Abbad ibn Bishr

ʿAbbād ibn Bishr (عباد بن بشر) (c.597–632) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. After the Hijrah of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca, 'Abbad and his clansmen were given the name of Ansar for their assistance in giving shelter to the Muslims who came to their town. His Kunya or Teknonymy were Abu al-Rabi'.

Background
Abbad ibn Bishr came from banu 'Abd al-Ash'al clan, a sub branch of Banu Aws, an immigrant clan from Yemen which descended from Azd and settled in Yathrib, leaving their homeland due to a great flood in Yemen around 300 AD. The Azdian Yathrib settler, which consisted of Aws and Banu Khazraj were widely known in Arabia before Islam as warlike peoples with full battle experiences, particularly the Aws, which was deemed by historian as the more military minded of the two.

The Medinese, which consisted of Aws and Khazraj, along with their Jewish allies, Banu Nadir, Banu Qurayza, and Banu Qaynuqa, were involved in degenerating years of warfare such as battle of Sumair, battle of Banu Jahjaha of Aus-Banu Mazin of Khazraj, battle of Sararah day, battle of Banu Wa'il ibn Zayd, battle of Zhufr-Malik, battle of Fari', battle of Hathib, battle of Rabi' day, first battle of Fijar in Yathrib (not Fijar war between Qays with Kinana in Mecca ), battle of Ma'is, battle of Mudharras. and second battle of Fijar in Yathrib. The Medinese also even contacted against foreign invaders came from outside Hejaz, including such as Shapur II of Sasanian Empire in relatively vague result, and also in successful defense against Himyarite Kingdom under their sovereign, Tabban Abu Karib, who also known as Dhu al-Adh'ar. However, the most terrible conflict for both Aws and Khazraj was a civil war called the battle of Bu'ath, which left a bitter taste for both clans, and caused them to grow weary of war, due to the exceptionally high level of violence, even by their standards, and the needless massacres that occurred during that battle.

Seeking arbitration from third party, the Yathribese then pledge their allegiance to Muhammad, a Qurayshite Meccan who preach new faith of Islam during the Medinese pilgrimage to Kaaba time. As Muhammad managed to convince many notables of both Aws and Khazraj, which also included Abbad ibn Bishr who personally convinced by a Muhajirun named Mus'ab ibn Umayr of his cause on his new faith, the chieftains of both Aws and Khazraj tribe, particularly Sa'd ibn Mu'adh, Usaid Bin Hudair, Saʽd ibn ʽUbadah, and As'ad ibn Zurara agreed to embrace Islam and appoint Muhammad as arbitrator and de facto leader of Medina. Abbad and other Yathribese agreed to provide shelter for Meccan Muslims persecuted by the Quraysh, while also agreeing to change their city name from Yathrib to Medina, as Yathrib has a bad connotation in Arabic.

Biography


As Abbad ibn Bishr embraced Islam and pledged his loyalty to Muhammad, he immediately instructed to be paired with one of Muhajirun as sworn brother, which is Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba. Thus, Hereafter the arrival of Muslims of Mecca, Abbad served in various military campaign, where he along with other Ansaris and Muhajirun fought the first pitched battle were fought at the Battle of Badr in March 624. Later in the same year, after the Muslims defeated the Qaynuqa tribe in April as the Jewish tribe has been accused of treachery,

Approximately in the month of September, Muhammad ibn Maslamah was sent by Muhammad, along with some of his kinsmen and allied tribe of Aws, on a mission to assassinate Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, one of Banu Nadir clansmen who conspired against Muhammad. Ibn Maslamah brought along some of his Aws clansmen including Abbad, and several other clan members that historically count as allies of Banu Aws, such as Banu Sulaym, Banu Mustaliq, and Banu Khuza'ah. Ibn Maslamah pretended to Ibn al-Ashraf that he needed a loan and offered to leave his weapons with him as security. Ibn al-Ashraf therefore came out to meet him and four others by night when they were fully armed, as Ka'b instructed the gate guards to allow Ibn Maslama and his colleagues to bring out the weapons. Then, as the unsuspecting Ka'b lowered his guard, the assassin group led by Ibn Maslama immediately struck him and killed him with their weapons. Following, Ibn Maslama, Abbad, and their colleagues managed to escape undetected within the night, as the tribes of Ka'b learned about the death of Ka'b the next day upon finding his corpse lying on the ground.

In the year 625 (four years after hijra), The Muslims engaged in the expedition of Dhat al-Riqa as an effort of pre-emptive attack as Muhammad received news that the Ghatafan tribe in Najd were planning to attack Medina. In preemption, he assembled a detachment of over four hundred men including Abbad ibn Bishr. Arriving at Najd, they found the men of the tribes had fled to the hills. When the time of obligatory evening prayer came, Muhammad feared an ambush so he arranged the Muslims in ranks and divided them into two groups and performed salatul-khawf (emergency prayer of during conflict). As the Ghatafan witnessed the disciplined and vigilant rank of Muslim, they immediately cease their plan to attack the Muslims and stay at their position. After Muhammad saw the Ghatafan would not come down to face them, he immediately commanding the Muslims to depart. Then, as the Muslims packed their camp to return, Muhammad appointed Abbad ibn Bishr and Ammar ibn Yasir, whom Muhammad had paired as sworn-brothers, to patrol at night on the rear guard so they can alert the Muslims if there are any attempts from Ghatafan to ambush them during their departure. Thus, Ammar sleep a while and it is Abbad turn to stay on guard, Abbad performing night non-obligatory prayer to fill his duty time. Meanwhile, Abbad and Ammar were monitored by Ghatafan scout from afar, who in turn shooting his arrow to Abbad, who at that time were standing in his prayer. Ammar then wake up and terrified that he see Abbad was still standing in his prayer, while several arrows stuck on his body, while the Ghatafan scout has been away according to Abbad after he finished his prayer. Then both returned to Medina as the Muslim army have packed.

Later, Abbad was tasked by Muhammad to manage the massive spoils of war in the aftermath of the Battle of Hunayn, which consisted of tens of thousand of camels, sheep and goats, along with thousands Uqiyyah of gold ingots.

Abbad was involved in all military operations led by Muhammad and was tasked as Zakat collector for the tribes of Sulaym, Mustaliq, and Khuza'ah while not undergoing military operations.

Death
Abbad was killed fighting the forces of Musailma at the battle of Yamamah in 632.