The Golden Series of the Prophet’s Companions ^A\ ^ i—*Ji ^ jj—«_£• i_ ‘A m r b in A I-‘A a s 4^ The Conqueror of N^ - n ■ ^gjj* V-v Egypt m m ' % 1 ,v" «,» \ i ■ v 5< S 'HTnAj 4 A A \ “w i ^ n ^ a O i i U " ALL RIGHTS RESERVED @ (#*■ n r# No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by r any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher. ■S © Maktaba Dar-us-Salam, 2000 King Fahd National Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abdul Baast Ahmad ‘Amr bin AI-‘Aas: The Conqueror of Egypt. - Riyadh > 48 p. 14x21 cm. ISBN: 9960-861-07-4 BN 1- Amr ibn Al ‘Aas, d. 43 H. 2 - Prophet’s Companions and successors 1-Title (Ta 239.9 dc 1924/21 Legal Deposit number 1919/21 r ISBN: 9960-861-07-4 Si«Mj First Edition: January 2001 W> Supervised by: ABDUL MALIK MUJAHID R* Headquarters: U. S. A. P.O. Box: 22743, Riyadh 11416, KSA • Houston: P.O. 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Box : 1613, Safat 13017 KUWAIT rss Rahman Market, Ghazni Street Tel: 00965-242 7383 Urdu Bazar, Lahore BANGLADESH T ; Tel: 0092-42-7120054 Fax: 7320703 • 30 Malitola Road, Dhaka-1100 Tel: 0088-02-9557214, Fax: 0088-02-9559738 > r ^ r r n*r u ' r^r r. n^fr 4 1 tv * T-2 sri B—3 Y:' n 'v» 3 a ^ ^ 1 IS H^W ^ A " '* 'S“"l A ^ ^ V x! i n’ ~ i\* Amr bin AI-‘Aas iuilur ‘^B£5 M|."Ti S- The Conqueror of v-: Egypt V”1 Np . \ ! - By sip A Abdul Basit Ahmad ) Edited by Aqeel Walker OV s ;■ Muhammad Ayub Sapra ■“!^ N , \ 1 I V ' Av I V yf pM. 1 A |^ DARUSSALAM NH\" /SMd1 A MULTILINGUAL INTL. PUBLISHING HOUSE Riyadh, Houston, New York, Lahore ' V| “ 1 X- %’W^i i -x* \tpif, . - » v m. -nm vr 1-T'n: ': \ ,A A . A 2 < A -A * A ?T 'h UVA "> T a-| ^ H/vO % 1 ,v if * ;• k In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful “Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e., they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers]; of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e., have been martyred); and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed (i.e., they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah) in the least.” (33:23) \ r C r& r t0 £ ! M d t t All praises are due to Allah, the Lord of all that exists. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon His final Prophet and Messenger, Muhammad, his family and his Companions. Darussalam is pleased to present this valuable series, “The Golden Series of the Prophet’s Companions”, to the Muslim youth. The purpose of these books is to enlighten our youth about the lives of the greatest heroes of Islam, the Prophet’s Companions. Also, we wish to increase the enthusiasm of the Muslim youth for following and adhering to their religion. In this way, these books achieve two very important tasks: educating our children and encouraging them to be good Muslims. The following story, “‘Amr bin Al- ‘Aas 4£> - The Conqueror of Egypt”, is about one of the Prophet’s famous Companions, ‘Amr bin Al- ‘Aas 4fr>. ‘Amr spent years fighting against Islam on the side of the Quraish pagans. Yet, with deep thought and reflection, it was only a matter of time that a clever and brilliant man like ‘Amr 4® would see the clear truth and accept Islam. He eventually became one of the great assets to the Muslims, as an Envoy, Commander and Governor. We hope that these books are beneficial to our Muslim youth, as they are the future of Islam. We at Darussalam realize the importance of good Islamic literature for Muslim children, especially in the West where non-Islamic influences are so strong. For this reason, we feel that the availability of this series will be a valuable aid in instilling a genuine love for Islam in our children. We would like to thank the author, Mr. Abdul Basit Ahmad, the editors, Mr. Aqeel Walker, and Mr. Muhammad Ayub Sapra for their diligent work in preparing this series. As Allah says: “Is there any reward for good other than good?” (55:60) And our final word is that all praises are due to Allah, the Lord of all that exists. Abdul Malik Mujahid General Manager m?w k w w we; m , w _ a , A / vS Usually a few men play important roles in their —. \ societies. Some of these men excel others in achieving their objectives through clever plans and * fs shrewd plots. Our hero,‘Amr bin Al-‘Aas4e> was one N. of those distinguished men who played a major role 1^.7 ^ in the history of Islam. He was a great conqueror and i K ? j leader both before and after the rise of Islam. During the period of opposition to Islam and the ■ ? % j* rft- Muslims, he used all his shrewdness and cynical i skills to tease the Muslims and make their life in Makkah as hard as possible. He also plotted to get back to Makkah the Muslims who migrated to * Abyssinia, to make the Quraish army win the battle of Uhud and to gather as many allies as he could in preparation for the Trench Battle. After embracing Islam, he also dedicated all his w mental abilities to serve the just cause of Islam. After years of struggle against Islam, he realized that it was time to join the overwhelming march of r* ? n the true faith. Had it not been for his cleverness supported by divine guidance, he would have lost /\''L 1 III, his way to the truth. He was the man who conquered Egypt and ‘jjHPJ'l* 11 / A A V A ^ '▼ A A V V A successfully turned the eyes of the Egyptian people toward the light of Islam after decades of Roman tyranny. During the last moment of his life, he summed up his whole life in the following words: “1 had been disbeliever. I had been hard against the Prophet M- Had I died at that time, I would have perished in the hellfire. However, when I accepted Islam, I felt that the Prophet §§, was the most lovable and most respectable man to me on the earth. If I had been asked to describe him, I would have been unable to do so because 1 could not look at him with full open eyes. Had 1 died at that time, I would have hoped to go to Paradise. Afterwards, I was pleated with rule and other things that I cannot say they were in my favour or against. My Lord, I am not so innocent to bring my argument before myself, nor powerful to defend myself. It is only Your mercy that I seek; or 1 have no shelter from Your punishment.” These words show how much this great man feared to meet Allah on the Day of Judgment. To the story of this great Companion of the Prophet % let us give an ear and from it let us learn a lesson. Abdul Basit Ahmad Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula Arabs lived in the Arabian Peninsula both in cities and in the desert. The people of cities mostly worked as traders while desert Bedouins followed their flocks everywhere in the desert in search of food and water. They consisted of tribes and clans -1 which kept in constant clashes against each other. Wars erupted now and then to snatch more lives and leave many houses lacking any fatherly support. In jj addition, women and children were taken as slaves as a result of such bloody wars. Gloom and ignorance shrouded the life of Arabs j| in the absence of any heavenly guidance. Every tribe ' had its own major idol made of stone to which people J worshipped beside Allah. They claimed that such idols would bring them closer to Allah. The Ka‘bah v in Makkah was itself surrounded with hundreds of I idols which were considered by Makkans as gods. -v Slavery, burying girls alive and injustices were ,, dominating the societies of the city and desert alike. Any free man today might become a slave tomorrow and a girl who was given the right to live by Allah was buried alive by her father for fear to JLtM -M. ,« -: *