Talhah

Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah ( _ar. طلحة بن عبيدالله) (d.656) was a companion of Muhammad, best known for his role in the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Camel.

Biography

Family

Talha ibn Ubaydullah was a cousin of Abu Bakr. 'Amr bin Ka'b was the great grandfather of both of them. [http://www.islam4theworld.com/Sahabah/talhah_bn_ubaydullah_R.htm www.islam4theworld.com ] ] , so all of them were from the Banu Taym clan The Origins and Early Development of Shi`a Islam [http://www.karbala-najaf.org/shiaism/058-079.htm p.58-079] ] .

Among his wives was a Syrian Jew [Abu Bakr Jasas in his Tafseer Ahkaam al Qur'an Volume 1 page 333, Beirut edition [http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/mutah/en/chap4.php] ]

He was also extremely rich. According to al-Masudi, he made 1,000 dinars a day from his business ventures in Iraq, and his income from the region of ash-Sharah was more than that [ [http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/Chapter3/Ch_3_26.htm] Talhah's income from the 'Iraq was 1,000 dinars a day, and his income from the region of ash-Sharah was more than that.- Ibn Khaldun ] . He also owned lots of real estate in Medina, and had a lot of servants [ [http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Religion_Reformers_in_Islam/ref-56.htm] On a refutation of the socialist Syed Qutb] .

Early Life (597-610)

Assuming he died at 64 years old, he was born in 597.

Muhammad(SAW)'s era (610-632)

Mecca

Talha became a Muslim when he was 18 years old [(in 615, assuming he was born in 597 CE)] , and was one of the first Muslims. He was one of the very few residents of Mecca who could read and write at the advent of Islam.

Assuming he was 64 years old when he died, and he became Muslim when he was 18, he became a Muslim in 615, or seven years before the Migration to Medina.

Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid at one time bound Abu Bakr and Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah with a rope [USC-MSA Compendium of Muslim Texts [http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/history/biographies/sahaabah/bio.TALHAH_IBN_UBAYDULLAH.html] ] . Due to this, those two became known as the "Al-Qareenayn", "the two tied together" [http://www.arabnews.com/?page=5&section=0&article=84035&d=28&m=6&y=2006 How Noble Men Were Persecuted ] ] .

Uthman bin 'Ubaydullah used to beat him up mercilessly. He followed Muhammad during the Meccan boycott

Medina

He brought the family of Abu Bakr to Madina after Hijrah (Migration). In Madina, he stayed with As'ad bin Zurarah who was among the first batch of converts from Madinah.

He participated in all of the battles in which Muhammad participated personally with the exception of the battle of Badr Muhammad had sent him and Sa'id ibn Zayd to get information on the movement of the Quraysh army. They missed the Quraysh army and by the time they returned, the battle had been won by the Muslims. However, both of them were given their share of the war trophies) of the battle.

Ali had killed his uncle; 'Umayr ibn 'Uthman, his brother Malik ibn 'Ubaydillah and his nephew 'Uthman ibn Malik in the battle of Badr Imamate: The Vicegerency of the Prophet [http://www.al-islam.org/ Al-islam.org] [http://www.al-islam.org/imamate/3.htm] referencing: ash-Shaykh al-Mufid: al-Irshad, (with Persian tr. Of Sh. Muhammad Baqir Sa'idi Khurasani), p.65. [See also Eng . tr. of I. K.A. Howard, p .47 .] ] .

He was included in the Battle of Uhud. A Sunni source elaborates:cquote|bgcolor=#F0FFF0|This time the Quraysh had specifically targeted the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S. Many prominent Ansar (Helpers-Muslims of Madinah) and Muhajirun (Muslim Migrants from Makkah) including the brave warrior of Islam, Hamzah bin 'Abdul Muttalib R and a cousin as well as an uncle, had achieved Shahadah (Martyrdom) in this battle. Talhah bin 'Ubaydullah R and Sa'd bin Abu Waqqas R kept very close to the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S and shielded him.

