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The Falcon on the Day of Uhud
"Of the believers are men who have been true to their pledge to GOD, from them some have fulfilled their pledges, and some are still in hope of doing so, and they never change at heart" (33 : 23).

The Prophet (PBUH) recited this glorious verse and then turned to his Companions, pointed to Talhah and said, "Anyone who wants to please himself by looking at a man walking on the earth who has fulfilled his pledge of martyrdom Should look at Talhah."

The Prophet's Companions never wished nor did their hearts ever aspire and long for a better announcement than the one the Prophet (PBUH) directed to Talhah Ibn `Ubaid Allah. By such words he could feel Secure towards his destiny and fate. He was going to live and die as One of those who have been true to their pledge so that neither civil strife could affect him lassitude influence him, nor any kind of

The Prophet (PBUH) announced Paradise to him. How then was the life of Such a one who deserved this fine announcement?

Embracing Islam
He was trading in the land of Basraa, when he met One of the most virtuous monks there. He told him that a Prophet who was going to appear in the Sacred Land and whose appearance was prophesied by all virtuous prophets had risen and his era had already begun. Talhah was very much afraid to miss the procession of guidance, mercy, and Salvation.

When Talhah returned to his homeland Makkah after having spent months in Basraa and traveling around, he found a lot of talk taking place here and there. Whenever he met someone or a group of Makkah inhabitants they would talk to him about Muhammad the Trustworthy, about the angel sent down to him, about the mission he was carrying to the Arabs in particular and all people in general.

The first thing he asked about was Abu Bakr. He learned that Abu Bakr had returned with a caravan and trade not long ago and that he was standing at the side of Muhammad, believing in and defending him

Talhah said to himself, "Muhammad and Abu Bakr? By Allah, both of them would never join each other and agree upon falsehood. 1 (1- See our book, Then Came Abu Bakr) Muhammad has already reached the age of 40. In all these years we've never heard him speak one single lie. Is it possible that he would now lie about Allah and say, `He sent me as a prophet and He sent me an angel'? It's something hard to believe."

He quickened his steps, directing them towards Abu Bakr's house. They did not talk for long because his long aspiration to meet the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and to swear to him the oath of allegiance was much faster than his heartbeats.

Abu Bakr accompanied him to the Prophet (PBUH) and he soon embraced Islam, joining there and then the blessed ranks!

That is how Talhah became one of the very early converts.

The torture began
Despite his honorable rank among his clan, his vast wealth, and his successful trade, be had to taste his own portion of the Quraish's persecution.

Quraysh were astounded by the young Talhah's acceptance of Islam. The one who was most dismayed and unhappy was his mother. She had hoped that he would one day be a leader in his community because of his noble character and his outstanding virtues. Some of the Quraysh, anxious and worried, went to Talhah as soon as they could to wean him away from his new religion but found him firm and unshakable as a rock. When they despaired of using gentle persuasion to achieve their aim, they resorted to persecution and violence.

The following story is related by Masud ibn Kharash:

"While I was making saiy between as-Safa and al-Marwa, there appeared a crowd of people pushing a young man whose hands were tied behind his back. As they rushed behind him, they rained down blows on his head. In the crowd was an old woman who lashed him repeatedly and shouted abuses at him.
I asked: 'What's the matter with this young man?'
'This is Talhah ibn Ubaydullah. He gave up his religion and now follows the Banu Hashim man.' '
And who is the woman behind him?' I asked.
'She is as-Sabah bint al-Hadrami, the young man's mother,' they said.

The Quraysh did not stop there. Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, nicknamed the 'lion of the Quraysh" bound Talhah with a rope and with the same rope he tied up Abu Bakr and then handed them over to the mindless and violent mob of Makkah to be beaten and tortured. The shared experience no doubt drew Talhah and Abu Bakr closer together!

Years passed and events of great significance took place. Talhah grew in stature as he bore the pain and suffering of being tested in the path of God and His Prophet. He gained the unique reputation among Muslims of being called the "living martyr". The Prophet, peace be on him, also called him "Talhah the Good" and "Talhah the Generous".

Life in Medinah
Talhah emigrated to Al-Madiinah when the Prophet (PBUH) ordered the Muslims to emigrate.

After that he experienced all the battles together with the Prophet (PBUH) except the Battle of Badr because the Prophet (PBUH) had sent him and Sa`iid Ibn Zaid on an assignment outside Al-Madiinah.

When they had fulfilled their task and were on their way back to Al Madiinah, the Prophet (PBUH) and his Companions were returning home after the battle. Talhah and his companion felt so sad and tormented for having missed the reward of joining the Prophet (PBUH) in his first jihaad battle.

However, the Prophet (PBUH) accorded them peace of mind when he informed them that their reward was exactly like the warrior's reward; moreover, he gave them a share of the booty exactly like the share he gave to each one who had fought the battle.

The battle of Uhud, Tallaah's day
Then came the Battle of Uhud, when the Quraish, with all their might and tyranny, came to take blood revenge for the Day of Badr and to restore their dignity by defeating the Muslims once and for all, a defeat which was thought by the Quraish to be a simple matter and a predetermined fate. The fierce battle took place, and soon the battlefield was filled with its awful harvest: calamity overtook the polytheists.

