(Friday Sermon - August 31, 2018 )

Background

Hazra Shuja‘ was the son of Wahab bin Rabi’ah. He passed away during the Battle of Yamama. He was also called Shuja‘ bin Abi Wahab. His tribe had a confederate with Banu ‘Abdi Shams. He was tall, slim and had thick hair.

Hazrat Shuja‘ is counted among those noble companions, who accepted the message of Holy Prophet^(sa) early on. In the sixth year after the claim of the Holy Prophet^(sa), he migrated to Abyssinia with the second group of migrants. A short while later, hearing the rumour that the people of Mecca had accepted Islam, Hazrat Shuja‘ returned to Mecca.

Later on, the Holy Prophet^(sa) permitted the companions to migrate to Medina, upon which Hazrat Shuja‘, along with his brother, Uqba bin Wahab, left to Mecca to settle in Medina. The Holy Prophet^(sa) declared Hazrat Aus bin Khauli to be the spiritual brother of Hazrat Shuja‘ in accordance with the bonds of brotherhood. Including the battles of Badr, Uhud and the Ditch, Hazrat Shuja‘ participated in all battles alongside the Holy Prophet^(sa). He was just over forty years old when he was martyred in the Battle of Yamama. (Usdul Ghaba Fi Marifati Al-Sahaba, Vol. 2, p. 370, Shuja’ bin Wahab, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut) (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 3, p. 51, Shuja’ bin Wahab, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996)

Delivering a letter of the Holy Prophet^(sa)

After returning from the treaty of Hudaybiyyah, the Holy Prophet^(sa) sent letters to most of the kings and rulers of the world, calling them towards Islam. Hazrat Abdur Rahman^(ra) narrates that one day, the Holy Prophet^(sa) stood on the pulpit in order to deliver a sermon. After praising God, the Holy Prophet^(sa) said, “I wish to send some of you to the non-Arab kings and rulers. Do not be in disagreement with me as the Bani Israil [children of Israel] were with Jesus.” Upon this, the Muhajireen [those who migrated from Mecca] said, “O Messenger^(sa) of Allah! We will never be in disagreement with you. Please, send us!” (Sirat Ibn Katheer, p. 41, Bab Bi‘thah ila Kisra Malikil Faris Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005)  

Hence, Hazrat Shuja‘ bin Wahab was among those companions, who were blessed with the opportunity of fulfilling this religious duty. The Holy Prophet^(sa) sent Hazrat Shuja‘ to Harith bin Abi Shimr Ghassani as his ambassador, who was the Chief of Ghouta, an area near Damascus. According to some historians, his name was Munzir bin Harith bin Abi Shimr Ghassani. Nevertheless, the opening lines of the letter he sent to him were as follows.

بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ۔ مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ رَّسُوْلِ اللہِ (صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم) اِلَی الْحَارِثِ ابْنِ اَبِیْ شِمْر۔ سَلَامٌ عَلٰی مَنِ اتَّبَعَ الْھُدٰی وَ اٰمَنَ بِاللہِ وَصَدَّقَ فَاِنِّیْ اَدْعُوْکَ اِلٰی اَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللہِ وَحْدَہٗ لَا شَرِیْکَ لَہٗ یَبْقٰی لَکَ مُلْکُکَ

(Sharh Al-Zurqani, Vol. 5, p. 46, Wa Amma Mukatibatuhu alaihi Al- Salam ilal Muluk wa Ghairihim, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 2005) (Al-Isaba fi Tamyiz Al-Sahaba, Vol. 3, p. 256, Shuja‘ bin Wahab, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut)

“In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. From Muhammad^(sa) to Harith bin Abi Shimr. May peace be on him, who follows the guidance, believes in Allah and testifies to this. I call and invite you to believe in that God, Who is One and has no partner. Only under these conditions will your kingdom remain.”

Hazrat Shuja‘ says, “I departed with the letter until I reached the doors of the palace of Harith bin Abi Shimr. I stayed there for two or three days, however, I was unable to enter inside the palace. Eventually I said to the chief security guard that I have been sent as a messenger from the Holy Prophet^(sa). Upon this, he said, ‘the king will come out on such and such day. It will be impossible for you to meet him prior to this’”. Following this, Hazrat Shuja‘ says that the very same guard then started to ask me about the message of the Holy Prophet^(sa).

He says, “I continued to give him further details which deeply affected him and he began weeping.” This was the security in-charge of the king or the governor of the area. He then said, “I have read the Bible and these exact descriptions of that prophet are present in him. However, according my understanding I thought he would appear in the Levant but it seems that he has appeared in the lands of Qarz i.e. Yemen. Nevertheless, I profess my belief in him”. The security chief said, “I believe in him and bear testimony to his truthfulness. I fear that Harith bin Abi Shimr may kill me.” He expressed his fear that the governor of the area may have him killed. Hazrat Shuja‘ further states that thereafter this security guard paid him great respect and extended him great hospitality. He would also give him updates regrading Harith and express his despair in this regard. He also said, “Harith bin Abi Shimr in actuality fears the Caesar, as he is living under his rule.” Hazrat Shuja‘ then relates, “Eventually, one day Harith went outside and sat in his royal court. He had a crown on his head and I was granted permission to appear before him. Hence, when I arrived there I handed him the letter of the Holy Prophet^(sa). He read it, then threw it away and in a state of rage, said, ‘Who is it that can take away my kingdom? I myself will advance to him even if he is in Yemen. I will reach there to punish him. The army should be prepared.’” He ordered his administration to prepare the army, i.e. he said with regard to the Holy Prophet^(sa) that he would go out to fight him and the letter written to him was deemed as a threat that if he did not desist then his rule would gradually weaken.

