Talhah ibn Ubaydillah

ProfileTalhah ibn Ubaydillah

Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) was a young cloth merchant of Quraysh from the clan of Taym, the clan of Abu Bakr. He accepted Islam early, through Abu Bakr. He travelled often on the trade routes to Syria and Yemen, and according to the early biographies he first heard that a prophet had appeared from a monk in Syria, and went straight to Abu Bakr when he got back to Makkah. Because he was from a strong clan he was not tortured as openly as the weak believers, but according to the early biographies his own clan tied him up and beat him for his faith.

According to the early biographies, he missed Badr because the Prophet ﷺ had sent him, with Sa'id ibn Zayd, to find out what the Quraysh caravan was doing, and the Prophet ﷺ counted them among the men of Badr and gave them a share.

His great day was Uhud. When the Muslims were scattered, he stayed beside the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari), and his hand was left paralysed from protecting him (Sahih al-Bukhari). When the Prophet ﷺ, in his armour, tried to climb a rock and could not, Talhah crouched under him so that he could step up, and the Prophet ﷺ said that Paradise had become due for Talhah (Sunan at-Tirmidhi, graded hasan). According to the early biographies, Abu Bakr used to say that Uhud was all Talhah's day. He was a wealthy man who gave generously, and according to the early biographies the Prophet ﷺ gave him names that praised his giving. Umar named him among the six whom the Prophet ﷺ had been pleased with when he died (Sahih al-Bukhari). He was killed at the Battle of the Camel in 36 AH, and according to the early biographies Ali wept over him and prayed for him.

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