Self-Sacrifice in the Qur'an's Moral Teachings: Self-Sacrificial Character

Prophet Muhammad and all of the other prophets engaged in a determined, courageous, and self-sacrificial struggle to spread true religion and establish the Qur'an's morality. A similar struggle dominated the lives of those people who accepted Muhammad as a prophet while he was still alive: the Companions. They gave him great material and personal support, and their moral character continues to inspire all believers even today. They are honored for their courage and determination, as well as for their strong faith and unconditional loyalty to Allah and His Prophet. Even under the most difficult circumstances, they sought Allah's approval by putting their own desires second to those of the Prophet. They left their former lives behind without a second thought and, in spite of the ensuing threats and pressure, accepted the true religion, along with the ensuing difficulties and distress, for the sake of winning Allah's approval. Some of them belonged to powerful tribes, while others were slaves of the unbelievers. They all knew that they would meet with all manner of verbal and physical attacks, false accusations, cruelty, and torture. Although they had seen many instances of this, they did not hesitate to obey the call of the Prophet. They suffered many assaults from the unbelievers but this did not deter them from following the true path. They took refuge in Allah, and patiently entrusted themselves to Him. From that time on, they remained steadfast in their belief and in their hope that Allah would keep them safe. Joining themselves to him in love and loyalty, they supported him and were sincere in their attempts to spread His religion and the Qur'an's morality. In addition, they considered all of the ensuing hostility as a blessing and a way to attain Allah's mercy. In fact, they even counted being wounded and killed as positive means to this end:

Their love of Allah and the Prophet enabled them to show extraordinary courage, determination, and eagerness.

These people immediately answered Allah's call and remained true to their promises to the end:

[Believers say:]

They gave up their worldly possessions without a second thought to inaugurate Islam's peace, contentment, and further spread among their people. One hadith records Asad ibn Zurara's words about the Companions' determined loyalty: "O, Prophet of Allah. … Whoever Allah wishes to be on the true path and whoever seeks good in all affairs, all of these things will be easy for them. We responded to you with all we have, believed in what you brought, and approved the knowledge of Allah installed in our hearts. We swear allegiance to you in this regard. We swear allegiance to our Lord and yours. The hand of Allah is above our hands. Our blood is before your blood. Our hands are under your hands. From whatever we protect our own selves, our children, and our women, so do we protect you from them. If we fulfill these promises, we do this for Allah and we thank Him for it. O Prophet of Allah, I speak these words in all sincerity. Help comes only from Allah."

At the time of the battle of Badr, during the second year of the Prophet's residence in Madinah, the tiny Muslim community was unprepared for war.

After Abu Bakr and Uthman, Talha ibn Ubaydullah had the honor of being among the first Muslims. For this reason, he endured torture. But during the battle of Uhud, this great hero protected the Prophet. When all of the Companions fighting by the Prophet's side lay dead, only Talha was left to protect him. He continued to do so, despite his many sword wounds.

In order to prevent Malik ibn Zubayr from wounding the Prophet with his arrows, Talha shielded the Prophet with his hand.

As a result, he lost all of his fingers. He had around eighty wounds on him, and yet never deserted the Prophet's side. When Abu Bakr and Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas came to the Prophet's side, Talha fainted from a loss of blood. When he came to himself, he cared only about the Prophet: Our beloved Prophet told Abu Bakr to run at once to help Talha. Abu Bakr sprinkled holy water over Talha's face to bring him around. As soon as Talha awoke he asked: "O, Abu Bakr. How is the Prophet?" [Abu Bakr replied:] "The Prophet is well. It was he who sent me." [Talha said:] "Infinite thanks to Allah. If he is alive, all sufferings are as nothing."

As we can see, the Companions competed in sincerity and faithfulness among themselves for the honor of shielding the Prophet. As a result, Allah made them a source of inspiration for all Muslims. Their sincere struggle, sincere joy of belief, love for Allah, and dedication to the Prophet led to Islam's rapid spread throughout the world (by Allah's permission) and to mass conversions. When we look at their lives, we see that all of them, just like Talha, first thought of the Prophet, other Muslims, and the spread of Islam regardless of their own personal circumstances. Even in the arms of death, their first questions were about his security, the condition of the Muslims, and whether or not the battle had been won. Good news with regard to these things cheered them.

One of the finest examples of this moral character was found in an-Nu`man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani, who joined the Prophet in the defeat of Mecca and the Battle of Hunayn. This commander died during an expedition that Umar ordered against Iran. But even as he lay dying, his main concern remained the Muslim community's security and success. Telling others not to worry about him, he urged the soldiers to continue fighting: Nu`man ibn Muqarrin mounted his horse and toured the troops. He stopped beside every standard and encouraged them to battle. He then said: "If anyone is martyred, even myself, let nobody gather around him. Let nobody hang back from the attack." A fierce battle took place. Nu`man, commander of the army of Islam, fell. "Place a garment over me, attack the foe without waiting, and do not let my state alarm you or cause you to relax."

