Many of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) were at the receiving end of persecution by the unbelievers, for no reason other than their belief. We mentioned last week the event when Abu Bakr was badly beaten up and nearly killed after he addressed his people at the Kaaba, calling on them to believe in Islam. The assault on Abu Bakr was fierce despite the fact that he belonged to a respected family in a clan of the Quraysh, the master tribe in Arabia. Normally, such persecution of noble personalities was carried out by their own families, as also by the elders in their clans.
Talhah ibn Ubaydellah was still in his teens when he became a Muslim. Although he was well placed in his clan, Taym, which belonged to the Quraysh tribe, he was not immune from persecution. Massoud ibn Hirash reports: “While we were doing our ritual, walking between Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, we saw a large crowd follow a young man whose hand was tied to his neck. I asked who the young man was and why he was tied up like that. I was told that he was Talhah ibn Ubaydellah, and that he had changed his religion. A woman was walking behind him, grumbling and verbally abusing him. I asked who she was and I was told that she was his mother, Al-Saabah bint Al-Hadrami.” (Related by Al-Bukhari.)
Talhah was one of the earliest to embrace Islam. He is invariably mentioned as one of the first ten Muslims. How come that such a young man should change his faith at such an early time? One reason is that young people may be motivated by their idealism. When they realize the soundness of an idea, they would adopt it without difficulty. In Talhah’s case, however, there was an added incentive as we gather from the following story, told by Talhah to his grandson, Ibraheem ibn Muhammad ibn Talhah.
One year I attended the market at Busra, (the main town in the Hawran province in today’s southern Syria). I saw there a monk who normally stays in a hermitage. He was calling out: ‘Ask the people attending here if any of them belongs to the land of the Kaaba.’ I told him that I came from there. He asked me: ‘Has Ahmad declared his mission yet?’ (It should be mentioned here that Ahmad was another of the Prophet’s names). I asked him which Ahmad he was talking about. He said: ‘He is Ahmad ibn Abdullah ibn Abd Al-Muttalib. He should come out this month. He is the last of all prophets. He comes from the land of the Kaaba and will immigrate to a land that has dates, volcanic and salty rocks. Be sure to follow him and not to let anyone be ahead of you in following him.’ I was deeply affected by what this monk told me. When we left, I was keen to get back home as fast as possible. When I arrived in Makkah I inquired about what happened in my absence, and I was told that Muhammad ibn Abdullah claimed to be a prophet and that he was followed by Abu Bakr. I went to meet Abu Bakr and asked him whether he believed in Muhammad. He said to me: ‘Yes, indeed. You should meet him and follow his faith because his mission is the truth.’ I told him what the monk in Syria told me. Then he took me to the Prophet where I declared myself a Muslim. I told the Prophet of what the monk said and he was pleased.
Both Abu Bakr and Talhah belonged to the Taym clan of the Quraysh. When it was known that both of them became Muslims, one of the elders of their clan, Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, who was well known for his physical strength and bravery, was so dismayed. He was nicknamed the Lion of the Quraysh. He took them both and tied them up together, demanding that they revert to their people’s idol worship. Hence, these two great companions of the Prophet were given the nickname, Al-Qareenayn, which means, “the two tied together.” None from their clan tried to defend them, as the action was taken by a tribesman of great influence.
This report tells us that people like Abu Bakr and Talhah were not immune from abuse and hardship that could be inflicted by their own people. Little support was to be expected when the persecutor was one who should have defended the persecuted people, not to be hard on them. It also tells us that many were those who felt that adopting the new faith was a punishable offense. Even Talhah’s own mother would join the tormentors of her own son.
The report also tells us how Talhah acted on good advice. On his return to Makkah, he investigated what he had heard from the monk. Recognizing its truth, he did not hesitate to declare himself a Muslim.
Others among the Prophet’s early companions who belonged to noble families were also persecuted. Al-Zubayr was a young lad when he adopted Islam in its very early days. Although he belonged to a distinguished family, as a young man he was still vulnerable to persecution. His uncle used to tie him up and release smoke that he could not avoid. He would demand that he should revert to his old religion, but Al-Zubayr would declare that he would not do that for the world. He proved true to his word, as it is clearly apparent from the following story:
Al-Zubayr was traveling through desert land when he needed to have a bath. He asked one of his companions to give him cover. The man did so, but he unintentionally looked briefly toward Al-Zubayr, only to see many scars of wounds caused by swords. He said to him: “I have seen that you have scars the like of which I never saw before. How come that you have so many?”
Al-Zubayr said: “By God! Every single one of them was when I was with God’s Messenger, striving for God’s cause.”
Al-Zubayr was clearly a man of faith, realizing that his faith required him to sacrifice much and he was ready to give whatever sacrifice was required of him. Suffering a few wounds would not deter him from continuing to fight for God’s cause, alongside the Prophet and under his command. Yet this was not widely known. Only when the man giving him cover accidentally saw the scars did he speak about them. Such is the proper Islamic attitude: When we do something for God’s cause, we do not publicize it; we keep it as a private matter, between us and God, so that He would give us maximum reward.
