1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. 2 00:00:15,220 --> 00:00:18,219 The Mawaddah Association is pleased 3 00:00:18,219 --> 00:00:22,219 to present to you portraits from the lives of the Companions. 4 00:00:22,219 --> 00:00:25,219 By Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha, 5 00:00:25,219 --> 00:00:27,260 may Allah have mercy upon him. 6 00:00:27,260 --> 00:00:33,179 Fayruz al-Daylami, may Allah be pleased with him. 7 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:54,560 When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, fell ill after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, 8 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,560 and news of his illness spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula, 9 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,560 al-Aswad al-'Ansi apostatized from Islam in Yemen, 10 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,560 as did Musaylimah the Liar in al-Yamamah, 11 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,560 and Tulayhah al-Asadi in the lands of Banu Asad. 12 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,560 The three liars claimed that they were prophets, 13 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:17,719 each of them sent to his people just as Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah was sent to Quraysh. 14 00:01:17,719 --> 00:01:20,719 Al-Aswad al-'Ansi was a sorcerer and a charlatan, 15 00:01:20,719 --> 00:01:23,719 black-hearted and of immense wickedness, 16 00:01:23,719 --> 00:01:26,719 of great strength and a massive frame. 17 00:01:26,719 --> 00:01:30,719 Furthermore, he was eloquent, captivating minds with his rhetoric, 18 00:01:30,719 --> 00:01:34,719 a cunning man capable of playing with the minds of the masses through his falsehoods, 19 00:01:34,719 --> 00:01:38,719 and enticing the elite with wealth, status, and positions of power. 20 00:01:38,719 --> 00:01:42,719 He would never appear to the people except while veiled, 21 00:01:42,719 --> 00:01:46,719 to surround himself with an aura of mystery and awe. 22 00:01:46,719 --> 00:01:49,719 At that time, influence in Yemen lay with the Abna', 23 00:01:49,719 --> 00:01:52,719 led by Fayruz al-Daylami, 24 00:01:52,719 --> 00:01:55,719 a Companion of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. 25 00:01:55,719 --> 00:01:59,719 "The Abna'" is a name given to a group of people 26 00:01:59,719 --> 00:02:03,719 whose fathers were Persians who had migrated from their lands to Yemen, 27 00:02:03,719 --> 00:02:06,719 and whose mothers were Arabs. 28 00:02:06,719 --> 00:02:10,039 Their leader, Badhan, at the time of the emergence of Islam, 29 00:02:10,039 --> 00:02:14,039 was the ruler of Yemen on behalf of Kisra, the Great King of Persia. 30 00:02:14,039 --> 00:02:18,039 When the truth of the Prophet and the nobility of his message became clear to him, 31 00:02:18,039 --> 00:02:23,039 he renounced his allegiance to Kisra and entered the religion of Allah along with his people. 32 00:02:23,039 --> 00:02:26,039 The Prophet confirmed him in his rule, 33 00:02:26,039 --> 00:02:28,039 and he remained in that position until he died 34 00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:31,039 shortly before the emergence of al-Aswad al-'Ansi. 35 00:02:31,039 --> 00:02:35,039 The first to respond to the call of al-Aswad al-'Ansi 36 00:02:35,039 --> 00:02:37,039 were his own people, the Madhhij. 37 00:02:37,039 --> 00:02:39,039 With them, he launched an assault on Sana'a, 38 00:02:39,039 --> 00:02:42,039 and killed its governor, Shahr ibn Badhan, 39 00:02:42,039 --> 00:02:45,039 and married his wife, Azad. 40 00:02:45,039 --> 00:02:48,039 Then he struck from Sana'a at other regions, 41 00:02:48,039 --> 00:02:52,039 which began to fall under his blows with astonishing speed, 42 00:02:52,039 --> 00:02:57,039 until the lands stretching from Hadramawt to Ta'if submitted to him, 43 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:01,039 as well as those between Bahrain, al-Ahsa', and Aden. 44 00:03:01,039 --> 00:03:05,099 Among the factors that helped al-Aswad al-'Ansi deceive the people 45 00:03:05,099 --> 00:03:09,099 and win them over was his boundless cunning. 46 00:03:09,099 --> 00:03:14,099 He claimed to his followers that he had an angel who brought him revelation, 47 00:03:14,099 --> 00:03:16,099 and informed him of the unseen. 