THE COURAGE OF CONVICTION SEEKING THE PLEASURE OF ALLAH Hayatus Sahabah by Muhadith Kandahlawi (Kandhelvi) Rendered into current English by Khadeijah Abdullah Darwish (Anne Stephens) Free give away Acquired from Amazon’s Kindle Not for sale or resale by any third party ©2013 - www.Muhammad.com THE ENDURANCE OF SAE’ED, SON OF ZAID AND HIS WIFE FATIMA, SISTER OF OMAR Qais, narrated that in the Mosque of Kufa he heard Sa’eed, son of Zaid.son of Amr, son of Nufayl say, “By Allah, I experienced a time when Omar would tie me up in ropes because I had accepted Islam.” Anas narrates the time when Omar (who had yet to convert and was unaware that his sister Fatima and her husband Sae’ed had) left home with his sword suspended around his neck when a person from the Banu Zuhra tribe asked him where he was going. Omar replied, “I intend to kill Muhammad!” The man asked, “How will you remain safe from the tribes of Banu Hashim and Zuhra (who will kill you) if you kill him)?” Omar replied, “It would seem that you too have become a heretic and forsaken the religion you had been following.” The man replied (fearing for the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, and trying to buy time to warn the Messenger of Allah) “Shall I tell you of something even more astonishing? Your sister and her husband have both become heretics and forsaken the religion you follow!” Upon hearing that, Omar went off in a rage and when he arrived at their home, a Migrant by the name of Khabab was with them. When Khabab heard Omar approaching he hid himself in their house. As Omar entered he said, “What was that I heard you mumbling?” They had been reciting the chapter TaHa, but they replied, “It was just something we were discussing.” Omar said, “It appears that you two have become heretics!” Sae’ed said, “O Omar, what if the truth lies in a religion other than yours?” Upon hearing this, Omar leaped at him and stamped upon him. Fatima tried to intervene by pushing him away from her husband and he hit her so hard that her face started to bleed. Fatima was very upset and said, “What if the truth does lie in a religion other than yours? I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah!” Omar’s fury abated and he said, “Give me that which you have with you so that I may read it.” Although Omar was literate his sister would not hand it to him and told him, “You are impure and only purified people may touch it. You must take a shower.” Omar took a shower and she gave him the manuscript and he started to recite the chapter Taha. When he reached the verse: ‘Indeed, I am Allah. There is no god except Me. Worship Me, and establish the prayer of My remembrance.’ (Ch.20:14) Omar said, “Take me to Muhammad.” When Khabab heard this, he came out from his hiding place and said, “O Omar, glad tidings for you. I heard the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, supplicate on Wednesday night and it was accepted in your favor when he asked Allah, ‘O Allah, strengthen Islam with either Omar, son of Khattab or Abi Jahl, son of Hisham.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, was at that time in a house at the foot of Safa and Omar went to that house. At the door stood Hamza, Talha and several of the Companions. When Hamza perceived the others were afraid of Omar, he said, “Yes, it is Omar. If Allah intends good for him he will accept Islam and follow the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be him, on the other hand if Allah intends otherwise, it will be easy for us to kill him.” During that time the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, was inside the house and a Revelation was descending upon him. Thereafter he came out and grabbed hold of Omar’s collar and the hilt of his sword and said to him, “When will you stop O Omar, are you waiting for Allah to send the humiliation and punishment He sent to Waleed, son of Mughira? And he supplicated, “O Allah, here is Omar, son of Khattab, O Allah, strengthen the Religion with Omar, son of Khattab.” Omar then said, “I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and you are the Messenger of Allah.” Now that Omar had accepted Islam, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, asked him to go to the Sacred Mosque and pray there.” … Thowban narrates that the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, supplicated, “O Allah, strength the Religion with Omar, son of Khattab.” Early one night, Omar heard his sister reciting: ‘Read (Prophet Muhammad) in the Name of your Lord who created the human from a (blood) clot. (Chapter Alaq verse 1). Omar beat her so hard that he though he had killed her. The next day before dawn he heard her voice again reciting: ‘Read (Prophet Muhammad) in the Name of your Lord …. And he said, “I swear by Allah, that this is neither poetry nor unintelligible whispers.” He left and went to the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. He knocked at the door and Bilal who was in attendant at the door asked who it was. When Omar told him it was he, Bilal asked him to wait until he sought the permission of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, for him to enter. When Bilal told him Omar was at the door, the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, said, “If Allah intends good for Omar he will enter the Religion.” The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, permitted Bilal to open the door, and took hold of him by the collar and asked what was the purpose of his visit. Omar told him that he wanted to know what he was presenting to the people. The Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, told him, “You should bear witness that there is no god except Allah, who has no partner and that Muhammad is the worshiper and Messenger of Allah.” Omar accepted Islam and the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, told him to go to the Sacred Mosque and offer the prayer in view of the people. …. Omar asked a slave of his if he would like to hear how he embraced Islam and he replied that he did. Omar said, “At one time I was the Messenger of Allah’s strongest opponent. On one of the extremely hot days when I was walking in an alley in Mecca someone saw me and asked where I was going. I told him that I was going to kill the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him. When he heard this he said, “O son of Khattab, you say this yet the Religion has already entered your household.” I demanded to know what he meant and he said, “Your sister has entered the Religion.” I was enraged and went to her house and knocked at her door." Omar said, “It was the practice of the Messenger of Allah, praise and peace be upon him, to bond people without any wealth to others who were able to spend on them, and there were therefore two Companions who were bonded to Fatima’s husband. When I knocked at the door and was asked to identify myself, I told them that it was I. They (the two Companions who had been bonded to my sister’s husband had been engrossed in reading a manuscript they had with them, but when they heard my voice they hid themselves in the house, but forgot to take the manuscript with them. When my sister opened the door, I shouted, “O enemy of yourself, have you become a heretic?” I grabbed hold of something and hit her on the head and she wept saying, ‘O son of Khattab, do what you like, I have already accepted Islam!” She went inside and I sat down, and noticed the manuscript by the door. “What is that manuscript over there?” I asked, and my sister replied, “Do not touch it, son of Khattab because you have not taken and Islamic shower neither have you cleansed yourself thoroughly. Only those who are purified may touch it.” However, I insisted and finally she handed it to me.” The rest of the narration continues as above. THE ENDURANCE OF OTHMAN, SON OF MADH’OON Omar narrates that it came to Othman, son of Madh’oon’s attention that whereas he could walk about in safety under the protection of Waleed, son of Mughiera, the other Companions were being persecuted. He said to him, “There must be something wrong with me because my days and nights are spent in safety under the protection of an unbeliever where as my companions in Religion are suffering from torture and exposed to hardships. Othman went to Waleed and said, “O Abu Abdish Shams, you have certainly fulfilled your duty, but I ask you to release me from the protection you have granted me.” Waleed asked, “Why, O nephew, have any of my people harmed you?” Othman replied that they had not but it was that he preferred the protection of Allah.and did not want the protection of any other than Him. Waleed said, “Let us go to the Sacred Mosque and announce that I have been released of my protection toward you.” The two went to the Sacred Mosque and Waleed made the announcement that he no longer protected Othman. As Othman was returning he noticed Labid, son of Rabe’ah, sonof Malik, son of Kilab Qaysi reciting poetry to a gathering of the Koraysh, and he sat down among them. Labid was reciting a poem that said, “Behold, everything other than Allah has no essence….” Upon hearing this, Othman congratulated him saying, “That is true”. Labid then recited another poem in which it was said, “And every bounty must indeed come to an end.” Upon hearing that, Othman remarked, :”You are mistaken because the bounties of Paradise will never come to an end.” Labid said, “O assembly of Koraysh, someone in your company is usually never offended (i.e. no one objected to his poetry before) when did this start among you.” A person in the gathering said, “This person (Othman) is one of the many fools who have forsaken our religion.” Othman replied and their dispute became so intense that the man stood up and punched Othman’s eye so hard that it turned black. Waleed was not far away and had been watching and said, “Dear nephew, by Allah, your eye would not have received what it did (had you still been under my protection) if you were enjoying a secure protection.” Othman replied saying, “That is true, however dear Abu Abdish Shams, my good eye is very much in need of what its sister eye received for the sake of Allah. I am now under the protection of One who is more honorable and more powerful than you.” Later, Othman wrote a short poem about his eye that reads: “Does it matter if my suffered for the pleasure of my Lord At the hands of an irreligious and misguided person? The Merciful has already granted His reward in exchange And whosoever pleases the Merciful is indeed the most fortunate, Without doubt, even though you deem me to be one who is misguided, astray and a fool, I shall always adhere to the Religion of Muhammad. In this I seek only the pleasure of Allah and our Religion is undoubtedly the truth Even though this displeases those who oppress us and who surpass the limits.” Ali composed the following poem about Othman, son of Madh’oons black eye: “In thinking of times of danger Have you become grieved and wept like a distraught person? Or did you weep thinking of foolish people Who harshly oppress those who invite towards the Religion. These people will never desist from immoral behavior As long a they remain in good health While deception is a way with them and they cannot be trusted. Have you not seen that Allah has reduced the good in them, And that we are upset about what happened to Othman, son of Madh’oon When they fearlessly punched him on his eye, Persistently taunting and beating without abate Although he did not die instantly, Allah will undoubtedly punish them Measure for measure, they will be punished without reduction.” In the narration of ibn Ishaq it is reported that Waleed invited Othman to return to his protection but Othman refused.