Continuation of the explanation of the athar of Abu al-‘Ujlan al-Muharibi, who said: “
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : So this is Abu al-‘Ujlan al-Muharibi saying: “I was a soldier in the army of Ibn al-Zubayr”, meaning when he came out demanding that people pledge allegiance to him for the caliphate.
“So my maternal uncle passed away and bequeathed a camel of his for the cause of Allah”. The maternal uncle of this Abu al-‘Ujlan died, and he had bequeathed a camel to be used in fighting in the cause of Allah.
“So I said to his son”. Abu al-‘Ujlan is speaking to his maternal cousin.
“Give me the camel”. Since your father bequeathed this camel for the cause of Allah, give me the camel, for I am in the army of Ibn al-Zubayr. The son of Abu al-‘Ujlan’s maternal uncle appears to have been a wise and sensible man, as he did not rush to respond to his relative.
“He said, ‘Come, let us go to Ibn ‘Umar so we can ask him’”, to take his opinion, as he was one of the great Companions and one of their scholars.
“So we came to Ibn ‘Umar, and he said: ‘O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, my father...’”. This is the maternal cousin of Abu al-‘Ujlan speaking to Ibn ‘Umar: “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman”. The kunya of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab is Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman. He addressed him by his kunya.
This is one of the etiquettes of Islam, and I think some of this was covered in a previous lesson: the Islamic etiquette is that a man is not addressed by his name or by a title, but by his kunya. Therefore, it is rare, or rather impossible, to find a man from the righteous Salaf who does not have a kunya. Whether his name is Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Muhammad Isma‘il, or whatever, he will have a kunya: Abu Ahmad, Abu Muhammad, Abu Salih, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, and so on.
This is a Sunnah that Muslims have abandoned for hundreds of years, especially the non-Arabs. The non-Arabs do not know this Sunnah at all, because non-Arab customs have prevailed over them. As for the Arabs, the majority of them still maintain this Sunnah today, because it was originally an Arab custom, and then the Messenger (peace be upon him) supported it and gave many of his followers kunyas, even some of the women. For example, the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), although she did not bear a child and was the wife of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), seemed to feel some discomfort because she had no kunya. So she adopted the kunya Umm ‘Abd Allah, even though she had no children. From this, it is understood that it is an Islamic etiquette for a Muslim to adopt a kunya, even if he has no children.
And more amazing than this is that there was a small girl who was a relative of the Messenger (peace be upon him) on the side of Khadijah. She was a child like this, so he gave her the kunya Umm Khalid. There is no harm in mentioning that I followed the Messenger in this, for I gave my daughter this kunya, so she is Umm Khalid.
“So my maternal uncle passed away and bequeathed a camel of his for the cause of Allah”. The maternal uncle of this Abu al-‘Ujlan died, and he had bequeathed a camel to be used in fighting in the cause of Allah.
“So I said to his son”. Abu al-‘Ujlan is speaking to his maternal cousin.
“Give me the camel”. Since your father bequeathed this camel for the cause of Allah, give me the camel, for I am in the army of Ibn al-Zubayr. The son of Abu al-‘Ujlan’s maternal uncle appears to have been a wise and sensible man, as he did not rush to respond to his relative.
“He said, ‘Come, let us go to Ibn ‘Umar so we can ask him’”, to take his opinion, as he was one of the great Companions and one of their scholars.
“So we came to Ibn ‘Umar, and he said: ‘O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, my father...’”. This is the maternal cousin of Abu al-‘Ujlan speaking to Ibn ‘Umar: “O Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman”. The kunya of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab is Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman. He addressed him by his kunya.
This is one of the etiquettes of Islam, and I think some of this was covered in a previous lesson: the Islamic etiquette is that a man is not addressed by his name or by a title, but by his kunya. Therefore, it is rare, or rather impossible, to find a man from the righteous Salaf who does not have a kunya. Whether his name is Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Muhammad Isma‘il, or whatever, he will have a kunya: Abu Ahmad, Abu Muhammad, Abu Salih, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman, and so on.
This is a Sunnah that Muslims have abandoned for hundreds of years, especially the non-Arabs. The non-Arabs do not know this Sunnah at all, because non-Arab customs have prevailed over them. As for the Arabs, the majority of them still maintain this Sunnah today, because it was originally an Arab custom, and then the Messenger (peace be upon him) supported it and gave many of his followers kunyas, even some of the women. For example, the Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), although she did not bear a child and was the wife of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), seemed to feel some discomfort because she had no kunya.
So she came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, “All your wives have kunyas.” He said to her, “You will be known by the name of your sister’s son, ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.”
فجاءت إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وقالت نساؤك كلهم لهم كنى فقال لها تكني بابن أختك عبد الله بن الزبيرAnd more amazing than this is that there was a small girl who was a relative of the Messenger (peace be upon him) on the side of Khadijah.