Alhamdulillah we’re blessed to continue the Sahaba series and today it’s about a fascinating family of who become Muslim. The family of Suhayl ibn Amr Radiallahanhum.

We’ll start off with his son, Abdullah ibn Suhayl ibn Amr.

One night he goes out into the valleys of Makkah and sees Umar ibn al-Khattab there. He asks him “What are you doing here?” Umar replies “Something was bothering me, so I thought I’d get some fresh air. And what about you?” 

Abdullah says, “I want some advice, is it possible for someone to have two lives? One where he lives for his family and does anything to keep them happy and the other for himself where he follows his heart. Umar responds, “It’s not Islam that has driven you, isit!?” Remember Umar isn’t Muslim at this point, and we know he is one of the enemies of Islam. He continues, “If it is Islam then know that I will become your enemy and you will have a hard time, but I will respect you for following your heart and your courage. On the other hand, if you are cowardly and choose to not rock the boat i.e. keep Islam hidden and keep your family happy then we’ll be on the same side, you’ll find peace, but I won’t have the same respect you. You can see Umar values courage here. When a man follows through with what he believes is the truth, he gets the respect. Umar continues, “Look, I can’t advise you either way”, but Abdullah says, ‘I’ve got my answer, thanks” and he makes his way home to his father. 

His father is Suhayl ibn Amr, one of the top chiefs in Makkah. He had wealth, wisdom and sweet speech. He was known as someone admired by people. If he accepted Islam, he knew he would lose his wealth, status, position, etc. Abdullah says to his father, “O father, would you want a loyal son who is a coward or be faced with a courageous opponent?” His father says, “I prefer the courageous opponent, someone who doesn’t hold back, someone who stands up for himself but why not be loyal and courageous, that would be ideal.” Abdullah replies, “Father I’ve accepted Islam and I reject all these idols. His father is alarmed and says tells him to renounce it, but Abdullah affirms it, and he tells him again, but Abdullah affirms it. He then says, I will kill you. He says to his father, no you won’t. He then says, “I won’t leave any inheritance for you and will imprison you” and then he kicks him out of the house.

Abdullah had a younger brother called Abu Jandal who was about 10 years old and he looked up to his brother as his role model. So as Abdullah goes to the Prophet to accept Islam, Abu Jandal goes with him. The only difference being Abu Jandal’s conversion was a secret. He kept his Islam hidden like many of the Muslims. We also know his two sisters accepted Islam. So all the children of Suhayl ibn Amr are Muslim and at this point the Muslims are migrating to Abyssinia so Abdullah and his two sisters migrate. Since their father doesn’t know Abu Jandal is a Muslim he stays with him. 

Then there is a rumour that the Makkans have all become Muslim so Abdullah returns but find this is a lie. When his father sees him, he captures him and imprisons him and starts to torture him. He makes an example of him for Abu Jandal, in case he also converts. It is so bad for Abdullah, that he eventually tells his father he has left Islam. However he only says this to avoid the torture. He remains a Muslim in secret alongside Abu Jandal.

So now we skip to the Battle of Badr. The Makkans make way to Badr and included are Suhayl ibn Amr and his son Abdullah. The night before the battle, Hazrat Abudllah escapes to the other side and joins the Muslims. When his father finds out the following morning, they fight each other in the battle. Hazrat Abdullah overpowers his father, and takes him in as a prisoner of war.

Suhayl having a sweet tongue tries to worm his way out of captivity, and when Hazrat Umar sees this, he suggests the Prophet knock his teeth out. He saw him as someone who caused trouble in Makkah. But the Prophet said, no we donot treat our prisoners like this, we don’t mutilate them. He said to him, maybe one day, he will make you happy with his tongue.

Suhayl, then negotiates with the Prophet to let him go back home and arrange for his ransom. The Prophet allows him and soon Suhayl returns with his ransom and is free to go back to Makkah.

Now we come to Hudaiybiyyah, this is where the Muslims made way for the Umrah and they stopped at the Hudaibiyyah tree to negotiate their entry. At some point between Badr and here, Abu Jandal is found out to be a Muslim. His father imprisons him and tortures him just like he did with Abdullah. The difference here is, Abu Jandal is all alone, without the support or reminders of the Muslims. 

You may remember from the Seerah, the Makkans send someone to negotiate for them. This person is indeed Suhayl. Whn he arrives, the Prophet says Alhamdulillah, Allah has made it easy for us, he has sent Suhayl. Suhayl means ease. So it was a play on words. One of the main conditions of the treaty was that that that if a Mushrik prisoner escapes from Madina then let him come to Makkah but if a Muslim escapes from Makkah send him back to Makkah. The Prophet agrees to this. And you also might remember the incident where the Makkan spokesperson says, what’s this Rasulullah, take this out, we don’t recognise this. The Prophet said ok and rubbed it out. This was Suhayl, you can see how staunch he was. 