Then when the Muslims saw them retreating, they laid down their weapons and the archers descended from their posts and began to collect their share of booty. Immediately and suddenly the Quraish army turned back to hold the field and tip the balance of the battle in their favor.

The fighting's ferocity, cruelty, and crushing resumed. The surprise attack had the effect of scattering the army.

Talhah saw that the side of the battlefield where the Prophet (PBUH) was standing had become the target of the polytheists' concentration. He immediately hurried towards the Prophet (PBUH).

He (May Allah be pleased with him) traversed a path, a long one, although it was in fact a short distance.

It was a path in which a single inch could not be traversed except by confronting tens of ferocious swords and tens of mad lances.

He could see from a far distance how the Prophet's (PBUH) cheek was bleeding and how he was silently suffering. It was then that Talhah got mad, leaped once or twice over the path of horror to reach the Prophet (PBUH), in front of whom he had to experience what he was afraid of: the swords of the polytheists drawn towards the Prophet (PBUH), surrounding him, wanting to get at him.

Talhah stood there like a raging army, striking with his sword to the left and right. He could see the Prophet (PBUH) bleeding and his pains becoming more and more unbearable. He helped him and carried him away from the hole where his foot had gotten stuck.

He supported the Prophet (PBUH) with his left hand and chest, backing up to a safe, secure place, while his right hand (May Allah bless his right hand) fought the swords of the polytheists who surrounded the Prophet and who swarmed the battlefield like locusts.

Let Abu Bakr As-Siddiiq describe for us the whole scene of battle. `Aa'ishah once said: Whenever Abu Bakr recalled the Day of Uhud he used to say, It was the Tallaah's day. I was the first who approached the Prophet (PBUH). He said to me and to Abu Ubaidah lbn Al-Jarraah, "Watch out, for your brother." We looked at him, and we could see more than 70 stabs. His finger was cut off. We tried to remedy his condition.

Life beside the Prophet
In all the different events and battles, Talhah was always to be found in the forefront fighting in the cause of Allah, redeeming the Prophet's standard.

Talhah lived among the Muslim community, worshipping Allah with the worshipers, fighting in the cause of Allah with those who fought for truth, following the basic principles of the new religion which was revealed in order to bring people all people out of darkness into light.

After he fulfilled his duties towards Allah, he went on seeking the bounty of Allah, expanding and promoting his successful trade and business.

Talhah was one of the wealthiest Muslims. His whole fortune was put in the service of his religion, the standard of which he carried with the Prophet (PBUH). He spent it without measure, and so Allah increased it for him without measure.

The Prophet (PBUH) called him "Talhah the Excellent", " Talhah the Splendid and "Talhah the Generous" to demonstrate his bountiful generosity.

His generosity
How often did he give his whole fortune away. Then Allah the Ever-Generous returned it to him manifold! His wife Su'adaa Bint `Awf reported: Once I approached Talhah. I saw him worried and asked him, "What's the matter?"
He said, "The money which I possess is now so abundant that it worries me and makes me feel distressed."
I told him, "Never mind, I'll distribute it."
He set out to call people and to divide it among them till there wasn't a single dirham left.

On another occasion, he sold his land for a very high price, and when he looked at the pile of money, his tears rolled down and he said, " A man in whose house all that money is to remain for a night and he doesn't know for sure what will happen to him is certainly deceived by Allah."

Then he called some of his companions to carry his money with them and walk through the streets of Al-Madiinah distributing it until in the last part of the night he was without a single dirham of that money.

Jaabir Ibn Abd Allah described his wealth saying, "I never saw anybody giving out so much money without being asked as did Talhah lbn Ubaid Allah."

He was one of the kindest toward his relatives and kin. He supported them all, though they were numerous. It was once said about him, "He never left an orphan without supporting him and his dependents. He provided for the marriage of the unmarried ones, he provided service for the disabled ones, and paid the debts of the indebted ones.

As-Saa'i'b Ibn Zaid once said, " I accompanied Talhah during travels and during times of settlement. I never saw anybody more generous in terms of money, clothes, and food than Talhah."

The great dispute
The well known civil strife broke out during the caliphate of `Uthmaan. Talhah supported the argument of `Uthmaan's opponents, standing on their side in most of their quests to witness change and reformation.

Did he therefore, in such a position, call for `Uthmaan's murder, or even feel pleased by it? Never! If he had known that the civil strife would develop in such a way, bursting into mad spite, expressing itself in such cruel crime, the victim of which was "The Man of Two Lights" Uthmaan, May Allah be pleased with him... We say, if he had known that the civil strife would in the long run lead to such an end and such a conflict, he would have resisted it, and it would have been resisted by the rest of the Companions who supported him at the beginning, recognizing it as a movement of opposition and warning, and no more.

However, Talhah's stance turned out to be his "life conflict" after the brutal way in which `Uthmaan was surrounded and killed. Imam `Aly had hardly accepted the oath of allegiance from Talhah and Az-Zubair at Al-Madiinah, when they both asked permission to go to Makkah for `Umrah.

