VI - Commencement of Prophethood from the Banū ‘Abdid-Dār. He was very handsome and striking, and was held very dear among his family. This is the same noble young man who was sent as a missionary to Yathrab prior to the migration and through whom Islām spread in Madīnah. Then there was Zaid bin Al-Khaṭṭābra, who was the elder brother of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umarra. He was martyred in the Battle of Yamāmah after the death of the Holy Prophetsa. Ḥaḍrat ‘Umarra was very grieved by his demise. Hence, during the reign of his caliphate when some person recited an elegy before him in remembrance of his brother, he said, “If I could write such verses, I would also have written an elegy in remembrance of my brother.” That person responded, “O Amīrul-Mu’minīn!1 The blessed death endowed to your brother is such as if my brother had received the like of it, I would never lament or write an elegy for him”. The disposition of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umarra was very sagacious. He responded, “By God, the way you have consoled me with this statement, none has done the like of it.” After that, he never expressed grief for his brother’s demise in this way.2 Another one to believe in this era was ‘Abdullāh bin Ummi Maktūmra who was blind and was among the relatives of Ḥaḍrat Khadījahra. There is an interesting narration with regards to him that once when the Holy Prophetsa was fervently preaching to an honoured chieftain named Walīd bin Mughīrah, bin Ummi Maktūmra quickly came to the Holy Prophetsa and wished to pose an inquiry pertinent to a religious matter. But in his eagerness, he did not notice the gathering and the task in which the Holy Prophetsa was occupied, and ignored the etiquette suitable to a gathering of the Holy Prophetsa in such circumstances. With respect to the situation at hand, the Holy Prophetsa disliked his interruption, and his face showed signs of displeasure. It was the nobility of his character that the Holy Prophetsa did not say anything to him; rather, he turned away from him and continued his discourse with Walīd. ‘Abdullāh bin Ummi Maktūmra remained oblivious to his mistake, but he was saddened by this inattention and he thought that perhaps the Holy Prophetsa preferred Walīd over his modest self on account of his greater status. This speculation however, was completely false and baseless, because at the time, the question was not of rich or poor, rather the Holy Prophetsa was engaged in preaching to someone who received very little opportunity to listen to such words, and bin Ummi Maktūmra on the other hand had the luxury of his company more often. For this reason, the Holy Prophetsa did not desire giving 1 2
Leader of the Believers (Publishers) Usdul-Ghābah, Volume 2, pp. 146-147, Bābu Zaid bin Al-Khaṭṭāb, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut (2003)
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