Children's Corner

Companions of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)

A king who was smitten with the Prophet’s (Pbuh) love.

Sumama bin Usal, may Allah be pleased with him, was the king of Yamamah and chieftain of the Banu Hanifa tribe. He was one among those to whom Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) addressed letters inviting them to accept the message of Islam. Sumama reacted angrily and turned down the appeal with contempt. Not merely this. He even began to plot the murder of the holy Prophet. He was looking for an opportunity to carry out his plot. With Madinah being a familiar terrain on his route to pilgrimage, he once even crept close to the Prophet and attacked him with a sword from behind. But then the vigilant companions of the Prophet saved him. In one more such attempt, he killed a few companions of the Prophet after besieging them. Following this, the Prophet made an announcement allowing his companions to kill Sumama wherever he is found.

A few days later, Sumama was on his way to Makkah for pilgrimage. But he fell into the hands of a contingent of Muslims who were patrolling the periphery of Madinah. With his identity still under a shroud, he was brought to Madinah and tied to a tree with other captives. The Prophet identified him and told his companions that the prize captive was none else, but Sumama. He asked his companions to treat him gently, provide him food, water and milk. He ordered the womenfolk at home to send the food being cooked at home to Sumama and ordered that milk from his she-camel be offered regularly to Sumama. He then turned to Sumama and gently presented the message of Islam and wanted to know his opinion. Sumama requested that he be put to sword for all his crime of shedding the blood of his (Prophet’s friends). ‘Or if you grant me pardon, it will be gracious of you. Or if you require, I can offer you any amount of gold and money,” Sumama said.

The Prophet did not reply and allowed him to remain in the same state for the next two days. He again sought his opinion and Sumama’s reply was same. This was repeated for a third time too. At this, the Prophet directed that he be released.

Following his release, Sumama walked away from the Prophet’s Mosque towards an oasis in the outskirts of Madinah. He took bath at a stream and came back to the Prophet’s Mosque and declared shahadah. He then declared that prior to that day, the Prophet was the most despised figure for him, but now he was the most lovable person on the Earth for him. He expressed deep regret at killing the holy companions. The Prophet counselled him to seek forgiveness as declaring the shahadah would erase his sins. The Prophet blessed him and said he would henceforth enjoy all the wealth and Allah’s blessings. He then sought the Prophet’s permission to perform Umrah at Makkah. The Prophet told him the Islamic way of doing Umrah and made him recite the Talbiyah:

Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik, Labbaik Lashareeka laka Labbaik, Innalhamda wannematha, laka walmulk, la shareeka lak.

This was for the first time that a Muslim entered the portals of Makkah while reciting Islamic talbiyah loudly. But the men of Quraysh who heard a different talbiyah, drew out their swords and besieged him. A Qurayshi youth came forward to kill him with his dagger. But another youth identified him as the king of Yamamah and pacified the crowd. He warned them that if Sumama was killed, people of Yamamah would stop supply of food grains. Swords went back into the scabbards.

Quraysh berated him for embracing the faith of Muhammad. Sumama countered them and told them that he had accepted something that is better and that he would not allow a single grain of food to come to Makkah unless the Makkans followed the religion of Prophet Muhammad.

Back into Makkah, Sumama asked his tribesmen to stop trade and economic exchanges with Quraysh of Makkah. His word was law and an economic boycott was slapped on Makkans. This was an unpredictable situation for Makkans. They immediately wrote to the Prophet to advise the Yamamah people not to stop supply of food grains and Sumama asked his people to lift the boycott in order to avert starvation in Makkah. When the Prophet died and several false claimants rose to Prophethood, Sumama challenged them and fought to suppress the revolts against the Islamic state.