Under this theme, our focus on the Iftaar program during weekdays, will be to take a look at incidents from the lives of the illustrious Sahabah رضي الله عنهم and see how they overcame the trials they faced whether it was because of family or the absence of it.

Today we take a look at this great Sahabi:

Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi
His meeting with the Byzantine emperor took place during the caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab RA. It too is an astonishing story.

In the nineteenth year after the Hijrah, Umar RA dispatched an army to fight against the Byzantine. In it was Abdullah ibn Hudhafah RA. News of the Muslim force reached the Byzantine emperor. He had heard of their sincerity of faith, and their willingness to sacrifice their lives in the way of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ. He gave orders to his men to bring to him any Muslim captive they might take alive.

Allah willed that Abdullah ibn Hudhafah RA should fall captive to the Byzantines and he was brought before the Emperor. The Emperor looked at Abdullah RA for a long time. Suddenly he said, “I shall make a proposal to you.”

“What is it?” asked Abdullah. “I suggest that you become a Christian. If you do this, you will be set free and I shall grant you a safe refuge.” The prisoner’s reaction was furious: “Death is preferable to me a thousand times to what you ask me to do.”
“I see that you are a bold man. However, if you respond positively to what I propose to you, I will give you a share in my authority and swear you in as my aide.”

The prisoner, shackled in his chains, smiled and said, “By Allah, if you give me all that you possess and all that the Arabs have in exchange for giving up the religion of Muhammad, I shall not do so.”

“Then I shall kill you.”
“Do what you want,” answered Abdullah RA.

The emperor then had him put on a cross and ordered his soldiers to throw spears at him, first near his hands and then near his feet, all the while telling him to accept Christianity or at least give up his religion. This he refused over and over again to do.

The emperor then had him taken down from the wooden cross. He called for a great pot to be brought. This was filled with oil which was then heated under a fierce fire. He then had two other Muslim prisoners brought and had one of them thrown into the boiling oil. The prisoner’s flesh sizzled and soon his bones could be seen. The emperor turned to Abdullah RA and invited him to Christianity.

This was the most terrible test that Abdullah RA had to face up till now. But he remained firm and the emperor gave up trying. He then ordered that Abdullah RA too be thrown into the pot. As he was being taken away he began to shed tears. The emperor thought that he had at last been broken and had him brought back to him. He once more suggested that Abdullah RA become a Christian but to his astonishment, Abdullah RA refused.

“Damn you! Why did you weep then?” shouted the emperor.
“I cried,” said Abdullah RA, “because I said to myself ‘You will now be thrown into this pot and your soul will depart’. What I really desired then was to have as many souls as the number of hairs on my body and to have all of them thrown into this pot for the sake of Allah.”

The tyrant then said, “Will you kiss my head? I will then set you free?”
“And all the Muslim prisoners also?” asked Abdullah RA.

This the emperor agreed to do and Abdullah RA said to himself, “One of the enemies of Allah! I shall kiss his head and he shall set me and all other Muslim prisoners free. There can be no blame on me for doing this.” He then went up to the emperor and kissed his forehead. All the Muslim prisoners were released and handed over to Abdullah RA.

Abdullah ibn Hudhafah RA eventually came to Umar ibn al-Khattab RA and told him what had happened. Umar RA was greatly pleased and when he looked at the prisoners he said, “Every Muslim has a duty to kiss the head of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah and I shall start.” Umar RA then got up and kissed the head of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah RA.

Lesson to Learn:
Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Hudhafah RA`s unwavering Imaan and his readiness to die for the sake of Islam is truly remarkable.
Hadhrat Abdullah RA also lowered and humbled himself by kissing the forehead of the Kaafir emperor just to save the lives of his companions, yet we can`t keep up family ties with our own brother!