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Name[edit]
His original name was Abdul Amr ("servant of Amr"). It was
Muhammad who renamed him Abdur Rahman ("servant of the Most
Merciful").[citation needed] His name has also been transliterated as Abdel
Rahman Ibn Auf.
Conversion to Islam[edit]
Abu Bakr spoke to Abdur Rahman about Islam, then invited him to
meet Muhammad, who heard his declaration of faith and taught him
the Islamic prayers. This was before the Muslims had entered the
house of Al-Arqam; Abdur Rahman was one of the first eight men to
accept Islam.[1]
From about 614 the pagan Quraysh in Mecca "showed their enmity
to all those who followed the apostle; every clan which contained
Muslims was attacked."[2] The usual threat to Muslim merchants
was: "We will boycott your goods and reduce you to beggary." [3]
Abdur Rahman was one of a pioneering party of fifteen Muslims
who emigrated to Abyssinia in 615. Other Muslims joined them later,
forming a group of over a hundred. "They were safely ensconced
there and grateful for the protection of the Negus; could serve God
without fear, and the Negus had shown them every hospitality." [4] In
late 619 or early 620 "they heard that the Meccans had accepted
Islam." This probably refers to the Gharaniq episode. Abdur
Rahman was one of forty who "set out for the homeland. But when
they got near Mecca they learned that the report was false, so that
Emigration to Medina[edit]
In 622 Abdur Rahman joined the general emigration of Muslims
to Medina, where he lodged with Saad ibn Al-Rabi[6] until he could
re-establish his business.
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t
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saying "I do not know Ar-Rahman" and requested that the preIslamic name "Abdu Amr" should be used, to which Abdur Rahman
agreed.[7]
The two met again in the Battle of Badr in March 624.
A narration attributed to Abd-al-Rahman ibn Awf reports:
On the day (of the battle) of Badr, when all the people went to
sleep, I went up the hill to protect him. Bilal(1) saw him (i.e. Umaiya)
and went to a gathering of Ansar and said, "(Here is) Umaiya bin
Khalaf! Woe to me if he escapes!" So, a group of Ansar went out
with Bilal to follow us ('Abdur-Rahman and Umaiya). Being afraid
that they would catch us, I left Umaiya's son for them to keep them
busy but the Ansar killed the son and insisted on following us.
Umaiya was a fat man, and when they approached us, I told him to
kneel down, and he knelt, and I laid myself on him to protect him,
but the Ansar killed him by passing their swords underneath me,
and one of them injured my foot with his sword. (The sub narrator
said, " 'Abdur-Rahman used to show us the trace of the wound on
the back of his foot.")
Sunnis tend to view this as Sahih and have included it in Sahih
Bukhari [8]
Invasion of Dumatul-Jandal[edit]
Personal life[edit]
Family[edit]
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Mada'in
1.Uthman
17.
3.Bilal.
Generosity[edit]
Many stories are told of Abdur Rahman's personal generosity. He
once furnished Muhammad's army with 1,500 camels.[citation needed] He
bequeathed 400 dinars to the survivors of Badr and a large legacy
to the widows of Muhammad.[citation needed] One day he brought a
caravan of 700 merchant camels into Medina. Aisha remarked, "I
have heard the Allah's Messenger say: 'I have seen Abdur Rahman
ibn Awf entering Paradise leaping.'" This was repeated to Abdur
Rahman, who replied: "If I could, I would certainly like to enter
Paradise standing. I swear to you, yaa Ammah, that this entire
caravan with all its merchandise, I will give in charity." And so he
did.[20]
Physical Features[edit]
Abdur Rahman bin Awf was light in complexion and had lustrous
eyes with long eyelashes. He had a convex nose and a long
Death[edit]
Abdur Rahman died in the Levant ( ) in 33 AH (653654 CE)
during the reign of Uthman. He was buried on a hill to the north-east
of present day Amman, Jordan.[21]
Sunni view[edit]
Sunnis regard him as one of the al-asharatu-l mubashshirin, the ten
people whom Muhammad personally assured of entering Paradise.