Impact on Creed - From Polytheism to Monotheism - II
26/12/2011| IslamWeb
‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, was lame in one leg, which exempted him from participating in battles. He, may Allah be pleased with him, had four sons who had grown into strong men. His sons would go out to fight with the Prophet, , on his expeditions. They would not give up their duty and share of the fighting.
‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, wanted to participate the Battle of Badr, but his sons told the Prophet, , to intervene because of their father’s severe disability. They told the Prophet, , to persuade ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, to stay back, and if that were not enough, to give him an explicit order not to join in the battle. Therefore, the Prophet, , told ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, that he was exempt from the duty of Jihaad, and that he, may Allah be pleased with him, was to stay in Madeenah.
When the Battle of Uhud came after the Battle of Badr, `Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, implored the Prophet, , to permit him to participate. He, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "O Messenger of Allah, my sons want to prevent me from going out with you to fight. By Allah, I want to walk proudly with my lameness in Paradise." As ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, was being so insistent, the Prophet, , decided to grant him permission to fight in the battle. Exultant, ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, invoked Allah The Almighty, saying, "O Allah, bestow martyrdom upon me and do not return me to my family."
On the day of the Battle of Uhud, ‘Amr ibn Al-Jamuuh, may Allah be pleased with him, and his four sons separated, penetrating the enemy lines. With each step, ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, struck out at a polytheist with his right hand, waiting for the martyrdom he had asked Allah The Almighty for. He had made the invocation being sure that Allah The Almighty, Glorified and Exalted be He above all others, would respond to him; and he was overjoyed that his disability had not prevented him from taking part in the heated battle and seeking martyrdom.
The moment he had been waiting for arrived, and the strike of a sword sent the soul of ‘Amr ibn Al-Jumuuh, may Allah be pleased with him, to a Paradise of immortality and endless pleasure. After the battle, when the martyrs of Uhud were being buried, the body of ‘Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, was discovered. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah, , said: "Put `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Hiraam (‘Amr’s brother-in-law) and ‘Amr ibn Al-Jamuuh in one grave; they were loving and sincere to each other in this world." Thus, these two martyrs were buried in one grave, under the soil of the battlefield on which they had shown extraordinary valor and sacrifice.
Forty-six years later, a heavy torrent damaged and exposed parts of the graveyard where the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud were buried, and the Muslims hurried to the scene to remove the martyrs' bodies and bury them again. They were astonished to find them supple and unaffected by decomposition; for this is the strange immunity a martyr’s body gains. The Companion Jaabir ibn `Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, son of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Hiraam, may Allah be pleased with him, and nephew of ‘Amr ibn Al-Jumuuh, may Allah be pleased with him, went along with his family to remove the bodies of his father and uncle.
He found the two martyrs, may Allah be pleased with them, in their shared grave, and far from looking dead, they looked as if they were asleep. Their features remained unchanged; forty-six years under the soil had not worked any alteration on the bodies. The faces of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn Hiraam and ‘Amr ibn Jumuuh, may Allah be pleased with them both, even retained that smile of happiness and contentment they had worn the day they fell as martyrs on the bloodied battlefield.