Get to Know Them…
The little known stories of Sahabas (Companions of Prophet Mohammad (pbuh)
Khabbab Ibn Al Aratt (RA)
Tawheed and faith
Khabbab (RA) was an Arab from a Banu Tamim tribe. A raid struck his tribe, he was captured and sold as a slave
A lady, Umm Anmar from Makkah bought him to do her domestic chores. She placed him under a blacksmith and he being young and intelligent, learnt the skills of making swords.
With his honesty, hardwork and integrity he made lots of profits for Umm Anmar and she became very rich. But Khabbab (RA) always found an emptiness in his heart.
When he heard about the Prophet Mohammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) he accepted islam straight away and became the first ten companions to accept Islam.
When Umm Anmar heard about him accepting Islam, she became very angry and vicious. She along with some men from her tribe (Khuza’i) threatened with dire consequences and asked him to renounce his faith, but Khabbab (RA) kept repeating the shahadah (“I only believe in one Lord Allah and I believe that Muhammad is his slave and messenger”) again and again.
The men beat him with fists and they din’t stop until he lost consciousness. They brought him to Umm Anmar who stripped him off his shirt and placed a piercing hot iron on his back. It was so painful that he lost consciousness again.
From then onwards Umm Anmar would punish him with hot iron on his head asking him to renounce his faith. This went on for months. But his belief in Allah was so strong that he refused to give up his faith ( which was compared by some narrators to that of the high mountains that surrounded Makkah)
After every torture he would resort to prayer seeking help from Allah. Many of his friends inspired by his faith, became muslims accepting Islam as their religion.
It is said that Umm Anmar died of an illness that no one heard of before, she suffered from severe and nerve-racking headaches and the only treatment which gave her relief was putting hot iron on her head.
Indeed, Allah is just to His believers, He did raise the status of Khabbab (RA), he gained wealth through his faith and skills acquired. He lived in accordance with Qurah and Sunnah till the time of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (RA) reign as a Caliph.
Once in a gathering Umar Ibn Khattab (RA) asked Khabbab(RA) to share his story, everyone in the gathering had tears falling from their eyes on seeing Khabbab’s back.
Tawheed was what they held on to. The companions were so firm that trials and totures made them more strong in their faith
Today we are so weak, we say we are muslims and on Tawheed but the moment a calamity strikes we turn to other resources and make Allah our last resort. Remember only with firm belief in Allah, faith becomes as firm as mountains.
Excerpts taken from: (Stories of the Sahabah)
Companions of the Prophet (Volume one) & Kitab Al-Tabaqat Al-Kabir -Ibn Sa’d
