This is how we were, then our hearts hardened
I was reading and marveling at what Rabi’i bin Amer said to Rustam, the commander of the Persians, and how the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, this greatest leader, conveyed his message in his wonderful and wondrous way, to the point that he took pride in it and adopted it, and in this worldly life all of his companions, may God be pleased with them, strived to guide it, so here comes The day when one of the Companions stood up to the ruler of half the world, namely Rustam Malik Persians; To say to him in pride and glory: “God has sent us to bring whomever He wills from the worship of His servants to the worship of the Lord of His servants, from the narrowness of the world to its vastness, and from the injustice of religions to the justice of Islam,” and I found myself saying to myself: Oh God! Is this how the Messenger of God was able to convey the same sincerity in communicating to all his companions, so that each one of them would speak with his own tongue, so that it was as if he were a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds, rising to convey to the people the same message that he had previously heard from his greatest leader, and the Noble Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace? How wonderful the whistleblower and the reported! This is how we were, or so we were.
The word “This is how we were” reminded me of the word of Al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him, when he said it. He said the same word, and it is narrated that when the people of Yemen came to the time of Abu Bakr, and they heard the Qur’an, they began to cry, and Abu Bakr said: “This is how we were, then their hearts hardened.” [رواه سعيد بن منصور وابن أبي شيبة]Look who is saying this. He is the friend who was as his daughter Aisha, may God be pleased with her, said to the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, when he said to her while he was in his final illness: “Tell Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer.” She said: If Abu Bakr stands in your place, He did not listen to people because of the excessive crying.
We return to the position of Rab’i bin Amer, may God be pleased with him, this immortal position, the teacher’s position. The narrators say:
One of the tricks of Saad bin Abi Waqqas, may God be pleased with him, the commander of the Muslim army, was to send exploratory groups of his soldiers. To bring him news and provide him with food.
When the two armies approached, Rustam, the commander of the Persians, asked Saad, may God be pleased with him, to send him one of his men. So Saad, may God be pleased with him, chose Rab’i bin Amer, may God be pleased with him, for him. Before Rab’i, may God be pleased with him, arrived, Rustam resorted to a method to dazzle and tempt Rab’i, so he decorated his sitting rooms with banners. He showed pearls, rubies, and precious stones, but they… They were surprised by a man of short stature, wearing modest clothes, modest weapons, and a small horse. Rubi’i, may God be pleased with him, kept riding his horse. He even stepped on the brocade and silk with his horse, then got off and tied them in pieces of silk that he tore, and approached Rustam.
• They said to him: Put down your weapon.
• And he said My quarter: I did not come to you, but you invited me, so if you leave me like this, otherwise I will return.
• Rustam said: Permit him.
Then he, may God be pleased with him, leaned on his spear on the spears, and pierced most of them.
• Rustam said to him: What brought you here?
• Rab’i said: God sent us to bring whomever He wished from the worship of His servants to the worship of the Lord of His servants, and from the narrowness of this world to its vastness, and from the injustice of religions to the justice of Islam, so He sent us with His religion to His creation to call them to it. Whoever accepts that, we accept it and turn away from it, and whoever refuses, we will fight him forever until We are led to God’s promises.
• Rustam said: What is God’s promise?
• Rab’i said: Paradise is for the one who dies fighting someone who refuses, and victory is for the one who remains.
• Rustam said: I heard your article, so can you delay this matter so that we can look into it and consider it?
• Rab’i said: Yes, how much do I love you? A day or two?
• Rustam said: No, but until we write to our people of opinion and the leaders of our people.
• Rab’i said to him: The Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, did not enjoin us to delay the encounter with enemies for more than three days, so consider your affairs and their affairs, and choose one of the three after the deadline.
• Rustam said: Are you their master?
• Rab’i said: No, but Muslims are like one body, with the lowest of them being given priority over the highest of them.
So Rustam met with the leaders of his people and said: Have you ever seen something more powerful and more effective than the words of this man? They said: God forbid that you should lean toward any of this and leave your religion to this dog. Don’t you see his clothes? He said: Woe to you, do not look at the clothes, but look at the opinion, speech, and behavior. The Arabs take clothes and food lightly, and they protect others.
When Rustam saw what he saw from Rab’i bin Amer, may God be pleased with him, he sent to Saad, may God be pleased with him, asking for another man. To see if all these people are on the same track or not? So Saad, may God be pleased with him, sent him Al-Mughira bin Shu’bah, may God be pleased with him, but Rustam changed his tone, showing his severity and expressing his anger and revolt.
• The first thing Rustam said to Al-Mughirah was: Your example when entering our land is like a fly that saw honey, so he said: Who will take me to it when he has two dirhams? When it fell on him, he sank in it, so he started asking for salvation, but he did not find it, so he started saying: Who will save me when he has four dirhams? Your example is like that of a weak fox that entered a hole in a vineyard, and when the owner of the vineyard saw that it was weak, he had mercy on it and left it. When it became fat, it spoiled a lot, so he brought his army and used his young men to help him. He went to get him out but was unable to make him fat, so he beat him until he killed him. Thus, you will leave our country, and I know that the one who carried you Based on this – community of Arabs – the effort that has befallen you, So turn away from us this year of yours; You have kept us busy from rebuilding our country and from our enemy, and we are providing you with wheat and dates for your passengers, and ordering clothing for you, so return from us, may God protect you.
• Al-Mughirah bin Shu’bah, may God be pleased with him, said: Do not mention an effort of ours unless we were as similar to it or worse than it. We are better off in our lives than the one who kills his cousin, takes his money and eats it. We eat dead carcasses, blood, and bones. We did not continue like this until God sent among us a Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him. And the Book was revealed to him, so he called us to God and to what He had sent him with, and one of us believed him, and another of us disbelieved him. So he fought those who believed him and those who disbelieved him, until we entered into his religion. Between those who are certain of Him and those who are defeated, until it became clear to us that he is truthful, and that he is a messenger from God, so he commanded us to fight those who disagreed with us, and told us that whoever among us is killed for his religion will have Paradise, and whoever lives will reign and prevail over those who disagree with him, so we call on you to believe in God. And His Messenger, and enter into our religion. If you do, your country will be yours. Only those you love will enter your country, and you are required to pay zakat and the fifth, even if If you refuse, then the tribute is due, but if you refuse, we will fight you until God judges between us and you.
• Rustam said to him: I did not think that I would live until I heard from you, Arabs. I will not wake up tomorrow morning until I have finished with you and killed you all.
What a wonderful, courageous and steadfast response of Al-Mughirah, may God be pleased with him, in the face of these threats and temptations! He met his threats with mockery, and his temptations with disdain, and he did not forget to present to Rustam the call of God, and what our supreme leader, may God bless him and grant him peace, advised us to do: that he should submit to Islam, so that he and his people would be safe, and pay the tribute while he was humble, but he insisted and remained stubborn and arrogant, so his reward was that his people were destroyed. His army was defeated, and his punishment was death, and that was at the hands of Hilal bin Alfa The Timmy.