(Friday Sermon - May 3, 2019 )

Background and Participation in Battles

Hazrat Uqbah^(ra) bin Uthman’s mother’s name was Umme Jameel bint Qutbah (Al-Tabaqaat-ul-Kubra li ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 300, Dar-Ihyaa al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, Lebanon, 1996) and Hazrat Uqbah^(ra) bin Uthman belonged to the Banu Zuraiq tribe from among the Ansar. Hazrat Uqbah^(ra) and his brother, Hazrat Sa‘d^(ra) bin Uthman had the honour of taking part in the battles of Badr and Uhud. It has been reported in various books of history that when the battle of Uhud intensified, both Hazrat Uqbah^(ra) bin Uthman and Hazrat Sa‘d^(ra) bin Uthman fled temporarily from the battlefield and took refuge for three days on a mount called Jalab opposite Ahwas. Ahwas was an area situated a few miles from Medina. When they both returned and presented themselves before the Holy Prophet^(sa) and informed him about this, the Holy Prophet^(sa) said:

لَقَدْ ذَھَبْتُمْ فِیْھَا عَرِیْضَۃً

“You both ran towards an open plain.” (Usdul Ghaba, Vol. 4, pp. 54-55, Uqbah bin Uthman, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2008) (Jami’ul Bayan fi ta’weel al-Qur’an, Ma’ruf Tafsir Tabari, Vol. 4, pp. 183-184, Surah Aal-e-Imran, Dar-Ihyaa al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, 2001) (Mu’jamul Buldan, Vo. 1, p. 180)

In any case, the Holy Prophet^(sa) forgave them and overlooked their error and did not investigate this matter any further.