In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, may Allah be pleased with him.
Umm Anmar al-Khuza'iyyah set out for the slave market in Makkah,
intending to buy herself a young male servant
who could serve her and whose labor she could exploit.
She began closely inspecting the faces of the slaves offered for sale,
until her choice settled upon a boy who had not yet reached puberty.
She saw in his robust health and the marks of desert nobility upon his face
that which enticed her to purchase him.
She paid his price and set off with him.
While they were on their way,
Umm Anmar turned to the boy and asked,
"What is your name, boy?"
He replied,
"Khabbab."
She asked,
"And what is your father's name?"
He said,
"Al-Aratt."
She asked,
"And where are you from?"
He said, "From Najd."
She remarked,
"So you are an Arab, then?"
He replied, "Yes,
from the tribe of Banu Tamim."
She asked,
"And who brought you into the hands of the slave dealers in Makkah?"
He explained,
"An Arab tribe raided our settlement,
drove off the livestock, captured the women,
and seized the children.
I was among the boys taken.
Then I kept passing from hand to hand
until I was brought to Makkah
and ended up in your hands."
Umm Anmar placed her young slave with a blacksmith in Makkah
to learn the craft of sword-making.
It was not long before the young boy mastered the trade and acquired complete proficiency in it.
When Khabbab grew stronger and reached robust manhood,
Umm Anmar rented a shop for him,
purchased tools for him,
and began exploiting his skill in crafting swords.
It was only a short time before Khabbab became famous in Makkah,
and people began flocking to buy his swords
because of the honesty, truthfulness, and craftsmanship he displayed.
Despite his youth, Khabbab
possessed the mind of a mature man and the wisdom of elders.
Whenever he finished his work and was alone with his thoughts,
he would often reflect upon that pagan society
that was steeped in corruption from head to toe.
He was appalled by the dense ignorance and blind misguidance
that had enveloped the life of the Arabs,
of which he himself was one of the victims.
He used to say to himself, "This dark night must surely come to an end."
He wished for his life to be prolonged
so that he might see with his own eyes the demise of darkness and the birth of light.
Khabbab did not have to wait long,
for word soon reached him that a ray of light
had shone forth from the mouth of a youth from Banu Hashim,
named Muhammad ibn 'Abdillah.
So he went to him and listened to his message,
and its radiance dazzled him and its light overwhelmed him.
He extended his hand to the Prophet,
testifying that there is no god but Allah
and that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.
Thus he became the sixth person to embrace Islam on the face of the earth,
to the extent that it was said a time passed when Khabbab represented one-sixth of Islam.
Khabbab did not conceal his Islam from anyone,
and news of his conversion soon reached Umm Anmar.
She flew into a furious rage
and gathered her brother, Siba' ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza,
joined by a group of youths from the Khuza'ah tribe,
and they all marched toward Khabbab.
They found him busily engaged in his work.
Siba' approached him and said,
"We have received news about you that we could not believe."
Khabbab asked, "And what is that?"
Siba' said, "It is rumored that you have apostatized and followed the youth of Banu Hashim."
Khabbab replied calmly,
"I have not apostatized; rather, I have believed in Allah alone, without any partner,
renounced your idols,
and testified that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger."
No sooner had Khabbab's words struck the ears of Siba' and those with him
than they set upon him, beating him with their hands,
kicking him with their feet,
and pelting him with whatever hammers and iron scraps they could reach,
until he collapsed to the ground unconscious,
bleeding profusely.
The news of what transpired between Khabbab and his mistress spread through Makkah like wildfire,
and the people were astonished by Khabbab's audacity.
They had never heard before
of anyone following Muhammad and standing among the people to declare his Islam
with such openness and defiance.
The elders of Quraysh were shaken by Khabbab's stance,
for it had never crossed their minds that a blacksmith like Umm Anmar's slave—
who had no clan to protect him
and no tribal allegiance to defend or harbor him—
would have the boldness to rebel against their authority,
openly revile their gods,
and mock the religion of their forefathers.
They realized that this day would be followed by grave consequences.
And Quraysh was not mistaken in its expectations,
for Khabbab's boldness inspired many of his peers to proclaim their Islam,
and they began openly declaring the word of truth, one after another.
The leaders of Quraysh gathered at the Ka'bah,
led by Abu Sufyan ibn Harb,
al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah,
and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham.
They conferred regarding the affair of Muhammad,
concluding that his matter was escalating day by day
and hour by hour.