48 00:03:16,099 --> 00:03:21,099 He would reinforce this claim through his spies, whom he had scattered everywhere 49 00:03:21,099 --> 00:03:25,099 to keep track of people's news, penetrate their secrets, 50 00:03:25,099 --> 00:03:32,099 learn their problems, and uncover the hopes and aspirations stirring in their hearts. 51 00:03:32,099 --> 00:03:34,099 Then they would bring this to him in secret, 52 00:03:34,099 --> 00:03:38,099 so he would confront every person in need with their specific need, 53 00:03:38,099 --> 00:03:41,099 and address every person with a problem by mentioning the problem itself. 54 00:03:41,099 --> 00:03:44,099 He would present to his followers such wonders and strange feats 55 00:03:44,099 --> 00:03:47,099 that it stunned their minds and bewildered their understanding, 56 00:03:47,099 --> 00:03:49,099 until his influence grew great, 57 00:03:49,099 --> 00:03:55,099 and his movement spread like a raging fire in dry brushwood. 58 00:03:55,099 --> 00:03:59,099 No sooner had the news of the apostasy of al-Aswad al-'Ansi 59 00:03:59,099 --> 00:04:01,099 and his assault on Yemen 60 00:04:01,099 --> 00:04:03,099 reached the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, 61 00:04:03,099 --> 00:04:09,099 than he dispatched about ten of his Companions with letters to those he deemed righteous 62 00:04:09,099 --> 00:04:11,099 among the early believers in Yemen, 63 00:04:11,099 --> 00:04:17,100 urging them to confront this blind tribulation with faith and resolve, 64 00:04:18,100 --> 00:04:22,100 and commanding them to get rid of al-Aswad al-'Ansi by any means necessary. 65 00:04:22,100 --> 00:04:25,230 There was no one who received the Prophet's letter 66 00:04:25,230 --> 00:04:29,230 who did not answer his call and hasten to carry out his command. 67 00:04:29,230 --> 00:04:32,230 The swiftest of all to respond to his call 68 00:04:32,230 --> 00:04:35,230 was the hero of our story, Fayruz al-Daylami, 69 00:04:35,230 --> 00:04:38,300 and those with him from the Abna'. 70 00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:42,300 Let us leave the speech to him to narrate to us his unique and wonderful story. 71 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:44,300 Fayruz said: 72 00:04:44,300 --> 00:04:48,300 "I and those with me from the Abna' did not doubt for a moment in the religion of Allah, 73 00:04:48,300 --> 00:04:52,300 nor did any of us harbor any belief in the enemy of Allah. 74 00:04:52,300 --> 00:04:55,300 We were waiting for the opportunity to strike at him 75 00:04:55,300 --> 00:04:58,300 and get rid of him by any means. 76 00:04:58,300 --> 00:05:02,300 When the letters of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, reached us 77 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:05,300 and the early believers, 78 00:05:05,300 --> 00:05:07,300 we strengthened one another, 79 00:05:07,300 --> 00:05:10,300 and each of us began working in his own sphere. 80 00:05:10,300 --> 00:05:16,490 Al-Aswad al-'Ansi had become filled with arrogance and pride due to the success he had achieved, 81 00:05:16,490 --> 00:05:19,490 so he acted haughtily toward his army commander, Qays ibn 'Abd Yaghuth, 82 00:05:19,490 --> 00:05:21,490 and became tyrannical, 83 00:05:21,490 --> 00:05:23,490 and changed his treatment of him, 84 00:05:23,490 --> 00:05:27,490 until Qays no longer felt safe from his brutality. 85 00:05:27,490 --> 00:05:30,519 So I went to him with my cousin, Dadhwayh, 86 00:05:30,519 --> 00:05:34,519 and we conveyed to him the message of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, 87 00:05:34,519 --> 00:05:39,519 and invited him to 'eat the man before he eats him.' 88 00:05:39,519 --> 00:05:41,519 His heart opened to our invitation, 89 00:05:41,519 --> 00:05:43,519 and he revealed his secret to us, 90 00:05:43,519 --> 00:05:47,519 and he looked at us as if we had descended upon him from the sky. 91 00:05:47,519 --> 00:05:49,519 So the three of us made a pact 92 00:05:49,519 --> 00:05:53,519 to confront the apostate liar from within, 93 00:05:53,519 --> 00:05:57,519 while our other brothers confronted him from the outside. 94 00:05:57,519 --> 00:06:01,519 We decided to involve the cousin of Azad, 95 00:06:01,519 --> 00:06:04,519 whom al-Aswad al-'Ansi had married 96 00:06:04,519 --> 00:06:07,519 after killing her husband, Shahr ibn Badhan. 