
and wait for it to dry shortly before
sunset, then I go out of my house to
meet them. My defence against the last
complaint of the fainting fits is that I
saw with my own eyes Khubaib Al-Anaaariy
being slain in Makkah. The Quraish cut
his body into small pieces and said, 'Do
you want to save yourself and see
Muhammad in your place instead?' He
answered, 'By Allah, I will not accept
your offer of setting me free to return
to my family safe and sound, even if you
gave me all the splendors and ornaments
of life in return for exposing the
Prophet (PBUH) to the least annoyance,
even if it was a prick of a thorn.' Now,
every time this scene of me standing
there as a disbeliever, watching Khubaib
being tortured to death and doing
nothing to save him flickers in my mind,
I find myself shaking with fear of
Allah's punishment and I faint."
These were Sa'id's words which left his
lips that were already wet from the flow
of his pure and pious tears. The
overjoyed 'Umar could not help but cry
out, "All praises and thanks be to
Allah Who would not make me disappointed
in you!" He hugged Sa'id and kissed
his graceful and dignified forehead.
What a great guidance must have been
bestowed on those outstanding men! What
an excellent instructor Allah's Prophet
(PBUH) must have been! What a
penetrating light must have emanated
from Allah's Book! What an inspiring and
instructive school Islam must have been!
I wonder if the earth can take in so
much of the piety and righteousness of
those fortunate men. I presume that if
that happened, then we would no longer
call it the earth but rather Paradise.
Indeed the "Promised
Paradise."
Since it is not time for Paradise yet,
it is only natural that those glorious
superior men who pass by life are but
few, very few. Sa'id Ibn 'Aamir was
definitely one of those superior
Muslims.
His position allowed him a considerable
salary, yet he took only enough money to
buy the necessities for himself and his
wife and gave the rest in voluntary
charity in the way of Allah. One day, he
was urged to spend this surplus on his
family and relatives, yet he answered,
"Why should I give it to my family
and relatives? No, by Allah, I will not
sell Allah's pleasure to seek my
kinfolks' pleasure."
He was later urged, "Spend more
money on yourself and on your family and
try to enjoy the lawful good
things." But he always answered,
"I will not stay behind the
foremost Muslims after I heard the
Prophet (PBUH) say, 'When Almighty Allah
gathers all people on the Day of
Reckoning, the poor believers will step
forward in solemn procession. They will
be asked to stop for reckoning but they
will answer confidently: We have nothing
to account for. Allah will say: My
slaves said the truth. Hence, they will
enter Paradise before all other
people.'"
In A.H. 10, Sa'iid met Allah with a pure
record, pious heart, and honourable
history. He yearned for so long to be
among the foremost Muslims; in fact, he
consecrated his life to fulfil their
covenant and follow in their footsteps.
He yearned for so long for his Prophet (PBUH)
and instructor and his pure and
repentant comrades. He left all the
burdens, troubles, and hardships of life
behind. He had nothing but his pious,
ascetic, awesome, and great inner self.
These virtues made the balance of good
deeds heavy rather than light. He
impressed the world with his qualities
rather than with his conceit.
Peace be upon Sa'id Ibn 'Aamir. Peace be
upon his life and resurrection. Peace be
upon the honourable and obedient
Companions of the Prophet and blessings
and peace be upon him.
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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