Talha ibn Ubaydullah

Among the Ten Promised Paradise

Talha ibn Ubaydullah, of the Quraysh clan of Banu Taym, was among the earliest to accept Islam and one of the ten given the glad tidings of Paradise in the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime (see Virtues in the Hadith).

The Hero of Uhud

Talha’s most luminous hour was the Battle of Uhud. When the Muslims were scattered and the Prophet ﷺ exposed to the enemy, Talha shielded him with his own body — taking blows on the hand he raised in the Prophet’s defence until it was left paralysed, supporting the Prophet ﷺ by the waist to help him rise, and ending the day with thirty-five to thirty-nine wounds upon him. 1 Seerat-e-Mustafa · Vol 1 · pp. 310–311 — Idris Kandhlawi — Talha's defence of the Prophet at Uhud; Qays ibn Abi Hazim's testimony of his paralysed hand and his many wounds.

At one point during the battle, the Prophet ﷺ had to climb a rock and could not — and Talha offered his own back as a step for the Prophet ﷺ to climb up. The Prophet ﷺ then said:

“Talha has made Jannah compulsory for himself.”

Abu Bakr would later say of that day:

“That day was exclusively for Talha.”

The Battle of the Camel

In the first civil strife after Uthman’s murder, Talha was among those who met Ali at the Battle of the Camel near Basra in 36 AH, where he was struck by an arrow and died of his wound. 2 The Life of Caliph Ali · pp. 141–156 — Nadwi — the Battle of the Camel; Talha is wounded by an arrow and dies.

Virtues in the Hadith

The Prophet ﷺ named Talha among the ten to whom Paradise was promised:

طَلْحَةُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ، وَالزُّبَيْرُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ

”…Talha is in Paradise, and az-Zubayr is in Paradise…” — within the naming of the ten promised Paradise.

Jami’ at-Tirmidhi 3747 · Book of Manaqib · In-book: Book 49, Hadith 144 · narrated by Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf · graded Sahih (Darussalam)