Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu)

Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was a Sahaabi of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) who came from the Muzainah tribe. He had two brothers who had also accepted Islam. They were Hazrat Mughaffal and Hazrat Khuzaa’ee (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma).

Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) grew up as an orphan, as his father passed away while he was still a child. Since Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was a small child with no money, his uncle looked after him and took care of him. His uncle was a rich man and gave a lot of money, camels and sheep to Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu).

When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) left Makkah Mukarramah and performed hijrah to Madinah Munawwarah, and the news of Islam began to spread among the Arabs, then Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) learnt about Islam and wished to become a Muslim. However, he was afraid to become a Muslim because his uncle was a disbeliever and would be angry with him and punish him if he accepted Islam. In this way, many years passed, and Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) had still not accepted Islam.

Eventually, Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) one day went to his uncle and said, “O my uncle! I have been waiting for you to accept Islam so that I may also accept Islam with you, but it seems that you do not want to follow Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and accept Islam, so I cannot continue waiting for you. Allow me to accept Islam.”

His uncle became furious and said to him, “If you follow Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and become a Muslim, I will take away everything which I have given you! I will even take away the clothes which you have!”

Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was sincere and wanted to become a Muslim. Allah Ta‘ala had placed the true desire for Islam in his heart, so his uncle’s threats did not worry him and scare him. The main thing that he wanted in his life was to become a Muslim and to please Allah Ta‘ala.

Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said to his uncle, “By Allah! I will follow Muhammed (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and become a Muslim. I am not going to worship stones and idols anymore! Here is all the money and wealth that I have – you may take it back if you want.”

His uncle was so angry with him that he took everything away. Since he even wanted the clothes which Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was wearing, Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) went to his mother to get some clothing to wear. His mother took a piece of rough, coarse cloth, which is called “bijaad” in Arabic. She tore it into two pieces and gave them to him. One piece was for him to wear as a lower garment, and the other as a shawl.

Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then left his people and set out for Madinah Munawwarah to meet Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). When he reached Madinah Munawwarah, it was the time of early dawn, before the fajr salaah, so he lay down in the musjid and rested.

After performing the Fajr Salaah, it was the habit of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to look at the Sahaabah to see who was present for salaah. While Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was looking at his Sahaabah, he saw Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), but did not recognize him. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) asked him, “Who are you?” Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) told Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) that his name was Abdul Uzzaa.

Uzzaa was the name of one of the idols which the kuffaar would worship, and the name ‘Abdul Uzzaa’ meant ‘the slave of Uzzaa’. Since this name had a bad meaning, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) changed his name and gave him a good name. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to him, “Rather you are Abdullah (which means “the slave of Allah”), Zul-Bijaadain (which means the one who has two coarse cloths),” and from that day onwards, Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) became known by this name – Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain.

Thereafter, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) told him that he should remain very close to him. He thus remained very close to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), learnt a great amount of the Quraan Majeed from him and benefited from his mubaarak company immensely. Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) also loved to recite the Qur’aan Majeed and make zikr, and he was known for reciting the Qur’aan Majeed and making zikr in a loud voice.

It is reported that when Hazrat Abdullah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) passed away, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) himself went down into his grave, and it was none other than the two great Sahaabah – Hazrat Abu Bakr (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) who lowered his body into the grave. When they were carrying his body, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said to them, “Handle his body carefully! Indeed, he loved Allah and His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).”

After they completed burying him, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) turned towards the qiblah, raised his blessed hands and made dua to Allah Ta‘ala saying, “O Allah! I am pleased with him, so You also be pleased with him!”

This dua of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) for Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was so special that Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas’ood (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) says, “By Allah! How I wished that I was in his place, even though I had accepted Islam fifteen years before him!”

Lessons:

1. From this incident, we see that the most important thing in the lives of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) was to please Allah Ta‘ala and remain firm upon Islam. They could lose their money and home – but they were not prepared to lose their imaan and Islam.
2. Muslims must keep good names. The names which were most beloved to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) were the names Abdullah and Abdur Rahmaan. In the Qur’aan Majeed, we are taught that we must call people by the names which they like. If we call people by names which they do not like, we will be sinful.
3. Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) remained close to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), benefiting from him and learning the Qur’aan Majeed from him. We must also sit in the company of the pious friends of Allah Ta‘ala so that we can learn from them and benefit from them.
4. Hazrat Abdullah bin Mas’ood (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) admired Hazrat Abdullah Zul-Bijaadain (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), as Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) had made special dua for him. If we want to acquire the special dua of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), then we should perform all our sunnah salaah. Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said that the one who performs all the sunnah mu’akkadah salaah will receive a palace in Jannah.