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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

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Mawaddah Association is pleased

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to present to you portraits from the lives of the Companions,

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by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

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may Allah have mercy on him.

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Wahshi ibn Harb, may Allah be pleased with him.

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Who was this man who broke the heart of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,

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when he killed his uncle Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib on the day of Uhud,

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and then brought solace to the hearts of the Muslims

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when he killed Musaylimah the Liar on the day of al-Yamamah?

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He was Wahshi ibn Harb the Abyssinian,

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whose agnomen was Abu Dasmah.

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He had a dramatic, tragic, and bloody story,

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so lend him your ear that he may tell you his tragedy himself.

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Wahshi said:

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I was an Abyssinian slave belonging to Jubayr ibn Mut'im,

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one of the chieftains of Quraysh.

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His uncle, Tu'aymah,

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had been killed on the day of Badr at the hands of Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib,

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and Jubayr grieved over him with the utmost sorrow.

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He swore by Allah and al-'Uzza that he would surely avenge his uncle

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and kill his killer,

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so he began seeking an opportunity to lay in wait for Hamzah.

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Not much time had passed after that

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before Quraysh resolved to march to Uhud

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to eliminate Muhammad ibn 'Abdillah

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and avenge those slain at Badr.

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They mobilized their forces, gathered their allies, and prepared their equipment,

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then entrusted leadership to Abu Sufyan ibn Harb.

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Abu Sufyan deemed it best

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to include with the army a group of the noble women of Quraysh—

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those whose fathers, sons, brothers,

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or relatives had been killed at Badr—

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in order to incite the army to fight

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and prevent the men from fleeing.

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Among the foremost women who went out with him

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was his wife, Hind bint 'Utbah,

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whose father, uncle, and brother

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had all been killed at Badr.

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When the army was about to depart,

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Jubayr ibn Mut'im turned to me and said:

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"O Abu Dasmah, would you like to free yourself from slavery?"

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I asked, "And who could secure that for me?"

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He replied, "I guarantee it for you."

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I asked, "How?"

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He said, "If you kill Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib,

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the uncle of Muhammad, in revenge for my uncle Tu'aymah ibn 'Adi,

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you are a free man."

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I said, "And who will guarantee to fulfill that for me?"

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He said, "Whomever you wish;

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and I shall take all the people as witnesses to that."

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I said, "I will do it, and I am equal to the task."

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Wahshi continued: I was an Abyssinian man

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who hurled the javelin in the Abyssinian manner,

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seldom missing anything I aimed at with it.

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So I took my javelin and set out with the army,

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walking near the rear

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close to the women,

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for I had no interest in the fighting itself.

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Whenever I passed by Hind,

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the wife of Abu Sufyan, or whenever she passed by me

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and saw the javelin glinting in my hand under the glare of the sun, she would say:

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"Heal our hearts, O Abu Dasmah, and heal your own!"

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When we reached Uhud and the two forces met,

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I went out searching for Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.

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I already knew him beforehand,

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and indeed, Hamzah was not hidden from anyone,

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for he used to place an ostrich feather on his head

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to invite champions to single combat,

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as was the custom of the valiant Arabic warriors.

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It was not long

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before I saw Hamzah roaring among the crowds like a light-gray camel,

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cleaving through men with his sword,

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such that none could stand against him

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nor withstand his strike.

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While I was preparing myself to attack him,

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taking cover from him behind a tree or a boulder,

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lying in wait for him to draw near me,

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a horseman from Quraysh named Siba' ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza stepped ahead of me toward him,

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shouting, "Duel me, O Hamzah! Duel me!"

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Hamzah stepped forward to face him, saying,

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"Come at me, son of an uncircumcised woman! Come at me!"

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Then, in the blink of an eye, Hamzah struck him

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with his sword, and Siba' fell slain,

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thrashing in his own blood before him.

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At that moment, I maneuvered into a position relative to Hamzah

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that pleased me, and I began shaking my javelin

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until I felt confident in my aim,

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then threw it, and it struck him in the lower abdomen

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and emerged from between his legs.

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He took two heavy steps toward me,

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then collapsed, with the javelin still

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embedded in his body. I left it in him

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until I was certain that he had died.

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Then I went to him, pulled the javelin out of him,

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and returned to the camp, where I sat down,

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as I had no further need for anything else.

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Then the heat of the battle intensified,

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with much charging and retreating.

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Soon, however, the tide turned

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against the companions of Muhammad, and slaughter increased among them.

