Amr bin Ash

Amr bin Ash is one of the Quraysh figures who most aggressively obstructed the message of the Prophet and tortured weak people who converted to Islam.  Because of that the Prophet SAW had prayed to Allah to send down the punishments to three people, one of whom was 'Amr bin' Ash.  But then a verse came down that prohibited the Prophet from doing that, that is, praying for evil for humans (Surah Ali Imran 128).

 Amr bin Ash has a high ability in politics and strategy, so he realized that with the inauguration of the Hudaibiyah agreement, the religion of Islam brought by the Prophet SAW would reach a height that could not be dammed again by the Quraysh.  But these sharp observations and predictions were not enough to bring him to Islam, he instead said to his close friends, "Let us join King Najasyi in Habasyah and become his men. If Muhammad won over the Quraysh, we would have been on Najasyi's side.  "But if our people win, then we are people they already know, no attitude arises from them except goodness."

 His friends agreed.  Amr bin Ash was indeed well known by Najasyi, the king of Habasyah, because he had been the ambassador of the Quraysh when the Muslims migrated to Habasyah.  He used this good relationship to be saved, when the conflict between the two camps, the Quraysh and the Muslims, increasingly peaked.  Amr brought tanned leather, one of the items Najasyi liked very much, as a gift in quite a large amount.

 Upon arriving at Habasyah and preparing to face Najasyi, a messenger of the Prophet (SAS), Amr bin Umayyah adh Dhamri, entered Najasyi regarding the existence of Ja'far bin Abu Talib and other Muhajirins in Habasyah.  After Amr bin Umayyah left the Najasyi assembly, Amr bin Ash entered the room, he bowed as he had done, and Najasyi greeted him, "Welcome my dear friend, did you bring a gift from your country for me?"

 When Amr handed over the prizes of the skins, Najasyi's excitement and amazement appeared, let alone the sheer number.  When he saw the Prophet's messenger coming, Amr's intention to kill the Prophet's companions came, so he said to Najasyi, "O my lord, I see a man who has just come out of this assembly, he is a messenger from a man who is our enemy.  he told me to kill him, because that man (Muhammad) had insulted many and abused our leaders. "

 Hearing Amr's request, Najasyi was very angry, and Amr caught that expression and he was very scared.  If only at that time the earth was divided, it felt like he wanted to enter it to avoid Najasyi's anger.  Therefore he hurriedly said again, "My lord, by Allah, I thought you did not like my request !!"

 Najasyi said, "Are you asking me to hand over a messenger from a man whom the Angel Gabriel came to, as he came to Moses, so that you could kill the messenger?"

 "O Najasyi, is he really like that?"  Ask 'Amr.

 Amr bin Ash certainly did not understand that for several days the messenger of the Prophet Muhammad had lived in Habasyah, and one of his mission was to bring his letter to call on Najasyi to embrace Islam, and he had welcomed it with open arms.  Najasyi has even represented the Prophet Muhammad applying for Umm Habibah bint Abu Sufyan to become his wife.

 Najasyi said, "Accident for you, O Amr, obey me and follow him (the Prophet SAW), for indeed he is above the truth.  And he will win from anyone who opposes him, just as Musa bin Imran gained victory over Fir'awn and his armies. "

 Hearing Najasyi's words, like a lightning that grabbed his heart, but at the same time opened the eyes of his heart until the guidance of Allah SWT illuminated him.  Amr said to Najasyi, "Will you mind me for Islam for him?"

 "Okay!!"  Najasyi said, and he helped Amr to embrace Islam.

 Amr came out of the Najasyi assembly with a view of the Prophet (PBUH), which was very different from when he entered it.  But he still hid his Islam from his friends who were waiting outside, and invited them to return to Mecca on the pretext of his mission to fail. He secretly planned to meet the Prophet SAW in Medina to declare and confirm his Islam.

 Some time later, one morning that was still quite dark, 'Amr bin Ash left Makkah city for Medina so that no one would find out.  But when he arrived at Haddah, somewhere between Makkah and Ta'if, Amr saw two people walking before him leaving the city of Makkah.  When the two of them rested, one of them tethered his mount, and the other entered the camp.  After getting closer, it turns out that the person Khalid bin Walid, Amr also asked, "Where are you going, O Abu Sulaiman?"

 Khalid answered that when he was going to Madinah to meet the Prophet (PBUH) to convert to Islam, soon the person who was in the camp came out, apparently Uthman bin Talha.  Amr was very happy because he met a fellow soldier in disbelief, who meant the same to embrace Islam.  They also agreed to jointly convey the Islamic formula in front of the Prophet.

 The three of them arrived in Medina at the beginning of the month of Safar in 8 AH after the Asr, they approached the Prophet SAW mosque.  The joy of the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions saw his coming, he said, "Makkah has released the hearts of our hearts to us ..."

 Another friend also commented, "All the inhabitants of Makkah will submit to him because these two men ..."

 Amr felt, that what was meant by those two people was himself and Khalid bin Walid.  First Khalid bin Walid who spoke to Rasulullah SAW to embrace Islam, Amr followed and was followed by Uthman bin Talha. Amr said, "O Messenger of Allah, verily I am praying for you to be forgiven of my previous sins."

 The Prophet peace be upon him said, "Oh, Amr, be careful because Islam actually removes the sins of the past, and hijrah also removes the sins of the past."

 Since his Islam, he has been involved in several battles with the Prophet.  But the soul of the leader and the slipperiness of his strategy was prominent during the time of the caliph Umar bin Khaththab, even he was known as the "Conqueror of Egypt", because the troops he commanded succeeded in defeating and expelling Roman troops from there, and finally Egypt became one of the countries that became an icon of Islam until now.  .

 An interesting event occurred in the battle against Roman troops in Egypt.  Another history says this event occurred in the Yarmuk War in Syria, also against Roman troops.  Amr bin Ash, as the commander of the Muslim forces that surrounded the Roman fort, was invited by the commander of the fort (arthabon) to negotiate.  Actually this invitation was only a trap, they had prepared a trap, if Amr bin Ash returned from the meeting, they would place stones that had been prepared until he died.

 Without any prejudice, Amr fulfilled the invitation.  After some agreement, Amr will return, but he catches an undue phenomenon.  Outside the room, he saw some movements above the suspicious castle, even though he would pass under it.  Realize Amr that he is in their trap.  He thought quickly, then returned to Arthabon and said, "O Arthabon, at my headquarters there, waiting for some of the main companions of the Messenger of Allah, they were the most heard by the Caliph Umar if he made an important decision. Therefore I wanted to bring them here to establish an agreement.  we are ... "

 Arthabon was provoked by Amr's strategy which was actually just lying, he thought, "If you can kill several Muslim figures at once, it should be postponed until they all come. Moreover, it seems like this person (Amr bin Ash), is not the highest leader of the Muslim army ...  "

 He immediately gave a certain code to his soldiers to postpone or cancel his plans, and Amrbisa could get out of the fort safely.  He smiled inwardly at the sight of Arthabon being consumed by his tricks.  The next day, Amr mobilized his army to storm the Egyptian fortress with fiery zeal.  Meanwhile Roman troops were not ready for the attack.  They assume that the leaders of the Muslim forces, as Amr said, will still come to finalize the negotiations.  As a result they were easily defeated and the fortress fell into the hands of the Muslims, thanks to the expertise of Amr bin Ash.

 Amr bin Ash is typical of an accomplished statesman and has ambitions in power, but even so he is a trustworthy person.  Because of this, Umar bin Khaththab continued to believe that he held the position of governor of Egypt even though he was living in wealth, but of course he was under strict supervision of Umar.  Once he lived too much from his wealth, Umar immediately sent a messenger, namely Muhammad bin Maslamah, and ordered Amr's treasures to be divided in half, half for Amr bin Ash and the other half handed over to Baitul Mal, for the benefit of the Muslims in general.  Amr-was happy to accept Umar's decision.

 When there was a dispute between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah, the pen of destiny brought Amr bin Ash to the choice of siding with Muawiyah, certainly with reasons and motivations only known to Amr.  What is clear, the role of Amr bin Ash is very big in winning Muawiyah over Ali bin Abi Talib, even though the ways and paths are not entirely correct, by means of tactics and trickery that are indeed very controlled by Amr bin Ash.

 In the battle of Shiffin, when Muawiyah's forces were crushed and almost defeated by Ali's Forces, Amr advised Muawiyah to raise the Qur'an with his sword or spear and shout to recite / punish with the Qur'an.  Anyone knows that Ali ibn Abi Talib is someone who knows and appreciates the Qur'an, even he is one of the "leaders" of the writers and his memorizers. One of the five people, namely Ali bin Abi Talib, Abdullah bin Mas'  ud, Abdullah bin Abbas, Ubay bin Ka'ab and Zaid bin Thabit.

 As soon as his suggestion was carried out Muawiyah, Ali ordered his troops to stop the attack on Muawiyah's forces.  Lots of criticism from friends and soldiers for this attitude, but Ali did not budge.  Basically, Ali did not want the war to occur, and he was also not a typical ambitious person with victory, power and position.  So when the negotiations were requested, let alone the invaders of the Qur'an, Ali immediately agreed to them.

 Each party sent a negotiator, Muawiyah sent Amr bin Ash and Ali bin Abi Talib sent Abu Musa al Asy'ari.  In fact Ali wanted to send Abdullah bin Abbas because he was already well acquainted with the character of Amr bin Ash who likes to plot, and that would be offset by Ibn Abbas.  While Abu Musa al Asy'ari is a pious friend, who is always Husnudzon to others.  But because the majority of the troops wanted Abu Musa, Ali agreed.

 In the negotiations of these two friends of different character, it was agreed that the two leaders must first lay down their positions, then a direct election was held for one of the two, whoever was helped more, he was entitled to become a caliph.  Each party's representative must make a speech in front of all the troops and relinquish the position he represents, only after that can an election be held.  Abu Musa accepted the negotiations with all his prejudices against Amr bin Ash.

 Abu Musa complied with Amr's request for a first speech and stripped the Caliphate from Ali.  After Abu Musa came down from the podium, Amr bin Ash replaced the speech, he said, "Verily, Abu Musa has removed the caliphate from his leader, Ali bin Abi Talib, and I also say the same thing. Furthermore, I hereby establish Muawiyah as caliph and  Amir al-mu'minin who is responsible for the prosecution of the blood of the caliph Uthman ibn Affan, let you speak to him. "

 Abu Musa al Asy'ari was shocked by the words of Amr bin Ash, he did not expect the deception at all.  While Ali looked calm, it seemed he had guessed the outcome of the meeting of the two figures.  Ali's troops which had previously been divided because of the cessation of the battle that was on the verge of victory became even more chaotic.  Some turned against Ali, some left the main army.

 This is the great role of Amr bin Ash in turning things around, from a total defeat to a Muawiyah victory over Ali bin Abi Talib. But before his death in the year 43 Hijri, when he was governor of Egypt during the reign of Muawiyah, as if he realized all the steps  -wrong steps in tactics and deliberation, and he prayed, "O God, I am a person who is not free from mistakes, beg you to forgive him, I am a person who is not silent from weakness, ask you to give help. If you do not bestow the grace of grace  Mu, woe to my fate, O Rabbi ... !! "