ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿ Auf

The tomb mausoleum of ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿ Auf on a hill northeast of Amman (Jordan)

ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿAuf ( Arabic عبد الرحمن بن عوف, DMG ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn ʿAuf † 652/3) was one of the earliest followers of the Prophet Mohammed and a successful trader who played a decisive role in the choice of the third caliph Uthman ibn Affan . According to a tradition that Muhammad ibn Saʿd cites in his Kitāb aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr , he was born ten years after the year of the elephant , but this does not fit with another traditional statement, according to which he was born in the year 32 of the Hijra (= 652 / 53 AD) died at the age of 75.

ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿAuf belonged to the Quraishitic clan of the Banū Zuhra and was originally called ʿAbd al-Kaʿba ("servant of the Kaaba ") or ʿAbd ʿAmr; He is said to have received the name ʿAbd ar-Rahmān only when he was converted by Mohammed. Tradition has it that he joined Mohammed before he began to preach publicly in the house of al-Arqam ibn Abī l-Arqam and took part in the emigration to Abyssinia.

According to the Yathrib Hijra in 622, the Prophet assigned him the rich Anṣārī Saʿd ibn ar-Rabīʿ as "brother", who is said to have offered him half of his property and one of his two wives on this occasion. ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿ Auf, it is reported, but with thanks he declined and asked about a place where he could do business. He then made a great fortune in the Banu Qainuqa market within a short period of time. With this he later supported the community through generous Sadaqa payments. Because of his complaints of itching from lice, Mohammed allowed him to wear silk , which was otherwise forbidden.

ʿAbd ar-Rahmān also took part in most of the battles of the Muslims during the lifetime of the Prophet (for example Badr and Uhud ) and in December 627 led a troop of 700 fighters who took the place Dūmat al-Jandal.

After Umar ibn al-Chattab had become caliph , he regularly commissioned ʿAbd ar-Rahmān to lead the pilgrimage to Mecca . After the death of Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah , he became Umar's closest confidante. Together with Uthman ibn Affan , Ali ibn Abi Talib , Talha ibn ʿUbaidullah, az-Zubair ibn al-Awwam and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas , he belonged to the consultation body that was to elect the new caliph after the death of Umar. Of the people named, Ali and Uthman were the only ones who had ambitions to succeed. ʿAbd ar-Rahmān renounced the candidacy on the condition that, in the event of a disagreement, he would be assigned the role of arbitrator. Since Saʿd voted for ʿAlī and az-Zubair for ʿUthmān, Talha was absent, ʿAbd ar-Rahmān was used as arbitrator. After consultations with the heads of the Quraishite clans, he decided in favor of ʿUthmān, which made him the new caliph.

At his death, ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿ Auf is said to have left an immense fortune. A small grave mausoleum was erected over his (alleged?) Grave on a hill northeast of Amman at an unknown time.

In Islamic tradition, ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿ Auf is a symbol of the successful Muslim merchant. Along with Abu Bakr , he is cited by the modern scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi as evidence that Islam was from the beginning a religion that advocated trade.

literature

• M.Th. Houtsma, W. Montgomery Watt: Art. "ʿAbd ar-Rahmān ibn ʿAuf" in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. I, p. 84.
• Wilferd Madelung: The succession to Muḥammad. A study of the early caliphate. Cambridge 1997. pp. 69-73.
• W. Montgomery Watt: Muhammad at Medina . Oxford 1956.
• Muhammad ibn Saʿd : Kitāb aṭ-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr . Cairo: 2001. Vol. III ( aṭ- Ṭabaqa al-ūlā fi 'l-Badrīyīn min al-muhāǧirīn wa-'l-anṣār ), pp. 115–127.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Muhammad ibn Saʿd 115
2. ↑ See Muhammad ibn Saʿd 126
3. ↑ See Watt 1956, 252.
4. ↑ Cf. Muhammad ibn Saʿd 121f.
5. ↑ Cf. Muhammad ibn Saʿd 124
6. ↑ See Madelung 71.
7. ↑ See Madelung 71f.
8. ↑ Cf. al-Qaraḍāwī: al-Ḥalāl wa-l-ḥarām fī l-Islām . Beirut 1993. pp. 283f. Engl. Transl. The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam . Delhi 1998. pp. 140f.