The Dawn of a New Power

بسمالله الرحمان الرحيم

السلام عليكم ورحمت الله و بركاته

الحمد الله

In the time of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله تعالى عنه, over a 100,000 Persians gathered to attack the Muslims and ‘Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه wanted to be in charge of the army but ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf رضي الله تعالى عنه objected and said, “O’ Ameer ul-Mu’minin, if you are killed, we jeopardise our conquest and expansion. Send somebody else in your place!” Then they all sat and began to think. Then ‘Abdur Rahman ibn ‘Awf رضي الله تعالى عنه said, “I have found a lion in his den.” It was Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas رضي الله تعالى عنه and he left with 32,000 Muslims to face the superpower of that day. And they camped in a place called Qadisiyah. Rustum, the second in charge of the Persians, sent a message to Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas رضي الله تعالى عنه and said, “Send me a man that I can speak to!” Sa’d رضي الله تعالى عنه sent a man that if this incident hadn’t not happened it is a strong possibility that we would have never heard his name. He was a Sahabi called Rabi’ ibn ‘Amr رضي الله تعالى عنه. Rabi’ رضي الله تعالى عنه was a Sahabi who had spent his entire life in bondage. He was an Abyssinian and had been a slave all his life. Rabi’ رضي الله تعالى عنه left the camp of the Muslims on a small mule and when he reached the camp of the Persians, they said, “Descend from your mule!” He رضي الله تعالى عنه replied, “You requested me to come; now you will accept my conditions. I will not descend!” And the narrations mention that the tent of the Persians was embellished like never before. It had a silk lining all the way through and they had pillows that had silk and gold linings upon it. Rabi’ was riding a small mule, he was wearing tatty clothes that had patches in them and the sheath of his sword was made out of cloth. When he entered into the court of Rustum, who was sitting on a huge bed and had a crown upon his head, Rustum’s cronies, when they saw Rabi’ رضي الله تعالى عنه, they started to laugh. When Rabi’ رضي الله تعالى عنه reached the bed of Rustum, he got off his mount and struck one the pillows with his sword and then tied his mule. The Persians had placed a huge pillow for him to sit on but struck that with his spear and removed and then sat on the floor. Then Rustum said, “Why did you that for?” Rabi’ رضي الله تعالى عنه, “I do not wish to sit on the Dunya that you present me. I prefer to sit on the floor.” Rustum asked, “What brought you people here?” Rabi رضي الله تعالى عنه said, “Allah sent us to remove whoever He wishes from the servitude on man to the servitude of the Lord of man and from the unjust nature of other religions to the justice of Islam and from the tight confinement of this Dunya to the vast life of the Hereafter.” Then he continued, “If you accept what we have brought, then we will go back but if you refuse then we will fight you till we reach the promise of Allah.” Rustum then said, “You say that if we refuse, then you will fight us till the promise of Allah, tell me what’s this promise?” Rabi رضي الله تعالى عنه said, “The promise of Allah is Jannah for those who die fighting and victory for those who remain behind.” Then Rustum asked, “Tell me, are you their leader?” Rabi رضي الله تعالى عنه said, “No, I am not their leader. I am the lowest from amongst them but the believers are like one body the high assist the low and the low assist the high.” Later on, Rustum went back to his people and had a counsel with them and said, “Have you ever seen a man who is more articulate and more confident than him?” Rustum saw a dream that an Angel took the weapons from his hand and gave it to the Muslims; therefore he wanted to make a deal with them so the Muslims won’t fight but his people talked him into fighting. Then the battle raged and went on for five days. And on the fifth day, Rustum was killed and his army started fleeing and Muslims followed them. After this battle, Sa’d رضي الله تعالى عنه walked into the white palace bare feet and remembered the prophecy of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and gave the Adhan. When he began to give the Adhan, the fire which the zoroastrians had lit for 1200 years went out. After giving the Adhan, all the jewellery the Persians had, was sent to back to ‘Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه. When the jewellery reached Madinah , ‘Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه asked, “Where is Suraqa?” When Suraqa رضي الله تعالى عنه came, ‘Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه took the bangles of the Kisra and placed it upon the arms of Suraqa رضي الله تعالى عنه and then the crown and placed on his head and said, “Do you remember when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, ‘O’ Suraqa, how will it be when a day will come and you will be wearing the bangles of Kisra’” Then he said, “Go through the streets of Madinah, hold your hands up high so everyone can see the prophecy of the Messenger of Allah has come to pass.” Suraqa رضي الله تعالى عنه did exactly that. ‘Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه then said, “All praise be to Allah who removed the crown from the King and placed it on the head of a Bedouin Arab.”

From the lecture, “The Dawn of a New Power,” by Shaykh Zahir Mahmood (HafidhahuLlah)

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