He says that Harith bin Abi Shimr remained sat there till the night and people would present themselves before him. He then ordered for the cavalry to be prepared and told me, “Inform your master of the situation here”. Thereafter, he sent the Caesar of Rome all the details of the Holy Prophet’s^(sa) letter in writing.

He sent his messenger having written down all these details that such and such ambassador came to preach to him about Islam. The letter of Harith bin Abi Shimr reached Caesar when the Holy Prophet’s^(sa) letter had already been sent at the hands of Hazrat Dihyah Kalbi. Caesar read the letter of Harith and ordered him to abandon any thought of advancing towards him and to not clash with him. Thus, when this response of Caesar was received by Harith he summoned Hazrat Shuja‘ who was still staying there. He asked him when he was planning on returning, to which he answered he would leave the following day.

The governor then instructed for him to be given 100 misqal [a unit of mass equivalent of 4.5 grams] of gold. The aforementioned chief of security also came to see him and handed him a sum of money and clothes. He then said to convey his greetings to the Holy Prophet^(sa) and to inform him that he had become a follower of his faith. Hazrat Shuja‘ states, “When I reached the Holy Prophet^(sa), I reported everything to him regarding the governor Harith. When he had heard the entire incident he said, ‘He will be destroyed’, i.e. his rule will come to an end. I then conveyed the greetings of peace of the security guard of that palace and conveyed everything else he had said. The Holy Prophet^(sa) replied ‘He has spoken the truth.’” This entire incident is found in Siratul Halbiyah. (Al-Sira Al-Halbiyyah, Allama Abu Farj Nuruddin Ali bin Ibrahim, Vol. 3, pp. 357-358, Bab Dhikr Kitabihi ilal Harith Abi Shimr, Dar-ul-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, 2002)

Hazrat Sahibzada Mirza Bashir Ahmad Sahib^(ra) has gathered information from several books of history and some of the additional information therein is as follows. He writes:

“The fifth letter of invitation was sent to the Ruler of the kingdom of Ghassan, whose name was Harith bin Abi Shamir. The kingdom of Ghassan was situated adjacent to Arabia in the northern front and its King was subservient to the Caesar. When Hazrat Shujah bin Wahab reached there, Harith was preparing to celebrate the victory of Caesar. (The governor of that area was preparing a celebration for the victory of Caeser). Prior to meeting Harith, Shuja‘ bin Wahab met with his attendant. The attendant was a good man who testified to the message of the Holy Prophet^(sa) as conveyed by Hazrat Shuja‘. After waiting for a few days, Shuja‘ bin Wahab, gained access to the royal court of the King of Ghassan, and presented the letter of the Holy Prophet^(sa) before him. Upon reading the letter, he became enraged and threw away the letter…” rather as mentioned earlier he ordered that his army should prepare for an attack. In the meanwhile, he also wrote a letter to the Caesar informing him that he about to attack. The Caesar responded to this letter instructing him not to take military action, and that he should meet him in Ilya, Jerusalem, for royal court.” Nonetheless, the incident of the King of Ghassan comes to an end at this juncture. However, it is ascertained from Hadith and history that apprehension of an attack against the Muslims by the Ghassan tribes prevailed in Medina for some time.” (Sirat Khatam-ul-Nabiyyin, Hazrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad^(ra), pp. 828-829)

For a certain period of time after this incident, there was a fear that Medina would be attacked owing to the reply given by Shimr to the companion of the Holy Prophet^(sa).

Leadership

In Rabi‘ul Awal, 8 AH the Holy Prophet^(sa) was informed that Banu Aamir, a branch of Banu Hawazin, was preparing to launch an attack against the Muslims.

The Holy Prophet^(sa) appointed twenty-four Mujahideen under the leadership of Hazrat Shuja‘ to gain intelligence about those preparing to attack Medina. At the time, the people of Banu Aamir had reached Al-Siyyi, a place between Mecca and Basra, which was a five-day journey away from Medina and had set up camp. Hazrat Shuja‘ would travel by night along with the Mujahideen and would remain out of sight during the day.

Unexpectedly they encountered the people of Banu Aamir in the morning. When the people of Banu Aamir saw the Muslims all of a sudden, they were confounded and confused, and even though it was they who advanced in preparation to attack with the entire army, they fled leaving everything behind. Hazrat Shuja‘ ordered the Mujahideen not to chase them as there was no need to, but instead, as was tradition at the time, they brought back the camels, goats and spoils to Medina, which the other army had left behind. One can imagine the extent of the spoils of war left behind that every Mujahid received fifteen camels each. This was aside from the rest of the spoils left behind (Al-Tabkaat-ul-Qubra Li-ibn Sa‘d, Vol. 2, p. 313, Sirya Shuja‘ bin Wahab ila Bani Aamir bi Al-Siyyi, Dar-e-Ihyaa, Al-Turath Al-Arabi, Beirut, 1996), In other words, the opposing army had come fully equipped for battle.