Hayatus Sahabah - The Lives of the Sahabah - Part 1 of 3

190 THE LIVES OF THE SAWAH i@,3wj
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Hizaam and Abu Sufyaan to Rasulullaah w with instructions to either secure a
peace treaty with Rasulullaah @%% or declare war against him. Abu Sufyaan and
Hakeem bin Hizaam left (for Madinah). On the way they met Budayl bin Waraqa
and asked him to accompany them.
When they reached an area of Makkah called Araa at the time of Isha, they
noticed many tents and an army. They also heard t e neighinpof horses. This
frightened them and they grew scared. They said, "This is the Banu Ka'b tribe
whom war has gathered here." Budayl observed, "They are more than the Banu
Ka'b. All of them combined cannot equal this number. Could the Hawaazin tribe
be searching for grass in our territory? By Allaah! We cannot even say this. These
numbers are like those of people performing Hajj."
Rasulullaah &?@ had sent horsemen ahead of the army to capture spies. (In
addition to this,) The Banu Khuzaa'ah tribe lived along the road and were not
allowing anyone to pass. As soon as Abu Sufyaan and his companions entered
the Muslim army, the horsemen captured them in the darkness of the night and
took them to Rasulullaah m. Abu Sufyaan and his companions now feared that
they would surely lose their lives. Hadhrat Umar $9l3%% stood up before Abu
Sufyaan and slapped him on his neck. The people stuck close to Abu Sufyaan and
took him away to be presented before Rasulullaah m. Abu Sufyaan feared that
he would now be killed. Since Hadhrat Abbaas SW% had been a close friend of
Abu Sufyaan during the Period of Ignorance, he called out at the top of his voice,
"Will you not hand me over to Abbaas?" Hadhrat Abbaas B W arrived and
dispersed everyone from Abu Sufyaan. Hadhrat Abbaas BWt3 requested
Rasulullaah @% to make Abu Sufyaan over to him. In the meantime, the news of
Abu Sufyaan being there spread throughout the army. Hadhrat Abbaas WE@!%
mounted his animal with Abu SuQaan that night and rode around the army
with him until they had seen him.
When he slapped Abu Sufyaan on his neck, Hadhrat Umar BWt3 told him, "By
Allaah! You shall die before you even draw near to Rasulullaah @!#." He
therefore sought help from Hadhrat Abbaas WM'M and said, "I shall surely be
killed." Hadhrat Abbaas !%WS therefore protected him from assaulting him.
When Abu Sufyaan saw the large numbers of people and their great discipline, he
commented, "Never before have I seen a concentration of people as I see
tonight." After rescuing him from the people, Hadhrat Abbaas BWj said to Abu
Sufyaan, "You will certainly be killed if you do not accept rslaam and do not
testify that Muhammad @%$ is Allaah's Rasool. As much as Abu Sufyaan wanted
to say what Hadhrat Abbaas WW&6 had told him, he could not get his tongue to
do so. He then spent the night with Hadhrat Abbaas W@!2j. As for Hakeem bin
Hizaam and Budayl bin Waraqa, they both went to Rasulullaah &%% and
accepted Islaam. Rasulullaah @% then asked them about the people of Makkah.
when the Fajr Adhaan was called out, everyone gathered and waited for the
salaah to begin. Abu Sufyaan became alarmed and asked, "0 Abbaas! What are
you people going to do?" Hadhrat Abbaas B= replied, "The Muslims are
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