'Amr b. 'Abd Wadd

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'Amr b. 'Abd Wadd
Full Name'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd al-'Amri
Well-known AsBest warriors of Quraysh
Religious AffiliationPolytheist
LineageQuraysh
Birth?
Death5 AH/626-7
Cause of DeathBy Imam Ali's (a) strike in the battle of Khandaq
EraAt the time of Prophet (s)


ʿAmr b. ʿAbdiwudd (Arabic: عَمرو بن عَبدِوُدّ) or ʿAmr b. ʿAbdiwadd (Arabic: عَمرو بن عَبدِوَدّ) was one of the greatest soldiers of Quraysh, who was killed by Imam Ali (a) in the battle of Ahzāb, also known as Khandaq.

Some hadiths state that the Prophet (s) compared the worshipsof all people and jinns to Imam Ali's (a) attack at 'Amr.

Salafism's founder and a Sunni scholar, Ibn Taymiyya, denied the existence of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd. According to some academics, his motivation was to discredit Imam Ali's (a) virtues.

A poem in Rumi's Mathnawi states that Imam Ali (a) murdered 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd after he spat at him during the combat. Imam (a) temporarily withdrew from the fight to control his rage. Ibn Shahr Ashub (488/1095 - 588/1192) related this tale in his Manaqib Al Abi Talib (a), while some people thought it was fake.

Being Killed in the Battle of Khandaq

There is no information about the birth and life of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd in historical and hadith sources; except that he was from Banu 'Amir b. Lu'y branch of Quraysh.[1] According to Shi'a and Sunni sources, he jumped across the trench, Muslims had dug with difficulty in the battle of Khandaq in 5/626-7 together with 'Ikrima b. Abi Jahl, Hubayra b. Abi Wahab, Nufil b. 'Abd Allah b. Mughira and Dirar b. Khattab.[2] 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd who was the third top warrior of Quraysh[3] and was considered equal to a thousand warriors[4] asked for a peer to fight with and mocked Muslims and said, "I lost my voice for so much calling for fight among them."[5] According to sources, Ali b. Abi Talib (a) stood up to fight him after every time 'Amr asked for peers to fight, but then sat due to the Prophet's (a) request; until the Prophet (s) gave Imam Ali (a) the permission to fight and wrapped his own turban on his head and gave him his own sword to fight 'Amr.[6]

Imam Ali's (a) Strike

Imam Ali (a) first invited 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd to give testimony to the Oneness of God and the mission of Muhammad (s) and when he refused, asked him to go back the way he came and he refused again; so, Imam (a) asked him to come down from his horse and fight.[7] According to the report of Jabir b. 'Abd Allah al-Ansari who was with Imam Ali (a), the fight between Imam (a) and 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd became intense until Imam Ali's (a) call of takbir was heard and Muslims found that 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd was killed.[8] According to historical sources, in addition to 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd, his son Hasal was also killed by Imam Ali (a).[9]

In hadith sources, it is transmitted from the Prophet (s) that Ali's (a) strike at 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd in the battle of Khandaq was worthier than the worships of all humans and jinns.[10]

Doubting the Existence of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd

Ibn Taymiyya, the Sunni scholar and the founder of Salafism, doubted the existence of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd.[11] He believed that there is no name of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd in any of the battles of Badr, Uhud and also other Ghazwas and Sariyyas and what happened in the battle of Khandaq is not mentioned either in Sahih Muslim or Sahih Bukhari.[12] But, the attendance of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd in the battle of Khandaq is mentioned in historical sources such as Tarikh Tabari[13] and Dhahabi's Tarikh al-Islam.[14] Also, Hakim Niyshaburi, the Sunni scholar transmitted a report about the attendance of 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd in the battle of Badr and his injury in al-Mustadrak 'ala al-Sahihayn.[15] Some researchers considered Ibn Taymiyya's doubting out of his intention for rejecting Imam Ali's (a) merits.[16]

Imam Ali's (a) Patience upon Killing 'Amr

In the first chapter of Mathnawi by Rumi (d. 672/1273-4), there is a poem about Imam Ali (a) in 120 couplets, which begins with the following couplet:

"Learn from Ali, the sincerity in action
Know the Lion of the Truth pure from cheating"

There, it mentions the story of 'Amr spitting at Imam Ali's (a) face, based on which Ali b. Abi Talib (a) left him for some moments, not to kill 'Amr b. 'Abdiwudd out of anger and his relief, and then after Imam Ali (a) suppressed his anger, killed 'Amr in the way of God.[17] But, Badi' al-Zaman Foruzanfar believed that this report as mentioned in Mathnawi could not be found in any source.[18] However, some researchers mentioned some sources for this report, including Manaqib Al Abi Talib written by Ibn Shahrashub (d. 588/1192-3) which mentioned that report.[19]

Notes

  1. See: Ibn Hishām, Sīrat al-nabīyy, vol. 3, p. 732; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh madīnat Damascus, vol. 42, p. 78.
  2. Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 2, p. 574-574. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 100.
  3. Ḥākim al-Niyshābūrī, al-Mustadrak ʿalā l-ṣaḥīḥayn, vol. 3, p. 34.
  4. Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 2, p. 324.
  5. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 100.
  6. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 100.
  7. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 100, 101.
  8. Mufīd, al-Irshād, vol. 1, p. 102.
  9. ʿĀmilī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-nabīyy, vol. 11, p. 160.
  10. Ḥillī, Nahj al-ḥaqq wa kashf al-ṣidq, p. 234.
  11. Ibn Taymīyya, Manhaj al-sunna al-nabawīyya, vol. 8, p. 105-110.
  12. Ibn Taymīyya, Manhaj al-sunna al-nabawīyya, vol. 8, p. 109.
  13. Ibn Taymīyya, Manhaj al-sunna al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 573.
  14. Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, vol. 2, p. 290.
  15. Ḥākim al-Niyshābūrī, al-Mustadrak ʿalā l-ṣaḥīḥayn, vol. 3, p. 34.
  16. Imām ʿAlī, vol. 2, p. 148.
  17. Mahdawī Dāmghānī, "Maʾkhadh-i khudū andākhtan-i khaṣm", p. 61-63.
  18. Furūzānfar, Aḥādīth wa qiṣaṣ-i mathnawī, p. 143.
  19. Mahdawī Dāmghānī, "Maʾkhadh-i khudū andākhtan-i khaṣm", p. 65; Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 1, p. 381.

References

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  • Dhahabī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-. Tārīkh al-Islām wa wafayāt al-mashāhīr wa l-aʿlām. Edited by ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Salām Tadmurī. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1410 AH.
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  • Ibn Taymīyya, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm. Manhaj al-sunna al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muḥammad Rashād Sālim. Riyadh: Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad b. Suʿūd al-Islāmīyya, 1406 AH.
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