Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/14)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muʿāwiyah al-Jumaḥī reported: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Qasmali narrated to us, Ḍirār ibn ʿAmr narrated from Abū Rāfiʿ, who said:

ʿUmar once dispatched an army against the Romans, and they captured ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥudhāfah. They took him to their king and said, “This man is one of Muḥammad’s Companions.”

The king said, “Will you embrace Christianity? I will give you half of my kingdom.”

He replied, “Even if you gave me everything you own and the entire dominion of the Arabs besides, I would not abandon the religion of Muḥammad for the blink of an eye.”

The king said, “Then I shall kill you.”

He answered, “That is for you to decide.”

So the king ordered that he be crucified and told the archers, “Shoot close to his body.” Throughout this he kept offering him Christianity, but he refused.

Next the king had him taken down, ordered a large cauldron to be filled with water, and heated it until it boiled. He then brought two Muslim prisoners and had one of them thrown into the cauldron while he continued to urge Ibn Ḥudhāfah to convert, and Ibn Ḥudhāfah kept refusing—then he wept.

Someone said to the king, “He has wept.” Thinking the prisoner had lost courage, the king ordered him brought back and asked, “What made you weep?”

He replied, “I reflected that only one soul of mine would be cast into the pot and perish, yet I longed to have as many souls as there are hairs on my body so each of them could be thrown into the fire for the sake of Allah.”

The tyrant then said, “Would you kiss my head and I will set you free?”

ʿAbd Allāh asked, “And all the other captives as well?”

He said, “Yes.”

So ʿAbd Allāh kissed his head, and the king released him together with all the prisoners. When they came to ʿUmar and informed him of what had happened, ʿUmar declared, “It is incumbent upon every Muslim to kiss the head of Ibn Ḥudhāfah, and I shall begin.” Then he kissed his head. (1)

…as a messenger. He related: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent when ʿUmar said that. Then the Prophet ﷺ declared, “Beware! By Him in whose hand is my soul, paradise and hell have just been displayed to me on the side of this wall while I was praying; never before have I seen the like of what I saw today, of good and of evil.” (1) Reported by Ibn ʿAsakir in his History through the chain transmitted by al-Bayhaqi; likewise cited by al-Hafiz in al-Isaba. It has a corroborating chain from Ibn ʿAbbas, connected, in Ibn ʿAsakir and in Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghabah, 3/212. Ustadh al-Abiari assumed that the name Dirar ibn ʿAmr found in the original text was a scribal error and changed it to Dirar ibn Murra, but this is incorrect. Dirar ibn ʿAmr is recorded in Jarh wa-tadil, 4/465, and in al-Bukhari’s Tarikh al-kabir, 4/340.

عَبْدُ اللهِ بنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ الجُمَحِيُّ: حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ العَزِيْزِ القَسْمَلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا ضِرَارُ بنُ عَمْرٍو، عَنْ أَبِي رَافِعٍ، قَالَ: وَجَّهَ عُمَرُ جَيْشاً إِلَى الرُّوْمِ، فَأَسَرُوا عَبْدَ اللهِ بنَ حُذَافَةَ، فَذَهَبُوا بِهِ إِلَى مَلِكِهِم، فَقَالُوا: إِنَّ هَذَا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ مُحَمَّدٍ. فَقَالَ: هَلْ لَكَ أَنْ تَتَنَصَّرَ، وَأُعْطِيَكَ نِصْفَ مُلْكِي؟ قَالَ: لَوْ أَعْطَيْتَنِي جَمِيْعَ مَا تَمْلِكُ، وَجَمِيْعَ مُلْكِ العَرَبِ مَا رَجَعْتُ عَنْ دِيْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ. قَالَ: إِذاً أَقْتُلُكَ. قَالَ: أَنْتَ وَذَاكَ. فَأَمَرَ بِهِ، فَصُلِبَ، وَقَالَ لِلرُّمَاةِ: ارْمُوْهُ قَرِيْباً مِنْ بَدَنِهِ. وَهُوَ يَعْرِضُ عَلَيْهِ، وَيَأْبَى، فَأَنْزَلَهُ، وَدَعَا بِقِدْرٍ، فَصَبَّ فِيْهَا مَاءً حَتَّى احْتَرَقَتْ، وَدَعَا بِأَسِيْرَيْنِ مِنَ المُسْلِمِيْنَ، فَأَمَرَ بِأَحَدِهِمَا، فَأُلْقِيَ فِيْهَا، وَهُوَ يَعْرِضُ عَلَيْهِ النَّصْرَانِيَّةَ، وَهُوَ يَأْبَى، ثُمَّ بَكَى. فَقِيْلَ لِلْمَلِكِ: إِنَّهُ بَكَى. فَظَنَّ أَنَّه قَدْ جَزِعَ، فَقَالَ: رُدُّوْهُ. مَا أَبْكَاكَ؟ قَالَ: قُلْتُ: هِيَ نَفْسٌ وَاحِدَةٌ تُلْقَى السَّاعَةَ فَتَذْهَبُ، فَكُنْتُ أَشْتَهِي أَنْ يَكُوْنَ بِعَدَدِ شَعْرِي أَنْفُسٌ تُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ فِي اللهِ. فَقَالَ لَهُ الطَّاغِيَةُ: هَلْ لَكَ أَنْ تُقَبِّلَ رَأْسِي، وَأُخَلِّيَ عَنْكَ؟ فَقَالَ لَهُ عَبْدُ اللهِ: وَعَنْ جَمِيْعِ الأُسَارَى؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ. فَقَبَّلَ رَأْسَهُ، وَقَدِمَ بِالأُسَارَى عَلَى عُمَرَ، فَأَخْبَرَهُ خَبَرَهُ. فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: حَقٌّ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ أَنْ يُقَبِّلَ رَأْسَ ابْنِ حُذَافَةَ، وَأَنَا أَبْدَأُ. فَقَبَّلَ رَأْسَهُ (١) .

= رسولا. قال: فسكت رسول الله ﷺ حين قال عمر ذلك، ثم قال رسول الله ﷺ: " أولى، والذي نفسي بيده لقد عرضت علي الجنة والنار آنفا في عرض هذا الحائط وأنا أصلي، فلم أر كاليوم في الخير والشر ". (١) أخرجه ابن عساكر في تاريخه من طريق البيهقي، وكذا الحافظ في " الإصابة "، وله شاهد من حديث ابن عباس، موصولا عند ابن عساكر، وابن الأثير في " أسد الغابة " ٣ / ٢١٢، وقد ظن الأستاذ الابياري أن ضرار بن عمرو كما في الأصل تحريف، فأبدله إلى ضرار بن مرة، فأخطأ في ظنه، وضرار بن عمرو هذا مترجم في " الجرح والتعديل " ٤ / ٤٦٥، " والتاريخ الكبير " للبخاري ٤ / ٣٤٠.