In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you glimpses from the lives of the Companions,
by Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy upon him.
Umayr ibn Wahb, may Allah be pleased with you.
Umayr ibn Wahb al-Jumahi returned
from Badr, having barely escaped with his life,
yet he left behind his son, Wahb,
as a captive in the hands of the Muslims.
Umayr feared
that the Muslims might hold the young man accountable
for the crimes of his father,
and that they would subject him to severe torment
as retribution for the harm he used to inflict
upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and for the suffering he caused,
and for the devastation he brought
upon his companions.
One morning,
Umayr headed to the Mosque
to circumambulate the Kaaba
and seek blessings from its idols.
He found Safwan ibn Umayyah
sitting beside the Hijr,
so he approached him and said,
"Good morning, O master of Quraysh."
Safwan replied,
"Good morning, O Abu Wahb.
Sit, let us talk
for a while, for time
is best passed in conversation."
Umayr sat down beside
Safwan ibn Umayyah,
and the two men began to discuss
Badr and its great tragedy,
counting the captives
who had fallen into the hands of
Muhammad and his companions,
and lamenting the great men of Quraysh
whom they had killed,
and whom the pit had hidden in its depths.
Safwan ibn Umayyah sighed
and said,
"By Allah, there is no joy
in life after them."
Umayr replied,
"You speak the truth, by Allah."
Then he fell silent for a moment
and said, "By the Lord of the Kaaba,
were it not for debts I owe that I have
no means to repay,
and children I fear would be
lost after me,
I would have gone to Muhammad and killed him,
put an end to his affair,
and stopped his evil."
Then he added in a low voice,
"And the fact that my son Wahb is in their hands
makes my going
to Yathrib a matter that would raise no suspicions."
Safwan ibn Umayyah seized upon
the words of Umayr ibn Wahb,
and he did not want to miss
this opportunity.
He turned to him and said,
"O Umayr,
leave all your debts to me;
I will pay them on your behalf, no matter how much they amount to.
As for your children,
I will take them in with my own children
for as long as I and they shall live.
My wealth is vast enough
to provide for them all
and ensure them a comfortable life."
Umayr said,
"Then keep this conversation of ours secret,
and do not let anyone know of it."
Safwan replied,
"I shall do so."
Umayr rose from the Mosque,
with the fires of hatred raging
in his heart against Muhammad,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
He began to make preparations
to carry out what he had resolved to do.
He did not arouse
anyone's suspicion during his journey,
because the relatives of the Qurayshi captives
were frequently traveling
to Yathrib, seeking
to ransom their prisoners.
Umayr ibn Wahb ordered his sword
to be sharpened and coated with poison,
and he called for his mount,
which was prepared and brought to him.
He mounted it,
and then directed it toward Medina,
his heart filled with malice
and evil.
Umayr reached Medina
and headed toward the Mosque, seeking
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
When he arrived
near its door,
he made his mount kneel and dismounted.
Umar ibn al-Khattab,
may Allah be pleased with him, was at that time
sitting with some of the Companions
near the door of the Mosque,
discussing Badr,
the captives of Quraysh,
and their dead,
recalling the images of the Muslims' heroism,
both the Muhajirun and the Ansar,
and remembering how Allah had honored them
with victory,
and what He had shown them regarding their enemy
in terms of defeat and humiliation.
Umar happened to glance up
and saw Umayr ibn Wahb dismounting
from his mount
and walking toward the Mosque, girded
with his sword. He jumped up in alarm
and said, "This dog is an enemy,
Umayr ibn Wahb!
By Allah, he has come for nothing but evil.
He incited the polytheists against us
in Mecca and was
a spy for them against us before Badr."
Then he said to those sitting with him,
"Go to the Messenger of Allah,
stay around him,
and warn him against the treachery of this wicked,
cunning man." Then Umar hastened
to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and said, "O Messenger of Allah,
this is the enemy of Allah, Umayr
ibn Wahb, who has come
girded with his sword,
and I suspect he intends nothing but evil."
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said,
"Bring him to me."
The Faruq (Umar) approached Umayr
ibn Wahb,
grabbed him by his garments,
and looped his sword belt around his neck,
and led him toward the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
When the Prophet, peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, saw him in this state,
he said to Umar,
"Release him, O Umar."
Then he said to him,
"Step back from him."
