Pause.
Learn about the Companions, the scholars, and the prominent figures.
A new challenge: Who am I?
I am a Companion of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
I am the son of a man who was among the most noble of those known to the Arabs.
He was proverbial for his generosity and munificence.
I inherited from my father noble character, generosity, and a love for giving.
Thus, I became a leader and a noble among the nobles of the Arabs.
When I heard that the Muslim armies were approaching our lands,
I fled with as many of my family as I could.
I joined my fellow coreligionists among the Christians in the Levant.
I left my sister, Safanah, behind in our homeland.
The Muslim army captured her along with other nobles.
They brought her before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
She was among the captives from the tribe of Tayy'.
She was detained in an enclosure by the door of the mosque.
It was where the captives were held.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, passed by her.
She stood up to him and said,
"O Messenger of Allah, my father has perished and my protector has fled;
so show me favor, may Allah show favor to you."
He asked, "And who is your protector?"
She replied, "My brother," and she mentioned me by name.
He, peace be upon him, said,
"The one who fled from Allah and His Messenger?"
Then he walked on and left her.
The next day, he passed by her again.
She said to him the same thing.
And he said to her what he had said the day before.
When the day after that came,
he passed by her, and she had lost hope.
She did not stand up to him.
A man behind him signaled to her,
"Stand up and speak to him."
She stood up to him and said,
"O Messenger of Allah, my father has perished and my protector has fled;
so show me favor, may Allah show favor to you."
He, peace be upon him, said,
"I have done so."
"Do not be in a hurry to leave
until you find someone from your people whom you trust
to escort you back to your land."
When a group from our people arrived whom we trusted,
she informed the Prophet, peace be upon him.
He clothed her, provided her with a mount, and gave her provisions.
She accepted Islam and left with them,
until she arrived in the Levant.
When she stood before me,
she said,
"You breaker of ties, you oppressor!
You took your family and children with you,
and left your sister, the remnant of your father."
I said, "O my sister,
do not say anything but good.
By Allah, I have no excuse."
Then she dismounted and stayed with me.
When she told me of the Prophet's, peace be upon him, treatment of her,
I said to myself,
"If I go to this man,
and he is a truthful man, I will follow him."
When I arrived in Medina
and met the Prophet, peace be upon him,
he welcomed me and took me to his house.
While we were on the way,
he met a weak, elderly woman.
She stopped him,
and he stood with her for a long time
listening to her needs.
I said to myself,
"By Allah, this is not the way of a king."
Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, continued with me.
When he entered his house,
he took a leather cushion
stuffed with palm fibers,
and threw it to me.
He said,
"Sit on this."
I said,
"No, you sit on it."
He said,
"No, you."
So I sat on it.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, sat on the ground.
I said to myself,
"By Allah, this is not the way of a king."
Then he said,
"Accept Islam, and you will be safe."
I said,
"I have a religion."
He said,
"I know your religion better than you do."
"Do you not lead your people?"
I said, "Yes."
He said,
"Are you not a Rakusi, taking a fourth of the spoils?"
I said, "Yes."
He said,
"That is not permissible for you in your religion."
I became certain that he was a Prophet.
So I accepted Islam.
I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, one day reciting:
“They have taken as lords beside Allah their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah son of Mary, when they were bidden to worship only One Allah. There is no Allah save Him. Be He Glorified from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)!” (9:31)
I said to him,
"We did not worship them."
He said,
"Do they not forbid what Allah has made lawful, and you forbid it?
And do they not make lawful what Allah has made unlawful, and you make it lawful?"
I said, "Yes."
He said,
"That is their worship."
After my conversion,
I became very generous and charitable,
and frequently remembered Allah the Exalted.
No prayer time would pass without me longing for it.
And never was the call to prayer made since I accepted Islam
but that I was in a state of ablution.
I was a cause for the steadfastness of my people in the faith
on the day most of the Arabs apostatized after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
So, who am I?
'Adi ibn Hatim.