When he was captured into the hands of
the Muslims in the Battle of Badr, 'Umar
Ibn Al-Khattaab approached the Messenger
of Allah (PBUH) and said, "0
Messenger of Allah, let me extract the
teeth of Suhail Ibn "Amr until no
speaker stands against you after
today."
The
great Messenger responded, "No,
"Umar. I do not treat anyone
harshly so Allah will not harm me, even
though I am a Prophet." Then "Umar
came nearer to him and the Prophet said,
"Perhaps Suhail will take a stand
tomorrow that will make you happy."
So the
prophecy of the Messenger came true. The
greatest orator of the Quraish, Suhail
Ibn 'Amr, changed into a brillant and
dazzling speaker of Islam. This
polytheist who was always against Islam
changed into an obedient believer. His
eyes never stopped crying out of fear of
Allah. One of the senior chiefs of the
Quraish and a leader of its army changed
into a very hard fighter in the path of
Islam, a fighter who vowed to himself to
be persistent and to persevere in
courage, self-control, and fighting
until he died on that path, so that
perhaps Allah would forgive his previous
sins.
So who
was that obstinate polytheist ? He was
Suhail Ibn 'Amr, one of the prominent
leaders of the Quraish, and one of its
wise men and people of intelligence and
discernment.
He was
the one whom the Quraish appointed to
convince the Messenger to change his
mind and refrain from entering Makkah in
the year of Hudaibiyah. At the end of
A.H. 6, the Messenger and his Companions
went out to Makkah to visit the Sacred
House and to perform "Umrah. They
did not want war and they were not
prepared to fight.
The
Quraish knew they were on their way to
Makkah, so they went out to block the
way and stop them from achieving their
objective. The situation became critical
and hearts became tense. The Messenger
said to his Companions, "The
Quraish do not call me today to a plan
but ask me instead about the bonds of
kinship. So I gave them to them."
The
Quraish began to send their messengers
and representatives to the Prophet
(SAW), so he informed all of them that
he did not come to fight but to visit
the Sacred House and glorify its
sacredness. Each time one of their
representatives returned, they sent
another after him more vigorous and
unyielding and stronger in persuasion,
until they chose "Urwah Ibn Mas'uud
Ath-Thaqafiy. He was among the strongest
and cleverest of them. The Quraish
thought that ‘Urwah would be able to
convince the Messenger to go back;
however, he quickly came back to them
saying, "O people of Quraish,
indeed I went to the Persian emperor in
his kingdom and Caesar in his kingdom
and the Negus in his kingdom, but, by
Allah, I swear I never saw a king whose
people magnify him as the Companions of
Muhammad magnify him. I saw around him a
people that shall never surrender to
evil. So, what will you do and what is
your opinion?"
At
that time the Quraish believed that
there was no way for their attempts to
succeed, so they decided to resort to
negotiation and reconciliation. They
chose for this task the most suitable of
their chiefs. He was Suhail Ibn ‘Amr.
The
Muslims saw Suhail coming towards them
and recognized him and realized that the
Quraish preferred the way of peace
making and mutual understanding when at
last they sent Suhail. Suhail sat in
front of the Messenger, and a long
dialogue took place ending with a peace
treaty. Suhail attempted to gain much
for the Quraish. The tolerant leniency,
noble-mindedness, and excellent manner
in which the Messenger managed the
negotiations and peace making helped him
in achieving that.
Days
passed until A.H. 8 came. The Messenger
and the Muslims went out for the
conquest of Makkah after the Quraish had
violated its treaty with the Messenger
of Allah.
The
Muhaajiruun returned to their homes
which earlier they had been expelled
from by force. They returned and with
them the Ansaar, who had taken care of
them in their city and preferred them
over themselves.
With
its flags fluttering victoriously in the
sky, Makkah opened all of its gates and
the polytheists were stopped in
bewilderment. What would be their
destiny and fate today, since they were
the ones who had done wrong to the
Muslims previously by killing them,
burning them, torturing them, and
starving them? The merciful Prophet (PBUH)
did not want to leave them for long
under the pressure of these debilitating
feelings. He received them and turned to
them in a good and noble manner and said
to them with his merciful voice flowing
tenderly and lovingly, "O people of
Quraish, what do you think I will do
with you?"
At
that time the enemy of Islam in the
past, Suhail Ibn ‘Amr, stepped forward
and answered, "We think you will
treat us well, O noble brother and son
of a noble brother."
A
smile formed from light appeared on the
lips of the Beloved of Allah and he
called to them, "Go, you are free,
liberated." These words did not
come from the victorious, triumphant
Messenger except to change human beings
with living feelings by melting them to
obedience, humility, and repentance. At
the same moment, this situation, filled
with nobility and glory, stimulated all
of Suhail Ibn ‘Amr's feelings, so he
surrendered to Allah, the Lord of the
Worlds. His Islam, at that time, was not
the surrender of a defeated man,
resigned to fate. It was, as his future
shall reveal in what follows, the
surrender of a man overwhelmed and
fascinated by the majesty of Muhammad
and the grandeur of the religion that
Muhammad demonstrated in his conduct in
conformity with its teachings and
instructions. These teachings, as he saw
them, conveyed extraordinary
benevolence, friendship, and devotion.