Now whilst this is happening Abu Jandal who is imprisoned, he hears the Mslims are coming, so he manages to escape and makes way to the Prophet. When he arrived, he was seen with chains around his neck, hands and legs, his hair dishevelled and with signs of torture on his body. When the Muslims saw him they were in disbelief. He cries to the Muslims for help. But just prior to this moment, the treaty is signed. The key term was any Muslim who escapes, will be sent back to Makkah. So Suhayl grabs him by the collar and says he’s coming back with us. He cries out even further for help, but the Muslims can’t do anything. The Prophet honours the treaty and tells him, “Be patient, Allah will make a way out for you.” Abu Jandal is dragged away by his father.

SubhanAllah, look at the test of Abu Jandal. He could have said forget these Muslims, they’ve deserted me, I’m going back to my old ways. But no, He was steadfast on Islam. His father once again imprisons him. 

After a while Abu Jandal and another Muslim Abu Baseer manage to escape Makkah and make way for Madina, but before getting to Madia, he sends Abu Baseer to see whether they would get sent back. Indeed, the treaty is honoured and he is sent back with some Qurayshi soldiers, but he manages to escape from them and joins Abu Jandal. They start to do their own thing and help the Muslims escape from Makkah. Eventually there are 70 of them. They start camping near one the trade routes. They make life hard for the Makkans that eventually Abu Sufyan says to the Prophet, never mind the treaty, tell them they can come to Madina. 

Now finally Abu Jandal is reunited with his brother. And more importantly he now has the companionship of the Prophet. 

Now Fath-e-Makkah comes and Suhayl is to be one of the people to be captured as one the remaining chief enemies. He says to his son please help me, grant my safety. The Prophet accepts this and his sons Abdullah and Abu Jandal ask him to become Muslim, but he refuses again. 

The Prophet says to the people whilst stood at the Kaabah, ‘What do you think I’m going to do with you?’ Suhayl replies ‘We expect from you good because you are a noble man son of a noble man.’ So the Prophet says, “I’ll say to you what Prophet Yusuf said to you,  today no blame upon you, may Allah forgive you and show you mercy.” It’s at this point Suhayl’s heart turns and he accepts Islam. 

The Muslims go back to Madina, but Suhayl decides to stay in Makkah. And he becomes a distinguished Muslim. You can see this in his long qiyaam outside the Kaabah, his charity, his crying in the court of Allah. 

When Prophet comes for farewell hajj, he come to the Prophet as his Khaadim bringing the animals for qurbani and then the Prophet calls for the barber. Abu Bakr is the one relating this. He says, “As the barber cut it, I saw Suhayl take the hair of Rasoolullah and wipe it against his eyes and he is crying.” Subhanallah, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr says, “I remember him on Hudaibiyyah when he said, we don’t recognise this Rasullullah, but look at him today, in love of Rasulullah.

Hazrat Suhayl ibn Amr used to go out of town to learn the Qur’an. One person said to him why don’t you learn from the Quraysh and not an outsider. He said you have traces of Jahilliyah in you. We were ignorant for all these years, and as a result we missed out on all these deeds. This is the same for us, how many times has someone said you’re always at the mehfil, always praying. But trust, one day they will have regret, they will say, we wish we joined you. It reminds me of what people used to say to Hazrat Yusuf from Peterborough. 

Then we come to the Wisaal of the Prophet, and here it is where his devotion to Islam is shown. If he was a hypocrite, he could habe gone back to old ways. But just like Abu Bakr controlled the people in Madina, Suhayl is the one who controls the people of Makkah. People were colluding on whether to abandon Islam, throw a coup, not pay zakat, etc. Hazrat Suhayl made sure the Muslims were in unity and remembered their duty to Allah. Remember earlier when the Prophet said to Umar, “One day he will make you happy with his tongue, O Umar.” Imam Bayhaqi says this is him fulfilling the prophecy and he counts it as one of the miracles of prophethood. 

Suhayl then decides to spend the rest of his life in jihad fisabilillah with his two sons. They as a trio fight together in the battlefield. Hazrat Abdullah dies in the battle of Yamaama. Suhayl tells Abu Bakr I heard the Prophet say, “A Martyr intercedes for 70 ppl. I hope he intercedes for me first.” He remembered how he imprisoned and tortured his son and today he is dependent upon him. 

Then whilst Hazrat Suhayl and Hazrat Abu Jandal are in Jerusalem in the way of Allah, they are overcome with the plague. They too die as martyrs. 

Alhamdulillah what a journey this has been, in each one of these men you can see their courage and conviction in Islam. Look at how Abdullah follows his heart and accepts Islam. Look at how Abu Jandal doesn’t give up on Islam and look at how Suhayl converts in the last moments and his devotion. These men were not muslims of lip service, but action.