In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Mawaddah Association is pleased
to present to you vignettes from the lives of the Companions,
by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
may Allah have mercy on him.
'Adi ibn Hatim al-Ta'i,
may Allah be pleased with him.
In the ninth year of the Hijrah,
an Arab king yielded to Islam after long aversion,
softened to faith after turning away and resisting,
and offered allegiance to the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, after refusal.
That was 'Adi ibn Hatim al-Ta'i,
whose father's legendary generosity was proverbially renowned.
'Adi inherited leadership from his father,
so the tribe of Tayy made him their king,
allocated a fourth of their war spoils to him,
and surrendered their leadership to him.
When the noble Messenger openly proclaimed the call to guidance and truth,
and tribe after tribe of the Arabs submitted to him,
'Adi saw in the call of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
a leadership that threatened to extinguish his own authority,
and a rule that would lead to the erasure of his reign.
So he harbored against the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
the fiercest animosity, despite not even knowing him,
and hated him with the deepest hatred before ever seeing him.
He remained hostile toward Islam for nearly twenty years,
until Allah opened his heart to the call of guidance and truth.
The story of 'Adi ibn Hatim's conversion to Islam is unforgettable,
so let us leave it to the man himself to recount his story,
for he is the most entitled to tell it and the most fitting to narrate it.
'Adi said, "There was no man among the Arabs who hated
the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, more than I did
when I first heard of him.
I was a nobleman of high status,
a Christian,
and I used to rule over my people by taking the *mirba'*,
taking a fourth of their spoils of war,
as was the custom of other Arab kings.
So when I heard of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
I despised him.
As his cause grew prominent and his strength formidable,
with his armies and military expeditions sweeping east and west across the Arab lands,
I said to a servant of mine who grazed my camels,
'May you be well!
Prepare for me several fat, manageable sheath-camels from my herd,
and keep them tethered near me.
If you hear that Muhammad's army or one of his raiding parties
has stepped foot in this land,
inform me immediately.'
One morning,
my servant came to me and said,
'My master,
whatever you intended to do
if Muhammad's cavalry should tread upon your land,
do it now!'
I said,
'May your mother be bereaved of you! What is it?'
He said,
'I saw banners advancing through the settlements,
so I inquired about them,
and I was told, "These are the armies of Muhammad."'
I said to him,
'Ready the camels I instructed you to prepare,
and bring them close to me.'
I then rose immediately,
called my family and children to depart from the land we loved,
and began hastening our journey toward the lands of the Levant,
to join my fellow Christians
and settle among them.
However, the urgency of the matter prevented me from gathering my entire family.
Once I crossed the dangerous areas,
I checked on my family
and discovered I had left a sister of mine behind in our homelands in Najd,
along with those of Tayy who remained there.
I had no way of returning to her,
so I pressed on with those who were with me until I reached the Levant,
where I resided among my coreligionists.
As for my sister,
what I had anticipated and feared befell her.
News reached me while I was in the Levant
that Muhammad's cavalry had raided our lands
and taken my sister among the captives they seized,
driving her to Yathrib.
There, she was placed with the rest of the captives in an enclosure by the door of the Mosque.
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, passed by her,
so she stood up before him and said,
'O Messenger of Allah,
my father has passed away, and my protector is absent,
so show me favor, and may Allah show favor to you.'
He asked, 'And who is your protector?'
She replied, ''Adi ibn Hatim.'
He said, 'The one who fled from Allah and His Messenger?'
Then the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, walked on and left her.
The next day,
he passed by her again, and she spoke to him as she had the day before,
and he replied to her as he had previously.
On the third day,
he passed by her when she had lost all hope in him,
so she said nothing.
A man standing behind him gestured to her,
'Stand up and speak to him.'
So she stood up before him and said,
'O Messenger of Allah,
my father has passed away, and my protector is absent,
so show me favor, and may Allah show favor to you.'
He said, 'I have done so.'
She said,
'I wish to join my family in the Levant.'
He said,
'Do not leave in haste
until you find someone trustworthy from your people
to escort you safely to the Levant.
When you find a reliable person, let me know.'
After the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, left,
she inquired about the man who had gestured to her to speak to him,
and she was told,
'That was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib,'
may Allah's pleasure be upon him.
She remained there until a caravan arrived containing people she trusted,
so she came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and said,
'O Messenger of Allah,
a group of my people has arrived,
among whom are trustworthy men who can convey me safely.'
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, clothed her,
gifted her a riding camel to carry her,
and gave her ample funds for her journey,
so she set out with the caravan.
