Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh

ProfileAbdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh

Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the clan of Amir ibn Lu'ayy of Quraysh, and a foster brother of Uthman ibn Affan. According to the early biographies, he accepted Islam early in Makkah, migrated to Madinah, and wrote down the revelation for the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Abbas told that he used to write the revelation for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that Satan made him slip and he joined the idolaters (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan in its chain). According to the early biographies, he went back to Makkah, and said that he used to turn the Prophet ﷺ whichever way he wished, when he dictated, which was a lie. According to the commentators, a verse in Surah al-An'am about those who falsely claim that something has been revealed to them was revealed about him.

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas told that on the day Makkah was conquered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave protection to the people except four men and two women, and named them, and Ibn Abi Sarh was one of them. Ibn Abbas told that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded that he be killed on the day of the Conquest, and that Uthman ibn Affan sought protection for him and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave it (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan in its chain). Sa'd told that Ibn Abi Sarh hid with Uthman, and when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called the people to give the pledge, Uthman brought him and made him stand before the Prophet ﷺ, and asked him to accept the pledge of Abdullah. The Prophet ﷺ raised his head and looked at him three times, refusing each time, and after the third time he accepted his pledge. He then turned to his Companions and asked whether there was not a sensible man among them who would stand up and kill him when he saw him withholding his hand from the pledge. They said that they did not know what was in his heart, and asked why he had not given a sign with his eye. He said that it is not fitting for a prophet to have a treacherous eye (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih; Sunan an-Nasa'i, graded hasan).

According to the early biographies, his Islam was good from then on, and nothing objectionable was seen from him afterwards. According to the early biographies, he served under Amr ibn al-As in the conquest of Egypt, and Uthman made him governor of Egypt, in place of Amr. According to the early biographies, he led the Muslim armies westward into North Africa, with a number of the Companions' sons in his army, and defeated the Byzantine commander Gregory at the head of a very large force.

According to the early biographies, he kept out of the civil strife after Uthman was killed, and settled at Ramla in Palestine, or at Asqalan. According to the early biographies, he used to pray that the last of his deeds be the dawn prayer. According to the early biographies, one night he kept asking his companions whether the dawn had come, and when they said that it had, he made his ablution and prayed, reciting Surah al-Fatihah and another surah in the first rak'ah, and the same in the second, and as he turned his face to the right and then to the left to end the prayer, Allah took his soul.

WatchA lecture about Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh

Meet them inWhere they appear in the seerah

SourcesSources for this profile