Abu Lubabah ibn Abd al-Mundhir

ProfileAbu Lubabah ibn Abd al-Mundhir

Abu Lubabah (may Allah be pleased with him) was named Bashir, and was called Abu Lubabah after his daughter Lubabah. He was the son of Abd al-Mundhir, of the Banu Amr ibn Awf of the Aws. According to the early biographies, he was one of the twelve leaders of the Ansar who gave the pledge to the Prophet ﷺ before the Hijrah and received him in Madinah. According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ left him in charge of Madinah when he went out to Badr, and when he went out in pursuit of Abu Sufyan after Badr, in the raid of the barley, and counted him as one of the men of Badr and gave him a share. He fought at Uhud and in the other campaigns.

According to the early biographies, after the Trench, when the Banu Qurayzah, who had been allies of the Aws, saw that the Prophet ﷺ was coming against them for breaking their agreement, they asked for Abu Lubabah, who was a friend of theirs, to be sent to them. He found them weeping and afraid, and they asked him whether they should surrender to the Prophet ﷺ, and what he would do with them. He gave them a sign that the Prophet ﷺ would deal harshly with them. As soon as he had done it, he knew that he had betrayed Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. He did not go back to the Prophet ﷺ with an excuse, but went to the mosque, tied himself to one of its pillars with a rope, and asked his daughter Lubabah to tie him. He said that he would not eat or drink or go home until Allah forgave him. Lubabah untied him for each prayer and for his needs, and tied him again. The Prophet ﷺ said nothing to him, and he stayed there for days. Then a verse came down about others who had admitted their sins, who had mixed good deeds with bad, and it might be that Allah would accept their repentance. The Companions went to tell him, and he said that no one would untie him but the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ came and untied him with his own hands. Abu Lubabah, weeping, said that he would leave the people and places of his old life for good, and give all his wealth in charity, and the Prophet ﷺ told him that a third would be enough. The pillar in the Prophet's ﷺ mosque is still known as the pillar of repentance.

Abu Lubabah told Ibn Umar that the Prophet ﷺ had forbidden the killing of snakes that live in houses, and Ibn Umar, who had been killing all kinds, gave it up (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). He told that the Prophet ﷺ said that whoever does not recite the Quran in a pleasant voice is not one of them (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan sahih). A report of his about the excellence of Friday is graded weak, and is left out. According to the early biographies, in a drought, the Prophet ﷺ was praying for rain on the pulpit, and Abu Lubabah said that his dates were out drying on the sheds, and the Prophet ﷺ prayed again, and he said so again. The Prophet ﷺ prayed that rain would fall until Abu Lubabah had to take off his clothes to stop up the shed with them. The rain came, and Abu Lubabah ran from the mosque to save his dates, and when he did, it stopped. According to the early biographies, at the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ gave him the banner of the Banu Amr ibn Awf. His son Abd ar-Rahman and daughter Lubabah narrated from him. He died in the time of Ali.

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