About twenty years before
the start of the Prophet's mission, that
is about the middle of the sixth century
CE, an Arab named Sinan ibn Malik
governed the city of al-Uballah on
behalf of the Persian emperor. The city,
which is now part of Basrah, lay on the
banks of the Euphrates River. Sinan
lived in a luxurious palace on the banks
of the river. He had several children
and was particularly fond of one of them
who was then barely five years old. His
name was Suhayb. He was blond and
fair-complexioned. He was active and
alert and gave much pleasure to his
father.
One day Suhayb's
mother took him and some members of her
household to a village called ath-Thani
for a picnic. What was to be a relaxing
and enjoyable day turned out to be a
terrifying experience that was to change
the course of young Suhayb's life
forever.
That day, the village
of ath-Thani was attacked, by a raiding
party of Byzantine soldiers. The guards
accompanying the picnic party were
overwhelmed and killed. Ali possessions
were seized and a large number of
persons were taken prisoner. Among these
was Suhayb ibn Sinan.
Suhayb was taken to
one of the slave markets of the
Byzantine Empire, the capital of which
was Constantinople, there to be sold.
Thereafter he passed from the hands of
one slave master to another. His fate
was no different from thousands of other
slaves who filled the houses, the
palaces and castles of Byzantine rulers
and aristocrats.
Suhayb spent his
boyhood and his youth as a slave. For
about twenty years he stayed in
Byzantine lands. This gave him the
opportunity to get a rare knowledge and
understanding of Byzantine/ire and
society. In the palaces of the
aristocracy, he saw with his own eyes
the injustices and the corruption of
Byzantine life. He detested that society
and later would say to himself:
"A society like
this can only be purified by a
deluge." Suhayb of course grew up
speaking Greek, the language of the
Byzantine Empire. He practically forgot
Arabic. But he never forgot that he was
a son of the desert. He longed for the
day when he would be free again to join
his people's folk. At the first
opportunity Suhayb escaped from bondage
and headed straight for Makkah which was
a place of refuge or asylum. There
people called him Suhayb "ar-Rumi"
or "the Byzantine" because of
his peculiarly heavy speech and his
blond hair. He became the halif of one
of the aristocrats of Makkah, Abdullah
ibn Judan. He engaged in trade and
prospered. In fact, he became quite
rich.
One day he returned to
Makkah from one of his trading journeys.
He was told that Muhammad the son of
Abdullah had begun calling people to
believe in God alone, commanding them to
be just and to do good works and
prohibiting them from shameful and
reprehensible deeds. He immediately
enquired who Muhammad was and where he
stayed. He was told.
"(He stays) in
the house or' al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam.
Be careful however that no Quraysh sees
you. If they see you they would do (the
most terrible things to you). You are a
stranger here and there is no bond of
asabiyyahi to protect you, neither have
you any clan to help you."
Suhayb went cautiously
to the house of al-Arqam. At the door he
found Ammar ibn Yasir the young son of a
Yemeni father who was known to him. He
hesitated for a moment then went up to
Ammar and said: "What do you want
(here), Ammar?" "Rather, what
do you want here'?" countered Ammar.
"I want to go to this man and hear
directly from him what he is
saying." "I also want to do
that." "Then let us enter
together, ala barakatillah (with the
blessings of God)."
Suhayb and Ammar
entered and listened to what Muhammad
was saying. They were both readily
convinced of the truth of his message.
The light of faith entered their hearts.
At this meeting, they pledged fealty to
the Prophet, declaring that there is no
god but Allah and Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah. They spent the
entire day in the company of the noble
Prophet. At night, under cover of
darkness, they left the house of al-Arqam,
their hearts aglow with the light of
faith and their faces beaming with
happiness.
Then the familiar
pattern of events followed. The
idolatrous Quraysh learnt about Suhayb's
acceptance of Islam and began harassing
and persecuting him. Suhayb bore his
share of the persecution in the same way
as Bilal, Ammar and his mother Sumayyah,
Khabbab and many others who professed
Islam. The punishment was inhuman and
severe but Suhayb bore it all with a
patient and courageous heart because he
knew that the path to Jannah is paved
with thorns and difficulties. The
teachings of the noble Prophet had
instilled in him and other companions a
rare strength and courage.
When the Prophet gave
permission for his followers to migrate
to Madinah, Suhayb resolved to go in the
company of the Prophet and Abu Bakr. The
Quraysh however found out about his
intentions and foiled his plans. They
placed guards over him to prevent him
from leaving and taking with him the
wealth, the gold and the silver, which
he had acquired through trade.
After the departure of
the Prophet and Abu Bakr, Suhayb
continued to bide his time, waiting for
an opportunity to join them. He remained
unsuccessful. The eyes of his guards
were ever alert and watchful. The only
way out was to resort to a stratagem.
One cold night, Suhayb
pretended he had some stomach problems
and went out repeatedly as if responding
to calls of nature. His captors said one
to another:
"Don't worry. Al-Laat
and al-Uzza are keeping him busy with
his stomach."
They became relaxed
and sleep got the better of them. Suhayb
quietly slipped out as if he was going
to the toilet. He armed himself, got
ready a mount and headed in the
direction of Madinah.
