Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (61) - Suhail bin Amr, may God be pleased with him

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

0:15 Mawaddah Association is pleased

0:17 to present to you snapshots from the lives of the Companions,

0:21 by 'Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,

0:25 may Allah have mercy on him.

0:30 Suhayl ibn 'Amr,

0:32 may Allah be pleased with him.

0:50 Suhayl ibn 'Amr

0:52 was a prominent leader among the chieftains of Quraysh,

0:55 an eloquent orator among the Arabs,

0:58 and a leading figure of authority and counsel—

1:01 one without whom no decision was finalized.

1:04 When the Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, openly proclaimed

1:08 the call of truth, Suhayl

1:10 had reached full maturity and middle age.

1:12 It was fitting that his sound intellect and sharp foresight

1:16 would make him the first to respond to the call of the Prophet of guidance and mercy.

1:21 However, Suhayl did not merely turn away from Islam;

1:25 rather, he set out to block people from the path of Allah by every available means,

1:29 unleashing the lash of his torment upon the early converts to Islam

1:33 to tempt them away from their religion and drive them back into polytheism.

1:37 Yet Suhayl ibn 'Amr

1:39 was soon struck by news that fell upon him like a thunderbolt,

1:44 when word reached him

1:46 that his son 'Abdullah

1:48 and his daughter Umm Kulthum

1:50 had followed Muhammad

1:52 and fled with their religion to the land of Abyssinia

1:55 to escape his persecution and that of Quraysh.

1:58 Then Allah willed that false rumors reached the emigrants in Abyssinia

2:03 that Quraysh had embraced Islam

2:06 and that Muslims were now living in peace among their families.

2:10 Consequently, a group of them returned to Mecca,

2:13 and among those who returned was 'Abdullah ibn Suhayl.

2:18 No sooner had 'Abdullah's feet touched the soil of Mecca

2:22 than his father seized him,

2:24 bound him in chains,

2:26 threw him into a dark room in his house,

2:30 and proceeded to torture him relentlessly,

2:33 persisting in abusing him

2:35 until the youth feigned apostasy from the religion of Muhammad

2:39 and announced his return to the faith of his forefathers.

2:43 This brought relief to Suhayl ibn 'Amr,

2:45 comforted his eyes,

2:47 and filled him with the euphoria of victory over Muhammad.

2:50 Soon after, the polytheists

2:52 resolved to confront the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, at Badr.

2:57 Suhayl ibn 'Amr marched out with them,

3:00 accompanied by his son 'Abdullah,

3:02 eager to see his boy unsheathe his sword against Muhammad

3:07 after having been, until recently, one of his followers.

3:11 But destiny was concealing for Suhayl

3:14 what he had never factored into his calculations.

3:17 For no sooner did the two armies meet on the battlefield of Badr

3:21 than the faithful young Muslim fled to the ranks of the Muslims,

3:25 placed himself beneath the banner of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

3:30 and drew his sword to fight his father

3:34 and the rest of Allah's enemies alongside him.

3:36 When Badr concluded with that decisive victory

3:40 which Allah bestowed upon His Prophet,

3:43 the Noble Messenger, peace be upon him,

3:47 and his noble Companions stood reviewing the captives of the polytheists,

3:50 only to find Suhayl ibn 'Amr bound as a prisoner in their hands.

3:54 When Suhayl was brought before the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,

3:59 seeking ransom, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab looked at him

4:03 and said, "O Messenger of Allah, let me knock out his two front teeth,

4:07 so he will never again stand as an orator in the gatherings of Mecca

4:11 reviling Islam and its Prophet."

4:14 But the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, replied,

4:17 "Leave them, O 'Umar.

4:19 Perhaps he will take a stance that will bring you joy, Allah willing."

4:23 Days turned into years,

4:26 and the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah took place.

4:28 Quraysh dispatched Suhayl ibn 'Amr

4:31 to represent them in finalizing the treaty.

4:34 The Messenger, peace be upon him, received him

4:37 alongside a group of his Companions,

4:39 among whom was Suhayl's son, 'Abdullah ibn Suhayl.

4:42 Then the Prophet, peace be upon him,

4:46 summoned 'Ali ibn Abi Talib to write the contract

4:49 and began dictating to him, saying,

4:52 "Write: In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."

4:55 Suhayl objected, "We do not recognize this;

4:59 rather, write: In Your name, O Allah."

5:02 So the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to 'Ali,

5:06 "Write: In Your name, O Allah."

5:09 Then he said, "Write: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has agreed upon."

5:15 Suhayl said,

5:17 "If we bore witness that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have fought you.

5:21 Instead, write your name and your father's name."

5:24 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said,

5:27 "By Allah, I am indeed the Messenger of Allah, even if you deny me.

5:31 Write: Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah."

5:34 Then he completed the treaty,

5:36 and Suhayl ibn 'Amr returned boasting

5:39 of what he believed was a victory he had achieved for his people over Muhammad.

5:44 Then days turned into years once more,

5:48 and suddenly Quraysh suffered a crushing defeat without a war.

5:53 The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, entered Mecca as a conqueror,

5:58 and a caller announced, "O people of Mecca!

6:02 Whoever enters his house is safe,

6:05 whoever enters the Sacred Mosque is safe,

6:08 and whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe."

6:12 As soon as Suhayl heard the call,

6:15 panic struck his heart.

6:18 He locked the door of his house upon himself, completely helpless.

6:22 Let us leave the narrative to Suhayl ibn 'Amr

6:25 to tell us about these decisive moments in his life.

6:29 Suhayl said,

6:31 "When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, entered Mecca,

6:35 I rushed into my house and locked my door upon myself.

6:39 Then I sent for my son 'Abdullah,

6:42 feeling ashamed to look him in the eye

6:45 because of how excessively I had tortured him for embracing Islam.

