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Abul-As Ibnur-Rabi'
By A.Rafat Al-Basha
His name was Abul-As
Ibnur-Rabi', from the clan of Abd Shams. Everything about him revealed that he
hailed from a wealthy family or aristocratic lineage. He was a model of Arabian
chivalry, with all of its virtues of refinement, pride, manliness, loyalty, and
above all - its impeccable value of treasuring the heritage of one's ancestors.
From his tribe, Abul-As acquired the love of commerce. The Quraysh were famous
for their caravans; in the winter to Yemen and the summer to Syria. Like his
forefathers, the caravans of Abul-As were no different; he traveled the path of
his forefathers on the ancient trade routes. Sometimes, he would send as many as
two hundred men at a time with a hundred camels.
People would entrust him with their money for investment. His reputation was one
of trustworthiness and he was well known as an astute businessman. His aunt,
Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, the wife of the Prophet (SAWS) treated him as if he
were one of her own children. She had opened her home and her heart to him with
the utmost warmth and generosity. The love of Khadijah for her nephew was
equaled only by the love of the Prophet for Abul-As.
Those years passed quickly for the household of the Prophet (SAWS). His oldest
daughter Zainab, matured into a young lady, as refined and lovely as a rose in
its first days of bloom. The rivalry between the sons of the highest-ranking
chiefs of Makkah grew intense as they competed with one another; each determined
to become her husband. This was no cause for surprise, for she herself was from
the noblest lineage - both from her father and mother's ancestry. What is more,
she was one of the most virtuous and well-mannered girls in Makkah.
However, the aspirations of he chieftains' sons were in vain, they were
frustrated by Abul-As Ibnur-Rabi' who was her cousin and the most chivalrous
youth in Makkah.
Shortly after Zainab was married to Abul-As, the divine light illuminated
Makkah, and Allah sent Muhammad as His Messenger with the religion of Islam.
Allah commanded him to give the warning of the Day of Judgment to the closest of
his clan and his tribe. The first woman to believe was his wife Khadijah bint
Khuwaylid, and then his daughters Zainab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah -
though Fatimah was barely old enough to understand the seriousness of this
commitment.
However, his son-in-law, Abul-As found it difficult to abandon the cult of his
ancestors. He refused to join Islam as his wife had done, despite his immense
love for her. Because of their rage over his new religion, strife developed
between the Prophet and the Quraysh. They conferred among themselves and plotted
against him.
One of their conclusions was that by allowing their sons to marry the Prophet's
daughters, they were relieving too much of his responsibilities. One of them
suggested: "If we divorce his daughters and return them to him, he would become
preoccupied with providing for them and would bother you no more." All agreed
upon the idea, and went to Abul-As and said: "Abul-As, divorce your wife and
send her back to her father's home. And don't worry, we will marry to you,
instead of her, any woman you choose from the noblest of Quraysh." Abul-As
answered firmly, "No! I swear by Allah I will not divorce her, and I would not
exchange her for all the women in the world."
Ruqayyah and Umm Kalthum were divorced by their husbands and returned to their
father's home. In reality, the Prophet was not displeased that they had
separated from their pagan husbands and he truly wished that Abul-As would do
the same. However, the Prophet (SAWS), did not have the power to compel him to
do so - it had not yet been made law that a believer could not be married to a
pagan.
Later, when the Prophet migrated to Madinah, he had gathered a great number of
followers. The Quraysh set out to confront the Muslims at the battle of Badr,
and Abul-As was compelled to join them although he held no hatred for the
Muslims. However, he was in a position of leadership among his people, he was
required to accept what had been agreed upon and was required to carry out his
duties as a leader.
The battle of Badr resulted in a terrible defeat for the Quraysh. The arrogance
of idolatry had been brought low and the leadership of the pagans had been
broken. Some of the pagans had been captured, some had fallen in battle, and
those who remained had only been saved by flight.
Abul-As was among those who were captured. The Prophet (SAWS), required each of
the captives to pay a ransom in return for his release. The amount of
compensation varied from one thousand Dirhams up to four thousand - depending
upon the rank of the prisoner among his people and his wealth.
Couriers began traveling from Makkah to Madinah to transport the money that
would secure the release of the captives. Zainab sent her courier to Madinah
with the money to purchase her husbands freedom. Her payment included a
necklace, which had been given to her on her wedding day by her mother, Khadijah.
When the prophet saw the necklace, he recognized it and his face was momentarily
shadowed with grief and sorrow for his daughter. He turned to his companions and
said: "Zainab has sent this money as payment for the release of Abul-As. If you
agree that it is appropriate to release him and return her money to her, then do
so." They replied, "We shall, so that you do not grieve for her, O Messenger of
Allah."