From Makkah they both turned to Al-Basrah, where a great multitude was gathering to avenge `Uthmaan's death.

At last it was the Battle of Al-Jamal, where those calling for revenge met with the party supporting Aly, May Allah be pleased with him.

Whenever Aly, May Allah be pleased with him, thought about this difficult situation which Islam and Muslims were confronting in this horrible dispute, he burst into sorrowful tears and his laments grew louder and louder. He was forced into this difficult situation.

Being the Caliph of the Muslims, he could not and it was not his right to be tolerant towards any revolt against the state or any armed opposition to the established authority. To crush a rebellion of that sort, then, he had to face his brethren, his companions, friends and the followers of his Prophet and his religion, those with whom he had so often encountered and combated the polytheist armies and with whom he had so often joined under the standard of monotheism in battles that refined their Islamic behavior and melted away all weakness and disgrace, thereby turning them into brethren - and indeed brethren - supporting each other.

What a conflicting situation! What a difficult harsh test! In order to find a way out of such a conflict and to save the blood of the Muslims, Imam `Aliy, May Allah be pleased with him, did his utmost.

Nonetheless, the factors opposing Islam - and they were many -which had met their defeat at the hands of the Muslim state in the days of its great leader `Umar, had kindled the civil uprising and continued to stoke it and follow its events and magnitude.

He cried a lot and wept abundantly when he saw The Mother of the Faithful `Aa'ishah on her camel howdaj at the head of the army which rose to fight him. When he saw Talhah and Az-Zubair, the disciples of the Prophet (PBUH), he called to them to come out to meet him, so they did. They approached him till their horses touched each other. He said to Talhah, "O Talhah! Did you come with the wife of the Messenger of Allah to use her in your fight while hiding your wife at home?" Then he said to Az-Zubair, "O Zubair! I ask you by Allah. Do you remember the day when the Prophet (PBUH) passed you when we were in such- and-such a place, then he said to you, `O Zubair! Do you love `Aliy?' You replied, `Why shouldn't I love my nephew and cousin and the follower of my religion? He said to you, "O Zubair! By Allah, you will fight him, being unjust to him.

Az-Zubair, May Allah be pleased with him, said, "Yes, now I remember, I had forgotten that. By Allah, I won't fight you. Az-Zubair and Talhah abstained from taking part in this civil war. They abstained as soon as things were clarified. When they saw `Ammaar lbn Yaasir fighting on `Aliy's side, they remembered the Prophet's prophecy to `Ammaar: "You will be killed by the unjust party." If `Ammaar were killed in that war in which Talhah was taking part, then Talhah was unjust.

Talhah and Az-Zubair retreated from the whole fight and had to pay for that retreat with their lives. But they met Allah pleased and delighted with what they had been endowed by Allah: insight and guidance.

As for Az-Zubair, a man named Amr lbn Jarmuuz followed him and killed him while he was praying.

As for Talhah he was pierced with a lance by Marwaan Ibn Al-Hakim , which killed him on the spot.

The murder of `Uthmaan represented in Talhah's conscience his "life conflict", as previously mentioned. Despite the fact that, he did not take part in the murder nor agree to it, he had just supported the opposition against him (Aliy, May Allah be pleased with him) at a time when it was not obvious that it would intensify and develop into a more serious conflict until it turned into a dreadful crime.

When he took his place on the day of Al-Jamal amidst the army fighting against the Ibn Abi Taalib which sought to take revenge for `Uthmaan's murder, he wished that his position would be an atonement making him feel at ease towards the pressure of his conscience. Before the start of the battle he was supplicating with a voice choked with tears saying, "O my Lord, accept me this day in favor of `Uthmaan until You are pleased."

When they met `Aliy, May Allah be pleased with him, face to face, he and Az-Zubair, May Allah be pleased with him, both said they felt illuminated by `Aliy's words and thereby saw it to be right to leave the battlefield.

However, martyrdom had been reserved for them. Indeed, martyrdom was his fate, and he was to meet it and it was to meet him, wherever he was.

Did not the Prophet (PBUH) once say about him, "He's one of those who passed away. Whoever wants to please himself by seeing a martyr walking on the earth, go let him look at Talhah." Thereby did the martyr meet his inevitable fate, and the Battle of Al-Jamal was over. The Mother of the Believers left Al-Basrah for the Sacred House and then Al-Madiinah, keeping aloof from the fighting and dispute. Imam `Aliy, May Allah be pleased with him, provided her with all means of comfort and respect.

When `Aliy, May Allah be pleased with him, inspected all the martyrs of the battle, he set out to pray the funeral prayer upon them, those who fought on his side as well as those who fought against him.

When he finished burying Talhah and Az-Zubair, he stood saluting them for the last time. He finished his words saying, "I wish to be with Talhah and Az-Zubair and `Uthmaan among those whom Allah described thus: "We removed from their hearts any malice therein, as brothers they shall rest upon couches facing each other " (15: 47).

Then he gazed at their grave with kind, gentle, pure, and sad eyes saying, "I've heard with my two ears the Prophet (PBUH) saying, "Talhah and Az-Zubair are my neighbors in Paradise".

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