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

THE LIVES OF THE SRHABAH (Vol-I) 313
forsake Islaam. However, Hadhrat Abdullaah @EM kept refusing. The emperor
then had him untied and commanded his men to fill a cauldron with water and
bring it to a boil, Two Muslim prisoners were then brought and one of them was
thrown into the cauldron. (After showing him this) The emperor again asked
Hadhrat Abdullaah 3,Gw to(become a Christian, but he again refused. The
emperor then gave orders that Hadhrat Abdullaah 3,GWj should be thrown into
the cauldron.
As Hadhrat Abdullaah @Gw
was being led to the cauldron, he began weeping.
When the emperor was informed about this, he thought that Hadhrat Abdullaah
3Gw was frightened, so he called him back. Again he asked Hadhrat Abdullaah
3,- to become a Christian, but the offer was again refused. The emperor then
asked, "Then what made you weep?" Hadhrat Abdullaah replied, "I wept
when I thought to myself that once I am thrown into the fire, I will be killed
instantly. I wish that I had as many lives as the hairs on my body so that each
one could be given for the pleasure of Allaah."
The tyrant said, "Would you kiss my head in exchange for your freedom?"
Hadhrat Abdullaah S,Gm asked, "In exchange for all the prisoners?" The
emperor agreed, "In exchange for all the prisoners." Hadhrat Abdullaah 3Bw
said to himself, "~lthou~h he is an enemy of Allaah, I don't mind kissing his head
in exchange for my freedom as well as the freedom of all the Muslim prisoners."
Hadhrat Abdullaah 3,- therefore drew closer and kissed his head, after which
all the prisoners were handed over to him.
Hadhrat Abdullaah %,Wj then brought them all back to Hadhrat Umar %3Bw.
When Hadhrat Umar iW3% was informed about the events, he said, "It is
compulsory for every Muslim to kiss the head of Abdullaah bin Hudhaafa !&Gm
and I shall be the first." Hadhrat Umar WGWk then stood up and kissed his head
(SO that Hadhrat Abdullaah 3,GWj should forget the unpleasant experience of
kissing the emperor's head). (')
The Hardships and Difficulties Endured by
the Sahabah @3Gwj in General
The Torture the Sahabah @GW Suffered at the
Hands of the Mushrikeen
Hadhrat Sa'eed bin Jubayr narrates that he once asked Hadhrat Abdullaah bin
Abbaas 3G%%k, "Was the torture that the Mushrikeen put the Sahabah @Bw
through so severe that they would have been excused if they had to forsake
Islaam?" Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbaas @,Em replied, "Certainly. By Allaah! The
Mushrikeen would beat one of the Muslims up and keep him so hungry and
thirsty that he would be unable to even sit up because of his intense suffering. He
was eventually forced to do whatever evil they asked him to do. They would
torture him so much that he would even agree with them if they told him that
(I) Bayhaqi and Ibn Asaakir as quoted in Kanzul Ummaal(Vol.7 Pg.62). Isaaba (Vo1.2 Pg.297) contains
commentary on the chain of narrators.