Abdullah (rtam) belonged to the notable Makkan tribe of Banu Sahm, which was famous for their outstanding virtues, power and influence. His grandfather Al-Aas bin Wail was one of the fiercest opponents of Islam. Allah (swt) revealed about him: “For he who hates you, he will be cut off (from all goodness).” (Al-Kawthar 108:3) His father, Amr bin Al-Aas (rtam), and his mother, Raitah bint Munabbih bin Al-Hajjaj As-Sahmi (rtaf), initially opposed Islam but later both became believers. When Abdullah (rtam) reached the age of ten, he fled from Makkah to Madinah, in order to embrace Islam.
During his childhood, Abdullah (rtam) showed exceptional intelligence and had great powers of memorization.
At that time, only about seventeen people in the entire Makkah knew how to read and write.
Thanks to his father, who had noticed the genius of his son, Abdullah (rtam) had the opportunity to learn reading and writing from the Jews and Christians who continually visited the house of his grandfather. Soon, Abdullah (rtam) began to absorb knowledge and to read everything written in Arabic that fell into his hands. His thirst for knowledge led him to mastering the ancient Assyrian language as well.
When Abdullah bin Amr (rtam) embraced Islam, many Quranic verses had already been revealed. He used to sit with the Prophet (sa) and his companions, memorizing and writing down both the already revealed verses and the new revelations, until he had completed the writing of the entire Quran. Such was his eagerness to memorize the Quran that he hardly left off reading it for more than an hour. He did not memorize it simply for preserving it in his strong memory; rather, he memorized it in order to fill his heart with it and to obey the commands of Allah (swt) mentioned in it. Abdullah (rtam) understood that the Quran was not revealed simply for the purpose of recitation; the laws described in it had to be followed and implemented.
Just like with the Quran, Abdullah (rtam) was exceptionally eager to follow the Sunnah. He wrote down the Ahadeeth of the Prophet (sa) in a record, which he called As-Sahifatus-Sadiqah (The Truthful Manuscript). To date, we remember Abdullah bin Amr (rtam) for his great piety and tremendous wealth of knowledge.
Adapted for “HibaKidz” from “Child Companions around the Prophet (saw)” published by “Darussalam”.
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