Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah
- Lived
- c. 583 - 639 CE
Who was Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah? The man the Prophet ﷺ himself called the Trustworthy of this Ummah. Conqueror of Syria and one of the ten promised Paradise in this life. Died in the plague of Amwas in Palestine.
The man the Prophet ﷺ himself called the Trustworthy of this Ummah. Conqueror of Syria and one of the ten promised Paradise in this life. Died in the plague of Amwas in Palestine.
Life
Amir ibn Abdullah al-Fihri, better known by his kunya Abu Ubaidah, was among the first ten men to accept Islam. At Badr he had to fight his own father, who had come with the Meccan army against him. He killed his father.
The Prophet ﷺ said of him: every ummah has a trustworthy man, and the trustworthy man of this ummah is Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. This is Amin al-Ummah.
Umar succeeded Abu Bakr, and one of Umar's first acts was to place Abu Ubaidah in supreme command of the Muslim armies in Syria. Abu Ubaidah accepted quietly and led the conquest of Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, and much of the Levant. His discipline and gentleness with conquered peoples set the tone of the Rashidun conquest ethic.
When the plague of Amwas swept through Palestine and Syria in 18 AH, Umar traveled from Madinah to meet Abu Ubaidah at Sargh on the border of Sham. Umar consulted the Muhajirun and the Ansar and decided to turn back to Madinah rather than lead his people into the plague. Abu Ubaidah, still commander in Syria, refused to leave his men. He said to Umar: are you fleeing from the decree of Allah? And Umar answered: yes, we flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah.
Abu Ubaidah remained. He caught the plague. He died in it, along with 25,000 of the Muslims of Sham. Umar wept when he heard the news.
Stories
Each story is drawn from the classical Islamic sources.