عكاشة بن محصن

Ukkasha ibn al-Mihsan

رضي الله عنه
Born
c. 585 CE
Died
632 CE · 11 AH
Tribe
Banu Asad (ally of Quraysh)
Category
Muhajirun

The Staff That Became a Sword

Ukkasha ibn al-Mihsan was a fearless Muhajir of Banu Asad. At Badr, when his sword broke in the fight, the Prophet ﷺ handed him a wooden stick — and it became a sharp sturdy sword in his hand. He fought with that blade through Badr and named it ‘Awn (“the Help”), keeping it by his side in every battle after. 1 Hayatus Sahaba · Vol 3 · pp. 650 — Kandhlawi — Ukkasha's broken sword at Badr; the Prophet gives him a stick that becomes a sword in his hand; he names it 'Awn.

Virtues in the Hadith

When the Prophet ﷺ spoke of seventy thousand of his people who would enter Paradise without reckoning, Ukkasha stood and asked him to pray Allah to make him of them. The Prophet ﷺ answered:

أَنْتَ مِنْهُمْ

”You are of them.”

When another Companion asked the same, the Prophet ﷺ said, “Ukkasha has anticipated you.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 5705 · Book 76 (Medicine), Hadith 25 · USC-MSA: Vol. 7, Book 71, Hadith 606 · narrated by Ibn Abbas from Imran ibn Husayn

Martyr of the Ridda

In the apostasy wars under Abu Bakr, Ukkasha rode with the army Khalid ibn al-Walid led against the false prophet Tulayha al-Asadi, and he was martyred at Buzakha at Tulayha’s hand — fulfilling, in life and death, the promise the Prophet ﷺ had given him. 2 Seerat-e-Mustafa · Vol 2 · pp. 42 — Idris Kandhlawi — Ukkasha martyred in the Ridda war by Tulayha.

۞

Life Timeline

c. 585 CE

An early Muhajir of Banu Asad

2 AH

Fights at Badr — the staff turned to a sword

Lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ

'You are of them' — promised Paradise without reckoning

11 AH

Martyred in the Ridda at Buzakha

At the hand of Tulayha al-Asadi.

References

  • Hayatus Sahaba — Kandhlawi — Ukkasha's broken sword at Badr; the Prophet ﷺ gives him a stick that becomes a sword in his hand Vol 3 · pp. 650
  • Seerat-e-Mustafa — Idris Kandhlawi — Ukkasha asks the Prophet ﷺ to be of the seventy thousand; martyred in the Ridda by Tulayha Vol 2 · pp. 41–42
  • Sahih al-Bukhari — 'Yes' — Ukkasha among the seventy thousand who enter Paradise without reckoning pp. 5705 (Book 76, Hadith 25)