2023

Amr Ibn Al-As

Amr ibn al-As - may Allah be pleased with him - is one of the Quraysh knights and heroes, the smartest Arab men, and the most cunning, cunning and resourceful, and his Islam was before the conquest of Mecca, and he was known as a brave mujahid who loves God and His Messenger, and works constantly to raise the banner of Islam in the east and west of the earth, and the Messenger of Allah loved him and gave him many missions and commanded armies.

Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) was reportedly a man of short stature, with intense black pupils of the eyes and prominent whitish sclera surrounding them, and possessing distant eyebrows. It is aloso reported that he used to paint his beard with black dye.

Most of the companions - may Allah have mercy on them - accepted Islam before him and with regards to that, his case was more unfortunate than others. This was because, just like other leaders of the Quraysh tribe, he chose to follow the forefathers’ religion despite knowing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was truthful in his mission. Among them was Amr al-‘As, and because of the great wisdom of God (swt), his acceptance of Islam was delayed.

Amr ibn al-'As went to Najashi laden with gifts, and Amr ibn Umayya had also come to him after being sent by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Amr ibn al-'As asked Najashi to hand over the Egyptian to him; Najashi was angry at 'Umar ibn al-'As's request and beat him for it, so he returned from there and headed back to Medina. On his way, he met 'Uthman ibn Talha and Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah bless them both), and they had a conversation about Islam, and the three of them went to Medina and declared their Islam to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).

Amr Ibn al 'As (may Allah be pleased with him) was known for his craftiness, and has the title of ‘the shrewdness of the Arabs’; which is concurred by his good opinion, and tricks up his sleeve, being a leader within his own people; for good opinion and craftiness, and that ’Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) whom all would later accord with the good opinion and the rationale of ‘Ammar was to give of him, was also a good example aws of the good opinion, logic and quite brazen approach.

Amr ibn al-'As was the first governor of Egypt, when he first entered it as a conqueror, having been appointed by al-Farouq 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and Amr ibn al-'As was an honest and just governor. He made many achievements during his tenure; he spread safety in Egypt, gave the Copts in Egypt a religious freedom they had never had before, and won the hearts of the Egyptians, especially after he brought back Penguin Benjamin from his exile to his church in Alexandria.

Amr ibn al-'As also carried out many administrative and financial reforms in Egypt, relying on internal labor and making reform come from the people of Egypt themselves. He also founded the city of Fustat and the mosque that bears his name; it is the first mosque to be built on the African continent.

He established a sea canal to facilitate trade between Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) assumed the governorship of Egypt twice, the first during the reign of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and the second in the year eighty-three for the Hijrah.