ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayra (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: عامر بن فهيرة) (586–625) was a companion of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. He was also known by the ''kunya'' Abū ʿAmr.Muhammad ibn Saad. ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 3. Translated by Bewley, A. (2013). ''The Companions of Badr'', pp. 176-177. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.

Background

Of African ancestry, he was born a slave in the possession of the

Azd The Azd ( ar, أَزْد), or ''Al-Azd'' ( ar, ٱلْأَزْد), are a Tribes of Arabia, tribe of Sabaeans, Sabaean Arabs. In ancient times, the Sabaeans inhabited Ma'rib, capital city of the Sabaeans, Kingdom of Saba' in modern-day Yemen. Th ...

tribe.Abdulmalik ibn Hisham. ''Notes to Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad'', p. 743 note 422. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Later he was owned by Al-Tufayl ibn Al-Harith, the stepson of

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

, who was also a member of this tribe but probably younger than Amir. He became a Muslim in MeccaMuhammad ibn Ishaq. ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. before 614. From 614 he was tortured in Mecca in an attempt to force him to recant his faith. His persecutor is not directly named; but the persecution stopped when Abu Bakr bought him from Al-Tufayl and

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that ...

him. As was usual for freed slaves, Amir remained in Abu Bakr's service and had the special care of grazing his milking ewe.

Emigration to Medina

When Abu Bakr and Muhammad escaped from Mecca in 622, Amir grazed Abu Bakr's flocks by day, then brought them at evening to the cave where Abu Bakr and Muhammad were hiding, presumably so that the sheep would cover their tracks. When they left the cave to

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

, Amir accompanied them.Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Landau-Tasseron, E. (1998). ''Volume 39: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and Their Successors'', pp. 138, 142. Albany: State University of New York Press. He was the one to write the note to Surraqah bin Mallik that no harm would come to them from Prophet side At first Amir stayed with Saad ibn Khaythama in Medina; but he later returned to Abu Bakr's house. Muhammad made a pact of brotherhood between Amir and Al-Harith ibn Aws ibn Muadh. Soon after their arrival, Amir, Abu Bakr and Bilal were all struck by Medina fever. When the young Aisha came to inquire after their health, Amir replied, apparently rambling: ''I have experienced death before actually tasting it:'' ''The coward’s death comes upon him as he sits.'' ''Every man resists it with all his might'' ''like the ox who protects his body with his horns.'' Amir fought at the battles of

Badr Badr (Arabic: بدر) as a given name below is an Arabic masculine and feminine name given to the "full moon on its fourteenth night" or the ecclesiastical full moon. Badr may refer to: .and it is also one of the oldest and rarest names in the Arabi ...

and

Uhud Mount Uhud ( ar, جَبَل أُحُد, Jabal Uḥud) is a mountain north of Medina, Saudi Arabia. It is high and 7.5 km long. It was the site of the second battle between Muslim and unbelievers. The Battle of Uhud was fought on 19 March, 625 ...

Death

He participated in the Battle of Bir Ma'una in July or August 625. When he was stabbed by Jabbar ibn Sulma from the Kalb tribe, he exclaimed, "I have been successful, by Allah!" He was among the first to die in the battle. Urwa reported that his body was never found, for "the angels had buried him" and he was raised directly to Heaven. Later Jabbar asked what Amir had meant by saying, "I have won." When he was told that Amir had gained Paradise, Jabbar also became a Muslim.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amir ibn Fuhayra Arab people of African descent 586 births 625 deaths Sahabah who participated in the battle of Uhud Non-Arab companions of the Prophet