Mu’adh ibn Jabal (First Class Da’ee)

Mu’adh ibn Jabal was a young man growing up in Madina when Islam began to spread over the Arabian Peninsula. His full name was Mu'adh ibn Jabal ibn 'Amr b. Aus b. 'Aidh b. 'Adi b. Ka'b b. 'Amr b. Ady b. Sa'd b. Ali b. Asad and he was born 18 years before the hijra. He was a handsome and imposing character with black eyes and curly hair who immediately impressed whoever he met.[1] He was already distinguished for his intelligence among young men of his age when he embraced Islam at the hands of Mus’ab ibn Umayr. Mu’adh was among the seventy-two Madinite who journeyed to Makkah, one year before the hijrah, and met the Prophet at his house and later again at the second pledge of Aqabah. A
prominent man in the city of Madina ‘Amr ibn al-Jumuh’ became a Muslim through him.[2] When the noble Prophet reached Madinah, Mu’adh stayed in his company as much as he could. He studied the Quran and the Shari’ah until he became one of the well-versed of all the companions of Muhammad (SAW).   Wherever Mu’adh went, people would refer to him for legal judgments on matters over which they differed. His knowledge bore the stamp of authenticity. The Prophet (SAW) said: "The most knowledgeable of my Ummah in matters of Halal and Haram is Mu’adh ibn Jabal." Mu’adh bin Jabal was also called Abu Abdur-Rahman and one of the greatest of Mu’adh’s contributions to Islam was that he was one of the group of six who collected the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW). After the liberation of Makkah, the Quraysh became Muslims en masse. The Prophet immediately saw the need of the new Muslims for teachers to instruct them in the fundamentals of Islam and to make them truly understand the spirit and letter of its laws. [3] He appointed Attab ibn Usay as his deputy in Makkah and he asked Mu’adh ibn Jabal to stay with him and teach people the Quran and instruct them in the Deen. Sometime after the Prophet had returned to Madinah, messengers of the kings of Yemen came to him announcing that they and the people of Yemen had become Muslims. They requested that some teachers should be with them to teach them Islam. For this task the Prophet commissioned a group of competent missionaries and made Mu’adh ibn Jabal their amir. The Prophet personally bade farewell to this delegation of guidance and walked for some distance alongside Mu’adh as he rode out of the city. Finally, the Prophet (SAW) said to him:  "O Mu’adh, perhaps you shall not meet me again after this year. Perhaps when you return you shall see only my mosque and my grave." Mu’adh wept. Those with him wept too. A feeling of sadness and desolation overtook him as he parted from the beloved Prophet (SAW). The Prophet's premonition was correct. The eyes of Mu’adh never beheld the Prophet after that moment. The Prophet (SAW) passed away before Mu’adh returned from Yemen. [4] 

During the caliphate of Umar bin Khattab, Mu’adh was sent to the Banu Kilab to apportion their stipends and to distribute the sadaqah of their richer folk among the poor. When he had done his duty, he returned to his wife with his saddle blanket around his neck, empty handed, and she asked him:  "Where are the gifts which commissioners return with for their families?" Mu’adh replied, “I had an alert supervisor who was checking over me”. His wife exclaimed, "You were a trusted person with the Messenger of ALLAH and with Abu Bakr. Then Umar came and he sent a supervisor with you to check on you?” She went on to talk about this to the women of Umar's household and complained to them about it. The complaint eventually reached Umar, so he summoned Mu’adh and said: "Did I send a supervisor with you to check on you?"  Mu’adh said, "No, Amir al-Mumineen, but that was the only reason I could find to give her." [5] Umar laughed and then gave him a gift, saying, "I hope this pleases you."  Also during the caliphate of Umar, the governor of Syria, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan sent a message saying: "O Amir al-Mumineen! The people of Syria are many. They fill the towns. They need people to teach them the Quran and instruct them in the religion." Umar thereupon summoned five persons who had collected the Quran in the lifetime of the Prophet (SAW).  These people were Mu’adh ibn Jabal, Ubadah ibn as-Samit, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Ubayy ibn Kab and Abu ad-Dardaa. [6] He said to them:  "Your brothers in Syria have asked me to help them by sending those who can teach them the Quran and instruct them in the religion. Please appoint three among you for this task and may ALLAH bless you. I can select three of you myself if you do not want to put the matter to the vote." They asked, "Why should we vote? Abu Ayyub is quite old and Ubayy is sick. That leaves three of us." Umar bin Khattab then said, "All three of you go to Homs first of all. If you are satisfied with the condition of the people there, one of you should stay there, another should go to Damascus and the other to Palestine." Ubadah ibn as-Samit was left at Homs, Abu ad-Dardaa went to Damascus and Mu’adh went to Palestine. [7] There Mu’adh fell ill with an infectious disease. As he was near to death, he turned in the direction of the Ka’abah and repeated these words: "Welcome Death, Welcome. A visitor has come after a long absence . . ." And looking up to heaven, he said: "O Lord,  You know that I did not desire the world and to prolong my stay in it . . . O Lord, accept my soul with goodness as you would  accept a believing soul..."  He passed away in 18 A.H in Palestine at the age of 36, far from his family and his clan, a da’ee in the service of ALLAH and a muhajir in His path.

LESSONS

1. Good looks should never push us to immorality.
2. We should not keep Islam to ourselves, it should be proliferated.
3. When people embrace Islam they should be pulled close and made to understand why they are Muslims.
4. The Prophet (SAW) predicted future events.
5. Foremost, we should do things for the sake of justice and Taqwa and never for worldly gains.
6. Mu’adh bin Jabal was always a top choice whenever it came to calling people to the path of ALLAH (SWT).
7. The history of Muslims in Palestine goes way back in time. We must never stop supporting our brothers and sisters in Palestine.