Owais al-Qarani

Owais al-Qarani أويس القَرَني
Father Name	Amir
Born	594 CE Yemen, Arabia
Ethnicity	Murad, Arab
Kunya	Abu Amr (أَبُو عَمْروْ)
Known For	Tabi'un
Died	December 656 CE Siffin, Syria
Burial Place	Raqqa, Syria
Religion	Islam
Influenced	Saints of the Uwaisi tradition
Venerated by	Sunnis, Shias

Owais al-Qarani (Arabic: أُوَيْس ٱبْن عَامِر ٱبْن جَزْء ٱبْن مَالِك ٱلْقَرَنِيّ, ʾUways ibn ʿĀmir ibn Jazʾ ibn Mālik al-Qaranī), also spelled Uways or Owais, was a Muslim from South Arabia who lived during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.^[1]

Uwais al-Qarni Mosque in Raqqa (now in Syria) is his burial site, as he died during the Battle of Siffin there. It was destroyed by the Islamic State in 2013 and is currently awaiting reconstruction.^[2]

Although he lived during the lifetime of Muhammad, he never physically met him so he is only honorarily counted among the Companions of the Prophet.

Among the Tabi‘un, he is specially known as Khayr at-Tābiʿīn (Arabic: خَيْر ٱلتَّابِعِين, lit. 'the best of the Tabi‘un') and Sayyid at-Tabiʿīn fī Zamānah (Arabic: سَيِّد ٱلتَّابِعِين فِي زَمَانَه, lit. 'leader of the Tabi‘un of his era').

