Abdur Rahman bin Awf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abdur Rahman bin Awf, (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بن عوف) (d. 652^{[citation needed]}) was one of the sahaba.

1 Name
2 Biography
3 Sunni view
4 Shi'a view
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Name

His name has also be tranlisterated as Abdur Rahman Ibn Awf, Abdur-Rahman ibn 'Awf, Abdur-Rahman bin 'Auf and Abdul-Rahman ibn Awf.

[edit] Biography

[edit] Family

Abd-al-Rahman was born with the name Abdu Amr ibn Awf into the tribe of Banu Zuhrah ^[1].

He married the Uthman ibn Affan's half-sister, the daughter of Uthman's mother Urwa bint Kariz by her second husband. ^[2].

Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas was his first cousin ^[2].

[edit] Conversion to Islam

He was one of the first eight persons to accept Islam, doing so two days after Abu Bakr. On this occasion he adopted the name Abd-al-Rahman, meaning "Slave of (God) the Beneficient".

[edit] Abd al-Rahman and Umayah

Abd al-Rahman was friends with Umayyah ibn Khalaf, a stern opponent of Islam. When Abd al-Rahman emigrated to Medina, the two formed a written agreement, according to which Abd-al-Rahman was to protect Umayah's property and family in Medina, while Umayyah would protect Abd-al-Rahman's in Mecca. When Abd al-Rahman wanted to sign the document, Umayyah protested, saying "I do not know Ar-Rahman" and requested that the pre-Islamic name "Abdu Amr" should be used, to which Ad al-Rahman yielded. ^[3]

The two met again in the Battle of Badr:

A narration attributed to Abd-al-Rahman ibn Awf reports:

“

On the day (of the battle) of Badr, when all the people went to sleep, I went up the hill to protect him. Bilal(1) saw him (i.e. Umaiya) and went to a gathering of Ansar and said, "(Here is) Umaiya bin Khalaf! Woe to me if he escapes!" So, a group of Ansar went out with Bilal to follow us ('Abdur-Rahman and Umaiya). Being afraid that they would catch us, I left Umaiya's son for them to keep them busy but the Ansar killed the son and insisted on following us. Umaiya was a fat man, and when they approached us, I told him to kneel down, and he knelt, and I laid myself on him to protect him, but the Ansar killed him by passing their swords underneath me, and one of them injured my foot with his sword. (The sub narrator said, " 'Abdur-Rahman used to show us the trace of the wound on the back of his foot.")

”

Sunnis tend to view this as Sahih and have included it in Sahih Bukhari ^[4]

[edit] Role in successions to the Caliphate

In 634 CE, the dying Caliph Abu Bakr called in Abd al-Rahman (along with Uthman) and informed him of his designation of Umar ibn al-Khattab as successor. (See Hadith of the succession to Abu Bakr.

In 644, the dying Umar nominated a board of six members who were required to elect one of themselves as the next caliph. The group consisted of Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Uthman ibn Affan. Uthman was chosen as the third caliph ^[5].

[edit] Sunni view

Sunnis regard him as one of The Ten Promised Paradise.

[edit] Shi'a view

Ali Asgher Razwy, a 20th century Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar states:

“

Umar, on his deathbed, had appointed six Muhajireen as members of a panel which was to choose one out of themselves as the future khalifa of the Muslims. They were Ali ibn Abi Talib, Uthman, Talha, Zubayr, Abdur Rahman bin Auf and Saad bin Abi Waqqas. All the members of the panel were pious men who followed the Prophet's teachings. When they came from Makkah, they were penniless and homeless but within twelve years, i.e., from the death of Muhammad Mustafa in 632 to the death of Umar in 644, each of them, by the blessing of Allah had become well off.

A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [2]</ref>

”