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Abbad ibn Bishr

عَبَّادُ بْنُ بِشْرٍ

ʿAbbād ibn Bishr

Biography

ʿAbbād ibn Bishr was a Companion who, together with ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, stood night watch over the Muslim camp during the Ghazwah of Dhāt ar-Riqāʿ against the tribe of Ghaṭafān. Taking the first shift while ʿAmmār slept, he stood in prayer and was struck by an arrow fired by a hidden Ghaṭafānī scout; he pulled it out and continued praying rather than break his recitation, absorbing a second arrow the same way before finally waking ʿAmmār once he felt close to losing consciousness. He later explained he had been absorbed in reciting Sūrah Yūsuf and did not wish to interrupt it, and that he would rather have died completing the sūrah than abandon the post entrusted to him by the Prophet (ﷺ).

Significance

Continued reciting Qur'an through two arrow wounds while standing night watch at Dhat ar-Riqa rather than interrupt his prayer, an episode frequently cited on the spiritual pleasure (ladhdhah) found in salah

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