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[SuperStars intro] Asalaamu alaikum wa barakatuho Quran Weekly this is your brother Omar Suleiman. Welcome back to the SuperStars series! So today the person that we are going to be talking about, what makes him so interesting is that he actually is not a sahabi, he is not a companion of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. He is from the "تابعين" (Tabi'een) , he is from the generation after the companions but at the same time the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam praised and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam spoke highly of him. Before I introduce him let me say, you know, let me share with you a hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam where Rasool Allah salallahu alayhi wasalam said that there are some people, "رب أشعث"(Rubba Ash'ath), a person who might be disheveled, "مدفوع بالأبواب "(Madfoo' bilabwaab), and he's, you know, turned away from people's doors So it is a person who's low in society, if he proposes to someone then no one's going to accept his proposal if he tries to intercede, no one is going to accept his intercession. He doesn't have much money, he doesn't have much social status but the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said: "لو أقسم على الله لأبره" (Laww aqsam 'ala Allah la' abarraho)- that that person if he takes an oath upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah will surely honor that oath. And this shows us something that is very significant, that when we're talking about the Superstars, the sahaba, we want to be like them and the story that I'm going to share with you today shows that a person who's not actually from the companions can achieve a status that is like that of the companions and can, you know, can earn the praise of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and more importantly, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This young man is named Uwais Al-Qarani, Uwais bin 'Aamir - may Allah be pleased with him. So he is from the tribe of Qaran, Uwais bin' Aamir, so he's Uwais Al-Qarani. Now there are a lot of fables and a lot of stories that are told about him but there is some authentic material about him. This young man was someone who grew up in Yemen, who had leprosy. Ok. And at the same time his father died at a very young age, so he had leprosy, his father died at a very young age, so he had to take care of his mother all by himself. At the same time he had this leprosy. So he asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to cure him from this leprosy. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cured every part of it except for a dirham. And he asked for, you know, the size of a dirham, the size of a coin so that whenever he looks at that part on his shoulder, at that, at that dirham of leprosy, that skin on his shoulder, he would remember the favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon him. So he was cured from his leprosy and he had just this coin size of bad skin on him so that he looks at it every time and remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was the One who cured him. At the same time, he would stay in the service of his mother and his mother actually went blind. And subhanAllah, when the Muslims came to Yemen, he saw the ambassador of the Muslims and it was after something very interesting had happened. One night, his mother was blind and they didn't have any lights in the house and so he couldn't get around, but his mother could get around so he followed his mother around because she had become blind and was used to getting around without lights. And subhanAllah, this really touched him because the next day when he went to see what the Muslims were saying when the ambassadors were sent by the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam, the ayah that was being recited was an ayah from Surah Noor. And the ayah was "وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِن نور" (24:40) - [Wa Man Lam Yaj`ali Al-Lahu Lahu Nūrāan Famā Lahu Min Nūrin]- whoever Allah does not give noor to, Allah does not give light to, has no one light. So he heard that ayah and he was very touched. And he became Muslim, he accepted Islam at the hands of the ambassadors of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam but at the same time he never went to see the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam because he was taking care of his mother and he was being dutiful to his mother. Now, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam never met him. But one day the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is sitting with the companions and this is in Sahih Muslim, and he says to the companions, that there is a man "خير التابعين" (Khayr Al Tabi'een) - the best of those that come after you, the next generation, there is a man by the name of Uwais ibn 'Aamir, Uwais Al Qarani, Uwais ibn 'Aamir, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said that he was, he's from Yemen, he will come to you from Yemen, from Muraad - from the tribe of Qaran and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said that he had leprosy and he was cured from his leprosy, asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to cure his leprosy except for the size of a dirham on his shoulder. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said and he has a mother. He has a mother. And he treats his mother with excellence. He is obedient to his mother and he said "لو أقسم على الله لأبره" [Laww aqsam 'ala Allah la abarraho] - and that young man, if he took an oath upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah will surely honor his oath. So if you meet him then ask him to seek forgiveness for you. Can you imagine the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is telling the sahaba, if you meet this man who has never even met me, who is not even from the sahaba, then ask him to seek forgiveness for you, because of his status with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab RA when he became khalifah, and he saw the different people coming from Yemen, the different tribes coming from Yemen, Umar RA every single year would go out and ask "أفيكم أويس القرني؟ "[ Afeekom Uwais Al Qarani?] - is Uwais Al-Qarani amongst you? Is Uwais amongst you? And so finally after ten years Umar ibn Al-Khatab RA goes and he starts to inquire amongst the people of Yemen who are coming from hajj "أفيكم أويس القرني؟ "[ Afeekom Uwais Al Qarani?] - and they said, "Yes. There he is." and they pointed him out and Umar RA went to him and he said, "Are you Uwais ibn 'Aamir?" and he said, "yes." He said, "From Muraad?" He said "yes," "from Qaran?" He said "yes." And Umar RA said, "Did you have leprosy and you were cured from your leprosy except for a dirham on your shoulder?" And he said "yes." And Umar asked to see it and he saw it. And then he said, "And do you have a mother that you, that you are obedient to?" And he said "yes." He said, "Then you are the one that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam spoke about. So he said, "Seek forgiveness for me". So Uwais Al-Qarani said, "You're a sahabi, you're 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab "لو كان نبيا من بعدي لكان عمر" [Laww kaan nabiyyan min ba'di la kaan Umar] - if there is to be a prophet after me it would have been 'Umar. You make istikhara for me, you should seek forgiveness for me." And Umar RA said, . "No The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said if I meet this person then I should ask him to seek forgiveness." So he did so. Then Umar RA he said to him, "Are there any favors I can do for you? Where are you headed to next?" He said, "I'm going to Kufa in Iraq." He said, "Let me write a letter to the governor of Kufa so he can honor you, so that you can be taken care of." Uwais said, "I don't have any need for that. I like to live amongst the poor and the simple." He said, "The only favor I ask you is that you don't tell anybody. You don't spread this news about me" and things of that sort because obviously it would spoil his hajj and subhanAllah it shows you his humility. Imagine if you were in that place. Like everybody come on. 'I'm the one the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was talking about. Come seek your forgiveness from me.' But that's not who he was. So Uwais said, "Keep it down." But people noticed Umar RA going to him and that Umar was asking always about Uwais and so they already knew who he was. And so another man came to Uwais and said, "Seek forgiveness for me." He said, "You just performed hajj, you should seek forgiveness for me." Then he said to the man, he said, "Did Umar RA tell you about me?" So the man said "yes". So Uwais, whenever he recognized that the people were recognizing who he was, he finished his hajj and he immediately left and the end of the narration was that he had a mantle, had a burda that if anyone saw it they'd say "Where did he get that from?" He had a unique dress, a very unique appearance and obviously he's someone who is very special that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam even recognized him without ever having seen him 'alayhi al salat wal salam. And so this teaches us a very, very important lesson. How did Uwais attain this status that he attained? That even the sahaba were told, "Go seek forgiveness from him." Uwais RA was dutiful to his mother, he was obedient to his mother. And so when you excel in your treatment of your parents, when you are dutiful to your parents then you can reach that same reward and of course, the second thing was that he suffered from a disease and he was patient with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, therefore, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, granted him a cure but we should all strive to treat, to treat our parents with excellence and to have excellent character because the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said, "The closest to me on the Day of Judgment and the most beloved to me are those who have the best character." And if we have good character then we too can be superstars and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to join us with the companions and the "صديقون" [siddeeqoon]-- the truthful ones and the شهداء [shuhadaa]- and the martyrs and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us with the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in jannah-tul firadous. Allahumma Ameen. JazakomAllahu khayran Wasalamu alaikum warahmatoAllah Wabarakatuhu

