THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME WITH PROPHET MUHAMMAD THE PROPHET OF ALLAH 042 ABDULLAH, CHIEF OF THE TRIBE OF LEHYAN by Khadeijah A. Stephens Copyright © 1984-2012 by Allah.com Muhammad.com Mosque.com Khadeijah A. Stephens Bismillah Ir Rahman Ir Raheem Abdullah, Chief of the Tribe of Lehyan Abdullah was the chief of the tribe of Lehyan, a branch of the Hudayl. He was a very evil man well known for his hatred of the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) and had succeeded to incite his tribe to take up arms against him. When news reached Medina of Abdullah's action, the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam), rather than sending an army against the entire tribe, sent Abdullah from the tribe of Khazraj to put an end to his name-sake. Abdullah had never seen the chieftain and asked the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) how he might recognize him whereupon the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) informed him, "When you see him, he will remind you of satan, and you will start to shudder." Upon reaching his destination Abdullah had no difficulty identifying the chieftain of the Lehyan, for sure enough right before him stood the most evil looking man he had ever seen and he began to shudder. Without a second thought Abdullah put and end to the chieftain and escaped unharmed to Medina. Now that their chieftain was dead the majority of the tribe had little interest left in attacking the Muslims, however, the matter of revenge remained upon the mind of several tribal members. Revenge In Safar 4H, sometime after the hostilities at Uhud, the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) sent ten of his Companions out on reconnaissance under the command of Asim, Thabit's son. When the party arrived at Hudat, which lies between Usfan and Mecca, they were spotted and their whereabouts relayed to the people of the tribe of Lehyan who still remained hostile, who, upon hearing the news set out in hot pursuit with approximately one hundred archers against the small band of men. Soon after, Asim and his companions reached Ar-Raji, which is between Rabigh and Jeddah, noticed clouds of dust rising high in the air coming directly towards them. Asim realized that he and his companions were greatly outnumbered, so he ordered them to climb to higher ground where they had a better chance to defend themselves. When the enemy arrived they spread themselves out and surrounded Asim and his companions. As Asim and his companions prepared to defend themselves, one of the unbelievers called out to them saying, "If you come down and surrender to us, your lives will be spared!" Asim did not trust them and refused, saying, "We will not leave our positions to accept the promise of an unbeliever." Then he supplicated to Allah saying, "O Allah, convey our situation to Your Messenger." Seconds after, volleys of arrows flew through the air and Asim, together with all but three of his companions were martyred. When the survivors, Khubaib, Zayd the son of Dathanah, and one other saw the condition of the rest of their companions they agreed to surrender with the promise that their lives would be spared, and went down to surrender. As soon as the companions reached the bottom of the hill, the unbelievers overpowered them, took the strings from their bows then bound them. The third companion spoke saying, "This is the first violation of your promise. By Allah, I will not accompany you and will follow the example of my other companions!" The unbelievers pulled him and tried to drag him along with them but he resisted with all his might so they martyred him and took Khubaib and Zayd back with them to Mecca to be sold. Khubaib had killed Harith, Aamir's son during the encounter at Badr, so when Harith’s relatives found out that he had been captured they bought him and bound him tightly in chains, and called a family meeting to decide what they were gong to do with him. All were in agreement that they should revenge themselves by crucifying him. Zayd had been sold to Safwan and he too decided that he would not spare his life. The Mercy of Khubaib During his imprisonment, Khubaib, who had been separated from Zayd, borrowed a knife from one of Harith's daughters. Shortly afterwards, her young son wandered up to Khubaib and sat on his lap whilst the knife still remained in his hand. When the child's mother saw what had happened she was terrified. Khubaib realized her great fear and asked, "Are you afraid that I would kill him? I am not capable of doing such a thing," and he sent the youngster back to his mother, for he had learned from our beloved Prophet’s example that such an action was not only unjust and dishonorable, but more importantly forbidden, and there was no place for such a despicable action in Islam. From that time onward, whenever Khubaib was mentioned, the boy's mother always spoke highly of him and would often remark how she had seen Khubaib eating fresh grapes even though they were not in season and would comment, "I am sure that it was Allah who sent Khubaib food!" And these two important factors made a great impression upon her. When the time came for Khubaib and Zayd to be martyred, they were taken separately to a place outside Mecca called Tan'im. When they met, they greeted each other with peace and exhorted each other to be patient. Khubaib was the first to be martyred, but before his martyrdom he requested that he be permitted to offer two units of prayer. The unbelievers agreed and released him from his chains whereupon he offered his prayer. After its completion he turned to his captors saying, "I would have made my prayer longer if I had not thought that you might think I was afraid of death." Then he supplicated, "O Allah, count them and kill them one by one, and do not spare any of them." The Martyrdom of Khubaib and Zayd Khubaib was bound to a stake and the unbelievers told him that they would spare his life if he recanted, but he refused, saying, "If you were to offer me all the things in the world I would still refuse." The unbelievers attempted to persuade Khubaib still further and taunted, "Don't you wish it was Muhammad in your place and that you were sitting at home!" With deep affection for the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam), Khubaib replied, "No, I would not wish that Muhammad (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) would even be pricked by a thorn and that I should sit at home." The unbelievers continued with their attempt to make him recant but their words fell upon deaf ears and a strong, believing heart. Khubaib wished he could be martyred facing the direction of his beloved Ka’bah, but the unbelievers refused, so he said, "If I am killed as a Muslim, I do not care on which side I fall. My death is in the Cause of Allah, and if He wills, He will bless the severed portions of my limbs." Just before they began to martyr him, he offered a final supplication saying, "O Allah, there is no man present who will take my greetings of peace to Your Messenger (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam), so please convey my greetings of peace to him for me." As martyrdom fell upon Khubaib, the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) was sitting with his Companions in Medina. Unseen by his Companions, Angel Gabriel brought Khubaib's greeting of peace to him, whereupon the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) replied, "And upon him be the peace and mercy of Allah," then the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) with sadness in his voice informed his Companions that Khubaib had been martyred. That night under the cover of darkness, Amr the son of Ummaiyah, Ad-Damari 'Amr took down Khubaib’s body and took it away for burial. Zayd's martyrdom followed soon after Khubaib's, he to offered two units of prayer and was martyred in the same manner of Khubaib. The Swarm of Hornets As for Asim, who had been martyred earlier, he had killed a Koraysh chieftain at Badr. When the news reached Mecca that he lay dead on the hillside, a party set off to bring back a recognizable portion of his body to satisfy their lust for revenge. However, when the unbelievers reached the hill they found Allah had sent a swarm of hornets to protect his body and so they were unable to approach him and returned to Mecca without mutilating him. When Omar heard the report of the swarm of hornets protecting Asim’s body he said, “Allah protects the believing worshiper, just as He protected him in this life.” Abdullah, Chief of the Tribe of Lehyan 042 Back Cover Subtitles Revenge The Mercy of Khubaib The Martyrdom of Khubaib and Zayd The Swarm of Hornets