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At that point, Hind bint 'Utbah rushed

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toward the slain Muslims,

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with a group of women behind her,

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and began mutilating them,

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ripping open their bellies, gouging out their eyes,

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and cutting off their ears.

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She then made a necklace and earrings from their noses and ears,

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adorned herself with them, and handed her original golden necklace

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and earrings to me,

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saying, "They are yours, O Abu Dasmah!

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Keep them, for they are precious."

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When the war laid down its burdens,

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I returned with the army to Makkah.

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Jubayr ibn Mut'im fulfilled his promise to me

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and emancipated me,

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so I became a free man.

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But the cause of Muhammad continued to grow day after day,

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and the Muslims increased in strength hour by hour.

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Thus, whenever Muhammad's cause grew greater,

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my distress deepened,

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and panic and fear took hold of my soul.

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I remained in this state

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until Muhammad entered Makkah with his massive army as a conqueror.

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At that moment,

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I fled frantically to al-Ta'if,

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seeking safety there.

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But the people of al-Ta'if were not long

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in inclining toward Islam,

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and they prepared a delegation to meet Muhammad

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and declare their entry into his religion.

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At that, despair overwhelmed me;

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the vast earth felt narrow around me, and I was at a loss as to where to go.

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I said, "I shall flee to al-Sham, or Yemen,

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or to some other land."

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By Allah, while I was immersed in this grief of mine,

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a well-wishing man felt pity for me and said:

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"Woe to you, O Wahshi!

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By Allah, Muhammad does not kill anyone

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who enters his religion and bears the testimony of truth."

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No sooner had I heard his words

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than I headed straight toward Yathrib

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seeking Muhammad.

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When I reached it, I inquired about his whereabouts

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and learned that he was in the mosque.

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I entered upon him stealthily and cautiously,

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advancing toward him until I was standing

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directly over his head, and I said:

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"I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,

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and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger."

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When he heard the two testimonies of faith, he raised his eyes to me,

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and upon recognizing me, he turned his gaze away from me and said:

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"Are you Wahshi?"

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I replied, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah."

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He said, "Sit down and tell me how you killed Hamzah."

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So I sat down and told him the story.

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When I finished my account,

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he turned his face away from me and said:

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"Woe to you, O Wahshi!

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Conceal your face from me, and do not let me see you after today."

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From that day onward,

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I avoided letting the noble Prophet's gaze fall upon me.

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Whenever the Companions sat in front of him,

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I would take my place behind him.

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I remained in that state until the Messenger of Allah,

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peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed away to be near his Lord.

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Wahshi then added, saying:

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Despite my knowing that

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Islam wipes away whatever came before it,

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I continued to feel the gravity of the deed

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and the enormity of the calamity

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with which I had afflicted Islam and the Muslims.

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I began looking for an opportunity to expiate

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for what I had done in the past.

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So when the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, joined the Highest Companion, and the Caliphate

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over the Muslims passed to his companion Abu Bakr,

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Banu Hanifah—the followers of

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Musaylimah the Liar—apostatized along with the other apostates.

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Thereupon, Abu Bakr dispatched an army

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to fight Musaylimah and bring his people,

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Banu Hanifah, back to the religion of Allah.

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I said to myself, "By Allah, this is

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your opportunity, O Wahshi, so seize it

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and do not let it slip from your hands!"

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Then I set out with the Muslim armies,

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taking with me the very javelin with which I had killed

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the Master of Martyrs, Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib,

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hoping to kill Musaylimah with it or attain

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martyrdom. When the Muslims stormed

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the Garden of Death against Musaylimah and his army

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and engaged the enemies of Allah in close combat,

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I began stalking Musaylimah. I saw him

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standing with a sword in his hand, and I also saw

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a man from the Ansar lying in wait for him just as

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I was lying in wait for him, both of us seeking

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to kill him. When I positioned myself relative to him,

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I shook my javelin until, once it was steady

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in my hand, I hurled it at him,

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"was in my hand, I hurled it toward him,

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and it struck him. At the very same moment

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that I released my javelin at Musaylimah,

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one of the Ansar lunged at him, dealing him

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a blow with his sword. Thus, your Lord

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knows which of us truly killed him. If it was

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I who killed him, then I have killed

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the best of people after Muhammad, and I have also killed

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the worst of people."

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He killed the best of people after Muhammad,

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and he also killed the worst of people.

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Historians