Sa'd bin Abu Waqqas R was trying to keep the enemy by shooting arrows at them. Talha bin 'Ubaydullah R literally became a human shield in front of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S from the attacks of Quraysh. He was seriously injured but he continued defending him. In the process, he lost two of his fingers in a sword attack, one of his arms was disabled by a spear which perched through his palm, received a deep cut in one of his legs, was hit in the head by two spears. H had lost a lot of blood but continued to defend the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S.

Talha bin 'Ubaydullah R had received a total of seventy (70) wounds on his body. The Messenger of Allah, Muhammad S called him as a person who has achieved Shahadah (Martyrdom) in his life and called him a living Shaheed (Martyr).

=Farewell Pilgr

He participiated in the Farewell Pilgrimage .

Abu Bakr's era (632–634)

PresentScholar|Husain Mohammad Jafri|20th|Shi'a writes:

Umar's era (634-644)

He was appointed by the second caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, to the council electing his successor, which led to the election of Uthman ibn 'Affan in 644.

Uthman's era (644–656)

Ali's era (656-661)

He was amongst the group that unsuccessfully fought the fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, in the Battle of the Camel in 656 C.E. to avenge the murder of the preceding caliph, Uthman. During the battle, his commander Marwan ibn Al-Hakam ordered the death of Talha, who was shot with an arrow. He was taken aside and died later of his wound [ [http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:Tj2mYoEepYEJ:www.maaref-foundation.com/english/prophet_and_ahl_al-bayt/imam01_ali/nahj-ul-balaghah/letters/64.htm+%22killed+Talhah%22&hl=sv] , [http://anwary-islam.com/companion/ten-talhah-ibn-ubaydullah.htm] [http://www.al-islam.org/restatement/61.htm] [http://www.islam4theworld.com/Sahabah/talhah_bn_ubaydullah_R.htm] ] .

He became 64 years old.

Legacy

He has a son named Muhammad ibn Talha from a marriage with Hammanah bint Jahsh, the sister of Zaynab bint Jahsh. He also died at the battle of the Camel..

From his marriage to Umm Kulthum bint Abu Bakr, he had three children :
*Zakariyyah ibn Talhah
*Yusuf ibn Talhah
*A'isha bint Talhah

He has also a daughter named Umm Ishaq bint Talhah who married Hasan ibn Ali and had a son named Talha ibn Hassan.

After Hasan died, Umm Ishaq married Husayn ibn Ali and had a daughter named Fatimah bint Husayn.

unni view

Sunnis regard him as one of the ten who were promised paradise during their lifetimes by Muhammad.

hi'a view

Shi'a have ambivalent view of him. On one side, he was a great defender of early Islam, fighting side by side with Muhammad and Ali. On the other side, he contested Ali's leadership and then broke his oath of allegiance to Ali.

PresentScholar|Ali Asgher Razwy|20th|Shi'a|Twelver states:cquote|bgcolor=#F0FFF0|Umar, on his deathbed, had appointed six Muhajireen as members of a panel which was to choose one out of themselves as the future khalifa of the Muslims. They were Ali ibn Abi Talib, Uthman, Talha, Zubayr, Abdur Rahman bin Auf and Saad bin Abi Waqqas. Except Ali, all other members of the panel were capitalists, or rather, neo-capitalists. When they came from Makkah, they were penniless and homeless but within twelve years, i.e., from the death of Muhammad Mustafa in 632 to the death of Umar in 644, each of them, except Ali, had become rich like Croesus. Between these two dates, they had accumulated immense wealth, and had become the richest men of their times.

Ali did not qualify as a member of this exclusive "club" but Umar admitted him anyway. Apart from the fact that Ali made his living as a gardener whereas his other five co-members lived on the revenues of their lands and estates, there was another gulf, even more unbridgeable, that separated him from them. In character, personality, temperament, attitudes, philosophy and outlook on life, Ali and the rest of them were the antithesis of each other.A Restatement of the History of Islam and Muslims on Al-Islam.org [http://al-islam.org/restatement/57.htm] ]

ee also

*Talha (name)
*Ubayd-Allah (name)

References

External links

*http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Articles/companion/44_ali_bin_talib.htm