So he stepped back.
Then he turned to Umayr ibn Wahb
and said, "Come near, O Umayr."
He drew close and said,
"An'im sabahan" (Good morning),
which was the greeting of the Arabs in the Jahiliyyah.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
said,
"Allah has honored us with a greeting
better than your greeting, O Umayr.
Allah has honored us
with 'Salam' (peace), which is
the greeting of the people of Paradise."
Umayr said,
"By Allah, you are not far from our greeting,
and you are quite familiar with it."
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
said to him,
"And what has brought you here,
O Umayr?"
He said, "I have come hoping
for the release of this captive who is in your hands,
so treat him kindly for my sake."
He said,
"Then what about the sword that is around your neck?"
He said,
"May Allah curse these swords;
did they avail us anything on the day of Badr?"
He said,
"Tell me the truth:
what have you really come for, O Umayr?"
He said, "I have come for nothing but that."
He said,
"Rather, you and Safwan ibn Umayyah sat
by the Hijr,
and you discussed the companions of the pit
among the slain of Quraysh.
Then you said, 'Were it not for debts I owe
and children I have,
I would have gone out to kill Muhammad.'
So Safwan ibn Umayyah undertook
your debts and your children
on the condition that you kill me,
And Allah stands between you and
that; then 'Umayr was stunned
for a moment, then he did not hesitate
to say, "I bear witness
that you are the Messenger of Allah."
Then he added, saying, "We
used to, O Messenger of Allah, call you a liar
regarding what you brought us
of the news of the heavens and what
was revealed to you of the revelation.
But my conversation with Safwan Ibn Umayyah
was known to no one
except me and him.
And by Allah, I have become certain that
no one brought you that except Allah.
So praise be to Allah who
drove me to you
to guide me to Islam."
Then he testified that there is no god
but Allah and that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,
and he embraced Islam.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said
to his Companions, "Teach your brother
his religion and instruct him in
the Qur'an, and release
his captive." The Muslims rejoiced
at the conversion of 'Umayr Ibn
Wahb with immense joy,
to the point that 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
said, "A pig
was more beloved to me than 'Umayr
Ibn Wahb when he came to
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
yet today he is
more beloved to me than some of my own children."
While 'Umayr was
purifying his soul with the teachings
of Islam and being nurtured,
guided by the light of the Qur'an,
and living the most wonderful days
of his life and the richest,
which made him forget Makkah
and those in Makkah,
Safwan Ibn Umayyah was promising
himself security and passing
by the gatherings of Quraysh, saying,
"Rejoice at great news
that will come to you soon,
which will make you forget the disaster of Badr."
Then, when the
wait became long for Safwan Ibn Umayyah,
anxiety began to seep into
his soul little by little,
until he began tossing and turning
as if on hot coals.
He began asking travelers
about 'Umayr Ibn Wahb,
but found no answer from anyone
that would satisfy him, until a
rider came and said, "Indeed,
'Umayr has embraced Islam."
The news struck him like
a thunderbolt, for he had
thought that 'Umayr Ibn Wahb would never embrace Islam,
even if everyone
on the face of the earth did.
As for 'Umayr Ibn Wahb,
no sooner had he learned his religion
and memorized what was easy for him
of the words of his Lord,
than he came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and said,
"O Messenger of Allah,
a time has passed over me
while I was diligent in extinguishing
the light of Allah and severely harming
those who were of the religion of Islam.
I would like you to permit me
to go to Makkah
to call Quraysh to Allah.
If they accept from me,
then how excellent is what they have done;
and if they turn away from me,
I will harm them in their religion just as I used to
harm the Companions of the Messenger of Allah,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
So the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
gave him permission.
He arrived in Makkah
and came to the house of Safwan Ibn Umayyah
and said, "O Safwan,
you are a leader among the leaders of Makkah
and a wise man among the wise men
of Quraysh.
Do you think that this which you are upon,
of worshipping stones and sacrificing to them,
is reasonable
to be a religion?
As for me,
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah
and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
Then 'Umayr
began calling to Allah
in Makkah until many people
embraced Islam at his hands.
May Allah increase
the reward of 'Umayr Ibn Wahb
and illuminate his grave for him.
And 'Umayr Ibn Wahb had become
more beloved to me than some of my own children,
[said] 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab.