wish, you may consider yourself one of the Ansar. Choose whichever is
dearer to you."
With these words, the Prophet, peace be upon him, addressed Hudhayfah
ibn al-Yaman when he met him for the first time in Makkah. How did
Hudhayfah come to have this choice'?
His father, al-Yaman was a Makkan from the tribe of Abs. Hehad killed
someone and had been forced to leave Makkah. He had settled down in
Yathrib, becoming an ally (halif) of the Banu al-Ash-hal and marrying
into the tribe. A son named Hudhayfah was born to him. Therestrictions
on his returning to Makkah were eventually lifted and he divided his
time betweenMakkah and Yathrib but stayed more in Yathrib and was more
attached to it.
This was how Hudhayfah had a Makkan origin but a Yathribite
upbringing. When the rays of Islam began to radiate over the Arabian
peninsula, a delegation from the Abs tribe, which included al-Yaman,
went to the Prophet and announced their acceptance of Islam. That was
before the Prophet migrated to Yathrib.
Hudhayfah grew up in a Muslim household and was taught by both his
mother and father who were among the first persons from Yathrib to
enter the religion of God. He therefore became a Muslim before meeting
the Prophet, peace be upon him.
Hudhayfah longed to meet the Prophet. From an early age, he was keen
on following whatevernews there was about him. The more he heard, the
more his affection for the Prophet grew and the more he longed to
meethim.
He eventually journeyed to Makkah, met the Prophet and put the
question to him, "Am I amuhajir or am I an Ansari, O Rasulullah?"
"If you wish you may consider yourself among the muhajirin, or if you
wish you may consider yourself one of the Ansar. Choose whichever is
dearer to you," replied the Prophet. "Well, I am an Ansari. O
Rasulullah," decided Hudhayfah.
At Madinah, after the Hijrah, Hudhayfah became closely attached to the
Prophet. He participated in all the military engagements except Badr.
Explaining why he missed the Battle of Badr, he said: "I would not
have missed Badr if my father and I had not been outside Madinah. The
disbelieving Quraysh met us and asked where we were going. Wetold them
we were going to Madinah and they asked whether we intended to meet
Muhammad. We insisted that weonly wanted to go to Madinah. They
allowed us to go only after they extracted from us an undertaking not
to help Muhammad against them and not to fight along with them.
"When we came to the Prophet we told him about our undertaking to the
Quraysh and asked him what should we do. He said that we should ignore
the undertaking and seek God's help against them."
Hudhayfah participated in the Battle of Uhud with his father. The
pressure on Hudhayfah during the battle was great but he acquitted
himself well and emerged safe and sound. A rather different fate,
however, awaited his father.
Before the battle, the Prophet, peace be on him, left alYaman,
Hudhayfah's father, and Thabit ibn Waqsh with the other non-combatants
including women and children. This was because they were both quite
old. As the fighting grew fiercer, al-Yaman said to his friend:
"Youhave no father (meaning you have no cares). What are we waiting
for? We both have only ashort time to live. Why don't we take our
swords and join the Messenger of God, peace be on him? Maybe, God will
bless us with martyrdom beside His Prophet."
They quickly prepared for battle and were soon in the thick of the
fighting. Thabit ibn Waqsh was blessed with shahdah at thehands of the
mushrikin. The father of Hudhayfah, however was set upon by some
Muslims who did not recognize who he was. As they flayed him,
Hudhayfah cried out: "My father! My father! It's my father!"
No one heard him. The old man fell, killed in error by the swords of
his own brothers in faith. They were filled with pain and remorse.
Grieved as he was, Hudhayfah said to them: "May God forgive you for He
is the most Merciful of those who show mercy."
The Prophet, peace be on him, wanted diyah (compensation) tobe paid to
Hudhayfah for the death of his father but Hudhayfah said: "He was
simply seeking shahadah and he attained it. O Lord, bear witness that
I donate the compensation for him to the Muslims."
Because of this attitude, Hudhayfah's stature grew in the eyes of the
Prophet, peace be onhim. Hudhayfah had three qualities which
particularly impressed the Prophet: his unique intelligence which he
employed in dealing with difficult situations; his quick wittedness
and spontaneous response to the call of action, and his ability to
keep a secret even under persistent questioning.
A noticeable policy of the Prophet was to bring out and use the
special qualities and strengths of each individual companion of his.
In deploying his companions, he was careful to choose the right man
for the right task. This he did to excellent advantage in the case of
Hudhayfah.
One of the gravest problems the Muslims of Madinah had to face was the
existence in their midst of hypocrites (munafiqun) particularly from
among the Jews and their allies. Although many of them had declared
theiracceptance of Islam, the change was only superficial and they
continued to plot and intrigue against the Prophet and the Muslims.
Because of Hudhayfah's ability tokeep a secret, the Prophet, peace be
on him, confided in him the names of the munafiqin.It was a weighty
secret which the Prophet did not disclose to any other off his
companions. Hegave Hudhayfah the task of watching the movements of the
munafiqin, following their activities, and shielding the Muslims from
the sinister danger they represented. It was a tremendous
responsibility. Themunafiqin, because they acted insecrecy and because
they knew all the developments and plans of the Muslims from within
presented a greater threat to the community than the outright
hostility of the kuffar.
From this time onwards. Hudhayfah was called "The Keeper of the Secret
of the Messenger of Allah". Throughouthis life he remained faithful to
his pledge not to disclose the names of the hypocrites. After the
death of the Prophet, the Khalifah often came-to him to seek his
advice concerning their movements and activities but heremained
tight-lipped and cautious.
Umar was only able to find out indirectly who the hypocrites were. If
anyone among the Muslims died, Umar would ask:
"Has Hudhayfah attended his funeral prayer?"
If the reply was 'yes', he would perform the prayer. If the reply was
'no', he became doubtful about the person and refrained from
performing the funeral prayer for him.
Once Umar asked Hudhayfah: "Is any of my governors a munafiq?" "One,"
replied Hudhayfah. "Point him out to me," ordered Umar. "That I shall
not do," insisted Hudhayfah wholater said that shortly after their
conversation Umar dismissed the person just as if he had beenguided to
him.
Hudhayfah's special qualities were made use of by the Prophet, peace
be on him, at various times. One of the most testing of such
occasions, which required the use of Hudhayfah's intelligence and his
presence of mind, was during the Battle of the Ditch. The Muslims on
that occasion were surrounded by enemies. The seige they had been
placed under had dragged on. The Muslims were undergoing severe
hardship and difficulties. They had expended practically all their
effort and were utterly exhausted. So intense was the strain that some
even began to despair.
The Quraysh and their allies, meanwhile, were not much better off.
Their strength and determination had been sapped.A violent wind
overturned their tents, extinguished their fires and pelted their
faces and eyes with gusts of sand and dust.
In such decisive moments in the history of warfare, the side that
loses is the one that despairs first and the one that wins is theone
that holds out longer. The role of army intelligence in such
situations often proves to be a crucial factor in determining the
outcome of the battle.
At this stage of the confrontation the Prophet, peace be on him, felt
he could use the special talents and experience of Hudhayfah ibn
al-Yaman. He decided to send Hudhayfah into the midst of the enemy's
positions under cover of darkness to bring him the latest information
on their situation and morale before he decided on his next move.
Let us now leave Hudhayfah to relate what happened on this mission
fraught with danger and even death.
"That night, we were all seated in rows. Abu Sufyan and his men- the
mushrikun of Makkah - were in front of us. The Jewish tribe of Banu
Qurayzah were at our rear and we were afraid of them because of our
wives and children. The night was stygian dark. Never before was there
a darker night nor a wind so strong. So dark was the night that no one
could see his fingersand the blast of the wind was like the peel of
thunder.
"The hypocrites began to ask theProphet for permission to leave,
saying, 'Our houses are exposed to the enemy.' Anyone who asked the
Prophet's permission to leave was allowed to go. Many thus sneaked
away until we were left with about three hundred men.
"The Prophet then began a round of inspection passing us one by one
until he reached me. I had nothing to protect me from the cold except
a blanket belonging to my wife which scarcely reached my knees. He
came nearer to
me as I lay crouching on the ground and asked: 'Who is
this?''Hudhayfah,' replied. 'Hudhayfah?' he queried as I huddled
myself closer to the ground too afraid to stand up because of the
intense hunger and cold. 'Yes, O Messenger of God,' I replied.
'Something is happening among the people (meaning the forces of Abu
Sufyan). Infiltrate their encampment and bring me news of what's
happening,' instructed the Prophet.
"I set out. At that moment I wasthe most terrified person of all and
felt terribly cold. The Prophet, peace be on him, prayed: 'O Lord,
protect him from in front and from behind, from his right and from his
left, from above and from below.'
"By God, no sooner had the Prophet, peace be on him, completed his
supplication than God removed from my stomach all traces of fear and
from my body all the punishing cold. As I turned to go, the Prophet
called me back to him and said: 'Hudhayfah, on no account do anything
among the people (of the opposing forces) until you come back to me.'
'Yes,' I replied.
"I went on, inching my way under cover of darkness until I penetrated
deep into the mushrikin camp and became just like one of them. Shortly
afterwards, Abu Sufyan got up and began to address his men:
'O people of the Quraysh, I am about to make a statement to you which
I fear would reach Muhammad. Therefore, let every man among you look
and make sure who is sitting next to him...'
"On hearing this, I immediately grasped the hand of the man next to me
and asked, 'Who are you?' (thus putting him on the defensive and
clearing myself)."Abu Sufyan went on:
'O people of the Quraysh, by God,you are not in a safe and secure
place. Our horses and camels have perished. The Banu Qurayzah have
deserted us and we have had unpleasant news about them. We are
buffered by this bitterly cold wind. Our fires do not light and our
uprooted tents offer no protection. So get moving. For myself, I am
leaving.'
"He went to his camel, untethered and mounted it. He struck it and it
stood upright. If the Messenger of God, peace be on him, had not
instructed me to do nothing until I returned tohim, I would have
killed Abu Sufyan then and there with an arrow.
"I returned to the Prophet and found him standing on a
blanketperforming Salat. When he recognized me, he drew me close to
his legs and threw one end of the blanket over me. I informed him of
what had happened. He was extremely happy and joyful and gave thanks
and praise to
Hudhayfah lived in constant dread of evil and corrupting influences.
He felt that goodnessand the sources of good in this life were easy to
recognize for those who desired good. But it was evil that was
deceptive and often difficult to perceive and combat.
He became something of a greatmoral philosopher. He always warned
people to struggle against evil with all their faculties, with their
heart, handsand tongue. Those who stood against evil only with their
hearts and tongues, and not with their hands, he considered as having
abandoned a part of truth. Those who hated evil only in their hearts
but did not combat it with their tongues and hands forsook two parts
of truth and those who neither detested nor confronted evil with their
hearts, tongues or hands he considered as physically alive but morally
dead.
Speaking about 'hearts' and their relationship to guidance and error,
he once said: "There are four kinds of hearts. The heart that is
encased or atrophied. That is the heart of the kafir or ungrateful
disbeliever. The heart that is shaped into thin layers. That is the
heart of the munafiq or hypocrite. The heart that is openand bare and
on which shines a radiant light. That is the heart ofthe mumin or the
believer.
Finally there is the heart in which there is both hypocrisy and faith.
Faith is like a tree which thrives with good water and hypocrisy is
like an abscess which thrives on pus and blood. Whichever flourishes
more, be it the tree of faith or the abscess of hypocrisy, wins
control of the heart."
Hudhayfah's experience with hypocrisy and his efforts to combat it
gave a touch of sharpness and severity to his tongue. He himself
realized this and admitted it with a noble courage: "I went to the
Prophet,peace be on him and said: 'O Messenger of God, I have a tongue
which is sharp and cutting against my family and I fear that this
would lead me to hell-fire.' And the Prophet, peacebe upon him, said
to me: 'Wheredo you stand with regard to istighfar - asking
forgiveness from Allah? I ask Allah for forgiveness a hundred times
during the day. "
A pensive man like Hudhayfah, one devoted to thought, knowledge and
reflection may not have been expected to perform feats of heroism in
battlefields. Yet Hudhayfah was to prove himself one of the foremost
Muslim military commanders in the expansion ofIslam into Iraq. He
distinguishedhimself at Hamadan, ar-Rayy, ad-Daynawar, and at the
famousBattle of Nihawand.
For the encounter at Nihawand against the Persian forces, Hudhayfah
was placed second in command by Umar over the entire Muslim forces
which numbered some thirty thousand. The Persian forces outnumbered
them by five to one being some one hundred and fifty thousand strong.
The first commander of the Muslim army, an-Numan ibn Maqran, fellearly
in the battle. The second incommand, Hudhayfah, immediately took
charge of the situation, giving instructions that the death of the
commander should not be broadcast. Under Hudhayfah's daring and
inspiring leadership, the Muslims won a decisive victory despite
tremendous odds.
Hudhayfah was made governor of important places like Kufa and
Ctesiphon (al-Madain). Whenthe news of his appointment as governor of
Ctesiphon reached its inhabitants, crowds went outto meet and greet
this famous companion of the Prophet of whose piety and righteousness
they had heard so much. His great role in the conquests of Persia was
already a legend.
As the welcoming party waited, a lean, somewhat scrawny man with
dangling feet astride a donkey approached. In his hand he held a loaf
of bread and somesalt and he ate as he went along. When the rider was
already in their midst they realized that he was Hudhayfah, the
governor for whom they were waiting. They could not contain their
surprise. What manner of man was this! They could however be excused
for not recognizing him for they were used to the style, the pomp and
the grandeur of Persian rulers.
Hudhayfah carried on and peoplecrowded around him. He saw they were
expecting him to speak and he cast a searching look at their faces.
Eventually, hesaid: "Beware of places of fitnah and intrigue." "And
what," they asked, "are places of intrigue?" He replied: "The doors of
rulers where some people go and try to make the ruler or governor
believe lies and praise him for (qualities) he does not possess."
With these words, the people were prepared for what to expect from
their new governor.They knew at once that there was nothing in the
world that he despised more than hypocrisy.
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And Allah Knows the Best!
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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA
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