When his captors
awoke, they realized with a start that
Suhayb was gone. They got horses ready
and set out in hot pursuit and
eventually caught up with him. Seeing
them approach, Suhayb clambered up a
hill. Holding his bow and arrow at the
ready, he shouted: "Men of Quraysh!
You know, by God, that I am one of the
best archers and my aim is unerring. By
God, if you come near me, with each
arrow I have, I shall kill one of you.
Then I shall strike with my sword."
A Quraysh spokesman responded: By God,
we shall not let you escape from us with
your life and money. You came to Makkah
weak and poor and you have acquired what
you have acquired.."
"What would you
say if I leave you my wealth?"
interrupted Suhayb. "Would you get
out of my way?" "Yes,"
they agreed.
Suhayb described the
place in his house in Makkah where he
had left the money, and they allowed him
to go.
He set off as quickly
as he could for Madinah cherishing the
prospect of being with the Prophet and
of having the freedom to worship God in
peace. On his way to Madinah, whenever
he felt tired, the thought of meeting
the Prophet sustained him and he
proceeded with increased determination.
When Suhayb reached Quba, just outside
Madinah where the Prophet himself
alighted after his Hijrah, the Prophet
saw him approaching. He was over-joyed
and greeted Suhayb with beaming smiles.
"Your transaction
has been fruitful, O Abu Yahya. Your
transaction has been fruitful." He
repeated this three times. Suhayb's face
beamed with happiness as he said:
"By God, no one has come before me
to you, Messenger of God, and only
JibriI could have told you about
this." Yes indeed! Suhayb's
transaction was fruitful. Revelation
from on high affirmed the truth of this:
"And there is a
type of man who gives his life to earn
the pleasure of God. And God is full of
kindness to His servants." (The
Quran, Surah al-Baqarah, 2:2O7).
What is money and what
is gold and what is the entire world so
long as faith remains! The Prophet loved
Suhayb a great deal. He was commended by
the Prophet and described as preceding
the Byzantines to Islam. In addition to
his piety and sobriety, Suhayb was also
light-hearted at times and had a good
sense of humor. One day the Prophet saw
him eating dates. He noticed that Suhayb
had an infection in one eye. The Prophet
said to him laughingly: "Do you eat
ripe dates while you have an infection
in one eye?" "What's
wrong?" replied Suhayb, "I am
eating it with the other eye."
Suhayb was also known
for his generosity. He used to give all
his stipend from the public treasury fi
sabilillah, to help the poor and those
in distress. He was a good example of
the Quranic verse: "He gives food
for the love of God to the needy, the
orphan and the captive." So
generous was he that Umar once remarked:
"I have seen you
giving out so much food that you appear
to be too extravagant." Suhayb
replied: "I have heard the
Messenger of God say: 'The best of you
is the one who gives out food.'"
Suhayb's piety and his
standing among MusIims was so high that
he was selected by Umar ibn al-Khattab
to lead the Muslims in the period
between his death and the choosing of
his successor.
As he lay dying after
he was stabbed by a Magian, Abu Lulu,
while leading the Fajr Salat, Umar
summoned six of the companions: Uthman,
Ali, Talhah, Zubayr, Abdur Rahman ibn
Awl, and Sad ibn Abi Waqqas. He did not
appoint anyone of them as his successor,
because if he had done so according to
one report "there would have been
for a short time two Khalifahs looking
at each other". He instructed the
six to consult among themselves and with
the Muslims for three days and choose a
successor, and then he said:
"Wa-l yusalli
bi-n nas Suhayb - Let Suhayb lead the
people in Salat."
In the period when
there was no Khalifah, Suhayb was given
the responsibility and the honor of
leading the Salat and of being, in other
words, the head of the Muslim community.
Suhayb's appointment
by Umar showed how well people from a
wide variety of backgrounds were
integrated and honoured in the community
of Islam. Once during the time of the
Prophet, a hypocrite named Qays ibn
Mutatiyah tried to pour scorn and
disgrace on sections of the community.
Qays had come upon a study circle (halqah)
in which were Salman al-Farsi, Suhayb
ar-Rumi and Bilal al-Habashi, may God be
pleased with them, and remarked:
"The Aws and the
Khazraj have stood up m defence of this
man (Muhammad). And what are these
people doing with him'?" Muadh was
furious and informed the Prophet of what
Qays had said. The Prophet was very
angry. He entered the mosque and the
Call to Prayer was given, for this was
the method of summoning the Muslims for
an important announcement. Then he stood
up, praised and glorified God and said:
"Your Lord is
One. Your ancestor is one. Your religion
is one. Take heed. Arabism is not
conferred on you through your mother or
father. It is through the tongue (i.e.
the language of Arabic), so whoever
speaks Arabic, he is an Arab."
Sheikh Abdulfattah Abu-Abdullah Adelabu (Ph. D. Damas),
a West African Islamic Academic founded AWQAF Africa, of
which he's the first al Amir (i.e. President).
Sheikh Dr. Adelabu was studying Postgraduate Degrees in
Damascus early 1990's during when Syria reviewed its
national security after an �Oslo Accord'...
Syria like many other countries around the world
witnessed, during this period, the flood of refugees
from war troubled nations like Somalia, arrival of
people from Algeria during the brutal struggling between
the Mujahidun and the government, resettlement of the
Palestinians fleeing from sophisticated guns of the
Israelis as well as adventure of African migrants for
reasons uncountable