6:49 When he entered upon me,

6:51 I said to him, 'Seek protection for me from Muhammad,

6:55 for I am not safe from being killed.'

6:58 So 'Abdullah went to the Prophet, peace be upon him,

7:02 and said, 'O Messenger of Allah, may I be ransomed for you, will you grant my father protection?'

7:07 He replied, 'Yes,

7:09 he is safe under the protection of Allah,

7:11 so let him come out.'

7:13 Then he turned to his Companions and said,

7:16 'Whoever among you meets Suhayl,

7:18 let him not treat him poorly.

7:20 For by my life, Suhayl possesses intellect and nobility,

7:23 and someone like Suhayl cannot remain ignorant of Islam;

7:26 rather, it was simply decreed.'

7:29 Suhayl ibn 'Amr embraced Islam after that, a devotion

7:33 that took full possession of his heart and mind.

7:36 He grew to love the Noble Messenger, peace be upon him,

7:39 with a love that lodged in the very core of his heart.

7:43 Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said,

7:46 'I looked at Suhayl ibn 'Amr during the Farewell Pilgrimage

7:50 standing before the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

7:54 presenting the sacrificial camels to him,

7:57 while the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,

8:00 slaughtered them with his noble hand.

8:02 Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, called for the barber,

8:06 who shaved his head.

8:08 I looked at Suhayl

8:10 as he collected strands of the Prophet's hair, peace be upon him,

8:14 and placed them over his eyes.

8:17 I recalled the day of al-Hudaybiyyah

8:19 and how he had refused to let "Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah" be written,

8:23 so I praised Allah for guiding him.'

8:26 From the moment he embraced Islam, Suhayl devoted himself to whatever would bring him closer to Allah

8:30 and benefit him in his Hereafter.

8:32 Among those who accepted Islam after the Conquest,

8:35 none performed more prayer, fasting, or charity than he,

8:39 nor was anyone more tender-hearted or wept more out of the fear of Allah.

8:44 Furthermore, he began going every day to Mu'adh ibn Jabal

8:48 so that he might teach him some of the Qur'an.

8:51 Dirar ibn al-Khattab said to him,

8:54 'O Abu Zayd,

8:56 do you go to this Khazraji man to teach you the Qur'an?

9:00 Why do you not go to a man from your own tribe of Quraysh?'

9:04 Suhayl replied, 'O Dirar,

9:07 this that you say is a remnant of the pre-Islamic ignorance (Jahiliyyah)

9:11 that brought upon us all that it did,

9:14 allowing others to surpass us in every good deed!

9:17 Islam has removed from us the tribal fanaticism of Jahiliyyah

9:21 and elevated peoples who had no renown.

9:24 Would that we had been with them so that we might have advanced as they advanced!'

9:28 Suhayl ibn 'Amr continued to acknowledge the virtue of the early converts

9:33 to Islam over himself and those like him,

9:36 fully aware of the distinction between them and himself.

9:39 One day, he arrived at the door of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab

9:43 alongside al-Harith ibn Hisham

9:46 and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb,

9:49 while 'Ammar ibn Yasir arrived with them,

9:52 along with men from the freed slaves who were among the early predecessors in Islam.

9:55 'Umar's doorkeeper came out and said,

9:58 'Let 'Ammar enter! Let Suhayb enter!'

10:01 The men of Quraysh began looking at one another

10:04 in anger.

10:07 Then one of them said, 'We have never seen a day like this!

10:11 'Umar permits these men to enter

10:14 while we remain at his door without him paying any attention to us!'

10:17 Suhayl said, 'If you are angry,

10:20 then be angry with yourselves!

10:23 Those people were called to Islam, and we were called;

10:26 they hastened, while we lagged behind.

10:29 How will it be for us when they are called to Paradise on the Day of Resurrection while we are left behind?

10:32 By Allah,

10:35 the virtue they surpassed you in—which you do not see—

10:38 is far greater than this door over which you compete!'

10:41 He then added, 'Indeed, these men

10:44 have surpassed you in what they achieved,

10:47 and by Allah, you have no way to catch up with what you missed

10:50 except through jihad and seeking martyrdom.'

10:53 He then brushed off his garment and stood up.

10:56 The millstone of war was turning at that time

10:59 on the borders of the Levant between the Muslims and the Romans.

11:02 So Suhayl ibn 'Amr gathered his sons,

11:05 his wives, and his grandchildren,

11:08 and set off with them to the Levant to station himself with them

11:11 in the cause of Allah. He said to those with him,

11:15 "By Allah, I will not leave a single position I took alongside the polytheists

11:18 except that I take a position like it alongside the Muslims;

11:21 nor an expense I incurred with the polytheists

11:24 except that I spend the like of it in the cause of Allah.

11:27 By Allah, I shall remain stationed as a defender in the path of Allah

11:30 until I am slain as a martyr

11:33 or die far from Mecca."

11:36 Suhail Ibn 'Amr fulfilled his oath;

11:39 he fought alongside the Muslims at the Battle of Yarmouk

11:42 and displayed the true valor of sincere believers.

11:45 Thereafter, he continued moving from one battleground

11:48 to another, until the Plague of 'Amwas

11:51 struck the lands of the Levant.

11:54 Suhail died in that plague,

11:57 along with all his children and kin who were with him.

12:00 May Allah be pleased with Suhail Ibn 'Amr

12:03 and rank him among the prophets and the martyrs—

12:06 and excellent are those as companions!

12:16 For by my life, Suhail indeed possessed

12:19 intellect and nobility,

12:22 and one like Suhail could not remain ignorant of Islam.

12:25 Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

Pictures from the lives of the Companions - Episode (61) - Suhail bin Amr, may God be pleased with him

Transcript