Friendship with Ummay bin Khalf & His Death in the Battle of Badr
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf had a long-standing friendship with Umayyah bin Khalf. There is a detailed narration about this in Sahih Bukhari in which Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf narrates that he wrote a letter to Umayyah bin Khalf stating:
“Umayyah would look after my property in Mecca and I would look after his in Medina. When I wrote my name as ‘Abdur Rahman’, Umayyah said, ‘I do not know any Abdur Rahman. Tell me and write down for me your name by which you went during the jahiliyyah, [i.e. the period of ignorance prior to the advent of Islam].’ So, I wrote my name as Abd Amr. When he came to participate in the Battle of Badr, I went up the hill to protect him once all the people had gone to sleep, but somehow Bilal (ra) saw him. Hence, Hazrat Bilal (ra) went to a gathering of the Ansar and standing among them, said, ‘Umayyah bin Khalf is nearby; if he escapes, then my life will be in danger.’ So, a group of people who were with Hazrat Bilal (ra) went out to follow us (i.e. Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) and Umayyah bin Khalf because Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf went out to protect him and to offer him refuge).”
The narrator further states:
“Being afraid that they would catch us, I left Umayyah’s son behind so that they would first engage in fighting with him and we would be able to advance further ahead (i.e. those Muslims who were pursuing them would become busy with fighting the son and they themselves would gain some lead over them and he would take Umayyah to a safe place). Subsequently, they killed him, (i.e. they killed his son) and they did not let my plan succeed and carried on following us. Umayyah was of a heavy build, so he was unable to escape quickly. Eventually, when they approached us, I told him to sit down. So, he sat down and I laid myself on him to protect him but they killed him by piercing him with their swords underneath me and one of them also injured my foot with his sword.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab-ul-Wakalah, Bab Idhaa Wakala al-Muslimu Harbiyyan fi Dar al-Harb, Hadith 2301)
Further details of this incident are recorded in Tarikh al-Tabari as follows:
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf narrates:
“Umayyah bin Khalf was my friend in Mecca. I used to go by the name Abd Amr at the time. While still in Mecca, I accepted Islam and I was given the name Abdur Rahman. After that, whenever he used to meet me, he would say, ‘O Abd Amr! Do you disregard the name given to you by your father?’ I used to say, ‘Yes’, upon which he would say, ‘I do not recognise any Rahman. It would be better if you proposed a different name and so, I will address you by that name because you do not respond to your old name. I will not address you by the name of something I am not aware of.’”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf further narrates:
“Whenever he used to call me by the name Abd Amr, I would not respond. I said, ‘O Abu Ali! You choose whatever you wish in this regard, but I will not respond to this old name.’ Umayyah bin Khalf then said, ‘Well, in that case, Abd Ilaah would be a better name for you.’ I said, ‘Fine!’ Hence, whenever we used to meet after that, he would address me by the name Abd Ilaah. I would respond to him and talk to him and this continued like this until the day of the Battle of Badr arrived and I passed by Umayyah, who was standing and holding his son, Ali bin Umayyah’s hand. I was holding a few chin armours, which I had acquired, and I was walking with them. Upon seeing me, he called out to me saying, ‘O Abd Amr!’ However, I did not respond to him. Following this, he said ‘O Abd Ilaah!’ Upon this I replied and enquired what he wanted. He responded, ‘Am I not better than these chain armours you are carrying?’ I said that if this is the case then come with me. I threw away the chain armours in order to give him refuge and grabbed hold of his and his son, Ali’s hand. Upon this, he said ‘I have never seen a day such as this one.’”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf further relates:
“I took both of them and set off, whilst walking in between father and son, holding them by the hand. Umayyah asked me, ‘O Abd Ilaah! Who is it among you that has the feather of an ostrich marked on his chest?’ I replied that it was Hamza bin Abdil-Muttalib. Umayyah said, ‘He is responsible for our state’” i.e. this terrible state that they were in was due to him.
Nevertheless, he further relates:
“I was walking along with him when Bilal (ra) saw me with them. Umayyah was the one who used to torture Hazrat Bilal (ra) in Mecca so that he would leave Islam. He used to take him to the rocky part of Mecca and once they had become extremely hot under the intense heat of the sun, he would make him lay on his back on the burning surface. He would then order for a large rock, which would be placed upon his chest. Following this, he would say that he would continue to be punished until he left the religion of Muhammad (sa). However, despite this torture, Bilal (ra) continued to say, ‘Ahad, Ahad’”, that is, “He is One, He is One.” “Therefore, when he saw him, that is when Hazrat Bilal (ra) saw Umayyah, he started saying that Umayyah bin Khalf was the chief of the disbelievers and that I would not survive if he was spared.’”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf narrated:
“I said to him ‘O Bilal! Both of them are my prisoners.’ Upon this, Bilal (ra) once again repeated that he would not survive if Umayyah was spared. I again said to Hazrat Bilal(ra), ‘O Ibn Sauda! Do you not hear [what I am saying]?’ Upon this, Bilal (ra) once again said, ‘I will not survive if he is spared.’ Following this, Hazrat Bilal (ra) said the following words in an extremely loud voice: ‘O Ansar! This is Umayyah bin Khalf, the chief of the disbelievers. I shall be destroyed if he is spared.’”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf further relates:
“Following this call of his, people surrounded us from all sides and trapped us and I began to protect Umayyah. One individual struck his son with the sword and he fell to the ground. At that moment, Umayyah screamed in such a loud manner that I had never heard the like thereof before. I told him to run but he was unable to do so. [I said] ‘By Allah! I am unable to assist you in any manner.’ In the meantime, the attackers struck both of them with their swords to such an extent that they killed them both.”
Hazrat Abdur Rahman (ra) bin Auf used to say, “May Allah the Exalted have mercy on Bilal (ra) because not only did I lose my chain armours, but he also forcefully took my prisoners from me.”
(Tarikh al-Tabari, Vol. 2, p. 35, Dhikr Waqi’ah Badr al-Kubra, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1987)