The Trustworthy of this Nation

Asalaamu Aliakum

Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah

Who was this companion who was the first to be called the Commander of the Commanders, who was tall and slim man with gaunt face? Who was this strong trustworthy man whom the right hand of the Prophet(Peace be upon him) held and said, "In every nation there exists a man worthy of all trust and the trustworthy of this nation is Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah."

Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah(Radi Yallahu 'Anhu) embraced Islam at the hands of Abu Bakr(Radi Yallahu 'Anhu) during the early periods of Islam. He was among the companions that went to Abyssinia during the second emigration and made an oath of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam) and dedicated his life in the way of Allah. He was ready to endure whatever this way required of self-sacrifice and self-denial. From the time he shook hands with the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam)  as a sign of pledge, he looked upon himself and his life as something that Allah had entrusted to him to seek His pleasure and abandon every desire or fear that might distract away from Him. Abu Ubaidah's trustworthiness towards his responsibilities was one of his most outstanding traits. For instance, in the Battle of Uhud, he realized from the way the battle was conducted that the disbelievers' first priority was to kill the great Messenger(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam). To them, achieving victory was of secondary importance compared to killing the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam) . Therefore, Abu Ubaidah decided to stay very close to where the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam) was. He thrusts his sword into the army of paganism that craved to put out the light of Allah once and for all. Whenever the fierce fight led him far away from the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam), he fought ferociously while his eyes were fixed on where the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam) stood and watching him with great concern. When the fight reached the height of ferocity, a group of disbelievers closed in upon Abu Ubaidah. Still his eyes were fixed on the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam)  like a hawk. Abu Ubaidah lost self-control when he saw an arrow hit the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam); yet he recollected himself and thrust his sword into those who closed in upon him as if his sword were a magic one. Finally, he was able to disperse them. However, he saw blood running down the face of the Messenger(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam) and upon seeing this, Abu Ubaidah says, "How can they succeed after they tinged with blood the face of their Prophet who invites them to the way of Allah?" Abu Bakr next narrates what Abu Ubaidah does:

"The Prophet was wounded, and two of the rings of the Prophet's mail penetrated his cheeks. As soon as I realized what had happened, I rushed to him. A man ran swiftly in the same direction and exclaimed, "Dear Allah, accept this deed as a sign of obedience." Then we both reached the Prophet(Salallahu 'Alayhi WaSalam), but Abu Ubaidah was there before me, so he pleaded with me, "Please, by Allah Abu Bakr let me pull them out of the Prophets' cheeks," so I let him. Abu Ubaidah held one of the rings with his front teeth and pulled it out along with his upper front teeth. Then he pulled out the second along with his lower front teeth. Thus, he lost his teeth.

"If I were to make a wish, I would have wished a house full of men just like Abu Ubaidah."-Umar Ibn Khattab.

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