History would have by-passed this man as it had bypassed thousands of
Arabs before him. He, like them, would have had no claim to attention
or fame. The greatness of Islam, however, gave to Abdullah ibn
Hudhafah the opportunity 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 began in the sixth year
of the hijrah when theProphet decided to send some of his Companions
with letters to rulers outside the Arabian peninsula inviting them to
Islam.
The Prophet attached great importance to this initiative. These
messengers were going to distant lands with whom there was no
agreement or treaty. They did not know the languages of these lands
nor anything about the ways and disposition of their rulers. They were
to invite these rulers to give up their religion and forsake their
power and glory and enter the religion of a people who shortly before
were almost their subjects. The mission was undoubtedly hazardous.
To make known his plan, the Prophet 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 whateveryou wish," they
responded."Send us wherever you desire."
The Prophet commissioned six of his Sahabah 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 got his camel ready and bade farewell to his wife and son. He
set out, alone, and traversed mountains and valleys until he reached
the land of the Persian.
He sought 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 hadassembled he gave permission for Abdullah to
enter.
Abdullah entered and saw the Persian potentate dressed in delicate,
flowing robes and wearing a great, neatly arrangedturban. On Abdullah
was the 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 pulsated in his heart.
As soon as Khusraw Parvez saw him approaching he signal led toone of
his men to take the letterfrom 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 said to his guards and Abdullah
went forward and handed over the letter. Khusraw then called an Arab
clerk who originally came from Hira and ordered him to open the letter
in his presence and read its contents. He began reading:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful. From Muhammad, the
Messenger of God, to Khusraw the ruler of Persia. Peace on whoever
follows the guidance . . ."
Khusraw only heard this much of the letter when the fire of anger
burst within him. His face became red and he began to perspire around
the neck. He snatched the letter from the clerk's hand and began
tearing itto pieces without knowing whatelse 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 expelled from hisassembly.
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 ofthe 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 befound. They searched
for him all the way to the Arabian peninsula but found that he had
gone ahead.
Back in Madinah, Abdullah told the Prophet how Khusraw had torn his
letter to pieces and the Prophet's only reply was, "May God tear up
his kingdom".
Meanwhile, Khusraw wrote to Badhan, his deputy in the Yemen, to send
two strong men to "that man who has appeared in the Hijaz" with orders
to bringhim to Persia.
Badhan dispatched two of his strongest men to the Prophet and gave
them a letter to him in which he was ordered to go with the two men to
meet Khusraw without delay. Badhan also asked the two men to get
whatever information they couldon the Prophet and to study his message
closely.
The men set out, moving very quickly. At Taif they met some Quraysh
traders and asked them about Muhammad. "He is in Yathrib," they said
and they went on to Makkah feeling extremely happy. This was good news
for them and they went around telling other Quraysh,"You will be
pleased. Khusraw is out to get Muhammad and you will be rid of his
evil."
The two men meanwhile made straight for Madinah where they met the
Prophet, handed him the letter of Badhan and said to him, "The king of
kings, Khusraw, has written to our ruler Badhan to send his men to get
you. We have come to take you with us. If you come willingly, Khusraw
has said that it will be good for you and he will spare you any
punishment. If you refuse, you will know the power of his punishment.
He haspower to destroy you and your people."
The Prophet smiled and said to them, "Go back to your mounts today and
return tomorrow."
On the following day, they came to the Prophet 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 andhis son Shirwaih has taken his place on such a night
and on such a month."
The two men stared in the face of the Prophet. 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 appointhim ruler over what he now
controls".
The two men returned to the Yemen and told Badhan what had happened.
Badhan said, "If what Muhammad has said is true, then he is a Prophet.
If not then we shall see what happens to him."
Not long afterwards a letter from Shirwaih came to Badhan 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 had read Shirwaih's letter, he threw it aside and
announced his entry into Islam. The Persians with him in the Yemen
also became Muslim.
That's the story of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah's meeting with the Persian
king. His meeting with the Byzantine emperor took place during the
caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab. It too is an astonishing story.
In the nineteenth year after the Hijrah, Umar dispatched an armyto
fight against the Byzantine. Init was Abdullah ibn Hudhafah. News of
the Muslim force reached the Byzantine emperor. He had heard of their
sincerity offaith, 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.
God willed 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." The prisoner's reaction was furious: "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."
The prisoner, shackled in his chains, 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 Muhammad, 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 tellinghim to accept Christianity or at least give up his
religion. This herefused 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 andinvited him to Christianity.
This was the most terrible test that Abdullah 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
beenbroken 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 potand 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 forthe 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.
This the emperor agreed to do 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 al-Khattab and told
him what had happened. Umar was greatlypleased 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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