Five Companions of Prophet Muhammad who Became Successful Entrepreneurs, Who Are They?

In the history of Islamic civilization there are figures who had extraordinary abilities in business. In fact, there are many friends of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam who are in their profession and are successful as entrepreneurs.

This is not without basis, because Rasulullah himself was also initially a successful trader. It is not surprising that his friends then followed in his footsteps and became successful entrepreneurs at that time.

The following are several friends of the Prophet Muhammad who successfully ran businesses and became successful entrepreneurs:

1. Abu Bakar Ash-Shiddiq

The next friend of the Prophet who became a successful entrepreneur was none other than Abu Bakar Ash-Siddiq. The figure who became the leader of the Muslim community after the death of the Prophet was known as an honest, fair, broad-minded and generous businessman and trader.

Abu Bakar’s business journey began when he entered his teens by trading in Basyra with capital of 40 dirhams.

Since then, he has worked hard to achieve success and trade his wealth in the way of Allah Subhanahu wata’ala. As his name suggests, namely Shiddiq, which means honest, Abu Bakar’s way of trading is liked because it is always based on a sense of honesty, which makes other people trust him.

2. Umar bin Khatab

Umar bin Khatab is also famous as a successful entrepreneur. Just like Abdurrahman bin Auf, Umar bin Khatab is also a successful property entrepreneur.

His assertiveness made Umar bin Khatab a respected friend and businessman in the Arabian peninsula at that time.

Umar bin Khatab himself is known to have an agricultural field of up to 70 thousand hectares and is estimated to produce IDR 160 million for every hectare of land.

Thus, if calculated manually, Umar bin Khatab could generate wealth of IDR 2.8 trillion per year or approximately IDR 233 billion per month.

3. Uthman bin Affan

Uthman bin Affan was a friend and son-in-law of Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wasallam. His work in the business world is recorded through his success as a rich cloth merchant and philanthropist.

Uthman bin Affan is also famous as the person with the largest number of livestock among other Arab people. The wealth he had was not only spent to support his family, but also for the development of the people and the glory of Islam.

Uthman bin Affan’s principle as a businessman is to continue giving and helping his brothers because of Allah SWT without expecting anything in return and not counting much on the wealth he owns because he is aware that it is all entrusted by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala.

4. Abdurrahman bin Auf

Abdurrahman bin Auf was one of the Prophet’s friends who had the ability to become a businessman or entrepreneur.

The beginning of Abdurrahman bin Auf’s success began when he joined the migration to Madinah with the Prophet Muhammad. In Medina, the Messenger of God befriended him with a Madinah conglomerate named Sa’ad bin Rabi.

Sa’ad bin Rabi was so rich, he intended to give away half his wealth and also divorce one of his wives to give to Abdurrahman bin Auf.

Instead of accepting it, Abdurrahman bin Auf asked Sa’ad bin Rabi to show him the location of the market in Medina. Arriving at the market, Abdurrahman bin Auf did a little market research to be able to develop his own business.

One thing he learned from this research was that land rental prices on the market were very high. Therefore, Abdurrahman bin Auf then offered to collaborate with Sa’ad bin Rabi to manage a plot of land next to the unused market.

Sa’ad bin Rabi then bought the land and handed over its management to Abdurrahman bin Auf, by whom the land was divided into lots to be rented out at a cheaper price.

From there, Abdurrahman bin Auf’s success as a property tycoon began and eventually he became the most successful friend of Rasulullah among others.

Abdurrahman bin Auf’s success as an entrepreneur is directly proportional to his charitable abilities.

He was recorded as being able to donate thousands of dinars in one assembly and in fact his name was the biggest contributor when Rasulullah Shalallahu alaihi wasallam and his companions lacked supplies in the Tabuk War.

5. Urwah Al Bariqi

Urwah Al Bariqi became the next friend of Rasulullah who successfully pursued a career as an entrepreneur. One of Urwah Al Bariqi’s strengths as an entrepreneur is his excellent ability to communicate and negotiate with his relations and buyers.

One of the stories involving the greatness of Urwah Al Bariqi’s communication and negotiation is when the Prophet Muhammad told him to buy a sacrificial goat for the price of one dinar.

Urwah Al Bariqi then returned home with unexpected results. He brought two goats for one dinar to Rasulullah. He did this through his excellent negotiation skills.

Not only that, Urwah Al Bariqi is also known as a figure who is able to sell whatever items he has in hand.

Those are five of the many friends of the Prophet Muhammad who were successful entrepreneurs, they are like the stars in the sky which can be a guide. The author hopes that after reading this article he can take action or follow an example, because they are the chosen people. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)