Those
who announced their Islam on the Day of
the Conquest of Makkah were designated
with the name "At-Tulaqaa"' or
those who were transferred by the
forgiveness of the Prophet from
polytheism to Islam when he said to
them, "Go, you are free."
Consequently,
some persons from among those Tulaqaa'
(or those who were liberated) were
raised by their sincerity to a far
distant horizon of sacrifice, worship,
and purity which placed them in the
first rank of the Prophet's righteous
and devoted Companions. Among these was
Suhail Ibn 'Amr.
Islam
molded and fashioned him afresh and
refined all of his original skills and
gifts and, what is more, increased them
and placed all of them at the service of
truth, goodness, and faith. They
described him in these words: "The
kind, generous, outstanding one. The one
who performs prayer much and fasts and
gives in charity;. reads the Qur'aan and
crys out of fear of Allah."
That
was the greatness of Suhail. For in
spite of the fact that he accepted Islam
on the Day of the Conquest of Makkah,
and not before that, we see him
truthfully affirming his Islam and its
certainty, to the extent that he
excelled in it with distinction,
exerting himself with all his heart. He
was transformed into a worshiper,
self-denying and abstenious, and into
one who sacrifices and strives in the
path of Allah and Islam.
When
the Messenger was transported to the
company of the Most High, the news soon
reached Makkah. Suhail at that time was
residing there, and the Muslims were
overwhelmed by agitation and perplexity,
just as the Muslims were in Al-Madiinah.
However, the confusion of Al-Madiinah
was dissipated by Abu Bakr at that time
by his decisive words: "Whoever
worships Muhammad, know that Muhammad is
dead; and whoever worships Allah, indeed
Allah is living and never dies."
So we
were amazed when we saw Suhail holding
the same position in Makkah as Abu Bakr
in Al-Madiinah. He gathered all of the
Muslims there, and he stood dazzling
them with his salutorious words,
informing them that Muhammad was truly
the Messenger of Allah and that he did
not die until he had executed his trust
and conveyed the message and that the
duty of the believers towards this
message was to assiduously devote all
their efforts to it in persuance of his
methodology and approach.
On
account of Suhail's position and his
rightly directly words and strong faith,
he warded off the discord and civil
strife which almost extirpated and
uprooted the faith of the people of
Makkah when the news of the death of the
Messenger reached them.
Did
not he, the Messenger, say to ‘Umar on
the day ‘Umar asked the Prophet (PBUH)
for permission to pull out the two teeth
of Suhail when he was taken prisoner at
Badr, "Leave them, perhaps they
will make you happy one day."
So on
the day when the news of the position of
Suhail in Makkah and his dazzling speech
which made the faith firm in the
Muslims' hearts reached the Muslims in
Al-Madiinah, ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab
remembered the prophecy of his Messenger
and laughed a long time, for the day had
come in which Islam benefited from the
two teeth of Suhail which ‘Umar had
wanted to crush and tear out.
When
Suhail accepted Islam on the Day of the
Conquest of Makkah and after he had
tasted the sweetness of faith, he
imposed on himself a vow he summed up in
these words: By Allah,1 do not leave
situations and battles with the
polytheists except I support the Muslims
equally and no wealth I spent with the
polytheists but I spend an equal amount
with the Muslims. Perhaps my support of
the Muslims will be followed by an ever
greater support. I stood a long time
with the polytheists in front of their
idols, so let us now stand for a long
time with the believers in the presence
of Allah, the One and Only.
Thus,
he started praying and praying and
fasting and praying. He would not let a
chance pass him by which would sharpen
his spirit and make him close to his
Lord Most High but that he took from it
a sufficient portion.
Thus
in his past he stood with the
polytheists in situations of oppression
and war against Islam. So, now let him
take his place in the Muslim army,
fighting bravely to extinguish, with the
battalion of truth, the fire of the
Persian king who used to worship idols
and false gods other than Allah, and
fighting to bum the destinies of the
peoples who participated in this false
worship. So, let him fight also to
destroy with the battalion of truth the
darkness of Rome and its injustice and
spread the word of monotheism and the
fear of Allah to every place.
Thus,
he went out with the Muslim army to
Syria participating in its wars. On the
Day of Yarmuuk, the Muslims courageously
plunged into battle, encountering harm,
violence, and danger. Suhail Ibn ‘Amr
was almost flying out of joy when he
found on this crucial day the rich
opportunity to make the effort, from his
soul, to annihilate the sins and
mistakes ofjaahiliyah before accepting
Islam.
He
used to love his house in Makkah
greatly, so much so that it made him
forget himself. Nevertheless, he refused
to return to it after the Muslim victory
over Syria, and so he said, "I
heard the Messenger of Allah saying,
'The rank and position of one of you who
spends one hour in the cause of Allah is
better for him than his work throughout
his life.' Therefore, I will strive in
the path of Allah until death, and I
shall not return to Makkah."
And
Suhail died true to his vow and
continued to strive for the remainder of
his life committed to his religion until
the appointed time of his demise. So his
soul flew quickly to the Mercy of Allah
and His pleasure.
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…
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