Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi

Who is Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi?

Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as-Sahmi was a close companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is best known in Islamic tradition for his role as the courier of a letter from Muhammad to Khusraw Parvez the King of Persia, and for his ordeal while imprisoned by Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor. During his ordeal and imprisonment, the emperor made a proposal to him of sorts. He said to him 'Convert to Christianity, and I will take you a partner over my dominion as well as giving you my daughter's hand in marriage.' However, this brave Muslim was not about to be swayed, rather Abdullah said 'Were you to give me all that you own, in addition to all that the Arabs own, asking that I turn from the religion of Islam even for a blink of an eye, I still would not do so.' This is the sort of love which Islam inspires in people. The emperor then resorted to kill Abdullah for his insolence towards him. So Abdullah was placed on a cross. Te emperor gave the command and arrows were fired at him, however, the archers had been directed prior to firing at him to miss and just attempt to scare him. All the time, the Emperor offered him the choice of converting, and even though it is permissible in Islam for one to concede without true intention during torture Abdullah admirably remained steadfast. The emperor realised to kill Abdullah would humiliate himself more than the Muslims and so he resolved himself to trying to convert him by other means. A huge pot of water, and some say oil, was boiled to immense temperatures and then another Muslim prisoner was dropped in as a demonstration. The Muslim melted away until only bones floated on the water surface. The emperor told him that the same would happen to him and still Abdullah continued to stay steadfast to the true religion. However, once above the pot Abdullah began to cry, the emperor gleefully ordered him to be brought in front of him, thinking he had finally penetrated this soldier's armour of faith, yet he was mistaken. Upon being queried, Abdullah stated honourably ' I cried merely because I have only one soul at the present moment to be thrown into this pot for the sake of Allah, I wish that for every hair on my body, I had a soul that could be sacrificed for the sake of achieving martyredom while striving for the sake of my lord'. It came to the point where the emperor realised it would be fruitless to kill him and so he instead said ' at least kiss my head and I will free you'. Abdullah replied' will you free the other Muslim captives along with me?' When the emperor complied Abdullah kissed his head, a beautiful display of humility for the sake of his Muslim brothers and they were all set free. When Abdullah and the others returned safely to Madinah Umar bin Khattab said 'It is the duty for every Muslim to kiss the head of this man, Abdullah Ibn Hudhafah As-Sahmi and I will be the first to do so.' Having said that, Umar stood up and kissed Abdullah on his head. REFERENCE: Golden Stories of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab. Authored by Abdul Malik Mujahid and published by DARUSSALAM.