'Adi continued,
'Thereafter, we began watching for news of her,
awaiting her arrival,
hardly able to believe what was reported to us regarding her experience with Muhammad,
and his utmost benevolence toward her—
despite everything I had done against him.
By Allah, as I was sitting among my family,
I caught sight of a woman in her litter heading toward us.
I said,
"The daughter of Hatim!"
And indeed, it was her.
When she stopped before us,
she immediately confronted me, saying,
"You ruthless, unjust man!
You evacuated your own family and children,
while abandoning your father's remaining bloodline and defense!"
I said,
"O my sister,
say nothing but good."
I kept soothing her until she was appeased,
and she related her story to me.
It was exactly as the reports had reached me.
I said to her—
and she was a resolute, intelligent woman—
"What is your opinion regarding this man's affair?"
meaning Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
She said,
"By Allah, I advise that you join him swiftly.
For if he is a prophet,
those who precede others to him gain virtue;
and if he is a king,
you will never be humiliated in his presence, being who you are."
'Adi said,
'So I prepared my provisions
and set off until I presented myself before the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in Medina,
without any grant of immunity or written treaty.
News had reached me that he had said,
"I hope that Allah will place 'Adi's hand in mine."
I entered upon him while he was in the mosque,
and greeted him with peace.
He asked,
"Who is this man?"
I replied,
"'Adi ibn Hatim."
He stood up for me,
took me by the hand, and set off with me toward his house.
By Allah, as he was walking with me toward his house,
an elderly, frail woman met him,
accompanied by a small child.
She asked him to stop,
and began speaking to him about a need of hers,
so he stayed with them until he fulfilled their need,
while I stood waiting.
I said to myself,
"By Allah, this is no conduct of a king."
Then he took my hand and led me until we arrived at his home.
He took a leather cushion,
stuffed with palm-fiber,
threw it to me,
and said,
"Sit on this."
I felt embarrassed before him and said,
"No, you sit on it."
He said,
"Rather, you."
So I complied and sat upon it,
while the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sat upon the bare ground,
as there was no other cushion in the house.
I said to myself,
"By Allah, this is not how a king behaves."
Then he turned to me and said,
"What is holding you back, O 'Adi Ibn Hatim?
Were you not a Rakusi—
professing a faith between Christianity and Sabianism?"
I replied, "Indeed, I was."
He then said,
"Did you not use to exact a fourth of the spoils (*mirba'*) from your people,
taking from them that which was not lawful for you in your own religion?"
I replied, "Indeed, I did."
And I realized then that he was a prophet sent by Allah.
Then he said to me,
"Perhaps, O 'Adi,
the only thing holding you back from entering this religion
is the poverty and need you see among the Muslims.
By Allah, wealth will soon overflow among them
to the point that no one can be found to accept it.
And perhaps, O 'Adi,
the only thing holding you back from entering this religion
is the small number of Muslims you see and the great number of their enemies.
By Allah, you will soon hear of a woman
traveling all the way from al-Qadisiyyah on her camel
until she visits this House,
fearing no one except Allah.
And perhaps the only thing holding you back from entering this religion
is that you see kingship and authority in the hands of non-Muslims.
By Allah,
you will soon hear that the white palaces of Babylon
have been conquered by them,
and that the treasures of Chosroes son of Hormizd
have fallen into their hands."
I asked in astonishment,
"The treasures of Chosroes son of Hormizd?"
He replied, "Yes,
the treasures of Chosroes son of Hormizd."
'Adi said,
"At that moment, I bore the testimony of truth and embraced Islam."
'Adi Ibn Hatim (may Allah be pleased with him) lived a long life,
and he used to say,
"Two of the prophecies have already been fulfilled,
and the third remains.
By Allah, it shall surely come to pass!
For I have seen the woman travel from al-Qadisiyyah on her camel,
fearing nothing until she reached this House;
and I was among the first cavalry force that raided the treasures of Chosroes and seized them.
And I swear by Allah, the third prophecy will surely come to pass."
Allah willed to fulfill the words of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him),
and the third prophecy came to pass during the reign of the ascetic, devout Caliph 'Umar Ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz,
when wealth overflowed among the Muslims
to the extent that he had his town crier call out
for anyone willing to accept zakat funds meant for the poor among the Muslims,
but he could not find a single person.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) spoke the truth,
and 'Adi Ibn Hatim fulfilled his oath.
"You believed when they disbelieved,
you acknowledged the truth when they denied it,
you remained faithful when they betrayed,
and you came forward when they turned away."
— 'Umar Ibn al-Khattab.
Inspire me to elaborate
in praising them—are they not the adornment of mankind?