Arriving in Medina Without Wealth
When the Muhajirin made the Hijra to Medina, they arrived having left their property behind in Mecca. The Ansar (Medinan Muslims) partnered with them in a system of mu’akha’ (brotherhood), with each Ansar offering to share half their property with a Muhajir companion.
Sa’d ibn al-Rabi’ offered Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf half of everything, including divorcing one of his wives so Abd al-Rahman could marry her. Abd al-Rahman graciously declined: “May Allah bless you in your family and your wealth. Just show me where the marketplace is.”
Within a short time, through his commercial acumen, he had built a new fortune. The speed of his reconstruction demonstrated not luck but deep mercantile skill.
The Weight of Wealth
Despite his wealth, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf carried a deep ambivalence. The Prophet had warned: “‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf will enter Paradise crawling.” When informed of this, Abd al-Rahman reportedly wept and asked: “Why crawling?” and gave away enormous sums to charity.
He freed 30,000 enslaved people over his lifetime. He endowed 700 camels with their loads for the cause of Allah. He provided for the widows of the Prophet in his will.
He said: “I fear that what I have received here will delay me in the hereafter.”
The Ten Given Tidings of Paradise
Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf is among the ten Companions (al-‘ashara al-mubashsharun) whom the Prophet explicitly named as destined for Paradise: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa’id ibn Zayd, and Abu ‘Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah.
See also: Seerah Abu Bakr, Seerah Umar Ibn Khattab, Seerah Ali, Fiqh Al Sadaqa, Hijra, Seerah Sad Ibn Abi Waqqas