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Abdullah
Ibn Hudhafah As-Sahmi
Abdullah ibn Hudhafah was one of the
glorious companions of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH). He was
known for his strong faith in God and his messenger. He
was also among those who were willing to sacrifice their
whole lives for the light of Islam to spread. Abdullah ibn
Hudhafah was given the chance to meet two world potentates
of his time, Khusraw Parvez the King of Persia and
Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor.
The story of his encounter with Khusraw Parvez took place
in the sixth year of the hijrah when Prophet Mohamed
(PBUH) decided to send some of his Companions with letters
to rulers outside the Arabian Peninsula inviting them to
Islam. Which was a very hard mission to accomplish.
To make known his plan Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) called his
companions together and addressed them. He started by
praising God and thanking Him. He then recited the
Shahadah and went on:
"I want to send some of you to the rulers of
foreign lands but don't dispute with me as the Israelites
disputed with Jesus, the son of Mary.”
"O Prophet of God, we shall carry out whatever you
wish," they responded. "Send us wherever you
desire."
Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) chose six of his companions to
carry his letters to Arab and foreign rulers. One of these
was Abdullah ibn Hudhafah. He was chosen to take the
Prophet's letter to Khusraw Parvez, the Persian king.
Abdullah prepared himself and bade farewell to his wife
and son. He set out, alone, and traversed mountains and
valleys until he reached the land of the Persians.
Abdullah asked for permission to enter into the king's
presence informing the guards of the letter he was
carrying. Khusraw Parvez thereupon ordered his audience
chamber to be made ready and summoned his prominent aides.
When they had assembled he gave permission for Abdullah to
enter.
He entered and saw the Persian beautifully dressed in
delicate, flowing robes and wearing a great, neatly
arranged turban. On the other hand Abdullah was wearing
plain, coarse clothes of the Bedouin.
His head though was held high and his feet were firm. The
honor of Islam burned fiercely in his breast and the power
of faith strengthened his heart.
When Khusraw Parvez saw him approaching he signaled to one
of his men to take the letter from his hand.
"No," said Abdullah. “The Prophet commanded me
to hand over this letter to you directly and I shall not
go against a command of the Messenger of God."
"Let him come near to me," Khusraw ordered his
guards.
Abdullah proceeded and handed over the letter. Khusraw
then called an Arab clerk and told him to open the letter
in his presence and read its contents.
The clerk read: "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent
the Merciful. From Mohamed, the Messenger of God, to
Khusraw the ruler of Persia. Peace on whoever follows the
guidance . . ."
As soon as Khusraw heard this, he burst with anger, and he
snatched the letter from the clerk's hand and began
tearing it to pieces without knowing what else it
contained and shouted: "Does he dare to write to me
like this, he who is my slave"? He was angry that the
Prophet had not given him precedence in his letter. He
then commanded Abdullah to be dismissed from his assembly.
Abdullah was taken away, not knowing what would happen to
him. Would he be killed or would he be set free? But he
did not want to wait to find out. He said, "By God, I
don't care what happens to me after the letter of the
Prophet has been so badly treated." He managed to get
to his camel and rode off.
When Khusraw's anger had subsided he commanded that
Abdullah be brought before him. But Abdullah was nowhere
to be found. They searched for him all the way to the
Arabian Peninsula but found that he had gone ahead.
Back in Madinah, Abdullah told Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) how
Khusraw had torn his letter to pieces and the Prophet's
only reply was, "May God tear up his
kingdom".
After a short period, Badhan sent two men on behalf of
Khusraw to bring Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) to him.
The Prophet smiled and said to them, "Go back to
your mounts today and return tomorrow."
On the following day, they came to Prophet Mohamed (PBUH)
and said to him, "Are you prepared to go with us to
meet Khusraw?"
"You shall not meet Khusraw after today,"
replied the Prophet. "God has killed him and his son
Shirwaih has taken his place on such a night and on such a
month."
The two men stared in the face of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).
They were completely dumbfounded.
"Do you know what you are saying?" they asked.
"Shall we write about this to Badhan?"
