Özet:

The main theme of this study is the defiance of Abū Āmir al-Rāhib one of the Arabs of Medina to the invitation to Islam. In connection with this, his family, where he lived, his religious belief, and his anti-Islamic activities in Madina, Mecca and Syria were discussed. In the narrations in sirat, Islamic history or other sources about those who opposed the Prophet Muhammad, mostly Jewish tribes and munāfiq (hypocrites) led by Abd al-Allah ibn Ubayy were pointed out and the struggles between Muslims and those groups were mentioned. The narrations referring to Abū Āmir’s situation were less abundant. Despite limited information on the matter, Abū Āmir’s response to the Prophet Muhammad who invited him to Islam and his subsequent opposition are a significant factor for research. Being the father of Hanzala, who is one of the companions who lost their lives in the battle of Uhud, his settlement in Mecca in response to the emigration of Muslims to Medina, his fight, against his people on the side of the pagans and his relationship with Masjid-i Dirar are of other factors that made his life important and prompted us to research. The purpose of this research is to examine Abū Āmir’s life in general terms and to determine the reasons for his defiance by examining the situation of his family, the places where he lived, his religious belief, his reaction to the invitation to Islam, his activities against Muslims and their reasons. In this context, the question “What is the role of his religious leadership claim and his Medinan identity in the background of his reaction to the invitation to Islam?” is the main problem we are addressing in our research. In this study, in which we used the qualitative research method, the narrative strategy was used. Accordingly, it is aimed to bring together and describe the information about Abu Amir’s life and to draw attention to the issues that make him important. For the data constituting the essence of the research, the narrations obtained by referring to the sources of sirat, Islamic history and tafsir were classified by document analysis data collection technique. In addition to this, in the literature review we have carried out, as far as we can determine, two independent studies have been made about Abū Āmir al-Rāhib so far, all in different languages. These “The Christian Monk Abu Amir” (Muhammad Hamidullah) and “Abu Amir al-Rahib” (Dhafer Akram Kaddouri-Samaher Mohi Mousa). In these articles, Abū Āmir’s life was discussed in general terms, but it was seen that there isn’t any detailed analysis was made on both his life and the reasons for his opposition. In our study, we tried to examine his life in more detail and to examine the reasons that played a role in his defiance. Abū Āmir al-Rāhib, a member of the Aws tribe from the Arabs of Medina, reacted to the Muslims with a protest on a religious basis from the earliest times with the Prophet Muhammad’s emigration to Medina. Abū Āmir who has similar characteristics to people whose existence had been known long before Islam and defined as Hanif, after meeting the Prophet Muhammad in Medina, not only did he not accept the Prophet’s invitation to Islam but also accused him of lying. He continued his life in Medina until the battle of Badr. After Badr, the increasing political power of Muslims led him to follow a different path. When he could not get the support he wanted from his tribe, he went to Mecca with his supporters and established close relations with the Quraysh tribe and acted with them until the conquest of Mecca and carried out activities against Muslims. He played an active role by participating in the Battle of Uhud on the side of the pagans in Mecca. Before the Battle of the Khandaq, he acted together with the Jews and provoked the people against the Muslims. After the conquest of Mecca, Abū Āmir turned towards Syria and continued his defiance until his death. Here, it is mentioned that he was involved in the construction of the mosque, which is both mentioned in the historical records as Masjid-i Dirar, and in the Qur’ān. Despite all his efforts he could not be successful and died in Syria. In this study, which aims to introduce Abū Āmir and especially to make the background of his defiance to the Islamic invitation clear, two important reasons have been identified, namely his claim to religious leadership due to his religious personality and his Medinian identity. The reason stemming from his Madinian identity is similar to that of munāfiq. Some Medinians including him, were disturbed by the presence of immigrants from Mecca. There is a different explanation for the religious leadership claim of Abū Āmir who thinks that he lost the status he had in Medina as a religious figure with the coming of the Prophet Muhammad. This claim is the most important reason for his fierce opposition to the call of Islam.

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