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Amr ibn al-Jamuh was one of the leading men in Yathrib in the days of
Jahiliyyah. He was the chief of the Banu Salamah and was known to be one of the
most generous and valiant persons in the city.
One of the privileges of the city's leaders was having an idol to himself in
his house. It was hoped that this idol would bless the leader in whatever he
did. He was expected to offer sacrifices to it on special occasions and seek its
help at times of distress. The idol of Amr was called Manat. He had made it from
the most priceless wood. He spent a great deal of time, money and attention
looking after it and he annointed it with the most exquisite perfumes.
Amr was almost sixty years old when the first rays of the light of Islam
began to penetrate the houses of Yathrib. House after house was introduced to
the new faith at the hands of Mus'ab ibn Umayr, the first missionary sent out to
Yathrib before the hijrah. It was through him that Amr's three sonsÑMuawwadh,
Muadh and KhalladÑbecame Muslims. One of their contemporaries was the famous
Muadh ibn Jabal. Amr's wife, Hind, also accepted Islam with her three sons but
Amr himself knew nothing of all this.
Hind saw that the people of Yathrib were being won over to Islam and that not
one of the leaders of the city remained in shirk except her husband and a few
individuals. She loved her husband dearly and was proud of him but she was
concerned that he should die in a state of kufr and end up in hell-fire.
During this time, Amr himself began to feel uneasy. He was afraid that his
sons would give up the religion of their forefathers and follow the teaching of
Mus'ab ibn Umayr who, within a short space of time, had caused many to turn away
from idolatory and enter the religion of Muhammad. To his wife, Amr therefore
said:
"Be careful that your children do not come into contact with this man
(meaning Mus'ab ibn Umayr) before we pronounce an opinion on him."
"To hear is to obey," she replied. "But would you like to hear from your son
Muadh what he relates from this man?"
"Woe to you! Has Muadh turned away from his religion without my knowing?"
The good woman felt pity for the old man and said:
"Not at all. But he has attended some of the meetings of this missionary and
memorized some of the things he teaches."
"Tell him to come here," he said. When Muadh came, he ordered:
"Let me hear an example of what this man preaches." Muadh recited the FatEhah
(the Opening Chapter of the Qur'an):"
"In the name of God, the most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace. All praise is
due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds, The most Gracious, the
Dispenser of Grace. Lord of the Day of Judgment! You alone do we worship and to
You alone do we turn for help. Guide us on the straight way, the way of those
upon whom you have bestowed Your blessings, not of those who have been condemned
by You, nor of those who go astray."
"How perfect are these words, and how beautiful!" exclaimed the father. "Is
everything he says like this?"
"Yes indeed, father. Do you wish to swear allegiance to him? All your people
have already done so" urged Muadh.
The old man remained silent for a while and then said, "I shall not do so
until I consult Manat and see what he says."
"What indeed would Manat say, Father? It is only a piece of wood. It can
neither think nor speak."
The old man retorted sharply, "I told you, I shall not do anything without
him."
Later that day, Amr went before Manat. It was the custom of the idolators
then to place an old woman behind the idol when they wished to speak to it. She
would reply on behalf of the idol, articulating, so they thought, what the idol
had inspired her to say. Amr stood before the idol in great awe and addressed
profuse praises to it. Then he said:
"O Manat, no doubt you know that this propagandist who was delegated to come
to us from Makkah does not wish evil on anyone but you. He has come only to stop
us worshipping you. I do not want to swear allegiance to him in spite of the
beautiful words I have heard from him. I have thus come to get your advice. So
please advise me."
There was no reply from Manat. Amr continued:
"Perhaps you are angry. But up till now, I have done nothing to harm you . .
. Never mind, I shall leave you for a few days to let your anger go away."
Amr's sons knew the extent of their father's dependence on Manat and how with
time he had become almost a part of it. They realised however that the idol's
place in his heart was being shaken and that they had to help him get rid of
Manat. That must be h is path to faith in God.
One night Amr's sons went with their friend Muadh ibn Jabal to Manat, took
the idol from its place and threw it in a cess pit belonging to the Banu
Salamah. They returned to their homes with no one knowing anything about what
they had done. When Amr woke up the following morning, he went in quiet
reverence to pay his respects to his idol but did not find it.
"Woe to you all," he shouted. "Who has attacked our god last night?"
There was no reply from anyone. He began to search for the idol, fuming with
rage and threatening the perpetrators of the crime. Eventually he found the idol
turned upside down on its head in the pit. He washed and perfumed it and
returned it to its usual place saying. "If I find out who did this to you, I
will humiliate him."
The following night the boys did the same to the idol. The old man recovered
it, washed and perfumed it as he had done before and returned it to its place.
This happened several times until one night Amr put a sword around the idol's
neck and said to it:
"O Manat, I don't know who is doing this to you. If you have any power of
good in you, defend yourself against this evil. Here is a sword for you."
The youths waited until Amr was fast asleep. They took the sword from the
idol's neck and threw it into the pit. Amr found the idol lying face down in the
pit with the sword nowhere in sight. At last he was convinced that the idol had
no power at all and did not deserve to be worshipped. It was not long before he
entered the religion of Islam.
Amr soon tasted the sweetness of iman or faith in the One True God. At the
same time he felt great pain and anguish within himself at the thought of every
moment he had spent in shirk. His acceptance of the new religion was total and
he placed himself, his wealth and his children in the service of God and His
Prophet.
The extent of his devotion was shown during the time of the battle of Uhud.
Amr saw his three sons preparing for the battle. He looked at the three
determined young men fired by the desire to gain martyrdom, success and the
pleasure of God. The scene had a great effect on him and he resolved to go out
with them to wage jihad under the banner of the messenger of God. The youths,
however, were all against their father carrying out his resolve. He was already
quite old and was extremely weak.
"Father," they said, "surely God has excused you. So why do you take this
burden on yourself?"
The old man became quite angry and went straight away to the Prophet to
complain about his sons:
"O Rasulullah! My sons here want to keep me away from this source of goodness
arguing that I am old and decrepit. By God, I long to attain Paradise this way
even though I am old and infirm."
"Let him," said the Prophet to his sons. "Perhaps God, the Mighty and the
Great, will grant him martyrdom.'
Soon it was time to go out to battle. Amr bade farewell to his wife, turned
to the qiblah and prayed:
"O Lord, grant me martyrdom and don't send me back to my family with my hopes
dashed."
He set out in the company of his three sons and a large contingent from his
tribe, the Banu Salamah.
As the battle raged, Amr could be seen moving in the front ranks, jumping on
his good leg (his other leg was partially lame), and shouting,
"I desire Paradise, I desire Paradise."
His son Khallad remained closely behind him and they both fought courageously
in defence of the Prophet while many other Muslims deserted in pursuit of booty.
Father and son fell on the battlefield and died within moments of each other.
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