Life

Muslim historians agreed Uwais descended from the Murad tribe sub-branch.^[3] Furthermore, Arabian peninsula local traditions have traced the al-Qarani were a Nisba (onomastics) of Ibb city in Yemen, the place where Uwais was born.^[3]

Uwais's father, Amir, was a strong believer in Islam. He died when Uwais was still young and Uwais was raised by his mother alone; He never physically met Muhammad, even though he lived in the same era. However, he met Muhammad's companion Umar and is therefore seen as from among the Tabi'un.^[4] Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani has recorded the strong sense of filial piety by Uwais preoccupied him to leave his mother to meet Muhammad, thus, he sacrificed the chance to reach the rank of companions of the Prophet in an effort to take care of his elderly mother.

During the caliphate of Umar, according to Usayr ibn Jabir recorded by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, every time Umar received a batch of soldiers who volunteer from Yemen to be sent for the Muslim conquest of Persia, he always asked if there is Uwais among them, as Umar searching Uwais by relying on a Hadith regarding Uwais will reach him one day, Ibn al-Jawzi recorded that Umar was urged by Muhammad during his life, that someday in the future he should ask Uwais for prayer. In the next year after his meeting with Umar, during the Hajj season, it is recorded that Umar still remembered and asked any pilgrims from Kufa about the condition of Uwais.^[3]

Uwais reside in Kufa around the year 19 AH (640 AD) and participated in the battle of Nahavand against the Sassanid army.^[5] However, as he became famous in Kufa due to a recommendation from Hadith which was told by caliph Umar, Uwais moved to an unspecified location and was lost from the trace of historians.^[3]

Uwais appeared again in history during the caliphate of Ali, when the majority of medieval scholars recorded Uwais met his demise during the battle of Siffin, while some others reported he fell in battle during the Muslim conquest of Azerbaijan.^[6]

Legacy

Uwais al-Qarni is mainly greatly revered for his historical piety, particularly his legendary filial piety, which prompted Muslim communities in later eras to express their veneration in various ways as Muhammad has given the glad tiding about his moral and ethical conduct as Mumin.^[3] Which bestowed the title of Khayr al-Tabi'een or best Tabi'in by Muhammad himself in a series of Hadith narrations recorded by Sahih Muslim and Kitab al-Wafi bi'l-Wafayat of Safadi.^[7]

His humility for not seeking fame and his filial piety prompted Arabian poets to bestow him as "Majhul an fi al Ardh, Ma'rufin fi as-Samaa" which translates as "unknown on earth (among humans), but famously acknowledged on heavens (by Allah and His Angels)".^[3]

The appraisal of him as the best Tabi'un came from an-Nawawi in his book, Al-Minhaj bi Sharh Sahih Muslim, in a part of the commentary of Hadith came from Umar which recorded by Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj which mentioned the prophecy from Muhammad who praised Uwais, despite never having seen him.^[3] While ad-Dhahabi praised Uwais as “The ascetic role model, the leader of the Tabi'un in his time". Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri gave a short commentary in his book, that Uwais was "the monk of Ummah".

Another virtue appraised for Uwais is the weak hadith of ‘Abdullah ibn Abi’l-Jad‘a’ about the virtue of intercession from Uwais alone was better than whole Banu Tamim, which commentary by Hasan al-Basri that the Hadith were particularly come appraisal for Uwais. In architectural legacy, there was the mosque that was named after Uwais in Mosul, Iraq, but it was destroyed in 2014.^[8]

In modern times, Muhammad Hassan Haniff asserted the case of Uwais taking care of his mother alone and not migrating to Medina as a case to refute the extremist ideology of ISIS, pointing out the conduct of Uwais of not immediately migrating to the territory of the caliphate and not immediately engage in Jihad during the first years of Islam as he prioritize his elderly mother, which agreed by Muhammad and the companions, as refutation that ISIS ideology was flawed according to Islamic teaching.^[9]

Sufi orders

The Uwaisi form of Islamic mysticism was named after Uwais, as it refers to the transmission of spiritual knowledge between two individuals without the need for physical interaction between them all.^[10]^[11]^[12] For example, the contemporary "Silsila Owaisi" order led by Shaykh Banaras Owaisi is active in the United Kingdom.^[13]

