Ammar bin Yaser

Heidi Mahmoud Kheyamy

27 Feb 2018

Ammar bin Yaser, a true believer, was born to Yaser bin Amer, a man who left his country, Yemen, and travelled to Makkah. He stayed in Makkah and lived there with his ally Abu Huthaifah bin Mughirah. Subsequently, Huthaifah married Yaser to one of his female slaves, Sumayyah bint Alkhayyat, the first female martyr in Islamic History, and she gave birth to Ammar.

The prominent Muslim Ammar bin Yaser was one of the first seven people who converted to Islam. It was narrated that 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud said: "The first people to declare their Islam publicly were seven: The Messenger of Allah, Abu Bakr, 'Ammar and his mother Sumayyah, Suhaib, Bilal and Miqdad. With regards to the Messenger of Allah, Allah protected him through his paternal uncle Abu Talib. With regard to Abu Bakr, Allah protected him through his people. As for the rest, the idolaters seized them and made them wear coats of chain-mail and exposed them to the intense heat of the sun. There was none of them who did not do what they wanted them to do, except for Bilal. He did not care what happened to him for the sake of Allah, and his people did not care what happened to him. Then they gave him to the children who took him around in the streets of Makkah while he was saying, 'Ahad, Ahad (One, One).'[Hassan, Sahih bin Majah, Page 122]

He joined the first Islamic battle, Badr, which erupted between the Muslim army, under the command of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and the Quraish tribe, including its Arab allies, under the command of Amr bin Hisham Al-Makhzumey. Being a true believer and a great warrior, he took part in all the following Islamic battles including those that occurred after the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Following the death of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), a war of apostasy took place during the ruling period of the Caliph Abu Bakr Al-Sedeeq. The war was called Al-Yamamah and it was waged in the 11^th year after the migration of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). While Ammar was fighting valiantly, he lost one ear. The incident did not bother him at all. As it was reported a man tried to humiliate him by mentioning his lost ear but Ammar retorted: "you swore at the ear I lost for honor."

He had a great role during the ruling period of the Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab who appointed Ammar as a ruler of Al-Kufah in Iraq.

Although he led a great faithful life, Ammar bin Yaser did not retreat in his old age when he was needed. He fought his last battle, As-Saffub when he was ninety-three years old. During the war waged between Ali bin Abi Talib and Mua'wyah bin Abi Sufyan, concerning the conflict over who was the rightful Caliph, Ammar pledged his allegiance to Ali and had the honor of being a martyr as the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) previously prophesized. Abu Sa`id Al Khudri reported: “One who is better than I informed me, that Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said to Ammar as he was digging the trench (on the occasion of the Battle of the Trench) wiping over his head: O son of Sumayyah, the transgressing faction will kill you.” [Sahih Muslim 2915 a, Book 54, Hadith 86]