Hadhrat Abuzar Ghifari
(Radhiyallaho anho) is very famous among the Saliabah for his piety and
knowledge. Hadhrat Ali (Radhiyallaho anho) used to say:
"Abuzar is the
custodian of such knowledge as other people are incapable of acquiring."
When he first got news
of the Prophet's (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) mission, he deputed his brother
to go to Mecca and make investigations regarding 'the person' who claimed to be
the recipient of Divine revelation. His brother returned after necessary
enquiries, and informed him that he found Muhammad (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam)
to be a man of good habits and excellent conduct, and that his wonderful
revelations were neither poetry nor sooth-sayings. This report did not satisfy
him, and he decided to set out for Mecca and find out the facts for himself. On
reach-ing Mecca, he went straight to the Haram. He did not know the Prophet
(Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) and he did not consider it advisable (under the
circumstances prevailing at that time) to enquire about him from anybody. When
it became dark, I ladhrat Ali (Radhiyallaho anho) noticed him and seeing in him
a stranger, could not ignore him, as hospitality and care for the travelers,
the poor and the strangers, were the Sahabah's second nature. He therefore,
took him to his place. He did not ask him about the purpose of his visit to
Mecca, nor did Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) himself disclose it. Next day, he
again went to the Haram and stayed there till nightfall without being able to
learn who the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) was. In fact everybody knew
that the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasal-lam) and his companions were being
persecuted in Mecca, and Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) might have had misgivings
about the result of his quest for the Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam).
Hadhrat Ali (Radhiyallaho anho) again took him home for the night, but again
did not have any talk with him about the purpose of his visit to the city. On
the third night, however, after Hadhrat AR (Radhiyallaho anho) had entertained
him as on the two previous nights, he asked him:
"Brother, what
brings you to this town?"
Before replying,
Hadhrat Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) took an undertaking from Hadhrat Ali
(Radhiyallaho anho) that he would speak the truth, and then he enquired from
him about Muhammad (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). Hadhrat Ali (Radhiyallaho
anho) replied:
"He is verily the
Prophet of Allah. You accompany me tomorrow and I shall take you to him. But
you have to be very careful, lest people come to know of your 'asso-ciation
with me. and you get into trouble. When on our way I apprehend some trouble, I
shall get aside 'pre-tending some necessity or adjusting my shoes, and you will
proceed ahead without stopping so that the people may not connect us."
The next day, he
followed Hadhrat Ali (Radhiyallaho anho), who took him before the Prophet
(Sallallaho alaihe wasallam). In the very first meeting, he embraced Islam. The
Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam), fearing that the Qureysh might harm him,
enjoined upon him not to make an open declaration of his Islam, and bade him to
go back to his clan and return when Muslims had gained the upper hand. Hadhrat
Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) replied:
"O, Prophet of
Allah! By Him who is the master of my soul, I must go and recite the Kalimah in
the midst of these unbelievers." True to his word, hp went straight to the
Haram and, right in the mickt of the crowd and at the pitch of his voice, recited
Shahadah viz:
"I bear witness
that there is no god save Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (Sallallaho
alaihe wasal-lam) is the Prophet of Allah."
People fell upon him
from all sides, and would have beaten him to death if Abbas (the Prophet's
uncle, who had not till then embraced. Islam) had not shielded him and saved
him from death. Abbas said to the mob:
"Do you know who
he is'? He belongs to the Ghifar clan, who live on the way of our caravans to
Syria. If he is killed, they will waylay us and we shall not be able to trade
with that country."
This appealed to their
prudence and they left him alone.
The next day, Hadhrat
Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) repeated his perilous confession of Imaan and would
have surely been beaten to death by the crowd, had not Abbas intervened once
again and saved him for the second time.
The action of Hadhrat
Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) was due to his extraordinary zeal for proclaiming
Kalimah among the disbelievers, and the prohibition by the Prophet (Sallallaho
alaihe wasallam) was due to the soft corner in his heart for Hadhrat Abuzar
(Radhiyallaho anho). lest he be put to hardships that might prove too much for
him. There is not the least shadow of disobedience in this episode. Since the
Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) himself was under-going all sorts of
hardships in spreading the message of Islam. Abuzar (Radhiyallaho anho) also
thought it fit to follow his example rather than to avail of his permission to
avoid danger. It was this spirit of Sahabah that took them to the heights of
material and spiritual progress. When a person once recited the Kalimah and
entered the fold of Islam, no power on earth could turn him back and no
oppression or tyranny could stop him from Tabligh.
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