Meanwhile, there is another Sufi order named Muhamadia Uwaisia Order is blessed to Khawaja Shaykh Muhammad Owais Naqibi Qadri Suharwardi AbuAlAlai Naqshbandi, Chishti Sabri Jahangiri. Shaykh Muhammad Owais was granted permission for Uwaisia silsila directly from Muhammad in his court in Madinah in 1st Shaban 1434 AH (2013 CE) and Muhammad blessed this silsila with the name "Mohammadia Uwaisia" (or "Muhammadia Uwaisia" or "Muhammadiya Uwaisia" or "Muhammdiya Owaisia"; Arabic: محمدئة أُوَيْسئة‎).^[14] Last shaykh of silsla Uwaisa was Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī (Persian: نورالدین عبدالرحمن جامی‎) (1414-1492 CE)

References

^ Beale, Oriental Bibliotheca
^ Shockman, Elizabeth. "'Space archaeologists' and activists are using satellites to unearth history". The World.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Andirja, Firanda (2010). Tabi'in Terbaik "Uwais Al-Qoroni" [The best of Tabi'un "Uwais al-Qarani] (in Indonesian). Firanda Andirja. Retrieved 18 December 2021. Berkata An-Nawawi, "Ini jelas menunjukan bahwa Uwais adalah tabi'in terbaik, mungkin saja dikatakan "Imam Ahmad dan para imam yang lainnya mengatakan bahwa Sa'id bin Al-Musayyib adalah tabi'in terbaik", maka jawabannya, maksud mereka adalah Sa'id bin Al-Musayyib adalah tabi'in terbaik dalam sisi ilmu syari'at seperti tafsir , hadits, fiqih, dan yang semisalnya dan bukan pada keafdlolan di sisi AllahUwais Al-Qoroni (Tabi'in Terbaik) - Ustadz Dr. Firanda Andirja M.A. on YouTube
^ "The Hidden Owaisi Treasure".
^ Muhammad Dawud, Abd al Barr. أويس القرني سيد التابعين ولعبدالباري محمد داود. p. 78. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
^ "Uwais Al-Qarni". Islamstory.com (in Arabic). 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2021. Ibn al-Atheer Abu al-Hassan, Izz al-Din Ali Ibn Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Karim Ibn Abd al-Wahed al-Shaibani al-Jazari: Usd Ghabah fi Marifat wa Shahabah, investigated by: Ali Muhammad Moawad, and Adel Ahmad Abd al-Mawgod, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, The first edition, 1415 AH = 1994 AD, 1/331, al-Dhahabi, Abu Abdullah Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Uthman ibn Qaymaz: Siyar A'lam Nubala, investigation: A group of investigators under the supervision of Sheikh Shuaib al-Arnaut , Foundation of the Message, Beirut, third edition, 1405 AH = 1985 AD, 4/19, 33, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Abu al-Fadl Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad: Al-Isabah Fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah , investigation: Adel Ahmad, Ali Muhammad, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, Beirut, first edition, 1415 AH = 1994 AD, 1/ 359, 363, Ibn Saad, Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Saad bin Mani' al-Hashemi with Al-Basri Mawla Al-Baghdadi: Al-Tabaqa Al-Kubra, Investigator: Ali Muhammad Omar, Al-Khanji Library, Cairo, first edition, 1421 AH = 2001 AD, 6/204, 207
^ ibn Aybak al-Ṣafadī, Khalīl. Kitab al-Wafi bi'l-Wafayat vol 9. p. 259. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
^ "I29: Mosque (and shrine) of al-Sultan Uways with cemetery". www.monumentsofmosul.com. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
^ Hassan, Muhammad Haniff (2018). "Refuting Islamic State (IS) Jihad Propaganda with the Story of Uwais Al-Qarni". Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses. 10 (10): 12–16. ISSN 2382-6444. JSTOR 26501461.
^ "The story of Uwais Al-Qarni – Sahih Muslim | AbdurRahman.Org". Salaf-us-saalih.com. 2009-07-23. Archived from the original on 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
^ Mohammad, Inam (1978). Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar of Sehwan-Sharif. Royal Book Company; Original from the University of Michigan. p. 87. ASIN B0000CQRGQ.
^ Kabbani, Muhammad Hisham (2004). Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition. Islamic Supreme Council of America. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-1-930409-23-1.
^ "Silsila Owaisi".
^ "Uwaisia". www.uwaisia.com. Retrieved 2021-05-23.