So they resolved to eradicate the disease before it spread beyond control,
deciding that every tribe should set upon its own followers of his,
torturing them until they recanted their religion or died.
The burden of torturing Khabbab fell upon Siba' ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza and his people.
When the midday heat intensified and the sun's rays scorched the ground,
they would take him out to the stony valley of Makkah,
strip off his clothes,
dress him in iron coats of armor,
and deprive him of water.
When exhaustion reached its absolute limit,
they would come to him and ask,
"What do you say about Muhammad?"
He would reply, "He is the servant of Allah and His Messenger,
who brought us the religion of guidance and truth
to bring us out from darkness into light."
Thereupon they would beat and punch him relentlessly,
then say to him,
"And what do you say about al-Lat and al-'Uzza?"
He would say, "Two deaf, dumb idols
that can neither harm nor benefit."
So they would bring red-hot stones
and press them against his back,
holding them there until his own body fat melted to quench them.
Umm Anmar was no less cruel to Khabbab than her brother Siba'.
She saw the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passing by Khabbab's shop and speaking with him,
which drove her to madness.
She began coming to Khabbab day after day,
taking a red-hot piece of iron from his furnace
and placing it upon his head until his scalp smoked
and he fell unconscious,
while he continued to pray against her and her brother Siba'.
When the Messenger, peace be upon him, gave permission
to his Companions to migrate to Madinah,
Khabbab prepared to depart.
However, he did not leave Makkah
until Allah answered his supplication against Umm Anmar.
She was afflicted with a headache the likes of which had never been heard of in severity,
causing her to howl from the intensity of the pain like a dog.
Her sons sought medical treatment for her everywhere,
but they were told that there was no cure for her pain
except to regularly cauterize her head with fire.
So she resorted to cauterizing her head with red-hot iron,
enduring burning pain that made her forget the agony of her headache.
In Madinah, under the care of the Ansar, Khabbab tasted the sweetness of rest
of which he had been deprived for so long.
His eyes were delighted by his proximity to his Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
without anything to trouble him or disturb his peace.
He fought alongside the noble Prophet at Badr,
fighting under his banner,
and marched with him to Uhud.
There Allah delighted his eyes with the sight of Siba' ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza,
the brother of Umm Anmar,
meeting his death at the hands of the Lion of Allah,
Hamzah ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib.
His life was extended
until he lived through the reigns of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs,
living under their care, highly esteemed and renowned.
One day during his caliphate, he visited 'Umar ibn al-Khattab,
who elevated his seat
and brought him very close, saying to him,
"No one is more deserving of this assembly than you, except Bilal."
Then he asked him about the worst torture he had endured at the hands of the polytheists,
but Khabbab felt too shy to answer.
When 'Umar insisted, Khabbab pulled his cloak back from his spine,
and 'Umar recoiled in horror at what he saw,
asking, "How did this happen?"
Khabbab replied,
"The polytheists lit a fire of firewood for me until it became glowing embers,
then they stripped off my clothes
and dragged me across it,
until the flesh fell from my backbones,
and nothing extinguished that fire except the fluid that oozed from my body."
Khabbab became wealthy in the latter part of his life after a long period of poverty,
acquiring gold and silver beyond what he had ever dreamed of.
Yet he disposed of his wealth in a manner no one could imagine:
he placed his dirhams and dinars in a known spot in his house,
accessible to those in need among the poor and destitute.
He did not tie it securely,
nor did he lock it away,
so they would come to his home and take whatever they wished,
without asking or seeking permission.
Even so,
For he feared that he would be held to account for that wealth,
and that he might be punished on its account.
A group of his companions narrated, saying:
"We entered upon Khabbab during the illness from which he died,
and he said, 'There are eighty thousand dirhams in this spot.
By Allah, I never tied its bag closed,
nor did I ever turn away a beggar from it.'
Then he wept.
So they asked him, 'What makes you weep?'
He replied, 'I weep because my companions have passed away
without receiving any part of their reward in this world,
whereas I have survived
and received this wealth,
which I fear may be the reward for those deeds of mine.'"
And when Khabbab departed to the mercy of his Lord,
the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), stood at his grave
and said: "May Allah have mercy on Khabbab.
He embraced Islam willingly,
emigrated obediently,
and lived as a striver in the cause of Allah.
And Allah will never cause the reward of those who do good to be lost."
"May Allah have mercy on Khabbab.
He embraced Islam willingly,
emigrated obediently,
and lived as a striver in the cause of Allah."
— 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib.