An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr (RA)
Background and Early Life:
Even though he fought at Badr, Uhud, Khandaq and other major battles, An-Nu’ayman remained light-hearted and was well-renowned for his practical jokes.
Allegiance:
He belonged to the tribe of Banu an-Najjar of Madinah and he was among the early Muslims of the city.
An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr was also one of the companions who pledged allegiance with the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ at Al-Aqabah.
Family Connections:
An-Nu’ayman married the sister of Abdur Rahman ibn Awf and after some time, he also married Umm Kulthum, the daughter of Uqbah bin Abi Mu’ayt.
Struggle with Alcohol:
An-Nu’ayman became addicted to alcohol and he had been caught drinking by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who had him flogged (whipped as a punishment).
He was caught a second time and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had him flogged again.
Because he did not give up this habit, the Prophet ordered for him to be flogged with shoes. However, this still did not persuade An-Nu’ayman to quit drinking so the Prophet said: If he goes back (to drinking), then kill him.
One of the companions, Umayr angrily said: May Allah’s curse be on him!
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ heard this and he said: No, don’t do such a thing. Indeed he loves Allah and His Messenger. The major sin does not put one outside the community and the mercy of Allah is close to the believers.
Repentance:
An-Nu’ayman eventually acknowledged his sin of drinking alcohol and he asked Allah SWT for forgiveness, which pleased the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions.
Practical Jokes and Light-Heartedness:
Gift to the Prophet:
Once, An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr ordered food to be sent to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as a gift from him. The Prophet was very happy with the food and he ate it with his family.
The person who sold the food then went to An-Nu’ayman to collect money for the food, who told him: Go to the Messenger of Allah, it was for him and he and his family ate it.
The seller then went to the Prophet who in turn asked An-Nu’ayman: Didn’t you give it to me?
An-Nu’ayman replied: Yes. I thought you would like it and I wanted you to eat some of it so I had it presented to you, but I don’t have any dirhams to pay him so pay him, O Messenger of Allah.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions laughed about this and the Prophet had to pay the price for this gift.
An-Nu’ayman was very happy as he knew that two benefits came from this incident, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his family ate food and the Muslims had a good laugh.
Slave-Prank During Expedition:
Once Abu Bakr and some companions went on a trading expedition to Busra, where a companion named Suwaybit ibn Harmalah was made responsible for food and provisions.
An-Nu’ayman was hungry and asked Suwaybit for some food, but he refused and An-Nu’ayman said to him: Do you not know what I would do with you?
He continued to threaten him but Suwaybit still refused.
An-Nu’ayman then went to a group of Arabs and said: Would you like to have a strong slave whom I can sell to you?
The Arabs agreed to this and An-Nu’ayman went on to say: He has got a ready tongue and is very articulate. He would resist you and say: I am free, but do not listen to him.
The men paid the price for the slave, which was ten pieces of gold and An-Nu’ayman accepted this payment.
The men followed An-Nu’ayman to get their slave and he pointed at Suwaybit and said: This is the slave whom I sold to you.
The men took hold of Suwaybit and as he was being taken away, he shouted: I am free. I am Suwaybit ibn Harmalah.
The friends of Suwaybit rushed to find Abu Bakr who came as quickly as he could. Abu Bakr then explained to the Arabs what had happened and they released Suwaybit and had their money returned.
Abu Bakr laughed at this and so did Suwaybit and An-Nu’ayman.
Back in Madinah, when this story was told to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his companions, they also laughed.
Slaughter of a Camel:
A man once came to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with a delegation and left his camel at the door of the Masjid.
The companions knew that the camel had a large fat hump and they turned to An-Nu’ayman and said: Would you deal with this camel?
An-Nu’ayman then got up and slaughtered the camel.
The Arab came out and realised what had happened when he saw the people eating the meat. He shouted in distress and said: O my camel!
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ heard the commotion and realised what had happened and began searching for An-Nu’ayman, who ran away as he was afraid of being punished.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ followed his footsteps and found him in a ditch with palm-leaves and branches covering his face.
An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr stood in the presence of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ who dusted the dirt of his face as he began to laugh.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then paid the price of the camel to its owner.
Prank with Makhramah ibn Nawfal:
An-Nu’ayman lived on after the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and during the caliphate of Uthman, a group of companions were sitting at a Mosque.
They saw Makhramah ibn Nawfal, who was around one hundred and fifteen years old.
Makhramah was blind and he was so weak that he could hardly move. He got up to urinate and the companions shouted at him to prevent him from urinating in the Mosque.
An-Nu’ayman then got up and went to take him to another place as he was instructed. However, An-Nu’ayman had taken him to another part of the Masjid to urinate.
People shouted at Makhramah and made him get up again.
The old man was angered by this and he said: Who has done this?
He was told that it was An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr, and Makhramah swore that he would hit him on the head with his stick if he ever encountered him.
Taking Makhramah to Uthman ibn Affan:
On another occasion, An-Nu’ayman saw Uthman ibn Affan performing prayer at the Mosque.
An-Nu’ayman saw Makhramah and went up to him, changing his voice, saying: Do you want to get at An-Nu’ayman?
The old man remembered what An-Nu’ayman had done and shouted: Yes, where is he?
An-Nu’ayman took him by the hand and led him to where the Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan stood and said to him: Here he is!
Makhramah raised his staff and hit Uthman on his head, and the people shouted: This is the Amir al-Mu’minin!
They dragged Makhramah away and some people wanted to attack an-Nu’ayman but Uthman ibn Affan stopped them and asked them to leave him alone.
Despite the blows Uthman suffered, he was still able to laugh at what An-Nu’ayman had done.
Later Life and Change:
An-Nu’ayman lived up to the time of Mu’awiyah when the fitnah among the Muslims saddened him. From that point on, he did not laugh again.
Hadith on An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said about An-Nu’ayman ibn Amr: Do not curse him, for by Allah, I know he loves Allah and His Messenger. (Bukhari)