Ikrima

 

Ikrima was close to forty years old when he accepted Islam.  His father was the pagan leader, Abu Jahl.  Ikrima was from a rich and leading Qureish family.  He was a good fighter.

Ikrima fought hard against the Prophet for his father’s sake.  Abu Jahl was proud of his son’s attacks on Islam.  If Ikrima hadn’t been the son of the pagans’ leader, he might have turned to Islam earlier like his friends.

Abu Jahl swore by the idols that he wouldn’t return to Mecca unless he crushed Muhammad (pbuh) at Badr.  He sacrificed many camels.  For three days Abu Jahl and his men drank wine and watched slave girls dancing. 

Abu Jahl was one of the first to fall in the battle.  Ikrima saw him fall with the spears of the Muslims.  The pagans lost the battle and many men.  Ikrima wasn’t able to get his father’s dead body.  He left it at Badr and returned to Mecca.  From that day on Ikrima hated the Muslims even more.  He wanted revenge for his father’s death. 

At the Battle of Uhud the pagans got revenge.  Ikrima’s wife, Umm Hakim, was there behind the lines.  She and some other women were beating drums.  They encouraged the pagan men to fight hard.

At the Battle of the Ditch the pagans surrounded Medina for a long time.  Ikrima got tired of waiting.  He escaped on his horse.  Some pagans tried to follow him, but one was killed.  So the others turned back.

Nine years after the Hijra, the Prophet returned to Mecca with thousands of Muslims.  The pagans saw them approaching and decided not to try and stop them. Muhammad (pbuh) gave instructions not to kill the pagans if they didn’t fight.

But Ikrima and his friends tried to block the road.  They fought with Khalid bin Walid and some other Muslims.  Some of Ikrima’s men were killed, but he escaped.

The Prophet entered Mecca.  He gave a general pardon.  However, there was a list of pagans to be killed no matter what.  Ikrima was at the top of this list.  He secretly left Mecca and went to Yemen.

Ikrima’s wife went to the Prophet.  Abu Sufyan’s wife, Hind, and some other women were with her.  They pledged their loyalty to the Prophet.

Abu Sufyan’s wife spoke first. She was veiled.   She was ashamed of what she had done to Hamza, the Prophet’s uncle, at the Battle of Uhud.  “Rasul Allah,” she said, “praise be to God who made the religion.  I ask you to treat me well.  I’m now a believing woman.  I affirm the truth of your mission.  I’m Hind, the daughter of Utba.”

“Welcome,” said the Prophet. 

Umm Hakim then got up and declared her faith.  “Rasul Allah,” she said, “my husband, Ikrima, escaped from you to Yemen.  He was afraid you would kill him.  Give him security, and God will give you security.”

“He is secure,” promised the Prophet.

Umm Hakim immediately set out in search of Ikrima.  She finally found him on the Red Sea coast. He was talking to a Muslim captain. He wanted the captain to take him on his boat.

The captain said, “Save your life.”

“How can I do that?” Ikrima asked.

“Declare that there is only One God and that Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger,” replied the captain.

“But that’s what I am escaping from,” said Ikrima.

Just at that time Umm Hakim approached her husband. She said, “I come to you from the most generous of men, the most righteous of men, the best of men . . . from Muhammad (pbuh) the Messenger of God. I asked him for security for you.  He granted it.  Don’t destroy your life.”

“Did you talk with Muhammad?” Ikrima asked in amazement.

“Yes,” replied Umm Hakim, “he’s promised you security.”

Ikrima agreed to return to Mecca with his wife. They set out on the return trip together.  When they were close to Mecca, the Prophet told his companions, “Ikrima, the son of Abu Jahl, will come to you shortly as a believer and a muhajirin.  Don’t insult his father.  Insulting the dead causes harm to the living.  It doesn’t reach the dead.”

Ikrima and his wife went up to the Prophet.  The Prophet got up and greeted them warmly.  “My wife says you granted me safety,” Ikrima said.

“That’s true.  You’re safe,” replied the Prophet.

“Muhammad (pbuh), to what do you invite me?” Ikrima asked.

The Prophet replied, “I invite you to testify that there is no god but God and that I’m God’s servant and messenger. I also invite you to make salat, pay zakat and carry out the other duties of Islam.”

Ikrima said, “By God, you only invite me to the truth. You only command what is good.”  Then Ikrima declared his faith and became Muslim.  He asked the Prophet to ask God for forgiveness.

The Prophet prayed, “O Lord, forgive him for all the hostility he directed against me.  Forgive him for whatever he said or did to dishonor me.” 

Ikrima was very happy with the prayer.  “By God,” he said, “I promise I will spend twice as much for Islam as I spent against it.  I will fight twice as hard for Islam as I fought against it.”

From that day on Ikrima was a brave fighter for Islam. He also spent much time in masjids reading the Qur’an. He would often cry from fear of God.

Ikrima kept his pledge to the Prophet.  He was always in the front line when Muslims were fighting. At the Battle of Yarmuk he got off his horse and began fighting on foot with the Byzantine soldiers.  Khalid bin Walid rushed up to him and said, “Don’t do this, Ikrima.  Your death will be a severe blow to the Muslims.”

“Don’t stop me, Khalid,” said Ikrima. “You have a good past record. But my father and I were arch enemies of the Prophet. Let me fight to clear my record.  I fought against the Prophet many times.  Can’t I fight against the Byzantines today?”

Then Ikrima called out to the other Muslims, “Who will pledge to fight until death?”  Four hundred Muslims promised to fight until death.  They plunged into battle.  Their strong attack led to an important Muslim victory.

When the battle was over, three mujahideen lay wounded on the battleground.  They were al-Harith bin Hisham, Ayyash bin Abu Rabia, and Ikrima bin Abu Jahl.  Al-Harith called for some water to drink.  When the water was brought, Ikrima looked at him.  Al-Harith said, “Give the water to Ikrima.”  When the water was taken to Ikrima, Ayyash looked at him.

“Give the water to Ayyash,” said Ikrima.  When they took the water to Ayyash, they saw he had died.  When they took the water back to al-Harith and Ikrima, they saw that they had died as well.

The companions prayed that God be pleased with them and give them water from the spring of Kawthar in Paradise.