Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah | |
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Tomb of Abu Ubaidah in Balqa Governorate, Jordan
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Governor of the Levant | |
Monarch | Umar Ibn al-Khattab |
In office 634–639 |
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Preceded by | None (Conquest of the Levant from the Byzantine Empire) |
Succeeded by | Muawiyah I |
Personal details | |
Born | 583 Mecca, Arabia |
Died | 639 Jordan Valley (Middle East) |
Military service | |
Nickname(s) | Abu Ubaidah, Amin al-Ummah (Custodian of Ummah) |
Allegiance | Rashidun Caliphate. |
Service/branch | Rashidun army |
Years of service | 634–639 |
Rank | Field Commander (632–634) Commander-in-chief (634–639) |
Battles/wars |
Muslim-Quraysh Wars Rashidun conquest of Levant |
Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, fully Abū ‘Ubaydah ‘Āmir ibn ‘Abdillāh ibn al-Jarāḥ (Arabic: أبو عبيدة عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), was one of companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He remained commander of a large section of the Rashidun Army during the time of the Rashid Caliph Umar and was on the list of Umar's appointed successors to the Caliphate.
Abu Ubaidah was born in the year 583 CE in the house of 'Abdullah ibn al-Jarrah, a merchant by profession. Abu Ubaidah belonged to the Qurayshi clan of Banu al-Harith ibn Fihr. Even before his conversion to Islam, he was considered to be one of the nobles of the Quraysh and was famous among the Quraysh of Mecca for his modesty and bravery.
By 611, Muhammad was preaching the oneness of God to the people of Mecca. He began by inviting his closest companions and relatives in private to the way of Islam. He embraced Islam just a day after Abu Bakr in the year 611.
Abu Ubaidah lived through the harsh experience that the Muslims went through in Mecca from beginning to end. With other early Muslims, he endured the insults and oppressions of the Quraysh. As the first migration to Abyssinia (Ethiopia) succeeded, this violence against the Muslims renewed itself with much conviction and became stronger in its force. Being the only person in his clan to have accepted Islam, Abu Ubaidah was foremost amongst them. Muhammad suggested that the remaining Muslims who were especially subject to the atrocities of the people of Mecca migrate as well. Consequently, Abu 'Ubaidah migrated to Abyssinia along with a delegation of 83 men and 19 women.