KHUTAB III - 19. ‘UMAR AND ABDULLAH IBN KHUDHĀFAH



19. ‘UMAR AND ABDULLAH IBN KHUDHĀFAH
Brothers in Islam,
One of the companions of the Prophet who was promised Paradise was ‘Umar ibn al-Khat.t.āb. Allah made Islam stronger through his conversion to Islam. The angel Jibrīl (Gabriel a.s.) told the Prophet,
يَا مُحَمَّدُ لَقَدْ اسْتَبْشَرَ أَهْلُ السَّمَاءِ بِإِسْلَامِ عُمَرَ
(رواه الطبراني و ابن ماجة و ابن حبان)
“O, Muhammad, the inhabitants of heaven have
rejoiced with the conversion of ‘Umar to Islam.”
 (Reported by al-Ṭabrānī, IbnMājah, and Ibn Ḥibbān)
When ‘Umar converted to Islam, he asked the Prophet:
“O Messenger of Allah, are not we on the right way (عَلىَ الْحَقِّ) whether we die or live?”
          “Yes, we are,” said the Prophet.
“Then, why should we hide ourselves?” asked ‘Umar.
So, for the first time the Muslims came out marching in two rows entering the Mosque, al-Masjid al-H.arām, distressing the Makkan idolaters who opposed Islam and the Prophet. Since then, the Prophet called him as his epithetالْفَارُوْقُ  “he who distinguishes truth from falsehood.”
The Prophet said about him that Satan was afraid of him. He said to him,
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ مَا لَقِيَكَ الشَّيْطَانُ قَطُّ سَالِكًا فَجًّا إِلَّا سَلَكَ فَجًّا
غَيْرَ فَجِّكَ (رواه البخاري و مسلم والنسائي والطبراني و أحمد)
By Allah Who has my soul in His hand, whenever Satan
 meets you taking one way he will take another way.
(Reported by Bukhārī, Muslim, Nasā’ī, and £abrānī)
It was ‘Umar who used the Hijrah calendar.  He prayed to die as martyr; he said:
اللَّهُمَّ ارْزُقْنِي شَهَادَةً فِي سَبِيلِكَ وَاجْعَلْ مَوْتِي فِي بَلَدِ
 رَسُولِكَ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ (رواه البخاري)
O Allah, grant me martyrdom for Your path,
and make me die in the town (country) of Your Messenger,
peace be upon him. (Reported by Bukhārī)
He was stabbed to death by Abū Lu’lu’ah the Magian, the slave of al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah while he was performing the fajr prayer, and passed away on Tuesday night in  23 A.H. and was buried beside the grave of Abū Bakr who had been buried beside the grave of the Prophet inside the Masjid Nabawī  in Medinah.
When ‘Umr ibn al-Khat.t.āb sent an army to fight the army of Akhmawī, some of the Muslims were captured and taken prisoners, among them was  Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah, and was brought to the king. When the king knew that he was one of the companions of the Prophet, he tempted him, saying:
          “Would you become Christian? If you do, I will give you half of my kingdom.”
          “If you give me your whole kingdom as well as the whole wealth given to the Arabs, I would never abandon the religion brought by Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.,” said Ibn Khudhāfah.
          “If so, I have to kill you, then”, said the king.
          “Do whatever you like,” said Ibn Khudhāfah.
          So, Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah was crucified. His hands and legs were shot with arrows to scare him. He was still offered to become Christian and still firmly rejected.
          The king was annoyed and became fed up. He ordered his men to bring Ibn Khudhāfah down and away from the cross, and to take him near a big bathtub containing boiling water. Two Muslim prisoners were brought and the king threatened to kill them with the boiled water if he did not accept Christianity. As he refused, the two Muslim prisoners were killed.
           Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah started weeping. Thinking that he was scared and regretting for refusing to become Christian, the king offered him again to become Christian. When he rejected, the king asked him:
          “What makes you weep?”
          “I am weeping because both of my companions attained martyrdom, thrown into the boiling tub,” said Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah, “and I wish to be like them, but you do not give me chance to become martyr like them.”
          The king became amazed and admired ibn Khudhāfah’s firm belief. Yet, he insisted to conquer his heart. He said:
          “If you kiss my head I will release you.”
           Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah thought for a while and said to himself: “It is alright to kiss the head of this enemy of Allah as long as he releases the whole Muslim prisoners.” So, he said:
          “I’ll kiss your head if you will also release the remaining Muslim prisoners.”
          Unexpectedly, the king agreed to this condition. Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah kissed the king’s head, and the Muslim prisoners were released.
          When ‘Umar ibn al- Khat.t.āb heard this news, he said: “I’ll order every Muslim to kiss Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah’s head, and I’ll be the first one to do it.”
          When the Muslim army arrived at Medinah, ‘Umar kissed ‘Abdullah ibn Khudhāfah’s head, followed by the Muslims in Medinah.
          This is one example of the strong faith and steadfastness of the noble companion. However, one day the prophet asked his companions,
“Who are, in your opinion, the people who have the strongest faith who will have the greatest reward?”
“The angels, O Messenger of Allah,” said his companions.
The Prophet shook his head, saying, “How wouldn’t they have strong faith when they are with their Lord?”
“If so, then the prophets,” said his companions.
Again the Prophet shook his head, saying: “How wouldn’t they have strong faith when they themselves received revelation from Him?”
The companions started to be confused, and gave the answer: “If so, then we are, O Messenger of Allah”
This was also not the right answer, as they were with the Prophet and witnessed the revelation. They could not give any more answers and wished to get the proper one. So, the Prophet said: “They are a group of people after me. They believe in the Qur’ān and practice its contents, although they have not seen me. They have the strongest faith and will receive the greatest reward.”
In a hadīth the Prophet said:
Whoever sticks to my Sunnah in the time my ummah
 becomes corrupted, he will receive the reward of  one
 hundred martyrs.(Reported by al-Bayhaqī)

May Allah include us among them, Āmīn. (ANUMA, 9 June, 06)

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