Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The Suffering of Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu 'anhu)
Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was also among those blessed personalities who offered themselves for sacrifice and suffering for the sake of Allah Ta‘ala.
He was the sixth or seventh person to embrace Islam, and therefore, he suffered for a long time (at the hands of the disbelievers). He was made to put on steel armour and lie in the sun to sweat and swelter. Very often, he was made to lie flat on burning sand which caused the flesh on his back to melt away.
He was the slave of a certain woman, and when she came to know that he was visiting the Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), she used to brand his head with a hot iron rod.
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), during his khilaafah, once inquired of him about the details of his sufferings after embracing Islam. He said to Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), “Look at my back.” When Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) saw his back, he remarked, “I have never seen such a back before.”
Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) said, “My body was dragged over heaps of burning charcoal, and the blood and fat coming out of my back put out the fire.”
It is said that when Islam spread and the Muslims conquered all the surrounding territory, he used to weep and say, “it should not be that Allah is rewarding us in this world for all our sufferings, and no reward will be left for us in the Hereafter.”
Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) narrates:
The Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) once performed an unusually long salaah with the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum). When the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) asked him regarding it, he said, “This salaah was a salaah of hope and fear. In this salaah, I begged Allah Ta‘ala for three duas. From the three duas, two duas were accepted, and the third dua was not accepted. I made dua to Allah Ta‘ala saying:
‘O Allah! Let not my ummah perish by famine,’ and this dua was accepted. The second dua I made was, ‘O Allah! Do not let my ummah be dominated by an enemy who will completely annihilate them,’ and this dua was also accepted. The third dua I made was, ‘O Allah! Let it not be that my ummah become involved in internal fighting,’ and this third dua was not accepted.
Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) passed away in the year 37 A.H, and he was the first of the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) to be buried in Kufah.
After the demise of Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), on one occasion, when Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) passed by his grave, he said, “May Allah Ta‘ala bless and show mercy on Hazrat Khabbaab (radhiyallahu ‘anhu). He embraced Islam willingly. He emigrated with great pleasure in Allah Ta‘ala’s path, and spent his whole life in striving and suffering for Islam. Blessed is the person who is mindful of the Day of Judgement, prepares for his reckoning, remains contented with very little of this world, and is able to please his Lord.”
To be able to please Allah, was really, the Sahaabah’s (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) greatest achievement, for this was the sole purpose of their lives.
