As-salaamu'alaykum,
Subhaan'Allah, what courage.
During the period of Umar's caliphate, the noble Companion Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah as-Sahmee was captured and taken as a prisoner by the Roman army. His captors took him to their emperor, who said to him,
"Convert to Christianity, and I will make you a partner over my dominion; and furthermore, I will give you my daughter's hand in marriage."
Abdullah replied,
"Were you to give me all that you own, in addition to all that Arabs own, asking in return that I turn away from the Religion of Muhammad
for even the blinking of an eye, I still would not do so.”
“Then I will kill you,”
- exclaimed the Emperor.
“That is up to you,”
- Abdullah replied. The Emperor gave the order, and Abdullah was placed on a cross. The Emperor gave another command, and a number of archers just barely missed Abdullah's hands and legs. They missed intentionally, of course, for their job was to terrify him rather than to actually hurt him. As the arrows were being fired at Abdullah. the Emperor kept telling himself that he only had to embrace Christianity in order to save himself. But Abdullah remained steadfast, refusing to succumb to the Emperor's threats, even though in such situations one is allowed to utter words of disbelief, as long as one's heart is at peace with Eemaan (Faith). Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah's faith was exceptionally strong, and so he refused to take the easy, albeit permissible, way out of his predicament.
The Emperor decided to resort to a more cruel tactic. He ordered that Abdullah be taken down from the cross, after which he ordered his men to prepare a huge pot. Once the pot was heated to a very high temperature, a Muslim prisoner was led to the pot and was thrown inside, melting away very quickly, until all that remained of him were his bones that floated on the surface of the boiling water. And all of this was done as a show for Abdullah, so that he would know that he had only two choices: Either die a painful death or become a Christian.
Abdullah chose the former opinion. Consequently he was about to be thrown into the pot, when suddenly, he began to cry. The Emperor thought that he had finally broken Abdullah, and so he ordered his men to bring Abdullah back to him.
When the Emperor rejoiced at the thought that he had finally won his mental duel with his prisoner, Abdullah said,
"I cried merely because I have only a single soul that, at the present moment, can be thrown into this pot for the sake of Allah; and I wish that, for each hair I have on my body, I had a soul that could be given this punishment (i.e., the punishment of being boiled alive) for the sake of Allah."
According to some accounts, the Emperor then imprisoned Abdullah and deprived him of both food and drink for a number of days. Then, when Abdullah was on the verge of dying of dehydration, the Emperor sent him a feast, one which consisted of generous portions of pork and a sufficient quantity of alcohol - both of which are of course prohibited in Islam. Abdullah ate not even a morsel of the pork, and he drank not even a sip of the alcohol.
The Emperor then sent for him, and when Abdullah stood before him, the Emperor asked,
"What prevented you from eating."
Abdullah replied,
"In fact, the food and drink were lawful for me."
He said this because, in emergency situations, when a man cannot find lawful food, he may eat enough unlawful food to keep him alive. After making it clear that the food was lawful for him, Abdullah went on to explain why he did not eat it:
"I did not want to give you the opportunity to gloat over my grief."
"At least kiss my head, and I will then free you."
- said the Emperor.
"And, along with me, will you free all of the Muslim prisoners (that you have in your custody)?"
- asked Abdullah.
"Yes."
- replied the Emperor. Abdullah kissed the Emperor's head, after which, in keeping with his promise, the Emperor freed Abdullah as well as all of the Muslims prisoners that his men had captured.
When Abdullah and the others returned safely to Madeenah, Umar said,
"It is the duty of every Muslim to kiss the head of Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah, and I will be the first to do so."
Having said that, Umar stood up and kissed Abdullah on his head.
(Tafseer ibn Katheer, 2/610)
Subhaan'Allah, what courage.
During the period of Umar's caliphate, the noble Companion Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah as-Sahmee was captured and taken as a prisoner by the Roman army. His captors took him to their emperor, who said to him,
"Convert to Christianity, and I will make you a partner over my dominion; and furthermore, I will give you my daughter's hand in marriage."
Abdullah replied,
"Were you to give me all that you own, in addition to all that Arabs own, asking in return that I turn away from the Religion of Muhammad
for even the blinking of an eye, I still would not do so.”“Then I will kill you,”
- exclaimed the Emperor.
“That is up to you,”
- Abdullah replied. The Emperor gave the order, and Abdullah was placed on a cross. The Emperor gave another command, and a number of archers just barely missed Abdullah's hands and legs. They missed intentionally, of course, for their job was to terrify him rather than to actually hurt him. As the arrows were being fired at Abdullah. the Emperor kept telling himself that he only had to embrace Christianity in order to save himself. But Abdullah remained steadfast, refusing to succumb to the Emperor's threats, even though in such situations one is allowed to utter words of disbelief, as long as one's heart is at peace with Eemaan (Faith). Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah's faith was exceptionally strong, and so he refused to take the easy, albeit permissible, way out of his predicament.
The Emperor decided to resort to a more cruel tactic. He ordered that Abdullah be taken down from the cross, after which he ordered his men to prepare a huge pot. Once the pot was heated to a very high temperature, a Muslim prisoner was led to the pot and was thrown inside, melting away very quickly, until all that remained of him were his bones that floated on the surface of the boiling water. And all of this was done as a show for Abdullah, so that he would know that he had only two choices: Either die a painful death or become a Christian.
Abdullah chose the former opinion. Consequently he was about to be thrown into the pot, when suddenly, he began to cry. The Emperor thought that he had finally broken Abdullah, and so he ordered his men to bring Abdullah back to him.
When the Emperor rejoiced at the thought that he had finally won his mental duel with his prisoner, Abdullah said,
"I cried merely because I have only a single soul that, at the present moment, can be thrown into this pot for the sake of Allah; and I wish that, for each hair I have on my body, I had a soul that could be given this punishment (i.e., the punishment of being boiled alive) for the sake of Allah."
According to some accounts, the Emperor then imprisoned Abdullah and deprived him of both food and drink for a number of days. Then, when Abdullah was on the verge of dying of dehydration, the Emperor sent him a feast, one which consisted of generous portions of pork and a sufficient quantity of alcohol - both of which are of course prohibited in Islam. Abdullah ate not even a morsel of the pork, and he drank not even a sip of the alcohol.
The Emperor then sent for him, and when Abdullah stood before him, the Emperor asked,
"What prevented you from eating."
Abdullah replied,
"In fact, the food and drink were lawful for me."
He said this because, in emergency situations, when a man cannot find lawful food, he may eat enough unlawful food to keep him alive. After making it clear that the food was lawful for him, Abdullah went on to explain why he did not eat it:
"I did not want to give you the opportunity to gloat over my grief."
"At least kiss my head, and I will then free you."
- said the Emperor.
"And, along with me, will you free all of the Muslim prisoners (that you have in your custody)?"
- asked Abdullah.
"Yes."
- replied the Emperor. Abdullah kissed the Emperor's head, after which, in keeping with his promise, the Emperor freed Abdullah as well as all of the Muslims prisoners that his men had captured.
When Abdullah and the others returned safely to Madeenah, Umar said,
"It is the duty of every Muslim to kiss the head of Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah, and I will be the first to do so."
Having said that, Umar stood up and kissed Abdullah on his head.
(Tafseer ibn Katheer, 2/610)
