More than a name: Abdullah b. Sa'd b. Abi Sarh

There are events in history that surprise us, and times when those events resonate. Even if we do not express it aloud, we are inwardly surprised and prefer to remain silent in the face of those moments in history. Sometimes due to a sense of belonging, and sometimes because of the value of a bond we have carefully woven over many years, we cannot touch that sensitive time. A series of existential states, from religious commitment to ideological affiliation, creates the result we are talking about.

We may represent the affiliation, not the truth of the history we do not touch or discuss. Fear, anxiety, comfort, rent, and a series of reasons cause this. Behind the silence, there are actually great screams, great noises. To understand, rather than to approve, one must look behind the text, behind the language.

I wanted to host a name from that history I mentioned in my article today. He is, in my opinion, one of the names in Islamic history that should be dwelled upon: Abdullah b. Sa'd b. Abi Sarh.

The Islamic Encyclopedia does not provide detailed information about Abdullah, who was one of the names quite close to the Prophet of Islam. Perhaps there is not much information recorded about him. Both cases are, of course, open to questioning in themselves. If he was someone so close to the Prophet, why do we not have extensive information about him?

I know I have not explained the part about his closeness to the Prophet. He is close because he was one of the Prophet's scribes of revelation. We are talking about a name who transcribed the verses. This is exactly where the subject gains meaning and importance. Abdullah becomes a scribe of revelation, but then the story evolves into different places; one of the "sensitive" areas of history begins here.

I will come to how the story continues and what Abdullah experienced, but before that, I want to give some information about the scribes of revelation. As I said, it is a name given to the companions who wrote the verses. There is no full consensus on the number; this number has been raised up to forty-three. Besides the scribes of revelation, there are also other scribes. While Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, a 14th-century jurist and historian, says that Prophet Muhammad's scribes were forty, he did not include Ali ibn Abi Talib in this list. On the other hand, Muawiya, the son of Abu Sufyan, and Yazid were included in this list. General history says otherwise, of course. Ali is counted among these scribes of revelation. The truly controversial part is the Muawiya side. There is much to be said on this chapter, but let us continue where we left off.

Abdullah b. Sa'd is a scribe of revelation, but after a while, he claims that what the Prophet wrote was not divine revelation and apostatizes. In religious literature, he becomes an infidel! As is known, after the conquest of Mecca, the Prophet issued a death warrant for only certain names. And one of those names is Abdullah b. Sa'd. The former scribe of revelation, the new "enemy," is now to be killed wherever he is found!

Information regarding when Abdullah b. Sa'd became a Muslim is controversial. There are those who say he became a Muslim from the early periods, and those who say his conversion to Islam took place just before the conquest of Mecca. Whatever the date, we are facing a striking situation in any case. But the most striking point begins with the death warrant issued for Abdullah. Because at this point, Uthman b. Affan, whom we will later see as caliph, appears. For he is the foster brother of Abdullah b. Sa'd and opposes Abdullah's death warrant.

Let us rewind the story a bit here and go to the meeting between Abdullah and Uthman after the death warrant. According to the sources, after the death warrant, Abdullah goes to Uthman and takes refuge with him. Again, according to the narrations, the former scribe of revelation and new enemy Abdullah, who stayed with Uthman b. Affan for a while, asks him to speak to the Prophet and be pardoned. Upon this, Uthman b. Affan, who is also the Prophet's son-in-law, goes to the Prophet and asks for Abdullah to be pardoned, and this request is met. Abdullah, for whom a death warrant was issued, is pardoned in accordance with Uthman's request and continues to live. Moreover, he will appear before us not as an "ordinary" person, but as a governor in the continuation of the story.

As can be guessed, the person who appointed him as governor is Uthman b. Affan. According to one narration, Abdullah, who claimed that what the Prophet said did not reflect the truth and said, "If I started, I could produce a book like Muhammad's book" after his time as a scribe of revelation, becomes the governor of Egypt before 15 years pass. He is now also one of the important bureaucrats of the Islamic world.

Abdullah, who became the governor of Egypt after Amr ibn al-As, one of Muawiya's important advisors, achieves some military "successes" here, but some events that took place overshadow these successes and reveal the process that would be the beginning of the end for him.

For the Egyptians could not quite approve of Abdullah becoming governor after Amr ibn al-As. Indeed, they were facing someone who had apostatized! Undoubtedly, the propaganda carried out by Amr was effective here. On the other hand, the large palace called Dar al-Haniyya, which Abdullah had built in Egypt as governor, also drew the reaction of the public, and the people demanded his dismissal.

Meanwhile, another burning development occurs, and Abdullah beats one of the complainants to death. Upon this development, Aisha, the wife of the Prophet, also asks the caliph to dismiss Abdullah. The expected end is now approaching. On the other hand, the situation of the Caliph Uthman front is also deteriorating. Because at that time, the Caliph's house was besieged by opponents. Upon this, Abdullah first sends aid to Medina and then sets out to go to Medina himself. However, when he hears on the way that the Caliph has been killed, he wants to return to Egypt, but he cannot return to Egypt because the revolutionaries have taken control of the administration there. Ultimately, he goes to Ascalon or Ramla and loses his life there after a while.

According to the information provided by the Islamic Encyclopedia, Abdullah b. Sa'd, who was once close enough to the Prophet to be a scribe of revelation, narrates only one hadith from him!

Now, if we put all these events together, someone who left the scribeship of revelation saying "The Prophet is not telling the truth" and apostatized takes refuge with the Prophet's son-in-law Uthman, subsequently the Prophet pardons him, and the same person becomes the governor of Egypt, one of the important regions, before a very long time passes.

From political power relations to the political-economic reality of the period, no matter how you look at it, this is a history that needs to be questioned. Of course, if you want to be a witness to that history rather than a spectator, you can encounter this reality.