Sa'd ibn Ubadah

ProfileSa'd ibn Ubadah

Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was of the Banu Sa'idah of the Khazraj in Madinah, the son of Ubadah, the chief of the Banu Sa'idah, who died before Islam. His mother, Amrah, became a Muslim. According to the early biographies, Sa'd took over his father's place, and was one of those who could read and write, a good poet, archer and swimmer, so that he was nicknamed al-Kamil, the complete one. Above all he was known for his generosity, as his father and his son were. According to the early biographies, his family kept a guest house for travellers, in droughts he fed the city, and every day he stood on top of his tall house and called out to whoever wanted a good meal to come to him. Poets wrote of his generosity. Abdullah ibn Ubayy was preparing to be crowned king of Madinah, but Sa'd ibn Mu'adh of the Aws and Sa'd ibn Ubadah of the Khazraj stood for the two great tribes, and everyone knew that if the two of them accepted Islam, Madinah would follow. According to the early biographies, when the news of Islam in Madinah reached Makkah, someone shouted from a mountain that if the two Sa'ds accepted Islam, Muhammad ﷺ had nothing to fear from Quraysh.

According to the early biographies, he came to the second pledge at Aqabah, and the Prophet ﷺ made him one of the twelve leaders. When some of the Ansar asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to attack Quraysh that very night, the Prophet ﷺ said that he had not been commanded to. According to the early biographies, afterwards the Quraysh caught Sa'd, the only one of the Ansar they could catch, and beat and dragged him by the hair. He said that a handsome man came up and he thought it would be a kindness, but the man struck him as hard as the others. He was then told to think of anyone who might protect him, and he said that he hosted Jubayr ibn Mut'im and al-Harith ibn Harb when they came to Madinah. They were asked and said that this was true, and they freed him. According to the early biographies, after the Hijrah Sa'd hosted Muhajirun in his house. He remarked that the Prophet ﷺ had ranked some houses of the Ansar above his own, because the Prophet ﷺ had named the Banu Najjar, then the Banu Abd al-Ashhal, the Banu al-Harith ibn al-Khazraj and then the Banu Sa'idah as the best, adding that there was good in all of them (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim).

When the Prophet ﷺ rode a donkey to visit him while he was ill, they passed a gathering in which Abdullah ibn Ubayy covered his nose against the dust. After a quarrel broke out, the Prophet ﷺ told Sa'd what Ibn Ubayy had said, and Sa'd asked him to forgive him, since the people of Madinah had been about to crown him before Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). He was known for his feeding of others. The Prophet ﷺ visited him, and he brought bread and olive oil, and the Prophet ﷺ ate and prayed that those who fast would break their fast with him, that the pious would eat his food, and that the angels would pray for him (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded sahih). According to the early biographies, he sent a tray of food to the Prophet's ﷺ house every night. According to the early biographies, he would go to the mosque each night when the poor men from other parts, who slept there, were shared out among the Ansar, and take a large group of them to eat at his own house. According to the early biographies, he asked Allah to give him wealth so that he could give, since being poor would be a trial for him, and Allah gave it to him.

He had a strong sense of honour. Once, when he said that if he found another man with his wife he would strike him with the blade of his sword, the Prophet ﷺ said that Sa'd's protective feeling was great, but that he himself had more of it, and Allah had more than he (Sahih al-Bukhari). He was among those who stood when the Prophet's ﷺ daughter sent for him because her child was dying, and when the Prophet's ﷺ eyes filled with tears, it was Sa'd who asked what this was, and the Prophet ﷺ said that it was a mercy Allah had put in the hearts of His servants (Sahih al-Bukhari). During the slander against Aishah, he got up as the chief of the Khazraj and told Sa'd ibn Mu'adh that he was lying and would never kill the man, and the two tribes nearly came to blows while the Prophet ﷺ was on the pulpit (Sahih al-Bukhari). At the conquest of Makkah, he was carrying the banner of the Ansar when Abu Sufyan passed, and said that this was a day of great battle on which what was forbidden in the Ka'bah would be allowed. When Abu Sufyan told the Prophet ﷺ, he said that Sa'd was mistaken, and that Allah would honour the Ka'bah on that day (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, the Prophet ﷺ took the banner from Sa'd and gave it to his son Qays. According to the early biographies, after Hunayn, when the Ansar were upset at the Prophet's ﷺ handing out the spoils, it was Sa'd who told the Prophet ﷺ what they were saying, and when the Prophet ﷺ asked where he stood, he said that he was only one of his people. The Prophet ﷺ gathered the Ansar in a tent and spoke to them.

Once when Sa'd was sick, the Prophet ﷺ went to visit him with Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. He found Sa'd with his family around him and asked whether he had died, and they said no. The Prophet ﷺ wept, and the others wept with him, and he said that Allah does not punish for the tears of the eye or the grief of the heart, but He punishes or has mercy because of what is on the tongue (Sahih al-Bukhari). When the Prophet ﷺ died, the Ansar gathered in the hall of the Banu Sa'idah, and Sa'd, who was sick and wrapped in a cloak, was among them, and they were about to choose him as the leader. Abu Bakr and Umar went to them, and Abu Bakr told them that the leadership belonged to Quraysh. The Ansar then followed Abu Bakr and no rebellion came from them. When one of the Ansar said that they had killed Sa'd, Umar answered that Allah had (Sahih al-Bukhari). According to the early biographies, Sa'd then left Madinah for Syria and died there, and the accounts of his death are not firm. His son Qays became a well-known commander.

Sa'd loved his mother. She died while he was away with the Prophet ﷺ, and he asked whether it would benefit her if he gave charity for her, and when the Prophet ﷺ said yes, he gave his orchard, al-Makhraf, for her (Sahih al-Bukhari). He asked about a vow his mother had made and not fulfilled, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to fulfil it on her behalf (Sahih al-Bukhari; Sahih Muslim). He also asked what charity was best for her, and the Prophet ﷺ said water, and he dug a well and said it was for Umm Sa'd (Sunan Abi Dawud, graded hasan). This is why digging wells for one's parents is remembered.

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