However, the Prophet (SAWS), made the release of Abul-As contingent upon his
commitment to send Zainab to Madinah as soon as possible.
Abul-As prepared to fulfill his promise as soon as he reached Makkah. He ordered
his wife to prepare for travel, informing her that the couriers of her father
were waiting for her just outside of Makkah. He collected provisions for her and
saddled up her riding camel, and then arranged for his brother, Amr, to
accompany her to the spot where the couriers were awaiting their arrival.
Amr slung his bow across his back, shouldered his quiver, and had Zainab climb
aboard the animal. While the Quraysh looked on, he led her camel out of Makkah
in broad daylight. The alarm was sounded, and pandemonium spread like a blazing
fire throughout the tribe. Sitting upon her camel, Zainab became petrified as
she heard the chanting of bloodthirsty howls multiply all over the city.
Amr, a noted archer, tightened his bowstring, spread his arrows out, and set one
in his bow, saying: "I swear by Allah, if anyone comes near her, I will shoot an
arrow through his neck." Suddenly Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb came forward, protesting:
"Nephew, stop aiming at us, so that we can talk with you."
When Amr lowered his bow, Abu Sufyan continued in a calm low tone: "You went
about this completely the wrong way. By taking Zainab away publicly, you
challenged your defeat at Badr, and they know whatever happened to us was
because of her father, Muhammad. If you take her away publicly like this, the
tribes would label us as cowards; our reputation would be ruined. Take her back
now, and have her stay a few days in her husband's home. Once people believe
that we managed to force her back, you can then take her out of town stealthily
and return her to her father. It is of no benefit to us to keep her."
Amr agreed to this, and later had her leave in secret during the night, and
handed her over to the couriers in person, just as his brother had commanded
him.
Abul-As remained in Makkah for sometime after the departure of Zainab. Not long
before the Muslims were destined to retake Makkah, Abul As went to Syria to do
some business. He was on his way back to Makkah in his caravan, which numbered
one hundred camels and over one hundred and seventy men. He was not far from
Madinah when a battalion of the Muslim army surprised him. They captured the men
and took the camels, but were unable to catch Abul-As.
When night fell, Abul-As slipped into Madinah. Although he was apprehensive and
full of fear, he went in search of Zainab. When he found her residence, he
appealed to her to grant him her protection - and she did.
When the Prophet (SAWS), woke up the next morning, he headed to the Masjid
(mosque) to offer the dawn salah (prayer). He was standing in the Masjid niche,
already having performed the first takbir, when Zainab called out. She spoke
loud from the back of the prayer hall, so all could listen to her news: "Hear me
everyone! I am Zainab, daughter of Muhammad. I have granted my protection to
Abul-As and I ask you to do the same."
When the Prophet (SAWS), had completed the salah, he turned to the people
saying: "Did you hear what I heard?" When they assented he said, "I swear by the
one who holds my soul in His hand, I had no knowledge of any of this before. I
heard what you just heard." He then left the Masjid, and went to his daughter.
He said to her, "Treat Abul-As as an honored guest, but you must know that you
are not his wife."
Then he went to the troops who captured the caravan and said to them, "That man,
as you know is my son-in-law. His property has come into your hands. If you wish
to do a charitable deed and return it to him, I would be pleased. However, you
have the right to refuse to do so, for you now have more right to it than he,
since it is an enemy property that fell to your lot while you were on an
expedition." They replied in agreement, "No Messenger of Allah, we will return
it to him."
When Abul-As heard that his property would be returned to him he went to claim
it right away. The people said to him, "O Abul-As, you are one of the noblest of
Quraysh, as well as the cousin of the Messenger of Allah and his son-in-low. Why
do you not become a Muslim? We could give you all of this money, and you could
stay with us in Madinah and be a wealthy man." But Abul-As' response to this
offer was, "Is this what you ask me to do? To start my new life in Islam with an
act of treachery?"
Abul-As took the caravan with all of its contents back to Makkah. When he
arrived, he gave what he could to all those who had entrusted him with their
property for commerce. Asking, "Listen all of you. Do I owe any of you any money
which I have not yet repaid?" They replied to him, "No, may Allah reward you for
you have always been loyal and generous to us."
Abul-As looked across the faces in the crowd and said, "Then I have given
everyone his due, and now I wish you to know that I bear witness that there is
no God save Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The only thing
that kept me from declaring my conversion to Islam when I was still in Madinah
was the fear that you would think that I did so out of a wish to take over you
money. Now that Allah has returned all of it to you, my conscience is clear, and
I am declaring my conversion to Islam."
He left Makkah with a contented heart and headed for Madinah. The Prophet (SAWS)
welcomed his return with all due honor and presented Zainab to him again as his
wife accompanied with a commendation of thoughtful words, "He spoke to me
truthfully, and he kept the promise he made to me."
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