97 00:06:07,519 --> 00:06:10,649 I went to the palace of al-Aswad al-'Ansi, 98 00:06:10,649 --> 00:06:12,649 met with the cousin of Azad, 99 00:06:12,649 --> 00:06:15,649 and said to her, 'O cousin, 100 00:06:15,649 --> 00:06:19,649 you know the evil and harm this man has brought upon you and us. 101 00:06:19,649 --> 00:06:23,649 He killed your husband, disgraced the women of your people, 102 00:06:23,649 --> 00:06:25,649 destroyed many of their men, 103 00:06:25,649 --> 00:06:28,680 and seized power from their hands. 104 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,680 This is the letter of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 105 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,680 to us specifically, 106 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:35,680 and to the people of Yemen generally, 107 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,680 calling upon us to put an end to this tribulation. 108 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:41,680 Will you help us against him?' 109 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:43,680 She said, 110 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:45,680 'Help you with what?' 111 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,680 I said, 'To remove him.' 112 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,680 She said, 'Rather, to kill him.' 113 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,740 I said, 'By Allah, I intended nothing else, 114 00:06:53,740 --> 00:06:56,740 but I feared to confront you with it.' 115 00:06:56,740 --> 00:07:01,740 She said, 'By the One who sent Muhammad with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, 116 00:07:01,740 --> 00:07:04,740 I have not doubted my religion for the blinking of an eye, 117 00:07:04,740 --> 00:07:09,740 and Allah has not created a man more hateful to me than this devil. 118 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:12,740 By Allah, I have known him since I saw him 119 00:07:12,740 --> 00:07:14,740 only as a wicked sinner, 120 00:07:14,740 --> 00:07:17,810 who respects no right and does not refrain from any evil.' 121 00:07:17,810 --> 00:07:20,810 I said, 'And how can we kill him?' 122 00:07:20,810 --> 00:07:25,810 She said, 'He is extremely cautious for his own safety, 123 00:07:25,810 --> 00:07:27,810 and there is no place in the palace 124 00:07:27,810 --> 00:07:29,810 that is not surrounded by guards, 125 00:07:29,810 --> 00:07:32,810 except for this remote, abandoned room, 126 00:07:32,810 --> 00:07:36,810 for its back faces such-and-such a place on the wilderness. 127 00:07:36,810 --> 00:07:40,810 When evening comes, dig through it in the darkness of the night, 128 00:07:40,810 --> 00:07:43,810 and you will find inside it weapons and a lamp, 129 00:07:43,810 --> 00:07:46,810 and you will find me waiting for you.' 130 00:07:46,810 --> 00:07:48,810 Then they entered upon him and killed him. 131 00:07:48,810 --> 00:07:53,810 I said, 'But digging a hole in a room in a palace like this 132 00:07:53,810 --> 00:07:55,810 is not an easy matter, 133 00:07:55,810 --> 00:07:59,810 for someone might pass by us, shout, and call for the guards, 134 00:07:59,810 --> 00:08:01,810 and then the consequences would be dire.' 135 00:08:01,810 --> 00:08:04,870 She said, 'You speak the truth, 136 00:08:04,870 --> 00:08:06,870 and I have a suggestion for you.' 137 00:08:06,870 --> 00:08:08,870 I said, 'What is it?' 138 00:08:08,870 --> 00:08:12,870 She said, 'Tomorrow, send a man you trust disguised as a worker, 139 00:08:12,870 --> 00:08:15,870 and I will order him to dig the room from the inside 140 00:08:15,870 --> 00:08:19,870 until only a small amount remains of the hole, 141 00:08:19,870 --> 00:08:23,870 then you can finish it at night from the outside with minimal effort.' 142 00:08:23,870 --> 00:08:27,870 I said, 'What a great suggestion you have.' 143 00:08:27,870 --> 00:08:31,870 Then I left and informed my companions of what we had agreed upon, 144 00:08:31,870 --> 00:08:33,899 and they blessed it. 145 00:08:33,899 --> 00:08:36,899 We set out immediately to prepare for the matter, 146 00:08:36,899 --> 00:08:41,899 then we shared the password with the elite believers among our supporters, 147 00:08:41,899 --> 00:08:43,899 and called them to be ready. 148 00:08:43,899 --> 00:08:47,899 We set our meeting with them for the dawn of the following day. 149 00:08:47,899 --> 00:08:49,899 When night fell upon us, 150 00:08:49,899 --> 00:08:51,899 and the appointed time approached, 151 00:08:51,899 --> 00:08:54,899 I went with my companions to the site of the hole, 152 00:08:54,899 --> 00:08:56,899 and we uncovered it. 153 00:08:56,899 --> 00:08:58,899 We entered the room, 154 00:08:58,899 --> 00:09:01,899 took the weapons, and lit the lamp, 155 00:09:01,899 --> 00:09:04,899 and proceeded toward the private quarters of the enemy of Allah. 