Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Inspiring Accounts of the Sahaba

***INSPIRING ACCOUNTS OF SOME SAHABAH***

Umayr ibn Al-Hamaam

Anas bin Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, narrated: “The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam took off with his companions and they beat the polytheists in reaching Badr. When the polytheists arrived there, the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said: “None of you should do anything until I proceed.” Then, when the disbelievers came closer to them, the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said: “Rise to Paradise, which is as wide as the distance between the heavens and the earth.” ‘Umayr Ibn Al-Hamaam, may Allaah be pleased with him, asked: ‘O Messenger of Allaah, is it really as wide than the heavens and earth?’ He sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam replied: “Yes.” Thereupon ‘Umayr said: ‘Bakh Bakh.’ (an expression reflecting astonishment). The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam asked: “What made you say Bakh Bakh?” He said: ‘Nothing, except the desire to be of its dwellers.’ The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said: “You will be of its people.” Then ‘Umayr, may Allah be pleased with him, took out some dates which he had in his arrow pouch and started eating them, then he stopped and said to himself: ‘Indeed it would be a too long a life for me if I were to live long enough to finish eating these dates’ - then he threw them away and fought until he was killed.”

Saeed ibn Rab'ia

When Saeed ibn Rab'ia was injured in the Battle of Uhud,when he had 70 wounds from strikes of lances and bows and swords. He said to his people, "Deliver my salaam to the Messenger of Allaah peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, and say to him that I, by Allah,smell the scent of paradise. And there is no excuse for you , if something unnoticed would happen to the Messenger of Allaah., peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, while you have an eye with which you can see." Then his soul went up, may Allaah have mercy with him and be pleased with him.

Anas ibn Nadhr

Some of the companions of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam would smell the scent of Paradise and it would make them unable to control their desire to fight strongly and valiantly to the death. Anas Ibn Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, said:
“My uncle Anas Ibn An-Nadhr, may Allaah be pleased with him, missed the battle of Badr, so he said to the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam: ‘O messenger of Allaah, I missed the first battle that you fought against the polytheists, but if Allaah allows me to participate in the next one, then He will see what I can do.’ Then, after the day of the battle of Uhud when some Muslims retreated he went forth saying: ‘O Allaah I seek your forgiveness for what they have done (i.e., the Muslims for retreating) and I disassociate myself from what those have done (i.e., the polytheists for killing the Muslims)’, as he continued going forth, he came across Sa’ad Ibn Mu’aadh, may Allaah be pleased with him, and said: ‘O Sa’ad! I swear by the Lord of the tribe of An-Nadhr, it is Paradise (i.e., the reward for martyrdom). I can smell its fragrance close to Uhud.’” After the battle, Sa’d Ibn Mu’aadh told the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam: “I swear By Allaah, on that day I could not perform as he did.” Anas Ibn Maalik, may Allaah be pleased with him, continued: “(After the battle) we found more than eighty gashes on his (i.e., Anas Ibn An-Nadhr’s) body which were the result of swords, arrows and spears. In fact, the polytheists had mutilated his body so much that nobody could recognise who it was, except his sister, who identified him from his fingers.” (Bukhaari & Muslim).

The story of Anas ibn Nadhr was the reason of the revelation of the Ayaah:

مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ رِجَالٌ صَدَقُوا مَا عَاهَدُوا اللَّهَ عَلَيْهِ ۖ فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ قَضَىٰ نَحْبَهُ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَنْتَظِرُ ۖ وَمَا بَدَّلُوا تَبْدِيلًا

Meaning:
"Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allâh, of them some have fulfilled their obligations and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed  in the least" (Surat Al-Ahzab:23)


Abu Mihjan

Abu Mihjan was one of the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).


This Sahaabi was suffering from an addiction to drinking wine. He was brought and flogged, then brought and flogged again, but he knew that this problem did not relieve him of his duty to strive for the cause of Islaam. So he went out with the Muslims to the Battle of  al-Qaadisiyyah as a soldier, seeking martyrdom on the battlefield. In al-Qaadisiyyah he was brought to the commander of the army, the great companion, Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqaas, for having drunk wine. Sa'ad detained him so that the Muslim ranks would be cleansed of such a sin of and so that the victory would not be lost at the cost of such sinning because the companions knew sins delayed the victory.

This detention was a harsh punishment which caused Abu Mihjan a great deal of anguish. When he heard the sounds of swords and spears, and the neighing of the horses, and he knew that the battle had begun, and the gates of Paradise were open, he was filled with longing for the battlefield. He called to the wife of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqaas saying, "Let me go and I promise Allaah that if I come back safe and sound, I will put my own feet in the chains, and if I am killed, then you will be rid of me." She felt sorry for him, so she let him go, and he leapt onto a horse belonging to Sa'ad which was called al-Balqa'. Then he picked up a spear and set off  to witness the winds of victory descending from the heavens. He did not attack any group of enemy soldiers but he scattered them away. 


Sa'ad was supervising the battle from his fort as he was injured and he was surprised when he saw his own horse galloping in the battlefield , so he said, "This is the running of al-Balqa', and the style of attack is that of Abu Mihjan, but Abu Mihjan is in chains!" When the battle was over, Abu Mihjan went back and put his feet in the chains. The wife of Sa'ad told him this wonderful story, so Sa'ad admired this man and his care for Islam and love for the battles, so he himself went to this former wine-drinker and released him of his chains with his own hands and said, "Get up, for by Allaah I will never flog you for drinking wine again." Abu Mihjan said, "By Allaah, I will never drink it again."

See al-Isaabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahaabah, 4/173-174; al-Bidaayah wa'l- Nihaayah, 9/632-633

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