The Army Chief Who Left the Army to Become a Shepherd

 

The Army Chief Who Left the Army to Become a Shepherd

Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ

He accepted Islam at the age of seventeen.

He was probably the third or the fourth Muslim on the face of the earth.

He is one of the ten men who were guaranteed Paradise by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

He was the personal bodyguard of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

He stood by the Prophet in the Battle of Uḥud when others fled.

He is the only man to whom the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, '' Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you !'' 

He served as a soldier during the caliphate of Abū Bakr.

He became the army chief during the caliphate of ʿUmar.

He fought one of the greatest battles in Islamic history—the Battle of Qādisiyyah—and defeated Rustum of Iran. He is the man who conquered Iran.

When Muslims became divided, supporting either ʿAlī or Muʿāwiyah, he built a house outside Madinah and grazed sheep there until he passed away at the age of seventy, in 55 AH. He neither helped ʿAlī nor Muʿāwiyah in their battles. 

If I had a son, I would gift him the biography of Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ. 

–Sahil Sharifdin Bhat