When Nu`man was wounded and fell, I went to his side. Remembering his words that nobody should lose time with anyone else, even for him, I did not linger. The Persian army was defeated. The battle was over. I went to Nu`man. He was about to die. He asked me: "What did the Muslims do?" [I replied:] "Allah gave us victory." [He said:] "Alhamdulillah!" Nu`man ibn Muqarrin then breathed his last and expired. Other examples of great self-sacrifice can be seen in those Companions, regardless of age, whose love for Allah, enthusiasm for His religion, and faithfulness to the Prophet made them desire to follow him into battle. Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, who had been too young to fight at Badr, asked the Prophet to let him fight at Uhud. However, the Prophet told him to stay in Madinah with the other children. Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr was 12 years old when he fought in the Battle of Yarmuk, and four years later he participated in the defeat of Egypt. This young man's enthusiasm and courage have remained examples to all Muslims. Also, the elderly and crippled Amr ibn alJamuh was so convinced of Islam's truth and so desired to win Allah's approval that he asked our Prophet to let him fight at Uhud. His request was granted, and he was martyred there. Abu Talha fought alongside the Prophet until the latter's death, and then alongside Abu Bakr and Umar until they died. Despite his advanced years, he insisted on fighting one more battle and, during the ensuing sea battle, was killed. We can see that these blessed people spent their whole lives striving to win Allah's approval and, despite their age, they were so inspired by Islam that they found enough physical strength to fight.

In addition to the children and old men, another group of Companions stands out because of their faithfulness, courage, and selfsacrifice: pious women. One of them, Umm `Umara Nasiba bint Kaab distributed water to the warriors and bandaged their wounds. Earlier, at Aqaba, she had participated in the oath-taking ceremony that "they would protect Allah's Prophet like they protected themselves, their women, and their children." Seeing that the battle was going against the Muslims and that the enemy was pressing on the Prophet of Allah, she took up a sword to defend him. Along with some other Companions, she used her body to shield him and received many wounds. Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl always put the Prophet's safety before that of himself, his tribe, and his relatives. He fought at Yarmuk against the Byzantines during Abu Bakr's reign. The Muslims were victorious, but he, along with al-Harith ibn Hisham and Suhayl ibn Amr, were seriously wounded. History records their self-sacrifice: Al-Harith ibn Hisham, Suhayl ibn Amr, and Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl were seriously wounded and fell at the battle of Yarmuk. Al-Harith asked for water to drink. One of the soldiers brought him some water. Seeing that Ikrima was looking at him, he said: "Take this water to Ikrima." As Ikrima was taking the water, he saw that Suhayl was looking at him. He did not drink the water, but said: "Take this water and give it to Suhayl." But Suhayl died before he could reach him. At this, the waterbearer ran to Ikrima. But Ikrima had also died. He immediately rushed to al-Harith, but al-Harith had also died. We can see that the Companions, when at the point of death and in moments of extreme need, thought first of their fellow Muslims. Without a doubt, this great self-sacrifice came from their firm belief in Allah and the Hereafter and their sincere submission to Him. The Companions were never daunted by their difficulties. Even though they might have been justified in not fighting in His way because of their own needs and distress, they made no excuses. They were always eager to do as much as they could and to spend all their personal and material strength. One of the best examplars of this attitude is Zayd ibn Suhvan. While fighting at Qadisiyyah, where 600 Muslims were killed, he was wounded and lost his arm. But he wanted to continue fighting, because his belief was so strong. ‘Ilba' ibn Jahshal'Ijli, who was seriously wounded at Qadisiyyah, also continued to fight until he died. Wounded people may be concerned about themselves and try to escape further harm. But this was not true of the Companions. Knowing that whatever danger they faced was for their own good, they insisted on struggling as best they could in order to win Allah's favor. They continued fighting even when they were wounded and knew that they were dying, for they saw death as something good and welcomed martyrdom. For this reason, they never retreated from the struggle to carry out Allah's will.

This attitude is exemplified by Abu Musa al-Ash`ari, who fought alongside the Prophet at Dhat-ur-Riqa`: Al-Bukhari, on the authority of Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari, narrated that they set out on an expedition with the Messenger of Allah. "We were six in number and had (with us) only one camel which we rode turn by turn. Our feet were injured. My feet were so badly injured that my nails came off. We, therefore, bandaged our feet with rags, so this expedition was called Dhat-ur-Riqa` (i.e. the expedition of rags.)"41 Mus`ab ibn Umayr, who carried the Muslim standard and had stayed by our Prophet's side at Uhud, is an important role model of determined self-sacrifice. After he lost his right arm, he raised the standard in his left arm. When he lost that arm, he made his body a shield to defend the Prophet. He eventually was killed by a spear. Qatada ibn Nu`man is also known for his devotion and self-sacrifice toward our Prophet: The Prophet had been given a bow. On the Day of Uhud, he gave that bow to me. I remained by the Prophet's side, shooting arrows with it, until it no longer served any purpose. Then, for the whole day, I made myself a shield against any arrows that might strike him. An arrow fired at him would find me before hitting its target. Eventually, an arrow came and one of my eyeballs protruded…42 On the Day of Uhud, I protected the Prophet's face with my face, and Abu Dujana Simak, an Ansari, protected his back with his own back.

That day, many arrows struck Abu Dujana's back.

Ibn Ishaq narrates an example of the self-sacrificial enthusiasm that Muslims displayed, committed to winning Allah's approval: I was present at the Battle of Uhud. My brother was also there. We both left the battle wounded. When the Prophet's herald declared: "Everyone will follow the enemy," I said to my brother: "Let's not miss fighting together with the Prophet." I swear to Allah, we had no animal to ride and were both severely wounded. We set out together with the Prophet. But I was less heavily wounded than my brother. When he fell exhausted, I carried him a little on my back, and he walked a little. This went on until the Muslims reached their destination. Allah gives the good news of Paradise to all sincere Muslims who, like the Companions, voluntarily sacrifice their own interests and possessions to win His approval: Their Lord responds to them: