Hadhrat Abdul Rahman Bin Auf Radhiyallahu Anhu

Abdur-Rahman Ibn Awf (Radhiyallahu Anhu) was among those ten fortunate Companions of the Prophet (sa), who were given the good news of being accepted in Paradise after their death. He was known for his truthfulness, sincerity and good knowledge of religious matters. Abdur-Rahman (Radhiyallahu Anhu) embraced Islam at the age of thirty, after being invited to do so by Abu Bakr (Radhiyallahu Anhu). 

Before becoming Muslim, his name was Abd Amr, and it was the Prophet (sa) himself who changed his name to Abdur-Rahman

Abdul Rahman bin Auf was born with the name Abdu Amr ibn Awf into the tribe of Banu Zuhrah. He married the Uthman ibn Affan's half-sister. Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas was his first cousin.

He was one of the first eight persons to accept Islam, doing so two days after Abu Bakr. On this occasion he adopted the name Abdul Rahman, meaning "Slave of (God) the Beneficient".

In 634 CE, the dying Caliph Abu Bakr called in Abdul-Rahman (along with Uthman) and informed him of his designation of Umar ibn al-Khattab as successor.

In 644, the dying Umar nominated a board of six members who were required to elect one of themselves as the next caliph. The group consisted of Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Talha ibn Ubayd Allah, Ali ibn Abi Talib and Uthman ibn Affan. Uthman was chosen as the third caliph.

Abdul-Rahman one of The Ten Promised Paradise. He was one of the ten people (al-asharatu-l mubashshirin) who were assured of entering Paradise. Abdur-Rahman (rta) had the wonderful opportunity of migrating twice in the cause of Islam – to Abyssinia and to Madinah. 

When Abdur-Rahman (ra) arrived in Madinah, he had no money or property. He had to start from scratch. During the summer in 622 CE, about seventy Muslims set off with their families to Madinah, where they were lodged in the houses of the Ansar, the Muslims of Madinah, until they could set up their own homes. 

 Abdur-Rahman (ra) was paired up with Sa’ad Ibn Ar-Rabi’ah (ra) who was one of the wealthiest men of Madinah. On that occasion, Sa’ad (ra), out of generosity and kindness to his new brother, told Abdur-Rahman (ra), “My brother, among the people of Madinah I have the most wealth. I have two orchards and I have two wives. See which of the two orchards you like and I shall vacate it for you, and which of my two wives is pleasing to you and I shall divorce her for you.” This is the kind of love Muslims of the time had for each other. 

Sa’ad Ibn Ar-Rabi’ah was ready to part with his fortune and his family for the sake of Allah and offer it to another Muslim brother, all you can say is SubanAllah. Ever since Abdur-Rahman (rta) began his own business in the market of Madinah, 

Allah (swt) blessed him with bounty beyond his most daring expectations. Whatever he touched seemed to bring him instant success. When most other Muslims accepted the sharing offered to them from their Muslim brothers of Madinah, 

Abdur-Rahman’s (ra) response is going to blow your mind away. It is going to raise the hair on your skin and it will truly make you appreciate the will of a Muslim. Abdur-Rahman (ra) responded to Sa’ad Ibn Ar-Rabi’ah (ra) showing great appreciation, “May Allah bless you in your family and wealth. But show me where the market-place is.” It was “The market of Qainuqa” he was asking about. He did not wish to be a burden on anyone inducing his paired brother Sa’ad (ra). Amid the gloom, there was one bright spot, a sign of things to come, He didn’t want to take a loan or a gift from anyone because he knew that Allah (swt) would provide for him, and he believed in his ability to earn from finding opportunities in the open market. 

He was trained in business from his father, he ran businesses with his father up until he was 30 years old. Before accepting Islam, he was one of the high bloods of Makkah who were born with silver spoons. This nose for smelling opportunities and the eye to see them anywhere, allowed him to enter the market, employ his business acumen and capitalize on opportunities. 

Abur-Rahman ibn Awf (RA) was one of the most fierce and bravest companion of Muhammad . He participated in all the battles during the time of Muhammad . He was a veteran on jihad.

On the Battle of Badr, he fought bravely and in Battle of Uhūd, He was among the few that protected and shielded Muhammad. He suffered more than 20 wounds some of them severely deep. In which one wound on his leg caused him not being able to walk properly for the rest of his life, yet he continued to be firm and steadfast.

On the last Ghawzah of Muhammad, the Battle of Tabuk, in which Madinah suffered from drought and hardship. Thereupon, Muhammad called upon his companions to give generously for the war effort in the path of Allāh and assured them they would be rewarded. The Muslims’ response was immediate and generous.

In the forefront of those who responded was Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf (RA). He donated 200 awqiyyah of gold whereupon…

Umar ibn Al Khattāb (RA) said to Muhammad : “I have (now) seen Abdur-Rahman committing a wrong. He has not left anything for his family.”

“Have you left anything for your family, Abdur-Rahman?” asked Muhammad “Yes, I have left for them more than what I give and better.” replied Abdur-Rahman (RA)

“How much?” enquired Muhammad. “What Allāh and His Messenger have promised of sustenance, goodness and reward.” replied Abdur-Rahman (RA).

Eventually, the Muslim army left for Tabuk and there Abdur-Rahman was blessed with an honor which was not conferred on anyone till then. It was Salātul-Fajr and Muhammad was not there at time. Muslims chose Abdur-Rahman as their imam. The first rak'at of the salāt was almost completed when Muhammad joined the worshippers and performed the salāt behind Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. 

Subhan'Allāh! Such rare honor was to be the imam of the most honored of Allāh’s creation, the imam of the Anbiya, the imam of Muhammad , The Messenger of Allāh!

When Muhammad ﷺpassed away, Abdur-Rahman (RA) took the responsibility of looking after the needs of his family, the Ummahat al-Mu'minin. He would go with them wherever they wanted to and he even performed Hajj with them to ensure that all their needs were met.

He became the richest man among the the companions of Muhammad . His business transactions invariably met with success and his wealth continued to grow. His trading caravans to and from Madinah grew larger and larger bringing to the people of Madinah wheat, flour, butter, cloths, utensils, perfume and whatever else was needed and exporting whatever surplus produce they had.

He earned so much wealth but never remained attached to it for its own sake and he did not allow it to corrupt him. 

His generosity did not stop there, he continued giving with both hands, secretly and openly. He gave so much that with this fabulous generosity, A'īshah (RA) said;

What kind of businesses did Abdur-Rahman start?

Start of his trading is said to be in a humble way but he was quick to scale the opportunities he found and turned them into a fabulous career of business success. Abdur-Rahman started off with some dried butter-milk (yogurt),ghee and butter, and then he realised horse trading had a good volume (According to some historians he started of with 2-4 dinars gold coins). 

As he started to trade the horses, he quickly found the profit margin to be very small due to high supply and demand. He soon started to sell the saddles for the horses, which was lot more profitable compared to just horse sales. As he bought and sold different commodities, saddles and horses, due to volume he turned over, his profits grew rapidly. 

When your heart is clean, you conduct your business with sincerity and you know how to scale – the brighter future becomes a reality fast.

From day one since Abdur-Rahman (rta) began his own business in the market of Qainuqa in Madinah, Allah (swt) blessed him with bounty beyond his most daring expectations. It was not long before whatever he touched seemed to bring him instant success. 

Core entrepreneurial values of Hazrat Abdul Rehman Bin Auf (R.A) were very simple:

• He always bought goods on cash and sold on cash. (So no credit deals) 
• He always tried to avoid storage, he had sold goods even if he was offered with one penny of profit. (High level of circulation of cash, So basic focus was on earning profit by increasing revenue)
• He always made fair deals. (I.e. If there is even a minor fault in his product, He highlighted it front of his customer)

One day, food was brought to him with which to end a fast. He looked at the food and said:

“Musaib ibn Umayr has been killed. He was better than me. We did not find anything of his to shroud him with except what covered his head but left his legs uncovered. Then Allāh endowed us with the (bounties of) the world… I really fear that our reward has been bestowed on us early (in this world).”

To this, he began to cry and sob and could not eat. 

He died in 32 Hijri (652 AD). His Salāt Janazah was led by the 3rd Caliph, 'Uthman ibn Affan (RA). His grave is now located in Amman, Jordan.

The grave of 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf in Amman, Jordan

See Maulana Tariq Jameel Shab explaining his Tijarah: