The Account of ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah

Another story is ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah (may Allah be pleased with him). ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah was a man from Arabia; he wasn't from Makkah. ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah speaks about himself — he mentions this story, it's in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. He said, in the time of Jāhiliyyah, the time of ignorance, I had belief in my heart that the religion of my people is false, and I had no trust or belief in worshipping idols; I knew deep in my heart that this is wrong. And then one day I came to know that there was a man in Makkah preaching a new religion. So I immediately went on my camel to meet him. I had to proceed with caution, wa talaṭṭaftu — I had to sneak in and secretly meet him. That was how difficult the conditions were in Makkah, that a person from outside Makkah couldn't meet the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) publicly — one could barely meet him at all. He had to do it secretly.

And when he came to meet the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), he told him, what are you? He said, I'm a prophet. He said, what does that mean? He said, I was sent by Allah. What did He send you with? — and here can be seen the simplicity of the Bedouin, the mind not complicated with philosophy and arguments, very simple: what are you? I'm a prophet. What does that mean? It means that I was sent by Allah. What did He send you with? He said, He sent me with a message of worshipping Him alone, associating no gods with Him, and to destroy idols.

He said, can I follow you? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, you can't follow me now, don't you see my situation? But go back to your people, and when you hear that I prevail, then come and see me. Allah (swt) knew that he would prevail one day. He said, when you hear that I have prevailed, come and meet me. So ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah said, I left, and I would constantly ask about news — anything that relates to Muhammad (peace be upon him). The travellers, I would always ask them, what is happening with Muhammad (peace be upon him)? Until one day I heard that Muhammad (peace be upon him) had migrated to Madīnah and he had been victorious, so I went to meet him in Madīnah.

He said, I approached the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and I asked him, do you know me? This meeting now is years after he met with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and he only met with him for a very short time. So he went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said, do you know who I am? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, yes — you are the man who came and met me in Makkah. And that's another leadership quality: knowing one's followers, remembering them, remembering their names, knowing about them.

Sayyidunā Sulaymān (peace be upon him) was inspecting the army, and his army was composed of humans, jinn and birds — his air force was birds — so it wasn't only restricted to one form of life. He had humans, jinn; his air force was birds; and he noticed the absence of one soldier, al-Hudhud. One soldier was absent, and only Allah knows the number of his army, but he noticed the absence — where's the Hudhud, he asked. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) remembered ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah years after he met him, and said, yes, you are the man who came and met me in Makkah.

ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah said, O Messenger of Allah, teach me of that knowledge which Allah has taught you; tell me about ṣalāh. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) described how to pray. And then he said, teach me about wuḍūʾ. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) taught him about wuḍūʾ.