Nu'ayman ibn Amr

ProfileNu'ayman ibn Amr

Nu'ayman (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Amr, of the Banu an-Najjar of the Khazraj, the clan of the mother of the Prophet's ﷺ grandfather Abd al-Muttalib, and so his relatives. According to the early biographies, he was among those who pledged at Aqabah, fought at Badr, Uhud and the Trench, and was at Hudaybiyyah, so that he is counted among the people of Badr and of the Pledge under the Tree. According to the early biographies, he was known for his sense of humour above all, and many stories are told of his jokes and pranks, some of them going far, but these stories are told in books of biography and are not strongly graded, so none is told here.

The Prophet ﷺ himself was known for his smile. Jabir ibn Samurah told that when the Prophet ﷺ prayed the dawn prayer he stayed in his place until the sun rose, and then they would talk of the days before Islam and laugh while he only smiled (Sahih Muslim). According to the early biographies, he was a man whom the Prophet ﷺ was fond of, and they would laugh at what he did.

Uqbah ibn al-Harith told that an-Nu'ayman, or the son of an-Nu'ayman, was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, drunk, and the Prophet ﷺ ordered everyone in the house to beat him, and Uqbah was one of them who beat him with his shoes (Sahih al-Bukhari). Umar told that in the time of the Prophet ﷺ there was a man called Abdullah, nicknamed Himar, who used to make the Messenger of Allah ﷺ laugh. The Prophet ﷺ whipped him for drinking, and one day he was brought again and whipped, and one of the people said, "O Allah, curse him, how often he is brought," and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Do not curse him, for by Allah, I know that he loves Allah and His Messenger" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Abu Hurayrah told that a drunk was brought to the Prophet ﷺ, and he ordered that he be beaten, some with their hands, some with their shoes and some with their garments, and when the man left, someone said, "May Allah disgrace him," and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Do not help Satan against your brother" (Sahih al-Bukhari). Some scholars identify the man nicknamed Himar with Nu'ayman. The report that names Nu'ayman is Uqbah's, and it is not certain whether it means him or his son.

According to the early biographies, he lived through the time of the first caliphs, and died in the time of Mu'awiyah.

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