156 00:09:04,899 --> 00:09:07,899 My cousin was standing at his door, 157 00:09:07,899 --> 00:09:10,899 so she signaled to me, and I entered upon him. 158 00:09:10,899 --> 00:09:13,899 He was asleep, snoring in his sleep, 159 00:09:13,899 --> 00:09:15,899 so I struck his neck with the blade. 160 00:09:15,899 --> 00:09:17,899 He let out a sound like the bellowing of a bull, 161 00:09:17,899 --> 00:09:21,899 and the sound of a slaughtered camel. 162 00:09:21,899 --> 00:09:23,899 When the guards heard his bellowing, 163 00:09:23,899 --> 00:09:25,899 they came to the quarters and said, 164 00:09:25,899 --> 00:09:27,899 'What is this?' 165 00:09:27,899 --> 00:09:29,899 My cousin said to them, 166 00:09:29,899 --> 00:09:31,899 'Go away in peace, 167 00:09:31,899 --> 00:09:33,899 for the Prophet of Allah is receiving revelation.' 168 00:09:33,899 --> 00:09:36,059 So they left. 169 00:09:36,059 --> 00:09:39,059 We remained in the palace until dawn broke, 170 00:09:39,059 --> 00:09:42,059 then I stood on one of its walls and called out, 171 00:09:42,059 --> 00:09:44,059 'Allah is the Greatest, 172 00:09:44,059 --> 00:09:46,059 Allah is the Greatest.' 173 00:09:46,059 --> 00:09:48,059 I continued the call to prayer until I said, 174 00:09:48,059 --> 00:09:52,059 'I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, 175 00:09:52,059 --> 00:09:55,059 I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, 176 00:09:55,059 --> 00:09:58,059 and I bear witness that al-Aswad al-'Ansi is a liar.' 177 00:09:58,059 --> 00:10:01,100 This was the password. 178 00:10:01,100 --> 00:10:04,100 The Muslims rushed to the palace from every side, 179 00:10:04,100 --> 00:10:07,100 and the guards were terrified when they heard the call to prayer. 180 00:10:07,100 --> 00:10:11,100 The two parties clashed with one another, 181 00:10:11,100 --> 00:10:13,100 and I threw the head of al-Aswad to them 182 00:10:13,100 --> 00:10:15,129 from over the palace walls. 183 00:10:15,129 --> 00:10:17,129 When his supporters saw it, 184 00:10:17,129 --> 00:10:19,129 they became weak and their spirit was broken. 185 00:10:19,129 --> 00:10:21,129 And when the believers saw it, 186 00:10:21,129 --> 00:10:23,129 they shouted 'Allahu Akbar' and charged at their enemy. 187 00:10:23,129 --> 00:10:26,129 The matter was settled before sunrise. 188 00:10:26,129 --> 00:10:28,320 When the day broke, 189 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:32,320 we sent a letter to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, 190 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,320 bringing him the good news of the death of the enemy of Allah. 191 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,379 When the messengers reached Medina, 192 00:10:38,379 --> 00:10:41,379 they found the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, 193 00:10:41,379 --> 00:10:44,379 had passed away that very night. 194 00:10:44,379 --> 00:10:46,379 However, they soon learned 195 00:10:46,379 --> 00:10:49,379 that the revelation had informed him of the killing of al-Aswad al-'Ansi 196 00:10:49,379 --> 00:10:52,379 on the very night he was killed. 197 00:10:52,379 --> 00:10:55,379 For the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had said to his Companions, 198 00:10:55,379 --> 00:10:58,379 'Al-Aswad al-'Ansi was killed last night; 199 00:10:58,379 --> 00:11:00,379 He was killed by a blessed man, 200 00:11:00,379 --> 00:11:02,379 from a blessed household. 201 00:11:02,379 --> 00:11:04,379 It was said to him, 202 00:11:04,379 --> 00:11:06,379 "Who is he, O Messenger of Allah?" 203 00:11:06,379 --> 00:11:08,379 He replied, "Fairuz." 204 00:11:08,379 --> 00:11:10,379 "Fairuz has succeeded." 205 00:11:10,379 --> 00:11:14,879 Fairuz, 206 00:11:14,879 --> 00:11:16,879 a blessed man, 207 00:11:16,879 --> 00:11:18,879 from a blessed household. 208 00:11:18,879 --> 00:11:21,039 Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. 209 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:27,679 O poetry, compose a tribute to them, 210 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:29,679 and let the virtuous be praised, 211 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:31,679 for in their praise, is there any greater merit?