Sa'id ibn Amir al-Jumahi

ProfileSa'id ibn Amir al-Jumahi

Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) was the son of Amir, of the Banu Jumah of Quraysh. According to the early biographies, his father died before Islam, and his mother Arwa was the sister of Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt. His sister Fatimah and his brother Jamil became Muslims too. He was a young man at the time of the Muslims' disaster at ar-Raji, and did not fight at Badr or Uhud.

According to the early biographies, he went out with the crowd of Quraysh to at-Tan'im to see the execution of Khubayb ibn Adi, and stood at the front, and watched him be dragged out and beaten, and said later that he heard him ask to pray two rak'ahs, and say that were it not for fear that they would think he feared death, he would have prayed longer. He said he saw them hang him, and ask whether he would like Muhammad ﷺ to be in his place, and heard him say that he would not want the Prophet ﷺ to be pricked by a thorn. He heard Khubayb pray that Allah count them one by one. He said he took part only in being there, and perhaps in carrying some wood. That night he could not sleep, and could not forget the dying man's face. He went out to Quraysh the next day and said that he had nothing to do with what they had done to Khubayb, and was free of them, their idols and their oppression, and left for Madinah. According to the early biographies, he went before Khaybar, when the Muslims were few, and told the Prophet ﷺ what he had seen, and asked whether he could be forgiven. According to the early biographies, he fought at Khaybar and afterwards, and lived with the poor of the mosque, though his clan was one of the wealthiest of Makkah.

According to the early biographies, Abu Bakr put him in command of troops, and Umar loved him. When Umar became caliph, Sa'id told him that he wished to give him advice: that he should fear Allah in the people, and not fear the people in Allah, that his words and his actions should not differ, that the best words are those followed by deeds, that he should not judge two like cases differently, that he should care for the Muslims near and far, love for them what he loved for himself, and not fear the blame of a blamer. Umar wept, and asked who could do that, and Sa'id said that he could, because Allah had put him in charge, and it was he who must do justice by it. Umar then asked Sa'id to be the governor of Hims, and Sa'id begged him not to put him to the test. Umar said that he would not leave him alone, and asked whether he wished a salary, and Sa'id said that what he already had was enough. According to the early biographies, Umar told him that he was sending him as a fighter among the people, to share out the spoils among them, and not as one who beats and dishonours them.

According to the early biographies, the people of Hims, who were known as complainers, loved him. When Umar sent him a large sum to ease his life, he gave it to those who needed it more than he did. When Umar asked for the lists of the poor of Hims, he found the name of Sa'id ibn Amir. The people said that their governor often went whole nights with no fire in his house. Umar wept until his beard was wet, and sent him a sum of his own money. Sa'id said that we belong to Allah, and when his wife asked whether Umar had died, he said that it was worse, that the world had come into his house to ruin his hereafter. His wife said to send it away, and they put the coins into pouches and gave them to the poor. According to the early biographies, when Umar came to Hims, the people said they had four complaints. Sa'id came out only late in the morning, since he had no servant, and made the bread for his family before he could come out. He did not answer at night, since he had given the night to his Lord and the day to the people. He did not come out one day each month, since his only garment needed washing and drying. He sometimes fell into a faint in a gathering. When Umar asked him, he said that he had seen Khubayb killed, as an unbeliever, and had not helped him, and that whenever he remembered it, he feared that Allah would not forgive him, and it overcame him. Umar thanked Allah that his judgment of him had not been wrong, and embraced him. According to the early biographies, Umar sent him money again, and he and his wife gave it away again. He died in the time of Umar and is buried in Syria.

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