Khabbab Ibn Al-Aratt

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Sold as Slave
Hazrat Khabab Bin Al-Aratt (ra) was from the Banu
Tamim clan in Najd. He was a free man of free parents
(not a slave). In the days of ignorance, one of the Arab
tribes raided their territory and took their cattle, capturing
women and children. Hazrat Khabab (R.A) was among the
youths captured. He was passed from one hand to another
until he ended up in Makkah, in city‟s slave market. 5
A woman named Umm Anmaar who belonged to the
Khuza-a tribe in Makkah went to the slave market in the
city with an intention to buy herself a youth for her
domestic chores and to exploit his labour for economic
gains. As she scrutinized the faces of those who were
displayed for sale, her eyes fell on a boy who was
obviously not yet in his teens. She saw that he was strong
and healthy and that there were clear signs of intelligence
on his face. She needed no further incentive to purchase
him. She paid for Khabbab (ra) and purchased him 6 .
She was the one, along with her brother Siba'a ibn Abdal-Uzza,
who badly tortured this young Muslim boy later
on his life after he converted to Islam.
5 (“Hazrat Khabab Bin Al-Aratt (R.A),” 2013)
6 (Hamid, 1995)
Australian Islamic Library (www.australianislamiclibrary.org)