"Yes," replied the Prophet, "and
say to him that my religion has informed me about what has
happened to the kingdom of Khusraw and that if he should
become Muslim, I would appoint him ruler over what he now
controls".
They went back to the Yemen and told Badhan what had
happened.
Badhan said, "If what Mohamed has said is true, then
he is a Prophet. If not then we shall see what happens to
him."
A short time passed and then Badhan received a letter from
Shirwaih, in which he said, "I killed Khusraw because
of his tyranny against our people. He regarded as lawful
the killing of leaders, the capturing of their women and
the expropriating of their wealth. When this my letter
reaches you, take the allegiance of whoever is with you on
my behalf."
As soon as Badhan read Shirwaih's letter, he threw it
aside and announced his entry into Islam. The Persians
with him in the Yemen also embraced Islam.
That's the story of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah's meeting with
the Persian king. His meeting with the Byzantine emperior
took place during the caliphate of Umar ibn alKhattab.
It’s also an astonishing story.
In the nineteenth year after the Hijrah, Umar dispatched
an army to fight against the Byzantines. Abdullah ibn
Hudhafah was among that army.
News of the Muslim force reached the Byzantine emperior.
He had heard of their sincerity of faith, and their
willingness to sacrifice their lives in the way of God and
His Prophet. He gave orders to his men to bring to him any
Muslim captive they might take alive.
It was God’s will that Abdullah ibn Hudhafah should fall
captive to the Byzantines and he was brought before the
Emperor. The Emperor looked at Abdullah for a long time.
Suddenly he said, "I shall make a proposal to
you."
"What is it?" asked Abdullah.
"I suggest that you become a Christian. If you do
this, you will be set free and I shall grant you a safe
refuge."
Abdullah became furious and said: "Death is
preferable to me a thousand times to what you ask me to
do."
"I see that you are a bold man. However, if you
respond positively to what I propose to you, I will give
you a share in my authority and swear you in as my
aide."
Abdullah smiled and said, "By God, if you give me all
that you possess and all that the Arabs have in exchange
for giving up the religion of Mohamed, I shall not do
so."
"Then I shall kill you."
"Do what you want," answered Abdullah.
The emperor then had him put on a cross and ordered his
soldiers to throw spears at him, first near his hands and
then near his feet, all the while telling him to accept
Christianity or at least give up his religion. This he
refused over and over again to do.
The emperor then had him taken down from the wooden cross.
He called for a great pot to be brought. This was filled
with oil, which was then heated under a fierce fire. He
then had two other Muslim prisoners brought and had one of
them thrown into the boiling oil. The prisoner's flesh
sizzled and soon his bones could be seen. The emperor
turned to Abdullah and invited him to Christianity.
This was the most terrible test that Abdullah had had to
face up till now. But he remained firm and the emperor
gave up trying. He then ordered that Abdullah too be
thrown into the pot. As he was being taken away he began
to shed tears. The emperor thought that he had at last
been broken and had him brought back to him. He once more
suggested that Abdullah become a Christian but to his
astonishment, Abdullah refused.
"Damn you! Why did you weep then?" shouted the
emperor.
"I cried," said Abdullah, "because I said
to myself 'You will now be thrown into this pot and your
soul will depart'. What I really desired then was to have
as many souls as the number of hairs on my body and to
have all of them thrown into this pot for the sake of
God."
The tyrant then said, "Will you kiss my head? I will
then set you free?"
"And all the Muslim prisoners also?" asked
Abdullah.
The emperor agreed to do this and Abdullah said to
himself, "One of the enemies of God! I shall kiss his
head and he shall set me and all other Muslim prisoners
free. There can be no blame on me for doing this." He
then went up to the emperor and kissed his forehead. All
the Muslim prisoners were released and handed over to
Abdullah.
Abdullah ibn Hudhafah eventually came to Umar ibn
alKhattab and told him what had happened.
Umar was greatly pleased and when he looked at the
prisoners he said, "Every Muslim has a duty to kiss
the head of Abdullah ibn Khudhafah and I shall
start."
Umar then got up and kissed the head of Abdullah ibn
Hudhafah.
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